ENTRY to the 2025 British Independent film awards IS NOW OPEN
Please read all the information below before submitting an entry.
The British Independent Film Awards are for theatrical feature films and short films. The majority of categories are only open to British independent films. There are separate eligibility criteria for international independent films.
RULES & ELIGIBILITY 2025
There have been a number of updates to BIFA’s rules and eligibility requirements for the 2025 awards, which you can find here.
You can find further information on entering your film for the 2025 awards below.
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Timeline
| June | Entries open |
| 1 August | Early deadline – Features |
| 1 August | Early deadline – Shorts |
| 22 August | Final deadline – shorts
Final deadline for BFI Diversity Standards application – shorts Deadline for receipt of online screeners – shorts Late Deadline – features |
| 3 September | Final entry deadline – features
Final deadline for BFI Diversity Standards application – features |
| 12 September | Deadline for receipt of online screeners – features |
| 5 – 12 September | Shorts Preliminary voting |
| From 15 September | Round 1 opens for feature entries |
| 18 September – 8 October | Shorts Round 1 voting |
| From 16 October | Longlist announcements |
| 15 October – 27 October | Round 2 voting – features & shorts |
| 3 November | Nominations announcement |
| 3 – 17 November | Round 3 voting (Craft categories) |
| 3 – 24 November | Round 3 voting (Best British Independent Film, Best International Independent Film, Best Feature Documentary, Best British Short Film, Raindance Maverick Award) |
| 20 November | Craft winners announced |
| 30 November | Ceremony |
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ENTRY DEADLINES & FEES
Entries for short films with remain free until Friday 1 August. Thereafter, each entry will incur an entry fee of £50*.
SHORTS |
Dates |
Entry fee |
| Early deadline | Friday 1 August | Free |
| Final deadline | Friday 22 August | £50 |
Entries for feature films with production budgets of under £1,000,000 will remain free until Friday 1 August. Thereafter, each film entry will incur an entry fee at the following rates*:
FEATURES |
Dates |
Entry fee – features with production budget < £1m |
Entry fee – features with production budget >£1m |
| Early deadline | Friday 1 August | Free | £200 |
| Late Deadline | Friday 22 August | £175 | £400 |
| Final Entry deadline | Wednesday 3 September | £350 | £800 |
*These prices exclude VAT
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ENTRY DEADLINEs
In the event that an entry cannot be completed before the entry fees are applicable (e.g. if confirmation of a qualifying festival screening will come after 1 August, entrants may submit an entry with the qualifying festival / release field left blank to avoid the entry fees as long as all other required information is provided. An update on any qualifying screenings can then be sent to BIFA to confirm the film’s eligibility. This must be received by the final entry deadline.
If an entrant cannot afford the entry fee, they are encouraged to contact BIFA via entry@bifa.film to discuss the possibility of a fee reduction or waiver.
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VOTING & ADJUDICATION PROCESS
More details about the BIFA voting and adjudication process can be found here.
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QUALIFYING FESTIVALS
You can see all of the 2025 BIFA qualifying festivals lists here.
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YOU can see the full bifa 2025 rules and eligibility criteria for feature films here
YOU can see the full bifa 2025 rules and eligibility criteria for SHORT FILMs here