Sunday, November 30, 2025

The 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Winners

The winners for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) have been announced. The craft award winners were already announced and you can read those winners here. Here are the winners for the rest of this year…

Best British Independent Film
The Ballad Of Wallis Island – James Griffiths, Tom Basden, Tim Key, Rupert Majendie
I Swear – Kirk Jones, Georgia Bayliff, Piers Tempest
My Father’s Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr, Wale Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Funmbi Ogunbanwo
Pillion – Harry Lighton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton
Urchin – Harris Dickinson, Archie Pearch, Scott O’donnell

Cinema Of The Year
Depot Cinema
The Magic Lantern Cinema
Montrose Playhouse
Queen’s Film Theatre
Watershed

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 Skarsgard – Pillion

Best Joint Lead Performance
Ebada Hassan, Saffiya Ingar – Brides
Tim Key, Tom Basden – The Ballad Of Wallis Island
Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly

Best Ensemble Performance
Warfare – D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton

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 [also produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Aleksandr Kletzov]
Dhiraj Mahey – Ish [also produced by Bennett McGhee]
Archie Pearch – Urchin [also produced by Scott O’Donnell]

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 Sponsored By Intermission Film
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, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, Kat Mansoor

Best British Short Film
Flock – Mac 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 – Jafar Panahi, Phillippe Martin
Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Sirāt – Oliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol, Domingo Corral, Oriol Maymo, Andrea Queralt, Mani Mortazavi, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar, Esther García
Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins
Sound Of Falling – Mascha Schilinski, Louise Pete, Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt

What do you think of the winners? Please let us know your thoughts on our X account. Click here for more important upcoming dates this awards season and here for the most recent tally of awards season winners for the current year.

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Matt Neglia
Matt Negliahttps://nextbestpicture.com/
Obsessed about the Oscars, Criterion Collection and all things film 24/7. Critics Choice Member.

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