Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott, leads the nominations for the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 12, followed by Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning with 8 and Ashley Walter’s debut Animol with 7.
Other films with notable nominations are Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea and Welsh-language feature Effi O Blaenau with six, with Florid, Straight Circle and Molly Manning’s coming-of-age story Extra Geography on five.
Legendary director Mike Leigh’s final film Tender Loving Care also received four nominations, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Ensemble Performances and Best British Independent Film, where he faces up against Elsniore, Effi O Blaenau, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning and Queen at Sea.
The nominations were announced by previous winners Posy Sterling and Jay Lycurgo, who will be hoping to get on stage again for Best Ensemble alongside his co-stars in I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.
Looking to step into the footsteps of Sterling will be Animol duo Nyuot and Sekou Diaby, who will both be hoping to win the award for Breakthrough Performance, though both will have a chance in Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance. Jonathan Jules, Galaxie Clear and Leisa Gwenllian will be hoping to snatch Breakthrough Star from them.
Other big names nominated for awards are Andrew Haigh and Mark Jenkin for Best Director, Claire Foy for Best Supporting Performance for her role in Danny Boyle’s Ink and Erin Doherty, who will be hoping to win Best Lead Performance for her role in Faith.
Looking outside the UK, La Bola Negra is nominated for Best International Feature and will be up against Club Kid, All of a Sudden, Possible Love and La Gravida.
Cinema of the Year is a fan favourite at the BIFA Awards, and this year it is Abbygate Cinema, Campus West, Hippodrome Cinema Bo’ness, The Kinema in the Woods and The Ultimate Picture Palace who will be hoping to golf the title for the coming year.
The 2026 BIFA ceremony takes place on Sunday, December 6 at the Roundhouse in Camden, London and the Craft Winners will be announced on November 24 through their social channels.
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BIFA NOMINEES 2026:
Best British Independent Film
Effi O Blaenau – Marc Evans, Gary Owen, Branwen Cennard
Elsinore – Simon Stone, Stephan Beresford, Andrea Occhipinti, Gabrielle Tana, Pete Shilaimon, Micky Liddell, Stefano Massenzi, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Andrew Scott
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning – Clio Barnard, Enda Walsh, Tracy O’Riordan
Queen at Sea – Lance Hammer, Tristam Goligher
Tender Loving Care – Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
Best Director
Andrew Haigh – A Long Winter
Clio Barnard – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Mark Jenkin – Rose of Nevada
Mike Leigh – Tender Loving Care
Simon Stone – Elsinore
Best Screenplay
Enda Walsh – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Gary Owen – Effi O Blaenau
Lance Hammer – Queen at Sea
Mike Leigh – Tender Loving Care
Stephan Beresford -Elsinore
Best Lead Performance
Andrew Scott – Elsinore
Erin Doherty – Faith
Jonathan Jules – Florid
Juliette Binoche – Queen at Sea
Leisa Gwenliian – Effi O Blaenau
Tut Nyuot – Animol
Best Supporting Performance
Anna Calder-Marshall – Queen at Sea
Billie Piper – Elsinore
Bill Pullman – Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Claire Foy – Ink
Sekou Diaby – Animol
Tom Courtenay – Queen at Sea
Breakthrough Performance
Galaxie Clear – Extra Geography
Jonathan Jules – Florid
Leisa Gwenliian – Effi O Blaenau
Sekou Diaby – Animol
Tut Nyuot – Animol
Best Joint Lead Performance
Séamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley – California Schemin
Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia – The Education of Jane Cumming
Galaxie Clear, Marni Duggan – Effi O Blaenau
Best Ensemble Performance
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning – Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack, Lola Petticrew
Sunny Dancer – Bella Ramsey, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Ruby Stokes, Earl Cave, Conrad Khan, Jasmine Elcock, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Louis Gaunt, Josi Walker, Jessica Gunning, James Norton, Neil Patrick Harris, James Blunt
Tender Loving Care – Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O’Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson
Cinema of the Year
Abbeygate Cinema – Suffolk
Campus West – Hertfordshire
Hippodrome Cinema Bo’ness – Falkirk
The Kinema in the Woods – Lincolnshire
The Ultimate Picture Palace – Oxford
Best Feature Documentary
All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea – Jeanie Finlay, Charlie Philips
Everybody to Kenmure Street – Felipe Bustos Sierra, Ciara Barry
One in a Million – Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, Andrew Palmer, James Bluemel, Raney Aronson-Rath
Something Familiar – Rachel Taparjan, Aleksandra Bilic, Monica Lǎzurean-Gorgan
Best British Short Film
Allies in Exile – Hasan Kattan, Orlando von Einsiedel
Coyotes – Said Zagha, Myriam Sassine, Laura Jumel
Forgotten Spaceman – Elham Ehsas, Lorraine Bhattachary
Untitled Woman – Camille Summers-Valli, Rosmarie Vind, Sorcha Bacon, Martha McGurik, David Zander
Vote Gavin Lyle – Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell, Tom Gardner
Best International Independent Film
All of a Sudden – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimma, David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Kôsuke Oshida, Yûji Sadai, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç, Hiroko Matsuda
Club Kid – Jordan Firstman, Galen Core, Alex Coco
La Bola Negra – Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
La Gradiva – Marine Atlan, Anne Brouillet, Inès Daïen Dasi
Possible Love – Lee Chang-Dong, Oh Jung-Mi
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
Ashley Walters – Animol
Billy Lumby – Florid
Bertil Nilsson – Masc
Louis Paxton – The Incomer
Molly Manners– Extra Geography
Breakthrough Producer
Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer – One in a Million
Branwen Cennard – Effi O Blaenau
Tom Hawkins – Animol
Oskar Pimlott – Bad Apples
Alex Polunin – Black Church Bay
Best Debut Screenwriter
Jess O’Kane – Bad Apples
Louis Paxton – The Incomer
Miriam Battye – Extra Geography
Rhys Marc Jones – Black Church Bay
Thea Gajić – Surviving Earth
The Raindance Maverick Award
Act 3 – Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Alex Thiele, Hannah Patterson
Chatlines – Neil Ely, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, Paul Mortlock
Masc – Bertil Nilsson
The Peril at Pincer Point – Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine
Something Familiar – Rachel Taparjan, Monica Lǎzurean-Gorgan, Elena Martin, Aleksandra Bilic
Best Casting
Jessica Ronane – Elsinore
Heather Basten – Animol
Lara Manwaring – Florid
Lucy Pardee – Extra Geography
Shaheen Baig – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Best Cinematography
André Turpin – A Long Winter
Christopher Ripley – Straight Circle
Mike Eley – Elsinore
Piers McGrail – Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Simon Tindall – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Best Costume Design
Alex Bovaird – Savage House
Carol Case – A Long Winter
Darion Hing – Straight Circle
Mel Page – Elsinore
Sarah Blenkinsop – The Incomer
Best Editing
Fin Oates – Ink
Fouad Gaber – Straight Circle
Otto Burnham – Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story
Maya Maffioli – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Valerio Bonelli – Elsinore
Best Effects
Daniel Morris – The Incomer
John Biggins, Jeff Dillon – Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Ruslan Borysov, Richard Cheal, Tim Ledbury – The Magic Faraway Tree
Best Music Supervision
Connie Farr – I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Connie Farr – Queen at Sea
Phil Canning – Sunny Dancer
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
Jacquetta Levon – Savage House
Karen Hartley Thomas – The Magic Faraway Tree
Nadia Stacey – Elsinore
Nadia Stacey – Madfabulous
Tristan Versluis – Straight Circle
Best Original Music
Hannah Peel – Underland
Mark Jenkin – Rose of Nevada
Siôn Trefor, Ioana Selaru = Effi O Blaenau
Stefan Gregory – Elsinore
Roger Goula – Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Best Production Design
Alexandre Walker – The Magic Faraway Tree
Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl – Ink
Gary Williamson – Savage House
Helen Scott – Elsinore
Luke Moran-Morris – Straight Circle
Best Sound
Andy Coles, John Brennan – Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Dario Swade, George Elliot, Tom Harburt – Florid
Paul Cotterell, Ron Osiowy, Joakim Sundström – A Long Winter
Mark Jenkin, Ian Wilson – Rose of Nevada
Simon Hayes, Johannie Burn – Ink
