Akinola Davis Jr. father’s shadowHarry Righton pillion and kirk jones i swear It led the nominations for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).
Davis Jr.’s feature debut was nominated for 12 awards, including the British Independent Film Award, Best Director, Best Debut Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Debut Writer.
Scroll down to see the full list of candidates
pillionanother feature debut from Harry Righton, was nominated for 10 awards, including the same 5 mentioned above. On the other hand, Jones i swear It was nominated for the British Independent Film Award, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The three films join Harris Dickinson’s Best British Independent Film category. sea urchinwhich received six nominations, and James Griffith’s Ballad of Wallis Islandit took five.
Joining Davis Jr., Wroten and Jones in the Best Manager category is Lynne Ramsey. Die My Loveone of the film’s eight nominations, Laura Carrera When fallingwas nominated in four categories: director, screenplay, debut director, and debut screenwriter. It’s all Carreira.
Acting candidates include Jennifer Lawrence Die My LoveCillian Murphy steve and Robert Aramayo i swear With the best lead performance. and Alexander Skarsgård pillionand i swear The trio of Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake and Scott Ellis Watson won Best Supporting Actor.
Best Ensemble Performance awards have already been awarded to the cast, including Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. war.
The nominees for the inaugural Cinema of the Year Award are Depot Cinema in Lewes. Magic Lantern Cinema in Tywin, Wales. Montrose Playhouse, Scotland. Queen’s Film Theater in Belfast. and the Bristol Watershed. A second round of public voting, which will run until 23.00 GMT on Tuesday 25th November, will select the winner in that category.
Davis Jr., Wroten and Dickinson are among the candidates named so far. screen Tomorrow’s stars.
The winners will be announced at the Bifa ceremony on Sunday 30th November at the Roundhouse in Camden, London.
Bifa 2025 Candidates
British Independent Film Awards
Ballad of Wallis Island – James Griffiths, Tom Basden, Tim Key, Rupert Magendi
i swear – Kirk Jones, Georgia Bailiff, Piers Tempest
father’s shadow – Akinola Davis Jr., Wale Davis, Rachel Dargabel, Funumbi Ogunbanwo
pillion – Harry Righton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Rowe, Emma Norton
sea urchin – Harris Dickinson, Archie Partch, Scott O’Donnell
Cinema of the Year
depot cinema
magic lantern cinema
montrose playhouse
Queen’s Film Theater
basin
Best Director Award
Laura Carreira – When falling
Akinola Davis Jr. – father’s shadow
Kirk Jones – i swear
Harry Righton – pillion
Lynne Ramsay – Die My Love
Best Screenplay Award
Tom Basden, Tim Key – Ballad of Wallis Island
Laura Carreira – When falling
Wale Davis – father’s shadow
Kirk Jones – i swear
Harry Righton – pillion
best lead performance
Robert Aramayo – i swear
Frank Dillane – sea urchin
David Johnson – spendthrift
Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love
Harry Melling – pillion
Cillian Murphy – steve
best support performance
Tom Bryce – spendthrift
Scott Ellis Watson – i swear
Jay Lycurgus – steve
Peter Mullan – i swear
Maxine Peake – i swear
Alexander Skarsgård – pillion
Best joint lead performance
Ebada Hassan, Safiyah Inger – bride
Tim Key, Tom Basden – Ballad of Wallis Island
Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn – dragonfly
Best Ensemble Performance – Award
war – De Pharaoh Woon A Thai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton
Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director Award)
Laura Carreira – When falling
Akinola Davis Jr. – father’s shadow
Harris Dickinson – sea urchin
Harry Righton – pillion
Cal McMaw – spendthrift
groundbreaking producer
Wine Baptiste – shoot the people
Charlotte Knowles – palestine comedy club
Joan Kushner – life hack (Also produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Alexander Kletsov)
Dhiraj Mahay – Ish (Also produced by Bennett Magee)
Archie Perch – sea urchin (Also produced by Scott O’Donnell)
breakthrough performance
Scott Ellis Watson – i swear
Ebada Hassan – bride
Safiya Inger – bride
Posey Sterling – lollipop
Connor Tompkins – son and the sea
Best debut screenwriter
Hunter Andrews, Eoin Doran – spendthrift
Tom Basden, Tim Key – Ballad of Wallis Island
Laura Carreira – When falling
Wale Davis – father’s shadow
Harry Righton – pillion
Best Debut Director Award – Feature Documentary
Milid Curtain – her desire
Cecil Embleton, Alice Tomlinson – mother bella
Victoria Mapplebeck – motherboard
Raindance Maverick Award
despicable evil deed – Richard Hunter
Holloway – Sophie Compton, Daisy-Mae Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
mother bella – Cecil Embleton, Alice Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck
her desire – Milid Curtain
antidote – James Jones, David Moulton
mother bella – Cecil Embleton, Alice Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck
shepherd and bear – Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBain, Jesse Moss
her desire – Myrid Curtain, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, Kat Mansour
Best British Short Film Award
flock – Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daily Nixon
Majid / Zafar – Lewis Hyndman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks
Sisyphe’s mission – Gus Frind Henry, George Mulcher, George Telfer
stomach bug – Matty Crawford, Karima Samout Canelopoulou
two black boys in paradise – Ben Jackson, Buzz Sells, Dean Atta
Best International Independent Film
it was just an accident – Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
sentimental value – Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Maria Ekelhofd, Andrea Berentzen Ottmar
cry – Oliver Lacks, Santiago Finol,
Sorry, baby – Eva Victor, Adele Romanski, Mark Seljak, Barry Jenkins
falling sound – Marcia Silinsky, Louise Peter, Maren Schmidt, Lukas Schmidt
best casting
Shaheen Baig – bride
Shaheen Baig – sea urchin
Carmel Cochran – war
Lauren Evans – i swear
Robert Stern – steve
Best Cinematography Award
Charlotte Bruce Christensen – H is for Hawk
Jermaine Edwards – father’s shadow
Cecil Embleton – mother bella
Seamus McGarvey – Die My Love
Piotr Niemiski – faint view of the hill
Best Costume Design Award
Susie Coulthard – 100 nights of heroes
Kirsty Halliday – tornado
Grace Snell – pillion
Sayaka Takahashi, Matthew Price – faint view of the hill
PC Williams – father’s shadow
Best editing award
Ronan Corrigan, Alexander Kletsov – life hack
Omar Guzman Castro – father’s shadow
Finn Oates – war
Sam Rice Edwards – 1v1: John and Yoko
Gareth C. Scales – pillion
best effect
Simon Stanley Crump, Ryan Conder – war
Victor Tomi – Die My Love
Hayley Williams, Martin O’Sullivan, Martin Malmqvist – something with wings
Best music supervision
Phil Canning – spendthrift
Ian Neil, Rafe Burchell – Die My Love
Bridget Samuels – sea urchin
Best Makeup & Hair Design Award
Kehinde Are, Feyzo You Tell – father’s shadow
Diandra Ferreira – pillion
Paul Gooch, Tristan Versluis – war
Colleen Labuff, Miho Suzuki – Die My Love
Natasha Rose – 100 nights of heroes
Best Original Music Award
Tom Basden, Adem Ilhan – Ballad of Wallis Island
Bobby Krulik – Anemone
Jed Kurzel – tornado
CJ Mira, Duvall Timothy – father’s shadow
Stephen Price – david attenborough and ocean
Best Production Design Award
Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti – father’s shadow
Mark Digby – war
Tim Grimes – Die My Love
Nathan Parker – harvest
Sophia Sacomani – 100 nights of heroes
best sound
Steve Fanagan, Stevie Haywood – Anemone
Tim Burns, Paul Davis, Linda Forsen, Andrew Stark, Ron Oshiowi – Die My Love
Nina Hartstone, Jake Whiteley, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson – Ish
CJ Milla, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatke – father’s shadow
Sound team – war
