British Independent Film Awards 2025

28th British Independent Film Awards
28th British Independent Film Awards
Awarded for	Best in British independent film
Date	30 November 2025
Site	Roundhouse, London
Official website	www.bifa.film
Highlights
Best Film	Pillion
Most awards	Pillion / Warfare (4)
Most nominations	My Father's Shadow (12)

The British Independent Film Awards 2025 was held on 30 November 2025 to recognise the best in British independent cinema and filmmaking talent from United Kingdom. The ceremony took place once again at the Roundhouse in London.^[1]

The shortlists for multiple categories, including Best International Independent Film and Breakthrough Performance were revealed through October 2025. The nominations were announced on 3 November 2025 by Ben Hardy and Saura Lightfoot-Leon at One Hundred Shoreditch, London.^[2] Akinola Davies Jr.'s debut feature My Father's Shadow led the nominations with 12, followed by Pillion and I Swear with 10 and 9 respectively.^[1] The award for Best Ensemble Performance was re-introduced after being last presented in 2022 as a competitive category.

Both Pillion and Warfare received the most awards with four each, with the former also receiving the award for Best British Independent Film.

Winners and nominees

Best British Independent Film	Best Director
Pillion – Harry Lighton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Emma Norton The Ballad of Wallis Island – James Griffiths, Tom Basden, Tim Key and Rupert Majendie I Swear – Kirk Jones, Georgia Bayliff and Piers Tempest My Father's Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr., Wale Davies, Rachel Dargavel and Funmbi Ogunbanwo Urchin – Harris Dickinson, Archie Pearch and Scott O'Donnell	Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father's Shadow Laura Carreira – On Falling Kirk Jones – I Swear Harry Lighton – Pillion Lynne Ramsay – Die My Love
Best Lead Performance	Best Supporting Performance
*Robert Aramayo – I Swear* as John Davidson** Frank Dillane – Urchin as Mike David Jonsson – Wasteman as Taylor Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love as Grace Harry Melling – Pillion as Colin Cillian Murphy – Steve as Steve	*Jay Lycurgo – Steve* as Shy** Tom Blyth – Wasteman as Dee Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear as young John Davidson Peter Mullan – I Swear as Tommy Trotter Maxine Peake – I Swear as Dottie Achenbach Alexander Skarsgård – Pillion as Ray
Best Joint Lead Performance	Breakthrough Performance
*Tim Key and Tom Basden – The Ballad of Wallis Island* as Charles Heath and Herb McGwyer** Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar – Brides as Doe and Muna Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly as Colleen and Elsie	*Posy Sterling – Lollipop* as Molly Brown** Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear as young John Davidson Ebada Hassan – Brides as Doe Safiyya Ingar – Brides as Muna Connor Tompkins – The Son and the Sea as Charlie
Best Screenplay	Best Documentary
The Ballad of Wallis Island – Tom Basden, Tim Key On Falling – Laura Carreira My Father's Shadow – Wale Davies I Swear – Kirk Jones Pillion – Harry Lighton	A Want in Her – Myrid Carten, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty and Kat Mansoor Antidote – James Jones and David Moulton Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson and Laura Shacham Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck The Shepherd and the Bear – Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
Best International Independent Film	Best Short Film
Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi and Phillippe Martin Sirāt – Óliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol, Domingo Corral, Oriol Maymo, Andrea Queralt, Mani Mortazavi, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak and Barry Jenkins Sound of Falling – Mascha Schilinski, Louise Pete, Maren Schmitt and Lucas Schmidt	Magid / Zafar – Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam and Aidan Robert Brooks Flock – Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell and Daley Nixon A Sisyphean Task – Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher and George Telfer Stomach Bug – Matty Crawford and Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou Two Black Boys in Paradise – Ben Jackson, Baz Sells and Dean Atta
Best Casting	Best Cinematography
I Swear – Lauren Evans Brides – Shaheen Baig Urchin – Shaheen Baig Warfare – Kharmel Cochrane Steve – Robert Sterne	Die My Love – Seamus McGarvey H Is for Hawk – Charlotte Bruus Christensen My Father's Shadow – Jermaine Edwards Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton A Pale View of Hills – Piotr Niemyjski
Best Costume Design	Best Editing
Pillion – Grace Snell 100 Nights of Hero – Susie Coulthard Tornado – Kirsty Halliday A Pale View of Hills – Sayaka Takahashi and Matthew Price My Father's Shadow – PC Williams	Warfare – Fin Oates LifeHack – Ronan Corrigan and Aleksandr Kletsov My Father's Shadow – Omar Guzman Castro One to One: John & Yoko – Sam Rice-Edwards Pillion – Gareth C. Scales
Best Effects	Best Make-Up & Hair Design
Warfare – Simon Stanley-Clamp and Ryan Conder Die My Love – Victor Tomi The Thing with Feathers – Hayley Williams, Conor O'Sullivan and Martin Malmqvist	Pillion – Diandra Ferreira My Father's Shadow – Kehinde Are and Feyzo Oyebisi Warfare – Paul Gooch and Tristan Versluis Die My Love – Colleen Labaff and Miho Suzuki 100 Nights of Hero – Natasha Lawes
Best Original Music	Best Music Supervision
The Ballad of Wallis Island – Tom Basden and Adem Ilhan Anemone – Bobby Krlic Tornado – Jed Kurzel My Father's Shadow – CJ Mirra Ocean with David Attenborough – Steven Price	Die My Love – Ian Neil and Raife Burchell Wasteman – Phil Canning Urchin – Bridget Samuels
Best Production Design	Best Sound
Harvest – Nathan Parker My Father's Shadow – Jennifer Anti and Pablo Anti Warfare – Mark Digby Die My Love – Tim Grimes 100 Nights of Hero – Sofia Sacomani	Warfare – Sound team Anemone – Steve Fanagan and Stevie Haywood Die My Love – Tim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsén, Andrew Stirk and Ron Osiowy Ish – Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani and Rob Davidson My Father's Shadow – CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher and Pius Fatoke
Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)	Best Debut Screenwriter
Cal McMau – Wasteman Laura Carreira – On Falling Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father's Shadow Harris Dickinson – Urchin Harry Lighton – Pillion	Harry Lighton – Pillion Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran – Wasteman Tom Basden and Tim Key – The Ballad of Wallis Island Laura Carreira – On Falling Wale Davies – My Father's Shadow
Breakthrough Producer	The Raindance Maverick Award
*Dhiraj Mahey – Ish* [also produced by Bennett McGhee]** Wyn Baptiste – Shoot the People Charlotte Knowles – Palestine Comedy Club Joann Kushner – LifeHack [also produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Aleksandr Kletzov] Archie Pearch – Urchin [also produced by Scott O’Donnell]	A Want in Her – Myrid Carten Foul Evil Deeds – Richard Hunter Holloway – Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes and Polly Creed Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson and Laura Shacham Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Myrid Carten – A Want in Her Cecile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson – Mother Vera Victoria Mapplebeck – Motherboard
Best Ensemble Performance
Warfare – D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
12	My Father's Shadow
10	Pillion
9	I Swear
8	Die My Love
7	Warfare
6	Urchin
5	The Ballad of Wallis Island
5	Wasteman
4	Brides
	Mother Vera
	On Falling
3	100 Nights of Hero
	A Want in Her
	Motherboard
	Steve
2	Anemone
	A Pale View of Hills
	Ish
	LifeHack
	Tornado

Films that received multiple awards
Awards	Film
4	Pillion
4	Warfare
3	A Want in Her
3	The Ballad of Wallis Island
2	Die My Love
2	I Swear

References

^ ^a ^b Ritman, Alex (3 November 2025). "'My Father's Shadow,' 'Pillion' and 'I Swear' Lead British Independent Film Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
^ Ford, Lily; Szalai, Georg (3 November 2025). "British Independent Film Awards: 'My Father's Shadow' and 'Pillion' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 November 2025.

External links

Official website

[Nominations-1] Ritman, Alex (3 November 2025). "'My Father's Shadow,' 'Pillion' and 'I Swear' Lead British Independent Film Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 3 November 2025.

[THR-2] Ford, Lily; Szalai, Georg (3 November 2025). "British Independent Film Awards: 'My Father's Shadow' and 'Pillion' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 November 2025.

[1]

[2]

British Independent Film Awards
Current categories	British Independent Film Director Lead Performance Joint Lead Performance Supporting Performance Screenplay Breakthrough Performance Documentary British Short Film International Independent Film Casting Cinematography Costume Design Editing Effects Make-Up & Hair Design Original Music Music Supervision Production Design Sound The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Debut Screenwriter Breakthrough Producer Raindance Maverick Award
Special awards	The Richard Harris Award Special Jury Prize Variety Award
Retired categories	Actor in a British Independent Film Actress in a British Independent Film Supporting Actor Supporting Actress Technical Achievement
Ceremonies	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025