Published: 06:05 pm, 3 November 2025

A father man holding a young boy who is sat on his lap. Another child is crouched down next to them, holding on to the man's shoulder. Behind them are racks and racks of new shoes, all sandals.

Congratulations to the many films and filmmakers nominated for a British Independent Film Award in a year where British film has had such notable success on the world stage, a testament to the creative ambition and resilience of our filmmaking community. Thank you once again to BIFA for their passion and advocacy for independent cinema here in the UK and beyond.

— Eva Yates, Director of BBC Film

Ten films backed by BBC Film have received a total of 39 nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards, with winners to be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 30 November.

Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father’s Shadow lead the nominations with 12 nods, followed by Harry Lighton’s Pillion with 10 nominations. Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, which was released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 3 October, received 6 nominations. All three originated and were developed with BBC Film.

Laura Carreira’s On Falling received 4 nominations, with Laura receiving nominations for all 4 writing and directing categories. Imran Perretta’s Ish received 2 nominations; Daisy-May Hudson’s Lollipop, Stroma Cairns’ The Son and the Sea, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value all received 1 nomination each.

Short film Stomach Bug directed by Matty Crawford adds a BIFA nomination to its BAFTA nomination from earlier this year. The film was made through BBC Film’s ‘Bridge to Industry’ short film initiative with the NFTS, which is currently in its 9th year.

Eva Yates, Director of BBC Film says: “Congratulations to the many films and filmmakers nominated for a British Independent Film Award in a year where British film has had such notable success on the world stage, a testament to the creative ambition and resilience of our filmmaking community. Thank you once again to BIFA for their passion and advocacy for independent cinema here in the UK and beyond.”

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BBC Film’s BIFA nominations 
My Father’s Shadow

A father man holding a young boy who is sat on his lap. Another child is crouched down next to them, holding on to the man's shoulder. Behind them are racks and racks of new shoes, all sandals.

12 nominations: Best British Independent Film, Best Director (Akinola Davies Jr.), Best Screenplay (Wale Davies), Best Debut Director (Akinola Davies Jr.), Best Debut Screenwriter (Wale Davies), Best Cinematography (Jermaine Edwards), Best Costume Design (PC Williams), Best Editing (Omar Guzmán Castro), Best Make-Up & Hair Design (Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi),Best Original Music (CJ Mirra), Best Production Design (Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti), Best Sound (CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatoke)

Pillion

Two men walking down a street at night with lit fairy lights hanging from the buildings behind them

10 nominations: Best British Independent Film, Best Lead Performance (Harry Melling), Best Supporting Performance (Alexander Skarsgård), Best Director (Harry Lighton), Best Screenplay (Harry Lighton), Best Debut Director (Harry Lighton), Best Debut Screenwriter (Harry Lighton), Best Costume Design (Grace Snell), Best Editing (Gareth C. Scales), Best Make-Up & Hair Design (Diandra Ferreira)

Urchin

Three people dancing on grass, around a camp fire, next to a body of water

6 nominations: Best British Independent Film, Best Lead Performance (Frank Dillane), Best Debut Director (Harris Dickinson), Breakthrough Producer (Archie Pearch – also produced by Scott O’Donnell), Best Casting (Shaheen Baig), Best Music Supervision (Bridget Samuels)

On Falling

A woman in a hoodie, wearing a yellow lanyard walks down an aisle. Either side of the aisle are storage shelves full of box files

4 nominations: Best Director (Laura Carreira), Best Screenplay (Laura Carreira), Best Debut Director (Laura Carreira), Best Debut Screenwriter (Laura Carreira)

Ish

A blacka nd white image of a young boy in sports wear holding a lit flare in his right hand. There are trees behind him.

2 nominations: Breakthrough Producer (Dhiraj Mahey – also produced by Bennett Mcghee), Best Sound (Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson)

Lollipop

Two women with their heads resting on a cushion smiling at each other. One wears a pretty headscarf with pink floral detail.

1 nomination: Breakthrough Performance (Posy Sterling)

The Son and the Sea

A young man in a black hoodie lies with his arms folded on some red leather seating, looking at the camera which is above him.

1 nomination: Breakthrough Performance (Connor Tompkins)

Harvest

A man runs, guiding a white horse away from a burning wooden building engulfed in flames. It is nighttime.

1 nomination: Best Production Design (Nathan Parker)

Sentimental Value

Two women holding each other in an embrace, whilst lying down on white bedding

1 nomination: Best International Independent Film

Stomach Bug (Short Film)

A man holding a rounded belly - the image is taken from side profile and is quite dark with a green hue

1 nomination: Best British Short Film (Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou)

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