Biker romance Pillion has taken the top prize at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards, capping a strong night for writer-director Harry Lighton at London’s Roundhouse. The Cannes-launched debut won Best British Independent Film and three further prizes, tying Alex Garland’s war drama Warfare as the evening’s most decorated title.
Organizers named Lighton Best Debut Screenwriter, while Grace Snell and Diandra Ferreira were recognised for costume design and make-up and hair. Starring Harry Melling as shy office worker Colin and Alexander Skarsgård as biker Ray, Pillion follows a submissive–dominant relationship in suburban England and has drawn praise from festival critics and recent British reviews for its dry humour and unexpectedly domestic take on gay BDSM culture.
Warfare matched Pillion with four wins across ensemble, sound, editing and effects, signalling strong support for its large cast and battlefield filmmaking. Folk-music comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island continued its rise from limited release to streaming favourite with three awards: best screenplay, best joint lead performance for writer-stars Tom Basden and Tim Key, and best original music.
In the acting categories, Robert Aramayo took Best Lead Performance for I Swear, playing Tourette’s campaigner John Davison, while Jay Lycurgo earned Best Supporting Performance for school-set pressure-cooker drama Steve. Posy Sterling received the Breakthrough Performance prize for custody drama Lollipop, and Warfare’s ensemble — including Will Poulter, Kit Connor, Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton — was recognised for collective work.
Akinola Davies Jr won Best Director for Nigeria-set My Father’s Shadow, the most-nominated film of the night and the United Kingdom’s submission for the international feature Oscar, after a Cannes premiere that marked a historic first for Nigeria in the festival’s official selection. Documentary A Want in Her delivered a triple win for filmmaker Myrid Carten, taking feature documentary, debut documentary director and the Raindance Maverick Award.
The international independent film prize went to Joachim Trier’s Norwegian drama Sentimental Value. Short film Magid / Zafar, debut director Cal McMau’s prison drama Wasteman and breakthrough producer Dhiraj Mahey for Ish joined the winners’ roll, while The Magic Lantern Cinema in Tywyn claimed the first BIFA Cinema of the Year award. The ceremony also honoured Warp Films with the special jury prize and presented Emily Watson with the Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution by an actor to British film.
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Founded in 1998, the British Independent Film Awards sit near the front of the UK awards season and spotlight films made outside the studio system. Last year the Irish-language comedy Kneecap took the top honour; this time voters split their enthusiasm among a queer biker romance backed by public-funded bodies, a Nigeria-British family drama rooted in Nollywood talent, a folk-music comedy that found a second life on streaming and an effects-heavy war picture, a mix that shows how wide the country’s independent film culture now stretches.
