How many awards did Pillion win at BIFA 2025? Harry Lighton's feature debut dominates the ceremony

The 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) was held at the Roundhouse in Camden, London. It caught attention from across the independent film community on Sunday night. The night saw multiple first-time nominees, rising directors, and multiple memorable moments.

Harry Lighton's feature debut, Pillion, stood out among other nominees and winners. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling. It bagged a total of four BIFA 2025 awards.

These included Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Screenwriter, Best Costume Design, and Best Make-up and Hair at the 2025 BIFA. The wins highlighted Pillion as one of the most recognized films of the recent independent scene.

British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) took to its official Instagram page to announce the winners, captioning:

"And the BIFA goes to… 🏅 Presenting the #BIFA2025 winners for: 🌎 Best International Independent Film, sponsored by @champagnetaittinger ☔️ The Raindance Maverick Award @raindancefilmfestival 🎭 Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by @netflixuk 🩳 Best British Short Film 🍿 Cinema of the Year, sponsored by @kiauk 🎤 Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary 🎬"

It also added:

"Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by @pinewoodstudios 🖋️ Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by @film4 📽️ The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), sponsored by @bbcfilm 🎙️ Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by @intermission_film ✨ Best Supporting Performance📖 Best Screenplay, sponsored by @applefilms👨‍🎤 Best Lead Performance 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Best Joint Lead Performance 🧑‍🎨 Best Director, sponsored by @sky_uk 🎞️ Best British Independent Film. Head to bifa.film to find full information on the winners, and stay tuned to our socials over the next week as we post winner speeches, red carpet highlights, and more 👀"

---

What is Pillion about?

Harry Lighton is the writer and director of Pillion. In 2017, one of his earlier shorts received a BIFA nomination. During his acceptance speech, Harry Lighton joked about losing that year and spending the rest of the night "burning industry bridges."

During the acceptance speech at the 2025 BIFA, Harry Lighton stated:

"I did not win, and I got incredibly drunk and spent the rest of the evening kind of burning industry bridges. I am going to start by saying thank you to BIFA for not blacklisting me."

He also said:

"Harry and Alex. What a hot couple! I remember it kind of blew my mind that I sent both of you a script about butt plugs, and you both said yes."

Pillion tells the story of a relationship between a suburban Londoner, which is played by Harry Melling, and a biker portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård. The relationship involves elements of BDSM and more. However, the film frames the relationship through emotional development. The film also premiered at Cannes.

Awards won by Pillion at BIFA 2025

Pillion won four awards:

• Best British Independent Film
• Best Debut Screenwriter: Harry Lighton
• Best Costume Design
• Best Make-up and Hair Design

---

Complete list of winners and nominees at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)

Best British Independent Film

• The Ballad of Wallis Island
• I Swear
• My Father’s Shadow
• Pillion (WINNER)
• Urchin

Best Lead Performance

• Robert Aramayo, I Swear (WINNER)
• Frank Dillane, Urchin
• David Jonsson, Wasteman
• Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
• Harry Melling, Pillion
• Cillian Murphy, Steve

Best Supporting Performance

• Tom Blyth, Wasteman
• Scott Ellis Watson, I Swear
• Jay Lycurgo, Steve (WINNER)
• Peter Mullan, I Swear
• Maxine Peake, I Swear
• Alexander Skarsgård, Pillion

Best Joint Lead Performance

• Ebada Hassan, Saffiya Ingar, Brides
• Tim Key, Tom Basden, The Ballad of Wallis Island (WINNER)
• Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn, Dragonfly

Best Director

• Laura Carreira, On Falling
• Akinola Davies Jr, My Father’s Shadow (WINNER)
• Kirk Jones, I Swear
• Harry Lighton, Pillion
• Lynne Ramsay, Die My Love

Best Screenplay

• Tom Basden, Tim Key, The Ballad of Wallis Island (WINNER)
• Laura Carreira, On Falling
• Wale Davies, My Father’s Shadow
• Kirk Jones, I Swear
• Harry Lighton, Pillion

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)

• Laura Carreira, On Falling
• Akinola Davies Jr, My Father’s Shadow
• Harris Dickinson, Urchin
• Harry Lighton, Pillion
• Cal McMau, Wasteman (WINNER)

Breakthrough Producer

• Wyn Baptiste, Shoot the People
• Charlotte Knowles, Palestine Comedy Club
• Joann Kushner, Lifehack [also produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Aleksandr Kletzov]
• Dhiraj Mahey, Ish [also produced by Bennett McGhee] (WINNER)
• Archie Pearch, Urchin [also produced by Scott O'Donnell]

Breakthrough Performance

• Scott Ellis Watson, I Swear
• Ebada Hassan, Brides
• Safiyya Ingar, Brides
• Posy Sterling, Lollipop (WINNER)
• Connor Tompkins, The Son and the Sea

Best Debut Screenwriter

• Hunter Andrews, Eoin Doran, Wasteman
• Tom Basden, Tim Key, The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Laura Carreira, On Falling
• Wale Davies, My Father’s Shadow
• Harry Lighton, Pillion (WINNER)

Best Feature Documentary

• Antidote - James Jones, David Moulton
• Mother Vera - Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
• Motherboard - Victoria Mapplebeck
• The Shepherd and the Bear - Max Keegan, Elizabeth Woodward, Amanda Mcbaine, Jesse Moss
• A Want in Her - Myrid Carten, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisín Geraghty, Kat Mansoor (WINNER)

Best Debut Director, Feature Documentary

• Myrid Carten, A Want in Her (WINNER)
• Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Mother Vera
• Victoria Mapplebeck, Motherboard

The Raindance Maverick Award

• Foul Evil Deeds, Richard Hunter
• Holloway, Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Stella Heath Keir, Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
• Mother Vera, Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Laura Shacham
• Motherboard, Victoria Mapplebeck
• A Want in Her, Myrid Carten (WINNER)

Best International Independent Film

• It Was Just an Accident
• Sentimental Value (WINNER)
• Sirāt
• Sorry, Baby
• Sound of Falling

Best Casting

• Shaheen Baig, Brides
• Shaheen Baig, Urchin
• Kharmel Cochrane, Warfare
• Lauren Evans, I Swear (WINNER)
• Robert Sterne, Steve

Best Cinematography

• Charlotte Bruus Christensen, H Is for Hawk
• Jermaine Edwards, My Father’s Shadow
• Cécile Embleton, Mother Vera
• Seamus McGarvey, Die My Love (WINNER)
• Piotr Niemyjski, A Pale View of Hills

Best Costume Design

• Susie Coulthard, 100 Nights of Hero
• Kirsty Halliday, Tornado
• Grace Snell, Pillion (WINNER)
• Sayaka Takahashi, Matthew Price, A Pale View of Hills
• PC Williams, My Father’s Shadow

Best Editing

• Ronan Corrigan, Aleksandr Kletsov, Lifehack
• Omar Guzmán Castro, My Father’s Shadow
• Fin Oates, Warfare (WINNER)
• Sam Rice-Edwards, One to One: John & Yoko
• Gareth C. Scales, Pillion

Best Effects

• Simon Stanley-Clamp, Ryan Conder, Warfare (WINNER)
• Victor Tomi, Die My Love
• Hayley Williams, Conor O’Sullivan, Martin Malmqvist, The Thing With Feathers

Best Music Supervision

• Phil Canning, Wasteman
• Ian Neil, Raife Burchell, Die My Love (WINNER)
• Bridget Samuels, Urchin

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

• Kehinde Are, Feyzo Oyebisi, My Father’s Shadow
• Diandra Ferreira, Pillion (WINNER)
• Paul Gooch, Tristan Versluis, Warfare
• Colleen Labaff, Miho Suzuki, Die My Love
• Natasha Lawes, 100 Nights of Hero

Best Original Music

• Tom Basden, Adem Ilhan, The Ballad of Wallis Island (WINNER)
• Bobby Krlic, Anemone
• Jed Kurzel, Tornado
• CJ Mirra, Duval Timothy, My Father’s Shadow
• Steven Price, Ocean With David Attenborough

Best Production Design

• Jennifer Anti, Pablo Anti, My Father’s Shadow
• Mark Digby, Warfare
• Tim Grimes, Die My Love
• Nathan Parker, Harvest (WINNER)
• Sofia Saccomani, 100 Nights of Hero

Best Sound

• Steve Fanagan, Stevie Haywood, Anemone
• Tim Burns, Paul Davies, Linda Forsén, Andrew Stirk, Ron Osiowy, Die My Love
• Nina Hartstone, Jake Whitelee, Jens Petersen, Mike Tehrani, Rob Davidson, Ish
• CJ Mirra, James Ridgway, Joe Jackson, Adele Fletcher, Pius Fatoke, My Father’s Shadow
• Glenn Freemantle, Mitch Low, Howard Bargroff, Ben Barker and Richard Spooner, Warfare (WINNER)

Best British Short Film

• Flock - Mac Nixon, Matt Ashwell, Daley Nixon
• Magid/ Zafar - Luís Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks (WINNER)
• A Sisyphean Task - Gus Flind-Henry, George Malcher, George Telfer
• Stomach Bug - Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout Kanellopoulou
• Two Black Boys in Paradise - Ben Jackson, Baz Sells, Dean Atta

Cinema of the Year

• Depot Cinema
• The Magic Lantern Cinema (WINNER)
• Montrose Playhouse
• Queen's Film Theatre
• Watershed

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2025 BIFA.

---

Also Read: "We did [meet] briefly back then": John Slattery recalls Mad Men crossover with Colin Hanks ahead of Nuremberg

Who will join Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds on their 2026 Australasian tour? Support artist revealed