Jessie Cave, Inside No 9, Derry Girls, and ara among the nominees for this year's South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
Now in their 23rd year, the Awards will take place on Sunday 7th July at the Savoy Hotel and will air on Wednesday 10th July at 8pm on Sky Arts.
Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, The South Bank Sky Arts Awards is the only Awards ceremony in the world to celebrate every genre of the Arts, including Dance, Theatre, Pop, TV Drama, Film, Classical Music, Literature, Opera, Comedy and Visual Art. Previous winners at the Awards demonstrate the strength and depth of British talent across the full spectrum of the Arts, and include Stormzy, Tom Hiddleston, Ian McEwan, Sam Mendes, Amy Winehouse, Steve Coogan, Akram Khan, Steve McQueen, Alan Bennett and Kate Bush.
In a particularly strong Comedy category, Channel 4 leads the way with two nominations in Derry Girls and Hang Ups, with BAFTA-winners Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith rounding out the list with their hallmark dark comedy Inside No.9. Pemberton and Shearsmith are also the subjects of an episode of forthcoming series The South Bank Show (to be broadcast on 30th July at 10pm on Sky Arts and NOW TV), which explores the work of these most original and versatile television screenwriters and actors.
Jessie Cave is nominated for the Times Breakthrough Award. Her live show Sunrise received rave reviews this year.
Fighting it out in the hotly-contested Film category is Yorgos Lanthimos’ quirky and much-lauded The Favourite, alongside debutante Michael Pearce’s thriller Beast and Peter Jackson’s powerful documentary They Shall Not Grow Old. Beast has proved an excellent platform for propelling talented newcomer Jessie Buckley into the mainstream, earning her a nomination in the coveted The Times Breakthrough Award. The Times Breakthrough Award shines a spotlight on up-and-coming talent in the British Arts; previous notable winners include Amma Asante, Billie Piper and last year, Nubya Garcia, a multitalented saxophonist whose debut recordings and live performances have energised the jazz scene. Rising stars also nominated in the category this year include singer/songwriter Freya Ridings, former banker turned opera singer Nadine Benjamin, young author Anna-Marie Crowhurst and multi-sensory visual artist Haroon Mirza.
Zai Bennett, Director of Programmes, Sky, said: “We are honoured to be hosting the 23rd South Bank Sky Arts Awards and continuing our investment and support of the Arts in the UK. British culture is really thriving right now, and this year’s Awards nominees reflect the exceptionally gifted and diverse range of talent across the creative industries.”
Melvyn Bragg added: “This looks as if it will be a cracking Awards year: British Artists have excelled themselves.”
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES
THEATRE
The Inheritance - Young Vic & Noël Coward Theatre
Company - Gielgud Theatre
Sweat - Donmar Warehouse
POP
Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile
Lily Allen - No Shame
IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
DANCE
Corybantic Games – by Christopher Wheeldon, The Royal Ballet
Playlist (Track 1, 2) – by William Forsythe, English National Ballet
XENOS - Akram Khan Company
OPERA
Rhondda Rips It Up! - Welsh National Opera
Falstaff - Garsington Opera
Porgy and Bess - English National Opera
LITERATURE
The Italian Teacher - Tom Rachman
Ordinary People - Diana Evans
Kudos - Rachel Cusk
COMEDY
Inside No. 9 - BBC Studios / BBC Two
Derry Girls - Hat Trick Productions / Channel 4
Hang Ups - SLAM Films / Channel 4
VISUAL ART
The exhibitions, Landscape, Portrait, Still Life and Woman with a Red Hat - Tacita Dean
Royal Academy of Arts 250th Summer Exhibition - Co-ordinated by Grayson Perry
Pages of the Sea - 14-18 NOW / Danny Boyle
FILM
Beast
They Shall Not Grow Old
The Favourite
TV DRAMA
Patrick Melrose - Little Island Productions / Two Cities Television / Sunny March / Sky Atlantic
A Very English Scandal - Blueprint Pictures / BBC One
Killing Eve - Sid Gentle Films / BBC One
CLASSICAL
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Debussy Festival
John Wilson - Bernstein Centenary
Cumnock Tryst
THE TIMES BREAKTHROUGH AWARD
Classical Music: Alpesh Chauhan
Comedy: Jessie Cave
Dance: Joseph Sissens
Film: Jessie Buckley
Literature: Anna-Marie Crowhurst
Opera: Nadine Benjamin
Pop: Freya Ridings
Theatre: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
TV Drama: Chance Perdomo
Visual Art: Haroon Mirza
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
To be announced
