The British Independent Film Awards 2025 was held on 30 November 2025 to recognise the best in British independent cinema and filmmaking talent from United Kingdom. The ceremony took place once again at the Roundhouse in London.
The shortlists for multiple categories, including Best International Independent Film and Breakthrough Performance were revealed through October 2025. The nominations were announced on 3 November 2025 by Ben Hardy and Saura Lightfoot-Leon at One Hundred Shoreditch, London. Akinola Davies Jr.'s debut feature My Father's Shadow led the nominations with 12, followed by Pillion and I Swear with 10 and 9 respectively. The award for Best Ensemble Performance was re-introduced after being last presented in 2022 as a competitive category.
Both Pillion and Warfare received the most awards with four each, with the former also receiving the award for Best British Independent Film.
Winners and nominees
Best British Independent FilmBest Director Pillion – Harry Lighton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Emma Norton The Ballad of Wallis Island – James Griffiths, Tom Basden, Tim Key and Rupert Majendie I Swear – Kirk Jones, Georgia Bayliff and Piers Tempest My Father's Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr., Wale Davies, Rachel Dargavel and Funmbi Ogunbanwo Urchin – Harris Dickinson, Archie Pearch and Scott O'Donnell | valign="top" | Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father's Shadow Laura Carreira – On Falling Kirk Jones – I Swear Harry Lighton – Pillion Lynne Ramsay – Die My LoveBest Lead PerformanceBest Supporting Performance Robert Aramayo – I Swear as John Davidson Frank Dillane – Urchin as Mike David Jonsson – Wasteman as Taylor Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love as Grace Harry Melling – Pillion as Colin Cillian Murphy – Steve as Steve Jay Lycurgo – Steve as Shy Tom Blyth – Wasteman as Dee Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear as young John Davidson Peter Mullan – I Swear as Tommy Trotter Maxine Peake – I Swear as Dottie Achenbach Alexander Skarsgård – Pillion as RayBest Joint Lead PerformanceBreakthrough Performance Tim Key and Tom Basden – The Ballad of Wallis Island as Charles Heath and Herb McGwyer Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar – Brides as Doe and Muna Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly as Colleen and Elsie Posy Sterling – Lollipop as Molly Brown Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear as young John Davidson Ebada Hassan – Brides as Doe Safiyya Ingar – Brides as Muna Connor Tompkins – The Son and the Sea as CharlieBest ScreenplayBest Documentary The Ballad of Wallis Island – Tom Basden, Tim Key On Falling – Laura Carreira My Father's Shadow – Wale Davies I Swear – Kirk Jones Pillion – Harry Lighton | valign="top" | A Want in Her – Myrid Carten, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty and Kat Mansoor Antidote – James Jones and David Moulton Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson and Laura Shacham Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck The Shepherd and the Bear – Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss |- ! width="50%" |Best International Independent Film ! width="50%" |Best Short Film |- | valign="top" | Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar It Was Just an Accident – Jafar Panahi and Phillippe Martin Sirāt – Óliver Laxe, Santiago Fillol, Domingo Corral, Oriol Maymo, Andrea Queralt, Mani Mortazavi, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García Sorry, Baby – Eva Victor, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak and Barry Jenkins Sound of Falling – Mascha Schilinski, Louise Pete, Maren Schmitt and Lucas Schmidt | valign="top" | Magid / Zafar – Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam and Aidan Robert Brooks Flock – Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell and Daley Nixon A Sisyphean Task – Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher and George Telfer Stomach Bug – Matty Crawford and Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou Two Black Boys in Paradise – Ben Jackson, Baz Sells and Dean Atta |- ! width="50%" |Best Casting ! width="50%" |Best Cinematography |- | valign="top" | I Swear – Lauren Evans Brides – Shaheen Baig Urchin – Shaheen Baig Warfare – Kharmel Cochrane Steve – Robert Sterne | valign="top" | Die My Love – Seamus McGarvey H Is for Hawk – Charlotte Bruus Christensen My Father's Shadow – Jermaine Edwards Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton A Pale View of Hills – Piotr Niemyjski |- ! width="50%" |Best Costume Design ! width="50%" |Best Editing |- | valign="top" | Pillion – Grace Snell 100 Nights of Hero – Susie Coulthard Tornado – Kirsty Halliday A Pale View of Hills – Sayaka Takahashi and Matthew Price My Father's Shadow – PC Williams | valign="top" | Warfare – Fin Oates LifeHack – Ronan Corrigan and Aleksandr Kletsov My Father's Shadow – Omar Guzman Castro One to One: John & Yoko – Sam Rice-Edwards Pillion – Gareth C. Scales |- ! width="50%" |Best Effects ! width="50%" |Best Make-Up & Hair Design |- | valign="top" | Warfare – Simon Stanley-Clamp and Ryan Conder Die My Love – Victor Tomi The Thing with Feathers – Hayley Williams, Conor O'Sullivan and Martin Malmqvist | valign="top" | Pillion – Diandra Ferreira My Father's Shadow – Kehinde Are and Feyzo Oyebisi Warfare – Paul Gooch and Tristan Versluis Die My Love – Colleen Labaff and Miho Suzuki 100 Nights of Hero – Natasha Lawes |- ! width="50%" |Best Original Music ! width="50%" |Best Music Supervision |- | valign="top" | The Ballad of Wallis Island – Tom Basden and Adem Ilhan Anemone – Bobby Krlic Tornado – Jed Kurzel My Father's Shadow – CJ Mirra Ocean with David Attenborough – Steven Price | valign="top" | Die My Love – Ian Neil and Raife Burchell Wasteman – Phil Canning Urchin – Bridget Samuels |- ! width="50%" |Best Production Design ! width="50%" |Best Sound |- | valign="top" | Harvest – Nathan Parker My Father's Shadow – Jennifer Anti and Pablo Anti Warfare – Mark Digby Die My Love – Tim Grimes 100 Nights of Hero – Sofia Sacomani | valign="top" | Warfare – Sound team Anemone – Steve Fanagan and Stevie Haywood Die My Love – Tim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsén, Andrew Stirk and Ron Osiowy Ish – Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani and Rob Davidson My Father's Shadow – CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher and Pius Fatoke |- ! width="50%" |Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) ! width="50%" |Best Debut Screenwriter |- | valign="top" | Cal McMau – Wasteman Laura Carreira – On Falling Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father's Shadow Harris Dickinson – Urchin Harry Lighton – Pillion Harry Lighton – Pillion Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran – Wasteman Tom Basden and Tim Key – The Ballad of Wallis Island Laura Carreira – On Falling Wale Davies – My Father's ShadowBreakthrough ProducerThe Raindance Maverick Award Dhiraj Mahey – Ish [also produced by Bennett McGhee] Wyn Baptiste – Shoot the People Charlotte Knowles – Palestine Comedy Club Joann Kushner – LifeHack [also produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Aleksandr Kletzov] Archie Pearch – Urchin [also produced by Scott O’Donnell] A Want in Her – Myrid Carten Foul Evil Deeds – Richard Hunter Holloway – Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes and Polly Creed Mother Vera – Cecile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson and Laura Shacham Motherboard – Victoria Mapplebeck |- ! colspan="2" width="50%" |Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary |- | valign="top" colspan="2"| Myrid Carten – A Want in Her Cecile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson – Mother Vera Victoria Mapplebeck – MotherboardBest Ensemble Performance
Films with multiple nominations and awards +Films that received multiple nominationsNominationsFilm 12My Father's Shadow 10Pillion 9 I Swear 8 Die My Love 7 Warfare 6 Urchin 5 The Ballad of Wallis Island Wasteman 4 Brides Mother Vera On Falling 3 100 Nights of Hero A Want in Her Motherboard Steve 2 Anemone A Pale View of Hills Ish LifeHack Tornado
+Films that received multiple awardsAwardsFilm 4 Pillion Warfare 3 A Want in HerThe Ballad of Wallis Island 2 Die My LoveI Swear
References
External links Official website