The British Independent Film Award for Best Documentary is an annual award given by the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) to recognize the best documentary.
The award was first presented in the 2003 ceremony, with the film Bodysong, directed by Simon Pummell and Janine Marmot, being the first recipient of the award.
Senna and For Sama have won both this award and the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, while The Imposter, Marley, 20,000 Days on Earth, Virunga, Amy, Notes on Blindness, Diego Maradona, Cow, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, all have been nominated for both awards.
Winners and nominees 2000s YearFilmRecipient(s) 2003 Bodysong Simon Pummell and Janine Marmot 100 Doors Kerri Davenport-Burton Bugs Mike Slee The Game of Their Lives Daniel Gordon Hoover Street Revival Sophie Fiennes 2004 Touching the Void Kevin Macdonald and John Smithson Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill and Jo Human Drowned Out Franny Armstrong Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley Trollywood Madeleine Farley, Philip Moross, Nick Nahum and Simon White 2005 The Liberace of Baghdad Sean McAllister, Nick Fraser, Mette Heide and Mette Hoffman Meyer Andrew and Jeremy Get Married Don Boyd Black Sun Gary Tarn and John Battsek McLibel Franny Armstrong and Ken Loach Sisters in Law Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto 2006 The Road to Guantánamo Michael Winterbottom and Melissa Parmenter Blindsight Lucy Walker and Sybil Robson Orr The Great Happiness Space Jake Clennell The Pervert's Guide to Cinema Sophie Fiennes and Slavoj Žižek Unknown White Male Rupert Murray 2007 Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten Julien Temple, Anna Campeau, Alan Moloney and Amanda Temple Black Gold Marc Francis, Nick Francis and Christopher Hird Deep Water Louise Osmond, Jerry Rothwell, Alison Morrow, Jonny Persey and John Smithson Garbage Warrior Oliver Hodge and Rachel Wexler In the Shadow of the Moon David Sington, Christopher Riley, Duncan Copp, Sarah Kinsella, John Battsek and Julie Goldman 2008 Man on Wire James Marsh and Simon Chinn A Complete History of My Sexual Failures Chris Waitt, Henry Trotter and Mary Burke Derek Isaac Julien Of Time and the City Terence Davies, Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter Three Miles North of Molkom Robert Cannan and Corinna McFarlane 2009 Mugabe and the White African Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, David Pearson and Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock The Age of Stupid Franny Armstrong and Lizzie Gillett The End of the Line Rupert Murray, George Duffield and Claire Lewis Sons of Cuba Andrew Lang, Francine Heywood and Laura Giles Sounds Like Teen Spirit Jamie Jay Johnson, Simon Fawcett, Maxyne Franklin, Jess Search and Paul White
2010s YearFilmRecipient(s) 2010 Enemies of the People Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin The Arbor Clio Barnard Exit Through the Gift Shop Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz Fire in Babylon Stevan Riley Waste Land Lucy Walker, João Jardim, Karen Harley, Angus Aynsley and Hank Levine 2011 Senna Asif Kapadia, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, James Gay-Rees and Manish Pandey Hell and Back Again Danfung Dennis, Martin Herring and Mike Lerner Life in a Day Kevin Macdonald and Liza Marshall Project Nim James Marsh and Simon Chinn TT3D: Closer to the Edge Richard De Aragues, Steve Christian and Marc Samuelson 2012 The Imposter Bart Layton and Dimitri Doganis Dreams of a Life Carol Morley and Cairo Cannon London: The Modern Babylon Julien Temple Marley Kevin Macdonald and Charles Steele Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir Laurent Bouzereau, Luca Barbareschi, Andrew Braunsberg, Christoph Fisser, Henning Molfenter and Charlie Woebcken 2013 Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin and Havana Marking The Great Hip Hop Hoax Jeanie Finlay The Moo Man Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier The Spirit of '45 Ken Loach, Rebecca O'Brien, Kate Ogborn and Lisa Marie Russo The Stone Roses: Made of Stone Shane Meadows, Mark Herbert and Libby Durdy 2014 Next Goal Wins Mike Brett, Steve Jamison and Kristian Brodie 20,000 Days on Earth Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard Night Will Fall André Singer, Sally Angel and Brett Ratner The Possibilities are Endless James Hall and Edward Lovelace Virunga Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara 2015 Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance Louise Osmond Amy Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees How to Change the World Jerry Rothwell, Al Morrow and Bous de Jong Palio Cosima Spender A Syrian Love Story Sean McAllister and Elhum Shakerifar 2016 Notes on Blindness Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison and Alex Usborne Dancer Steven Cantor and Gabrielle Tana The Confession: Living the War on Terror Ashish Ghadiali and James Rogan The Hard Stop George Amponsah and Dionne Walker Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach Louise Osmond and Rebecca O'Brien 2017 Almost Heaven Carol Salter Half Way Daisy-May Hudson Kingdom of Us Lucy Cohen, Julia Nottingham, Lucas Ochoa, Thomas Benski and Bill Rudgard Uncle Howard Aaron Brookner and Paula Alvarez Vaccaro Williams Morgan Matthews, Hayley Reynolds and Sarah Hamilton 2018 Evelyn Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story Steve Sullivan Island Steven Eastwood and Elhum Shakerifar Nae Pasaran Felipe Bustos Sierra Under the Wire Chris Martin and Tom Brisley 2019 For Sama Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts Coup 53 Taghi Amirani, Walter Murch and Paul Zaentz Diego Maradona Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin Seahorse Jeanie Finlay and Andrea Cornwell Tell Me Who I Am Ed Perkins and Simon Chinn
2020s YearFilmRecipient(s) 2020 The Reason I Jump Jerry Rothwell, Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee and Al Morrow The Australian Dream Daniel Gordon, Stan Grant and Sarah Thomson Being a Human Person Fred Scott, Mike Brett, Seve Jamisonand and Jo Jo Ellison Rising Phoenix Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, John Battsek, Greg Nugent and Tatyana McFadden White Riot Rubika Shah and Ed Gibbs 2021 Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché Paul Sng, Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe, Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman and Daria Mitsche Cow Andrea Arnold and Kat Mansoor Dying to Divorce Chloe Fairweather and Sinead Kirwan I Am Belmaya Sue Carpenter and Christopher Hird Keyboard Fantasies Posy Dixon and Liv Proctor 2022 Nothing Compares Kathryn Ferguson, Eleanor Emptage and Michael Mallie My Childhood, My Country – 20 Years in Afghanistan Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi and Amanda Wilkie My Old School Jono McLeod, John Archer and Olivia Lichtenstein Nascondino Victoria Fiore, Jennifer Corcoran and Aleksandra Bilić Young Plato Neasa Ní Chianáin, Declan McGrath and David Rane 2023 If the Streets Were on Fire Alice Russell and Gannesh Rajah Bobi Wine: The People's President Christopher Sharp, Moses Bwayo and John Battsek Another Body Sophie Compton, Reubyn Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman and Elizabeth Woodward Lyra Alison Millar and Jackie Doyle Occupied City Steve McQueen, Bianca Stigter, Anna Smith-Tenser and Floor Onrust 2024 Witches Elizabeth Sankey, Jeremy Warmsley, Chiara Ventura and Manon Ardisson Grand Theft Hamlet Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Julia Ton and Rebecca Wolff Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, Lizzie Gillett and Robert Ford Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet and Signe Byrge Sørensen The Contestant Clair Titley, Megumi Inman, Andee Ryder, Amit Dey and Ian Bonhôte2025 (28th)AntidoteJames Jones and David MoultonMother VeraCecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, and Laura ShachamMotherboardVictoria MapplebeckThe Shepherd and the Bear Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBaine, and Jesse MossA Want in Her Myrid Carten, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, and Kat Mansoor
See also BAFTA Award for Best Documentary
References
External links Official website