‘Pillion’ Dominates BIFA Awards, ‘Sentimental Value’ Wins Best International Film

Writer-director Harry Lighton‘s feature debut Pillion, a sub/dom romance starring Alexander Skarsgård as a leather-clad biker and Harry Melling as a suburban Londoner who starts a relationship with him and becomes his submissive, won four British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) statuettes, including two for best independent British film and best debut screenwriter in London on Sunday. Celia Imrie presented the best film award at the end of an evening full of love and appreciation for indie film.

Including the recently unveiled BIFA craft awards, Pillion ended up with a total of four BIFA wins, the same number as Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s Navy SEALs platoon movie Warfare earned in the previously unveiled craft and ensemble cast categories.

Myrid Carten’s exploration of mental health and addiction within her family, A Want in Her, was honored with three BIFAs on Sunday, namely for best feature documentary, the best debut director – feature documentary, and The Raindance Maverick Award.

Early in the evening, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value was honored with the best international indie film BIFA.

Akinola Davies Jr. won the best director honor for his Lagos, Nigeria-set debut feature My Father’s Shadow, a family drama starring Sopé Dirisu (Slow Horses). The film, the U.K. submission for the best international feature film race at the Oscars, had led the BIFA nominations with 12. Handing Davies his statuette was Billy Crudup.

Meanwhile, Tom Basden and Tim Key won BIFAs for the best joint lead performance, as well as best screenplay for their debut feature The Ballad of Wallis Island, about a faded folk musician and his former partner reluctantly reuniting for an eccentric fan.

The BIFA acting trophies went to Robert Aramayo, who received the best lead performance award for his role as a Tourette’s campaigner in Kirk Jones’ I Swear, Posy Sterling for her best breakthrough performance-honored role as a mother fighting for the custody of her children inDaisy-May Hudson’s debut feature Lollipop, and Jay Lycurgo for his best supporting performance-winning role in pressure-cooker school drama Steve, also starring Cillian Murphy.

The Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director went to Cal McMau for his prison drama Wasteman, tracing the tense bond between two men whose lives collide behind bars. The movie stars David Jonsson and Tom Blyth. And the breakthrough producer honor was bestowed upon Dhiraj Mahey for his work on the social-realist coming-of-age drama Ish, which was also produced by Bennett McGhee.

The best British short film award went to Magid / Zafar, a dissection of the relationship between two men amid rising tensions in a British-Pakistani takeaway restaurant from director Luís Hindman.

A special jury prize went to Adolescence producer
and This Is England producer WarpFilms.

During his acceptance speech, Lighton recalled being nominated for a BIFA with a short film in 2017. “I didn’t win, and I got incredibly drunk and spent the rest of the evening kind of burning industry bridges. I’m going to start by saying thank you to BIFA for not blacklisting me,” he quipped.

He thanked a range of collaborators, including the film’s stars, “Harry and Alex. What a hot couple!” Concluded Lighton: “I remember it kind of blew my mind that I sent both of you a script about butt plugs, and you both said yes.”

In another highlight of Sunday evening, the 2025 Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film was handed to Emily Watson by her two-time co-star and friend Paul Mescal.

Watson, during her acceptance speech, addressed the audience as “you lot – independent, creative critical thinkers. You are actually going to save us when the stories that are being told to us, about us, or by us, are all driven by a rapacious, hungry algorithm. The awkward truth of the stories that you tell, they are our life support.”

Later in her speech, Watson said: “So what you have to do is you have to reach out to those coming behind you, and you have to build relationships with younger colleagues, less certain of their path than you are. And that is actually the most rewarding part of the job, and it will ensure that we can help keep holding the algorithm to the fire.”

Check out the full list of winners at the British Independent Film Awards 2025 below.

Best British Independent Film
Pillion

Best British Short Film
Magid / Zafar

Best Casting
Lauren Evans, I Swear

Best Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey, Die My Love

Best Costume Design
Grace Snell, Pillion

Best Debut Screenwriter
Harry Lighton, Pillion

Best Debut Director
Cal McMau, Wasteman

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Myrid Carten, A Want in Her

Best Director
Akinola Davies Jr., My Father’s Shadow

Best Editing
Fin Oates, Warfare

Best Effects
Simon Stanley-Clamp and Ryan Conder, Warfare