British Independent Film Awards 2025: ‘My Father’s Shadow’ leads pack with 12 nominations
The nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) have been revealed, with My Father’s Shadow, directed by Akinola Davies Jr, leading the pack with 12 nods.
The film, which marked Davies Jr’s feature-length directorial debut, has scooped nominations for some of the most prestigious prizes including ‘Best British Independent Film’ and ‘Best Debut Director’, for its story of two young brothers against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election.
My Father’s Shadow has also picked up nods for ‘Best Debut Screenwriter’ for the screenplay written by Davies Jr and his brother, Wade, as well as for technical awards such as ‘Best Costume Design’.
Elsewhere, Pillion, the romance drama starring Alexander Skarsgård, from fellow debut director Harry Lighton, comes in second with its 10 nominations, including for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Screenplay’, ‘Best Debut Director’, and ‘Best Debut Screenwriter’.
Other notable mentions include Kirk Jones’s I Swear, the biopic of Scottish Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson. The emotional film has scored nine nominations in the BIFA, including ‘Best Lead Performance’ for Robert Aramayo, who plays the adult Davidson, as well as three nods in the ‘Best Supporting Performance’ category, for Scott Ellis Watson, Peter Mullan, and Maxine Peake, respectively.
Die My Love, the first directorial effort from Lynne Ramsay in some eight years, has also scooped up a further eight nominations, bringing a hint of Hollywood towards the awards ceremony. Ramsay herself has been nominated for ‘Best Director’, while Jennifer Lawrence has been recognised in the ‘Best Lead Actor’ category.
The ceremony for this year’s British Independent Film Awards will take place at the Roundhouse in London on November 30th, 2025. A list of nominees for the major categories can be found below.
British Independent Film Awards 2025: The major categories
‘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
‘Cinema of the Year’
- Depot Cinema
- The Magic Lantern Cinema
- Montrose Playhouse
- Queen’s Film Theatre
- Watershed
‘Best Director’
- Laura Carreira – On Falling
- Akinola Davies Jr – My Father’s Shadow
- Kirk Jones – I Swear
- Harry Lighton – Pillion
- Lynne Ramsay – Die My Love
‘Best Screenplay’
- Tom Basden, Tim Key – The Ballad Of Wallis Island
- Laura Carreira – On Falling
- Wale Davies – My Father’s Shadow
- Kirk Jones – I Swear
- Harry Lighton – Pillion
‘Best Lead Performance’
- Robert Aramayo – I Swear
- Frank Dillane – Urchin
- David Jonsson – Wasteman
- Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love
- Harry Melling – Pillion
- Cillian Murphy – Steve
‘Best Supporting Performance’
- Tom Blyth – Wasteman
- Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear
- Jay Lycurgo – Steve
- Peter Mullan – I Swear
- Maxine Peake – I Swear
- Alexander Skarsgard – Pillion
‘Best Joint Lead Performance’
- Ebada Hassan, Saffiya Ingar – Brides
- Tim Key, Tom Basden – The Ballad Of Wallis Island
- Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly
‘Best Ensemble Performance’ – WINNER
- Warfare – D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton
‘The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)’
- Laura Carreira – On Falling
- Akinola Davies Jr – My Father’s Shadow
- Harris Dickinson – Urchin
- Harry Lighton – Pillion
- Cal McMau – Wasteman
‘Breakthrough Producer’
- Wyn Baptiste – Shoot The People
- Charlotte Knowles – Palestine Comedy Club
- Joann Kushner – LifeHack [also produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Aleksandr Kletzov]
- Dhiraj Mahey – Ish [also produced by Bennett McGhee]
- Archie Pearch – Urchin [also produced by Scott O’Donnell]
‘Breakthrough Performance’
- Scott Ellis Watson – I Swear
- Ebada Hassan – Brides
- Safiyya Ingar – Brides
- Posy Sterling – Lollipop
- Connor Tompkins – The Son And The Sea
‘Best Debut Screenwriter’
- Hunter Andrews, Eoin Doran – Wasteman
- Tom Basden, Tim Key – The Ballad Of Wallis Island
- Laura Carreira – On Falling
- Wale Davies – My Father’s Shadow
- Harry Lighton – Pillion
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