The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) have released this year’s longlists for Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film, and Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger.
14 films are in the running for Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film, including new works from previous BIFA nominees Jeanie Finlay, John Battsek, Ian Bonhôte and Kat Mansoor — whose film “A Want In Her” won this category in 2025. Alongside them are four debuts which are also longlisted in the BIFA Best Debut Director — Feature Documentary category, as announced yesterday.
The Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger longlist features 16 independent films from around the world, including new films from acclaimed BIFA-nominated directors Lucas Dhont and Paweł Pawlikowski, plus Lee Chang-dong and Cristián Mungiu.
The final five nominations in each category will be announced on Tuesday November 3rd, with winners revealed at the BIFA ceremony on Sunday December 6th at London’s iconic Roundhouse. Follow BIFA on social media for all upcoming announcements.
Best Feature Documentary (Sponsored by Intermission Film)
ALL RIVERS SPILL THEIR STORIES TO THE SEA Jeanie Finlay, Charlie Phillips
BIRDS OF WAR Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak, Sonja Henrici
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: THE KWAME BRATHWAITE STORY Yemi Bamiro, Otto Burnham, Joanna Boateng, Lizzie Gillett, Ian Bonhôte, Andrew Calof
EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET Felipe Bustos Sierra, Ciara Barry
KILLING ANNA Sam Benstead, Charly Wai Feldman, Matt Cole
THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2 Amir Bar-Lev, Sean Richard, Sarah Thomson, John Battsek
LIFE SUPPORT Daniele Rugo, William Parry
MAVERICK: THE EPIC ADVENTURES OF DAVID LEAN Barnaby Thompson, Nick Taussig, Jack Heller
MOLLY VS THE MACHINES Marc Silver, Kat Mansoor, Natalie Humphreys
ONE IN A MILLION Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, Andrew Palmer, James Bluemel, Raney Aronson-Rath
SOMETHING FAMILIAR Rachel Taparjan, Aleksandra Bilić, Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
SUPER NATURE Ed Sayers, Rebecca Wolff, Beth Allan
ULTIMATE THUNDER Ben G. Brown, Lia Hayes, Stuart Ramsay
WE, THE HATED Rich Felgate, David Allen
Best International Independent Film (Sponsored by Champagne Taittinger)
ALL OF A SUDDEN Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna, David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Kôsuke Oshida, Yûji Sadai, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç Hiroko Matsuda
BLUE HERON Sophy Romvari, Ryan Bobkin, Sara Wylie, Gábor Osvath
CACTUS PEARS Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, Neeraj Churi, Mohamed Khaki, Kaushik Ray, Sidharth Meer, Naren Chandavarkar, Hareesh Reddypalli
CLUB KID Jordan Firstman, Galen Core, Alex Coco
COWARD Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens, Michiel Dhont
FATHERLAND Paweł Pawlikowski, Henk Handloegten, Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Mieli, Ewa Puszczyńska, Jeanne Tremsal, Edward Berger, Dimitri Rassam, Lorenzo Gangarossa
FJORD Cristian Mungiu, Pascal Caucheteux, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Marco Perego, Tudor Reu
JOSEPHINE Beth de Araújo, David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mark H. Rapaport, Robina Riccitiello, Crystine Zhang
LA BOLA NEGRA Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
LA GRADIVA Marine Atlan, Anne Brouilet, Inès Daïen Dasi
MINOTAUR Andrey Zvyagintsev, Simon Lyashenko, Nathanaël Karmitz, Charles Gillibert, Marco Perego
OBSESSION Curry Barker, James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, Roman Viaris
POSSIBLE LOVE Lee Chang-dong, Oh Jung-mi
ROSE Markus Schleinzer, Alexander Brom, Johannes Schubert, Philipp Worm, Tobias Walker, Karsten Stöter
SILENT FRIEND Ildikó Enyedi, Reinhard Brundig, Nicolas Elghozi, Mónika Mécs, Meng Xie, Morgane Olivier
TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH IN CAMP MIASMA Jane Schoenbrun, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
What do you think of the longlists? Please let us know your thoughts on our X account.
