Pillion dominates British Independent Film Awards 2025 — see the full winners list

No sooner does one awards season end than the next serving of celebrations (and commiserations) arrives. And this evening at London's Roundhouse Theatre, one year on from Kneecap's riotous night at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards, the 2025 BIFAs was, well, dominated by Harry Lighton's Pillion. The BDSM biker dom-com, in which Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård star as a mild-mannered submissive and his inscrutable leather-clad dominant, scooped four awards on the night, including Best British Independent Film and Best Debut Screenwriter for Lighton.

Joint-top of the winners' list, in no small part helped by three wins in BIFA's newly instituted craft categories (for Editing, Sound, and Effects), was Alex Garland's immersive war movie Warfare, whose tight-knit cast were also recognised as a group in the Best Ensemble category. Elsewhere in the major acting races, Robert Aramayo won Best Lead Performance for his deeply impactful work in Kirk Jones' Tourette's biopic I Swear; Jay Lycurgo picked up Best Supporting Performance for his sensitive turn as Shy in Max Porter adaptation Steve; and Tim Key and Mike Basden's note-perfect work in The Ballad Of Wallis Island landed the duo not only Best Joint Lead Performance recognition, but also Best Screenplay.

Elsewhere, Akinola Davies Jr. was honoured with Best Director for his Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù starring feature filmmaking debut My Father's Shadow, while David Jonsson and Tom Blyth starring prison drama Wasteman earned its director Cal McMau the prestigious Douglas Hickox Award. Also of note, The Magic Lantern in Tywyn, Wales was named BIFA's inaugural Cinema Of The Year, while Emily Watson was named recipient of the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film. Given her award by two-time co-star Paul Mescal (God's Creatures, Hamnet), Watson used her speech to rally against the rise in AI in the film industry, calling on her fellow "independent, creative critical thinkers" to fight the algorithm with "the awkward truth" of their storytelling.

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British Independent Film Awards 2025 Results

Best British Independent Film

The Ballad Of Wallis Island

I Swear

My Father's Shadow

Pillion

Urchin

Best International Independent Film

It Was Just An Accident
Sentimental Value
Sirāt
Sorry, Baby
Sound Of Falling

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 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

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 Performance

Scott Ellis Watson — I Swear
Ebada Hassan — Brides
Safiyya Ingar — Brides
Posy Sterling — Lollipop
Connor Tompkins — The Son And the Sea

Best Feature Documentary

Antidote
Mother Vera
Motherboard
The Shepherd And the Bear
A Want In Her

Cinema Of The Year

Depot Cinema
The Magic Lantern Cinema
Montrose Playhouse
Queen’s Film Theatre
Watershed

For a complete list of this year's British Independent Film Awards winners, head to the BIFA website.