The winners of the British Independent Film Awards have been announced, with Pillion taking home Best British Independent Film.
Actor Celia Imrie presented the award for Harry Lighton’s unconventional romantic comedy, in which the lure of a charismatic biker challenges a timid man’s mundane life.
First-time feature writer/director Lighton also won Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4.
The film won four BIFAs in total, including the two previously-announced craft wins for Best Costume Design and Best Make Up & Hair Design.
At the craft awards ceremony, it was also revealed that Seamus McGarvey ASC BSC ISC won Best Cinematography for Die My Love.
Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema went to Akinola Davies Jr for his debut feature My Father’s Shadow, a story of two brothers who first come to understand their father at a pivotal moment in both his life and Nigerian history, which was lensed by Jermaine Edwards.
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film went to Cal McMau for his gripping prison drama Wasteman, tracing the tense bond between two men whose lives collide behind bars, starring David Jonsson and Tom Blyth.
Tom Basden and Tim Key were awarded Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films for their debut feature The Ballad of Wallis Island, which sees a faded folk musician and his former partner reluctantly reunite for an eccentric fan. The pair also won Best Joint Lead Performance.
Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios went to Dhiraj Mahey for his work on social-realist coming-of-age drama Ish, which was also produced by Bennett McGhee.
Myrid Carten’s searing exploration of mental health and addiction within her family, A Want in Her, took an impressive three BIFAs: Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film, The Raindance Maverick Award and Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary for Carten.
Best British Short Film was awarded to MAGID / ZAFAR, a masterful dissection of the relationship between two men amid rising tensions in a British-Pakistani takeaway, lensed by Jaime Ackroyd.
The BIFA for Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger went to Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s intimate exploration of family, memories, and the reconciliatory power of art, marking Trier’s second BIFA win in this category, following The Worst Person in the World in 2022.
Robert Aramayo won 2025’s Best Lead Performance award for his role as John Davison in I Swear, Kirk Jones’ touching feature chronicling the Tourette’s campaigner’s life, which was shot by James Blann.
Best Supporting Performance went to Jay Lycurgo for Tim Mielants’s 1990s-set pressure-cooker school drama Steve, also starring Cillian Murphy.
While newcomer Posy Sterling won Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix as a mother fighting for custody of her children in Daisy-May Hudson’s debut feature Lollipop.
The full list of winners is available on the BIFA website.
