BIFA 2026 Nominations: 'Elsinore' Leads With 12 Nods

Simon Stone's Elsinore leads the 2026 British Independent Film Awards with 12 nominations, BIFA announced today. Andrew Scott, a previous BIFA winner, heads the field as Best Lead Performance contender.

The total breaks down into five programme categories and seven craft nods. Elsinore secured Best British Independent Film, Best Director for Stone, Best Screenplay for Stephen Beresford, Best Lead Performance for Scott, and Best Supporting Performance for Billie Piper. Its craft tally spans cinematography, casting, costume design, editing, original music, production design for Helen Scott, and make-up and hair design for Nadia Stacey — a distribution across seven separate below-the-line branches that signals broad academy support.

Who trails the leader?

Clio Barnard's I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning takes second place with eight nominations. They include Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay for Enda Walsh, and Best Ensemble Performance for its cast of Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack and Lola Petticrew. Three of its craft citations went to past BIFA winners and nominees: Shaheen Baig (casting), Connie Farr (music supervision), and Maya Maffioli (editing).

Ashley Walters' debut feature Animol follows with seven. Walters landed a Douglas Hickox Award nomination for Best Debut Director, and producer Tom Hawkins earned a Breakthrough Producer nod. Leads Tut Nyuot and Sekou Diaby took two nominations each — Best Lead and Best Supporting Performance respectively, plus Breakthrough Performance nominations, sponsored by Netflix, for both.

What does the Best Film race look like?

Five titles compete for the top prize:

• Effi O Blaenau — Marc Evans, Gary Owen, Branwen Cennard
• Elsinore — Simon Stone and producing team including 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 pits Barnard against Andrew Haigh (A Long Winter), Mark Jenkin (Rose of Nevada), Leigh, and Stone. Juliette Binoche joins the lead performance field for Queen at Sea, alongside Erin Doherty (Faith), Leisa Gwenllian (Effi O Blaenau), Jonathan Jules (Florid), Nyuot and Scott.

Which international titles made the cut?

Five films compete for Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger: Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden, Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo's La Bola Negra, Jordan Firstman's Club Kid, and Marine Atlan's La Gradiva.

What are the dates?

BIFA will announce craft winners on 24 November across its social channels. The full ceremony follows on 6 December at the Roundhouse in Camden. Craft categories therefore resolve twelve days before the main event, giving nominees an early read on momentum.

Where do the debut and breakthrough races stand?

The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director, sponsored by BBC Film, lists five first-timers: Billy Lumby (Florid), Molly Manners (Extra Geography), Bertil Nilsson (Masc), Louis Paxton (The Incomer), and Walters. Breakthrough Producer nominees number five, including Hawkins for Animol and Branwen Cennard for Effi O Blaenau. Best Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by Netflix, fields Galaxie Clear, Diaby, Gwenllian, Jules, and Nyuot — meaning Animol and Effi O Blaenau each place two performers in that category.

Any notable double-dippers?

Yes. Connie Farr holds two Music Supervision nominations — for I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning and Queen at Sea. Nadia Stacey doubles in Make-Up & Hair Design with Elsinore and Madfabulous. Mark Jenkin appears as both Best Director nominee and twice in craft categories, credited on Rose of Nevada for cinematography-adjacent sound and original music alongside Ian Wilson. Louis Paxton earns two personal nominations: Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter, the latter sponsored by Film4.

The documentary branch lists five Best Feature Documentary contenders, including Jeanie Finlay's All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea and One in a Million, whose producing team also competes for Breakthrough Producer. Six shorts compete for Best British Short Film, and five cinemas — from Abbeygate Cinema to The Ultimate Picture Palace — vie for Cinema of the Year, supported by Kia.