British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) 2025: Complete list of nominees

The nominations for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) have been officially announced. Some of the most notable names from the United Kingdom's independent film scene have been featured. This year's lineup includes debut directors, international features, and more.

The BIFAs began in 1998. It was founded to recognize the best in independently funded British filmmaking. From filmmakers such as Andrea Arnold and Steve McQueen to actors like Olivia Colman and Daniel Kaluuya, the awards have often highlighted rising talent. Many of these names later go on to garner global attention.

The 2025 BIFA nominations are relatively dominated by first-time filmmakers. Akinola Davies Jr.'s My Father's Shadow leads this year's lineup with twelve nominations, followed closely by Harry Lighton's Pillion with ten and Kirk Jones' biographical drama I Swear with nine nods.

The nominees were unveiled on Monday at One Hundred Shoreditch in London by actors Ben Hardy and Saura Lightfoot-Leon.

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) took to its official Instagram page to announce the nominations, captioning:

"The best in the biz 🎬 Presenting the #BIFA2025 nominees for: Cinema of the Year, sponsored by @kiauk Best International Independent Film, sponsored by @champagnetaittinger Best British Short Film Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by @netflixuk The Raindance Maverick Award, sponsored by @raindancefilmfestival Best Debut Director - Feature Documentary Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by @pinewoodstudios Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by @film4 The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by @bbcfilmofficial Best Feature Documentary sponsored by @intermission_film Best Supporting Performance"

The post continued:

"Best Screenplay sponsored by @applefilms Best Lead Performance Best Joint Lead Performance Best Director, sponsored by @sky_uk Best British Independent Film Winners for all the above categories will be announced live on socials and at the BIFA ceremony on Sunday 28 November. The craft winners will be announced via Livestream on Thursday 20 November"

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Complete list of nominees for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)

Best British Independent Film

• The Ballad of Wallis Island
• I Swear
• My Father's Shadow
• Pillion
• Urchin

Best Director

• Laura Carreira: On Falling
• Akinola Davies Jr.: My Father’s Shadow
• Kirk Jones: I Swear
• Harry Lighton: Pillion
• Lynne Ramsay: Die, My Love

Best Screenplay

• Tom Basden, Tim Key – The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Laura Carreira – On Falling
• Wale Davies – My Father’s Shadow
• Kirk Jones – I Swear
• Harry Lighton – Pillion

Best Lead Performance

• Robert Aramayo – I Swear
• Frank Dillane – Urchin
• David Jonsson – Wasteman
• Jennifer Lawrence – Die, My Love
• Harry Melling – Pillion
• Cillian Murphy – Steve

Best Supporting Performance

• Tom Blyth – Wasteman
• Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear
• Jay Lycurgo – Steve
• Peter Mullan – I Swear
• Maxine Peake – I Swear
• Alexander Skarsgård – Pillion

Best Joint Lead Performance

• Ebada Hassan, Safiyya Ingar – Brides
• Tim Key, Tom Basden – The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly

Best Ensemble Performance

• D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton: Warfare (WINNER)

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)

• Laura Carreira – On Falling
• Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father’s Shadow
• Harris Dickinson – Urchin
• Harry Lighton – Pillion
• Cal McMau – Wasteman

Breakthrough Producer

• Wyn Baptiste – Shoot the People
• Charlotte Knowles – Palestine Comedy Club
• Joann Kushner – LifeHack
• Dhiraj Mahey – Ish
• Archie Pearch – Urchin

Breakthrough Performance

• Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear
• Ebada Hassan – Brides
• Safiyya Ingar – Brides
• Posy Sterling – Lollipop
• Connor Tompkins – The Son and The Sea

Best Debut Screenwriter

• Hunter Andrews, Eoin Doran – Wasteman
• Tom Basden, Tim Key – The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Laura Carreira – On Falling
• Wale Davies – My Father’s Shadow
• Harry Lighton – Pillion

Best Debut Director (Feature Documentary)

• Myrid Carten – A Want in Her
• Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson – Mother Vera
• Victoria Mapplebeck – Motherboard

The Raindance Maverick Award

• Foul Evil Deeds – Richard Hunter
• Holloway – Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
• Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
• Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck
• A Want in Her – Myrid Carten

Best Feature Documentary

• Antidote – James Jones, David Moulton
• Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
• Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck
• The Shepherd and The Bear – Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
• A Want in Her – Myrid Carten, Tadgh O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, Kat Mansoor

Best British Short Film

• Flock – Max Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daley Nixon
• Magid/Zafar – Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks
• A Sisyphean Task – Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher, George Telfer
• Stomach Bug – Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou
• Two Black Boys in Paradise – Ben Jackson, Baz Sells, Dean Atta

Best International Independent Film

• It Was Just an Accident
• Sentimental Value
• Sirāt
• Sorry, Baby
• Sound of Falling

Craft categories at the 2025 BIFA

Best Casting

• Shaheen Baig – Brides
• Shaheen Baig – Urchin
• Kharmel Cochrane – Warfare
• Laura Evans – I Swear
• Robert Sterne – Steve

Best Cinematography

• Charlotte Bruus Christensen – H Is for Hawk
• Jermains Edwards – My Father’s Shadow
• Cecile Embleton – Mother Vera
• Seamus McGarvey – Die, My Love
• Piotr Niemyjski – A Pale View of Hills

Best Costume Design

• Susie Coulthard – 100 Nights of Hero
• Kirsty Halliday – Tornado
• Grace Snell – Pillion
• Sayaka Takahashi, Matthew Price – A Pale View of Hills
• PC Williams – My Father’s Shadow

Best Editing

• Ronan Corrigan, Aleksandr Kletsov – LifeHack
• Omar Guzman Castro – My Father’s Shadow
• Fin Oates – Warfare
• Sam Rice-Edwards – One to One: John & Yoko
• Gareth C. Scales – Pillion

Best Effects

• Simon Stanley-Clamp, Ryan Conder – Warfare
• Victor Tomi – Die, My Love
• Hayley Williams, Conor O’Sullivan, Martin Malmqvist – The Thing With Feathers

Best Music Supervision

• Phil Canning – Wasteman
• Ian Neil, Raife Burchell – Die, My Love
• Bridget Samuels – Urchin

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

• Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi – My Father’s Shadow
• Diandra Ferreira – Pillion
• Paul Gooch, Tristan Versluis – Warfare
• Coleen Labaff, Miho Suzuki – Die, My Love
• Natasha Lawes – 100 Nights of Hero

Best Original Music

• Tom Basden, Adem Ilhan – The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Bobby Krlic – Anemone
• Jed Kurzel – Tornado
• CJ Mirra – My Father’s Shadow
• Steven Price – Ocean With David Attenborough

Best Production Design

• Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti – My Father’s Shadow
• Mark Digby – Warfare
• Tim Grimes – Die, My Love
• Nathan Parker – Harvest
• Sofia Sacomani – 100 Nights of Hero

Best Sound

• Steve Fanagan, Stevie Haywood – Anemone
• Tim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsen, Andrew Stirk, Ron Osiowy – Die, My Love
• Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson – Ish
• CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatoke – My Father’s Shadow
• Sound Team – Warfare

BIFA 2025 Cinema of the Year voting

For the first time, audiences can take part in BIFA's Cinema of the Year award. The shortlisted cinemas for BIFA 2025 Cinema of the Year voting are as follows:

• The Depot, Lewes
• The Magic Lantern, Tywyn
• Montrose Playhouse, Scotland
• Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast
• Watershed, Bristol

The 2025 BIFA ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 30, 2025, at the Roundhouse in Camden, London. The craft category winners for the 2025 BIFA will be announced earlier on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

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