Hear that? That's the sound of my favourite awards ceremony returning. Yes, the 2012 BIFA Awards nominations have been announced - and Broken is leading the pack with 9 nods.

Last year, the BIFAs really hit their stride, streaming their ceremony live online and marking something of a golden 12 months for British films thanks to stuff like Tyrannosaur. But this year has proven to be equally strong, with Berberian Sound Studio and Sightseers in second place with 7 nominations apiece.

Broken has bagged nods for Best Film, Best Director and Best Debut Director for Rufus Norris, alongside Best Actor for Tim Roth and two Best Supporting Actor nominations for Cillian Murphy and Rory Kinnear. But Norris isn't the only first-time man at the helm, with the Douglas Hickox Debut Award fought over by Bart Layton for The Imposter, Ben Drew for Ill Manors, Rowan Athale for Wasteland, and Sally El Hosaini for My Brother the Devil.

It's great to see Andrea Riseborough nominated for Best Actress in Shadow Dancer, duking it out with Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, The Dench for Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Alice Lowe for Sightseers and - most deserved of all - Elle Fanning for Ginger & Rosa. Last year, Olivia Colman went from BIFA success to BAFTA victory. My money's on the phenomenal 14 year old - FOURTEEN - doing exactly the same.

The Best Actor content is equally close, with the ever-wonderful Riz Ahmed up for Ill manors facing terrifying competition from Terence Stamp for Song for Marion (surely a contender for cinema's Best Glower Award) and the astonishingly, consistently, oh-my-word-how-does-he-manage-to-be-so-fantastic Toby Jones for Berberian Sound Studio. Billy Connolly has a suppporting nod for Quartet, alongside Tom Wilkinson for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but the most encouraging nomination goes to future acting legend Domhnall Gleeson, who would've stolen the show in Shadow Dancer if Andrea Riseborough wasn't so flipping amazing.

Olivia Colman returns in the supporting categories for Hyde Park on Hudson, but she'll struggle against the equally fantastic Alice Englert for Ginger & Rosa and Vanessa Redgrave - the lady dubbed a "sexy owl" during last year's awards ceremony.

And that's the saddest news for this year's BIFAs. Independent filmmaking is alive and well, but they will not be hosted by a drunk Chris O'Dowd again, after he downed several pints of Guinness and slurred his way through the evening while talking to himself on the video screens. Instead, previous host James Nesbitt is back again, guaranteed to make this year's ceremony 62% less drunk and therefore 92% more boring. Even the news that Tom Hiddleston is on the BIFA jury for 2012 can't make up for such a regrettable decision.

Meanwhile, I can't let the occasion pass without a shout out to the 2012 Raindance Award. My favourite award of the ceremony, the nominees this year go out to some of the Raindance Film Festival's best entires, including Frank, City Slacker, documentary Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet, the moving dance flick Love Tomorrow and Rob Savage's Strings, a film made by the director when he was just 18. And if that's not what a British film awards ceremony is about, I don't know what it is. Well, that and watching a drunk Chris O'Dowd hit on Vanessa Redgrave. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad.

The 15th British Independent Film Awards will take place on Sunday 9th December. Read on for the full list of nominations - or head this way for Chris O'Dowd's Top 5 Drunk BIFA Moments.

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Sponsored by Moët & Chandon
Berberian Sound Studio
Broken
Sightseers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Imposter

BEST DIRECTOR
Sponsored by AllCity & Intermission
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Wheatley – Sightseers
John Madden – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio
Rufus Norris – Broken

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Sponsored by 3 Mills Studios
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Drew – Ill Manors
Rowan Athale – Wasteland
Rufus Norris – Broken
Sally El Hosaini – My Brother the Devil

BEST SCREENPLAY
Sponsored by BBC Films
Abi Morgan – The Iron Lady
Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Amy Jump – Sightseers
Mark O'Rowe – Broken
Paul Andrew Williams – Song for Marion
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio

BEST ACTRESS
Sponsored by M.A.C
Alice Lowe (Tina) – Sightseers
Andrea Riseborough (Colette McVeigh) – Shadow Dancer
Elle Fanning (Ginger) – Ginger & Rosa
Judi Dench (Evelyn Greenslade) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady

BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed (Aaron) – Ill Manors
Steve Oram (Chris) – Sightseers
Terence Stamp (Arthur) – Song for Marion
Tim Roth (Archie) – Broken
Toby Jones (Gilderoy) – Berberian Sound Studio

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alice Englert (Rosa) – Ginger & Rosa
Eileen Davies (Carol) – Sightseers
Maggie Smith (Muriel Donnelly) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth) – Hyde Park on Hudson
Vanessa Redgrave (Marion) – Song for Marion

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sponsored by Sanderson & St Martins Lane
Billy Connolly (Wilf) – Quartet
Cillian Murphy (Mike Kiernan) – Broken
Domhnall Gleeson (Connor) – Shadow Dancer
Rory Kinnear (Bob Oswald) – Broken
Tom Wilkinson (Graham Dashwood) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Sponsored by Studiocanal
Elliott Tittensor (Tits) – Spike Island
Eloise Laurence (Skunk) – Broken
James Floyd (Rashid) – My Brother the Devil
Paul Brannigan (Robbie) – The Angels' Share
Zawe Ashton (Joyce Vincent) – Dreams of a Life

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
Sponsored by Company3
Berberian Sound Studio
Ill Manors
Sightseers
The Imposter
The Sweeney

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Sponsored by LightBrigade Media
Nic Knowland Bsc– Cinematography – Berberian Sound Studio
Joakim Sundström, Stevie Haywood AMPS IPS– Sound Design – Berberian Sound Studio
Electric Wave Bureau – Music – Broken
Robbie Ryan – Cinematography – Ginger & Rosa
Andrew Hulme – Editing – The Imposter

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Dreams of a Life
London: The Modern Babylon
Marley
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
The Imposter

BEST BRITISH SHORT
Supported by the BFI
Friday
Junk
Skyborn
Swimmer
Volume

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Rust & Bone
Searching For Sugar Man
The Hunt

THE RAINDANCE AWARD
Frank
Strings
Love Tomorrow
City Slacker
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution by an actor to British Film)
To Be Announced

THE VARIETY AWARD
To Be Announced

THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Announced at the Moët British Independent Film Awards on Sunday 9th December