‘My Father’s Shadow’ Leads Nominations for British Independent Film Awards

My Father’s Shadow leads the nominations for the 2025 British Independent Film Awards with 12, including Best British Independent Film, along with Best Director and Best Debut Director for Akinola Davies Jr.

Pillion followed with 10 nominations, also including Best British Independent Film, along with Best Director and Best Debut Director for Harry Lighton.

Also nominated for Best British Independent Film are The Ballad of Wallis Island, I Swear and Urchin.

The winners of the 2025 British Independent Film Awards will be announced at the ceremony on November 30, 2025

2025 British Independent Film Awards Nominees

Best British Independent Film

The Ballad of Wallis Island
James Griffiths / Tom Basden / Tim Key / Rupert Majendie

I Swear
Kirk Jones / Georgia Bayliff / Piers Tempest

My Father’s Shadow
Akinola Davies Jr / Wale Davies / Rachel Dargavel / Funmbi Ogunbanwo

Pillion
Harry Lighton / Lee Groombridge / Ed Guiney / Andrew Lowe / Emma Norton

Urchin
Harris Dickinson / Archie Pearch / Scott O’Donnell

Best Screenplay

The Ballad of Wallis Island
Tom Basden / Tim Key

I Swear
Kirk Jones

My Father’s Shadow
Wale Davies

On Falling
Laura Carreira

Pillion
Harry Lighton

Best Director

Die My Love
Lynne Ramsay

I Swear
Kirk Jones

My Father’s Shadow
Akinola Davies Jr

On Falling
Laura Carreira

Pillion
Harry Lighton

Best Lead Performance

Die My Love
Jennifer Lawrence

I Swear
Robert Aramayo

Pillion
Harry Melling

Steve
Cillian Murphy

Urchin
Frank Dillane

Wasteman
David Jonsson

Best Ensemble Performance

Warfare
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai / Will Poulter / Cosmo Jarvis / Kit Connor / Finn Bennett / Joseph Quinn / Charles Melton

Best Joint Lead Performance

The Ballad of Wallis Island
Tim Key / Tom Basden

Brides
Ebada Hassan / Safiyya Ingar

Dragonfly
Andrea Riseborough / Brenda Blethyn

Best Supporting Performance

I Swear
Maxine Peake

I Swear
Peter Mullan

I Swear
Scott Ellis Watson

Pillion
Alexander Skarsgård

Steve
Jay Lycurgo

Wasteman
Tom Blyth

Breakthrough Performance

Brides
Ebada Hassan

Brides
Safiyya Ingar

I Swear
Scott Ellis Watson

Lollipop
Posy Sterling

The Son and the Sea
Connor Tompkins

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)

My Father’s Shadow
Akinola Davies Jr

On Falling
Laura Carreir

Pillion
Harry Lighton

Urchin
Harris Dickinson

Wasteman
Cal McMau

Best Debut Screenwriter

The Ballad of Wallis Island
Tom Basden / Tim Key

My Father’s Shadow
Wale Davies

On Falling
Laura Carreira

Pillion
Harry Lighton

Wasteman
Hunter Andrews / Eoin Doran

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

Mother Vera
Cécile Embleton / Alys Tomlinson

Motherboard
Victoria Mapplebeck

A Want In Her
Myrid Carten

Breakthrough Producer

Ish
Dhiraj Mahey
also produced by Bennett McGhee

LifeHack
Joann Kushner
also produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Aleksandr Kletzov

Palestine Comedy Club
Charlotte Knowles

Shoot the People
Wyn Baptiste

Urchin
Archie Pearch
also produced by Scott O’Donnell

Best Feature Documentary

Antidote
James Jones / David Moulton

Mother Vera
Cécile Embleton / Alys Tomlinson / Laura Shacham

Motherboard
Victoria Mapplebeck

The Shepherd and the Bear
Max Keegan / Elizabeth Woodward / Amanda McBaine / Jesse Moss

A Want In Her
Myrid Carten / Tadhg O’Sullivan / Roisín Geraghty / Kat Mansoor

The Raindance Maverick Award

Foul Evil Deeds
Richard Hunter

Holloway
Sophie Compton / Daisy-May Hudson / Alice Hughes / Polly Creed / Stella Heath Keir

Mother Vera
Cécile Embleton / Alys Tomlinson / Laura Shacham

Motherboard
Victoria Mapplebeck

A Want In Her
Myrid Carten

Best International Independent Film

It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi / Phillippe Martin

Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier / Eskil Vogt / Maria Ekerhovd / Andrea Berentsen Ottmar

Sirāt
Oliver Laxe / Santiago Fillol / Domingo Corral / Oriol Maymó / Andrea Queralt / Mani Mortazavi / Xavi Font / Pedro Almodóvar / Agustín Almodóvar / Esther García

Sorry, Baby
Adele Romanski / Mark Ceryak / Barry Jenkins / Eva Victor

Sound of Falling
Mascha Schilinski / Louise Peter / Maren Schmitt / Lucas Schmidt

Best British Short

Flock
Mac Nixon / Matt Ashwell / Daley Nixon

MAGID / ZAFAR
Luís Hindman / Sufiyaan Salam / Aidan Robert Brooks

A Sisyphean Task
George Telfer / Gus Flind-Henry / George Malcher

Stomach Bug
Matty Crawford / Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou

Two Black Boys in Paradise
Ben Jackson / Baz Sells / Dean Atta

Best Casting

Brides
Shaheen Baig

I Swear
Lauren Evans

Steve
Robert Sterne

Urchin
Shaheen Baig

Warfare
Kharmel Cochrane

Best Cinematography

Die My Love
Seamus McGarvey

H is for Hawk
Charlotte Bruus Christensen

Mother Vera
Cécile Embleton

My Father’s Shadow
Jermaine Edwards

A Pale View of Hills
Piotr Niemyjski

Best Costume Design

100 Nights of Hero
Susie Coulthard

My Father’s Shadow
PC Williams

A Pale View of Hills
Sayaka Takahashi / Matthew Price

Pillion
Grace Snell

Tornado
Kirsty Halliday

Best Editing

LifeHack
Ronan Corrigan / Aleksandr Kletsov

My Father’s Shadow
Omar Guzmán Castro

One to One: John & Yoko
Sam Rice-Edwards

Pillion
Gareth C. Scales

Warfare
Fin Oates

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

100 Nights of Hero
Natasha Lawes

Die My Love
Colleen LaBaff / Miho Suzuki

My Father’s Shadow
Kehinde Are / Feyzo Oyebisi

Pillion
Diandra Ferreira

Warfare
Paul Gooch / Tristan Versluis

Best Music Supervision

Die My Love
Ian Neil / Raife Burchell

Urchin
Bridget Samuels

Wasteman
Phil Canning

Best Original Music

Anemone
Bobby Krlic

The Ballad of Wallis Island
Tom Basden / Adem Ilhan

My Father’s Shadow
CJ Mirra / Duval Timothy

Ocean With David Attenborough
Steven Price

Tornado
Jed Kurzel

Best Production Design

100 Nights of Hero
Sofia Sacomani

Die My Love
Tim Grimes

Harvest
Nathan Parker

My Father’s Shadow
Jennifer Anti / Pablo Anti

Warfare
Mark Digby

Best Sound

Anemone
Steve Fanagan / Stevie Haywood

Die My Love
Tim Burns / Paul Davies / Linda Forsén / Andrew Stirk / Ron Osiowy

Ish
Nina Hartstone / Jake Whitelee / Jens Petersen / Mike Tehrani / Rob Davidson

My Father’s Shadow
CJ Mirra / James Ridgway / Joe Jackson / Adele Fletcher / Pius Fatoke

Warfare
Sound Team

Best Effects

Die My Love
Victor Tomi

The Thing With Feathers
Conor O’Sullivan / Martin Malmqvist / Hayley Williams

Warfare
Simon Stanley-Clamp / Ryan Conder