Lyrical Muse

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA 2025) delivered a standout night for debut filmmakers on Sunday, with Harry Lighton’s provocative BDSM romance Pillion taking the top prize at London’s Roundhouse. The film, which premiered at Cannes and marks Lighton’s feature debut, won Best British Independent Film, solidifying its status as one of the year’s most closely watched UK indies.

Lighton, who also earned Best Debut Screenwriter, leads a cohort of first-time directors dominating this year’s ceremony. Pillion’s additional craft wins for costume and makeup highlight the film’s meticulous world-building. Its central on-screen dynamic leads — Alexander Skarsgård’s imposing biker and Harry Melling’s withdrawn young submissive, has sparked critical attention since its festival bow. With A24 preparing the U.S. release, Sunday’s wins position the film as a key awards-season player beyond the UK circuit.

The award ceremony also marked a milestone moment for Akinola Davies Jr., whose Nigeria-set coming-of-age drama My Father’s Shadow earned the filmmaker Best Director. It’s another Cannes debut and an Element Pictures production. Though it converted only one of its 11 nominations, Davies Jr.’s win highlighted the BIFAs’ longstanding role as a platform for emerging voices with global perspectives.

In the gender-neutral performance races, voters recognized work spanning intimate indie drama and rising-star showcases. Robert Aramayo was awarded Best Lead Performance for I Swear, while Jay Lycurgo collected Best Supporting Performance for his turn in Steve.

See the full list of winners below:

Best British Independent Film

• “The Ballad of Wallis Island”
• “I Swear”
• “My Father’s Shadow”
• “Pillion” (WINNER)
• “Urchin”

Best Lead Performance

• Robert Aramayo,” I Swear” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn, “Dragonfly”

Best Director

• Laura Carreira, “On Falling”
• Akinola Davies Jr, “My Father’s Shadow” (WINNER)
• Kirk Jones, “I Swear”
• Harry Lighton, “Pillion”
• Lynne Ramsay, “Die My Love”

Best Screenplay

• Tom Basden, Tim Key, “The Ballad of Wallis Island” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)

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] (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)

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 (WINNER)

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

• Myrid Carten, “A Want in Her” (WINNER)
• 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 (WINNER)

Best International Independent Film

• “It Was Just an Accident”
• “Sentimental Value” (WINNER)
• “Sirāt”
• “Sorry, Baby”
• “Sound of Falling”

Best Casting

• Shaheen Baig, “Brides”
• Shaheen Baig, “Urchin”
• Kharmel Cochrane, “Warfare”
• Lauren Evans, “I Swear” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• Piotr Niemyjski, “A Pale View of Hills”

Best Costume Design

• Susie Coulthard, “100 Nights of Hero”
• Kirsty Halliday, “Tornado”
• Grace Snell, “Pillion” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• Sam Rice-Edwards, “One to One: John & Yoko”
• Gareth C. Scales, “Pillion”

Best Effects

• Simon Stanley-Clamp, Ryan Conder, “Warfare” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• Bridget Samuels, “Urchin”

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

• Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi, “My Father’s Shadow”
• Diandra Ferreira, “Pillion” (WINNER)
• 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” (WINNER)
• Bobby Krlic, “Anemone”
• Jed Kurzel, “Tornado”
• CJ Mirra, Duval Timothy “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” (WINNER)
• 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”
• Glenn Freemantle, Mitch Low, Howard Bargroff, Ben Barker and Richard Spooner, “Warfare” (WINNER)

Best British Short Film

• “Flock” — Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daley Nixon
• “Magid/ Zafar” — Luís Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks (WINNER)
• “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 (WINNER)
• Montrose Playhouse
• Queen’s Film Theatre
• Watershed

Source: BIFA

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