British Independent Film Awards: ‘Elsinore’ Leads Nominations With 12

Andrew Scott’s Elsinore leads the nominations for the 2026 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which were unveiled on Tuesday.

BIFA-winning actors Jay Lycurgo and Posy Sterling revealed at One Hundred Shoreditch in London that the film received 12 nominations, followed by Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning with eight, and Animol, the directorial feature debut of Adolescence star Ashley Walters, with seven.

In the best British independent film category, Simon Stone’s Elsinore and I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning are joined by Marc Evans’ Effi O Blaenau, Queen at Sea, directed by Lance Hammer, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care.

Stone and Barnard also scored best debut director nominations, along with Andrew Haigh for A Long Winter, Mark Jenkin for Rose of Nevada and Leigh for Tender Loving Care.

Best lead performance nominees include Scott for Elsinore, Juliette Binoche for her role in Queen at Sea,
Erin Doherty for Faith, Leisa Gwenllian for Effi o Blaenau, Jonathan Jules for Florid, and Tut Nyuot for Animol.

Claire Foy, Tom Courtenay, Sekou Diaby, Anna Calder-Marshall, Billie Piper and Bill Pullman were nominated as best supporting performers. And among the nominees in the best ensemble performance category are the likes of Bella Ramsey, Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack, Lola Petticrew, James Blunt, James Norton and Neil Patrick Harris.

Competing for the best international independent film are All of a Sudden, Club Kid, La Bola Negra, La Gradiva and Possible Love.

Meanwhile, nominated for the feature documentary award are All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, Everybody to Kenmure Street, One in a Million, Something Familiar and We, the Hated.

And in a notable feat, the best music supervision award category features Connie Farr receiving two nominations.

The BIFAs 2026 ceremony takes place on Dec. 6 at the Camden Roundhouse in London. Check out the full list of nominees for the 2026 BIFAs below.

Best British Independent Film
Effi O Blaenau Marc Evans, Gary Owen, Branwen Cennard

Elsinore Simon Stone, Stephen Beresford, Andrea Occhipinti, Gabrielle Tana, Pete Shilaimon, Mickey 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, Tristan Goligher

Tender Loving Care Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe

Best Director
Clio Barnard I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Andrew Haigh A Long Winter

Mark Jenkin Rose of Nevada

Mike Leigh Tender Loving Care

Simon Stone Elsinore

Best Screenplay, sponsored by Apple Original Films
Stephen Beresford Elsinore

Lance Hammer Queen at Sea

Mike Leigh Tender Loving Care

Gary Owen Effi O Blaenau

Enda Walsh I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Best Lead Performance
Juliette Binoche Queen at Sea

Erin Doherty Faith

Leisa Gwenllian Effi O Blaenau

Jonathan Jules Florid

Tut Nyuot Animol

Andrew Scott Elsinore

Best Supporting Performance
Anna Calder-Marshall Queen at Sea

Tom Courtenay Queen at Sea

Sekou Diaby Animol

Claire Foy Ink

Billie Piper Elsinore

Bill Pullman Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Best Joint Lead Performance
Séamus Mclean Ross, Samuel Bottomley California Schemin’

Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia The Education of Jane Cumming

Marni Duggan, Galaxie Clear Extra Geography

Chimpaye Florence Mariserena, Bizimana Hussain Small Gods

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, Josie Walker, Jessica Gunning, James Norton, Neil Patrick Harris, James Blunt

Tender Loving Care Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O’flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson

Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film
All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea Jeanie Finlay, Charlie Phillips

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 Lăzurean-Gorgan

We, the Hated Rich Felgate, David Allen

Cinema of the Year, supported by Kia

Abbeygate Cinema

Campus West

Hippodrome Cinema

The Kinema in the Woods

The Ultimate Picture Palace

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), sponsored by BBC Film
Billy Lumby Florid

Molly Manners Extra Geography

Bertil Nilsson Masc

Louis Paxton The Incomer

Ashley Walters Animol

Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios

Itab Azzam, Jack Macinnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer One in a Million [also produced by Raney Aronson-Rath]

Branwen Cennard Effi O Blaenau

Tom Hawkins Animol [also Produced by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Nick Love, Ashley Walters]

Oskar Pimlott Bad Apples

Alex Polunin Black Church Bay [also Produced by Tristan Goligher]

Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by Netflix
Galaxie Clear Extra Geography

Sekou Diaby Animol

Leisa Gwenllian Effi O Blaenau

Jonathan Jules Florid

Tut Nyuot Animol

Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by Film4
Miriam Battye Extra Geography

Thea Gajić Surviving Earth

Rhys Marc Jones Black Church Bay

Jess O’Kane Bad Apples

Louis Paxton The Incomer

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 Lăzurean-Gorgan, Elena Martin, Aleksandra Bilic

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 Mcguirk, David Zander

Vote Gavin Lyle Aneil Karia, Scott O’donnell, Tom Gardner

Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
All of a Sudden Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna, 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 Brouilet, Inès Daïen Dasi

Possible Love Lee Chang-Dong, Oh Jung-Mi

Best Casting
Shaheen Baig I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Heather Basten Animol

Lara Manwaring Florid

Lucy Pardee Extra Geography

Jessica Ronane Elsinore

Best Cinematography, sponsored by Kodak & Molinare
Mike Eley Elsinore

Piers Mcgrail Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Christopher Ripley Straight Circle

Simon Tindall I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

André Turpin a Long Winter

Best Costume Design
Sarah Blenkinsop The Incomer

Alex Bovaird Savage House

Carol Case A Long Winter

Darion Hing Straight Circle

Mel Page Elsinore

Best Editing
Valerio Bonelli Elsinore

Otto Burnham Black Is Beautiful: the Kwame Brathwaite Story

Fouad Gaber Straight Circle

Maya Maffioli I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Fin Oates Ink

Best Effects
Jon Biggins, Jeff Dillon Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

Ruslan Borysov, Richard Cheal, Tim Ledbury The Magic Faraway Tree

Daniel Morris The Incomer

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

Nadia Stacey Elsinore

Nadia Stacey Madfabulous

Karen Hartley Thomas The Magic Faraway Tree

Tristan Versluis Straight Circle

Best Original Music, sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
Roger Goula Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Stefan Gregory Elsinore

Mark Jenkin Rose of Nevada

Hannah Peel Underland

Siôn Trefor, Ioana Selaru Effi O Blaenau

Best Production Design, sponsored by ATC
Luke Moran-Morris Straight Circle

Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl Ink

Helen Scott Elsinore

Alexandra Walker The Magic Faraway Tree

Gary Williamson Savage House

Best Sound, sponsored by Bleat
Andy Coles, John Brennan Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Paul Cotterell, Ron Osiowy, Joakim Sundström A Long Winter

Simon Hayes, Johnnie Burn Ink

Mark Jenkin, Ian Wilson Rose of Nevada

Dario Swade, George Elliott, Tom Harburt Florid

The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
To be announced later