Akinola Davies Jr.’s Lagos-set coming-of-age tale My Father’s Shadow and Harry Lighton’s kinky queer romance Pillion are among the frontrunners at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which revealed its nominations on Monday.
Unveiled by actors Ben Hardy and Saura Lightfoot-Leon at One Hundred Shoreditch in London, Davies’ directorial debut leads the BIFA nominations with 12 nods, closely followed by Lighton’s Pillion with 10. Both features premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Davies and Lighton also scored best debut director nominations, as well as best screenplay and best debut screenwriter noms, among others.
In the performance categories, big-name nominees include the likes of Jennifer Lawrence for Die, My Love (which received eight BIFA nods in total), Cillian Murphy for Steve, as well as David Jonsson and Tom Blyth for Wasteman.
Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard are nominated for best lead and best supporting performance, respectively, for Pillion, while Robert Aramayo will compete with fellow lead actors for his turn in Kirk Jones’ I Swear, which received nine BIFA nominations in total. He’ll go up against Frank Dillane, who is nominated for his turn in Harris Dickinson’s Urchin.
Elsewhere, Dickinson has netted best debut director and best British independent film nods for Urchin for a total of six. Tim Key and Tom Basden have been nominated for best joint lead performance in The Ballad of Wallis Island (five total), with Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn nominated in the same category for Paul Andrew Williams’ Dragonfly.
Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar are, too, nominated in the best joint lead performance category for Nadia Fall’s debut feature Brides, and both have secured a breakthrough performance nomination. In this category, they’ll compete with Posy Sterling for Lollipop and Connor Tompkins for The Son and The Sea.
Alex Garfield’s boots-on-the-ground military drama Warfare has won best ensemble performance award, it was confirmed on Monday, with D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton honored among the film’s six craft nominations.
In the best international feature category, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident go up against Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Sirāt from Oliver Laxe, Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby and Mascha Schilinski’s Sound of Falling.
Breakthrough producer nominations go to Wyn Baptiste for activism documentary Shoot the People, Charlotte Knowles for cross-border doc Palestine Comedy Club, Joann Kushner for screenlife heist movie LifeHack and Dhiraj Mahey for social-realist coming-of-age drama Ish.
Check out the full list of nominees for the 2025 BIFAs below.
Best British Independent Film
The Ballad of Wallis IslandI SwearMy Father’s ShadowPillionUrchin
Best Director
Laura Carreira, On FallingAkinola Davies Jr., My Father’s ShadowKirk Jones, I SwearHarry Lighton, PillionLynne Ramsay, Die, My Love
Best Screenplay
Tom Basden, Tim Key, The Ballad of Wallis IslandLaura Carreira, On FallingWale Davies, My Father’s ShadowKirk Jones, I SwearHarry Lighton, Pillion
Best Lead Performance
Robert Aramayo, I SwearFrank Dillane, UrchinDavid Jonsson, WastemanJennifer Lawrence, Die, My LoveHarry Melling, PillionCillian Murphy, Steve
Best Supporting Performance
Tom Blyth, WastemanScott Ellis Watson, I SwearJay Lycurgo, StevePeter Mullan, I SwearMaxine Peake, I SwearAlexander Skarsgard, Pillion
Best Joint Lead Performance
Ebada Hassan, Saffiya Ingar, BridesTim Key, Tom Basden, The Ballad of Wallis IslandAndrea 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 FallingAkinola Davies Jr., My Father’s ShadowHarris Dickinson, UrchinHarry Lighton, PillionCal McMau, Wasteman
Breakthrough Producer
Wyn Baptiste, Shoot the PeopleCharlotte Knowles, Palestine Comedy ClubJoann Kushner, LifeHackDhiraj Mahey, IshArchie Pearch, Urchin
Breakthrough Performance
Scott Ellis Watson, I SwearEbada Hassan, BridesSafiyya Ingar, BridesPosy Sterling, LollipopConnor Tompkins, The Son and The Sea
Best Debut Screenwriter
Hunter Andrews, Eoin Doran, WastemanTom Basden, Tim Key, The Ballad of Wallis IslandLaura Carreira, On FallingWale Davies, My Father’s ShadowHarry Lighton, Pillion
Best Debut Director — Feature Documentary
Myrid Carten, A Want in HerCecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Mother VeraVictoria Mapplebeck, Motherboard
The Raindance Maverick Award
Foul Evil Deeds, Richard HunterHolloway, Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes, Polly CreedMother Vera, Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura ShachamMotherboard, Victoria MapplebeckA Want in Her, Myrid Carten
Best Feature Documentary
Antidote, James Jones, David MoultonMother Vera, Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura ShachamMotherboard, Victoria MapplebeckThe Shepherd and The Bear, Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBaine, Jesse MossA Want in Her, Myrid Carten, Tadgh O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, Kat Mansoor
Best British Short Film
Flock, Max Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daley NixonMagid/Zafar, Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert BrooksA Sisphyean Task, Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher, George TelferStomach Bug, Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout KanellopoulouTwo Black Boys in Paradise, Ben Jackson, Baz Sells, Dean Atta
Best International Independent Film
It Was Just An AccidentSentimental ValueSirātSorry, BabySound of Falling
Best Casting
Shaheen Baig, BridesShaheen Baig, UrchinKharmel Cochrane, WarfareLaura Evans, I SwearRobert Sterne, Steve
Best Cinematography
Charlotte Bruus Christensen, H Is for HawkJermains Edwards, My Father’s ShadowCecile Embleton, Mother VeraSeamus McGarvey, Die, My LovePiotr Niemyjski, A Pale View of Hills
Best Costume Design
Susie Coulthard, 100 Nights of HeroKirsty Halliday, TornadoGrace Snell, PillionSayaka Takahashi, Matthew Price, A Pale View of HillsPC Williams, My Father’s Shadow
Best Editing
Ronan Corrigan, Aleksandr Kletsov, LifeHackOmar Guzman Castro, My Father’s ShadowFin Oates, WarfareSam Rice-Edwards, One to One: John & YokoGareth C. Scales, Pillion
Best Effects
Simon Stanley-Clamp, Ryan Conder, WarfareVictor Tomi, Die, My LoveHayley Williams, Conor O’Sullivan, Martin Malmqvist, The Thing With Feathers
Best Music Supervision
Phil Canning, WastemanIan Neil, Raife Burchell, Die, My LoveBridget Samuels, Urchin
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi, My Father’s ShadowDiandra Ferreira, PillionPaul Gooch, Tristan Versluis, WarfareColeen Labaff, Miho Suzuki, Die, My LoveNatasha Lawes, 100 Nights of Hero
Best Original Music
Tom Basden, Adem Ilhan, The Ballad of Wallis IslandBobby Krlic, AnemoneJed Kurzel, TornadoCJ Mirra, My Father’s ShadowSteven Price, Ocean With David Attenborough
Best Production Design
Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti, My Father’s ShadowMark Digby, WarfareTim Grimes, Die, My LoveNathan Parker, HarvestSofia Sacomani, 100 Nights of Hero
Best Sound
Steve Fanagan, Stevie Haywood, AnemoneTim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsen, Andrew Stirk, Ron Osiowy, Die, My LoveNina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson, IshCJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatoke, My Father’s ShadowSound Team, Warfare
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
To be announced later
