Dutch photographer-turned-filmmaker Anton Corbijn's Control, a black-and-white drama about troubled Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, won five trophies — including best film, best director, and best debut director — at the British Independent Film Awards held tonight at the Roundhouse in London.
Corbijn had photographed Joy Division numerous times back in the late 1970s, and in 1988 directed the video for their song "Atmosphere." (Ian Curtis committed suicide at the age of 23 in 1980.)
Former warehouse worker Sam Riley, who was picked for the lead role in Control, lost the best actor award to Viggo Mortensen's Russian mafioso in David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises but was chosen most promising newcomer, while Toby Kebbell took best supporting performer honors for his performance as Joy Division's manager Rob Gretton.
Among the other winners were best actress Judi Dench, for her gutsy performance as a manipulative lesbian teacher in Notes on a Scandal; Patrick Marber, who won for his uneven screenplay for the same film; best foreign film The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's overwrought spy melodrama that several months ago won an array of awards including the Oscar; and best documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, Julien Temple's take on the punk rock band The Clash musician Joe Strummer, who died of a heart attack five years ago.
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