Akinola Davies Jr.’s debut feature “My Father’s Shadow” has emerged as the film to beat at the upcoming 2025 British Independent Film Awards.
The Cannes-bowing film, starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and set against the backdrop of political arrest in 1993 Nigeria, leads the pack of titles going into this year’s BIFA ceremony with 12 nominations, including best British independent film and director.
Underling the emergence of new talent across the board of nominees, “My Father’s Shadow” is followed by another directorial debut (and another film backed by Element Pictures that premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard competition) in Harry Lighton’s “Pillion.” Starring Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling, the kinky queer romance earned 10 nominations, including best director and screenplay, plus nods for lead and supporting performance. Lighton was nominated in 2017 for his short “Wren Boys.”
Close behind and already a hit in U.K. cinemas is Kirk Jones’ touching “I Swear,” about Tourette’s campaigner John Davison. The film has nine nominations, including best director and four performance nods. Further down, Lynne Ramsey’s “Die My Love,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, has eight (including Lawrence’s first BIFA recognition), followed by Alex Garland’s “Warfare” with seven. BIFA also announced that “Warfare” was the winner of its ensemble performance award.
Harris Dickinson, meanwhile, saw his directorial debut “Urchin” (another Un Certain Regard-premiering film) land six nominations, including best British independent film and lead performance for Frank Dillane. Elsewhere, there were nominations for the likes of Cillian Murphy (“Steve”), Andrea Riseborough (“Dragonfly”), David Jonsson (“Wasteman”), Peter Mullan (“I Swear”) and Brenda Blethyn (“Dragonfly”).
The 2025 BIFA ceremony will take place on Nov. 30 at London’s Roundhouse.
See the full list of nominations below.
Best British Independent Film
“The Ballad of Wallis Island”
“I Swear”
“My Father’s Shadow”
“Pillion”
“Urchin”
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 Skarsgård, “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 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”
The Douglas Hickox Award for 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”
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
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Myrid Carten, “A Want in Her”
Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, “Mother Vera”
Victoria Mapplebeck, “Motherboard”
The Raindance Maverick Award
“Foul Evil Deeds,” Richard Hunter
“Holloway,” Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
“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”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sirāt”
“Sorry, Baby”
“Sound of Falling”
Best Casting
Shaheen Baig, “Brides”
Shaheen Baig, “Urchin”
Kharmel Cochrane, “Warfare”
Lauren Evans, “I Swear”
Robert Sterne, “Steve”
Best Cinematography
Charlotte Bruus Christensen, “H Is for Hawk”
Jermaine Edwards, “My Father’s Shadow”
Cécile Embleton, “Mother Vera”
Seamus Mcgarvey, “Die My Love”
Piotr Niemyjski, “A Pale View of Hills”
Best Costume Design
Susie Coulthard, “100 Nights of Hero”
Kirsty Halliday, “Tornado”
Grace Snell, “Pillion”
Sayaka Takahashi, Matthew Price, “A Pale View of Hills”
PC Williams, “My Father’s Shadow”
Best Editing
Ronan Corrigan, Aleksandr Kletsov, “Lifehack”
Omar Guzmán Castro, “My Father’s Shadow”
Fin Oates, “Warfare”
Sam Rice-Edwards, “One to One: John & Yoko”
Gareth C. Scales, “Pillion”
Best Effects
Simon Stanley-Clamp, Ryan Conder, “Warfare”
Victor Tomi, “Die My Love”
Hayley Williams, Conor O’Sullivan, Martin Malmqvist, “The Thing With Feathers”
Best Music Supervision
Phil Canning, “Wasteman”
Ian Neil, Raife Burchell, “Die My Love”
Bridget Samuels, “Urchin”
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi, “My Father’s Shadow”
Diandra Ferreira, “Pillion”
Paul Gooch, Tristan Versluis, “Warfare”
Colleen Labaff, Miho Suzuki, “Die My Love”
Natasha Lawes, “100 Nights of Hero”
Best Original Music
Tom Basden, Adem Ilhan, “The Ballad of Wallis Island”
Bobby Krlic, “Anemone”
Jed Kurzel, “Tornado”
CJ Mirra, “My Father’s Shadow”
Steven Price, “Ocean With David Attenborough”
Best Production Design
Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti, “My Father’s Shadow”
Mark Digby, “Warfare”
Tim Grimes, “Die My Love”
Nathan Parker, “Harvest”
Sofia Sacomani, “100 Nights of Hero”
Best Sound
Steve Fanagan, Stevie Haywood, “Anemone”
Tim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsén, Andrew Stirk, Ron Osiowy, “Die My Love”
Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson, “Ish”
CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatoke, “My Father’s Shadow”
Sound team “Warfare”
Best British Short Film
“Flock” — Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daley Nixon
“Magid/ Zafar” — Luís Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks
“A Sisyphean Task” — Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher, George Telfer
“Stomach Bug” — Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou
“Two Black Boys in Paradise” — Ben Jackson, Baz Sells, Dean Atta
Cinema of the Year
Depot Cinema
The Magic Lantern Cinema
Montrose Playhouse
Queen’s Film Theatre
Watershed