Letterboxd Members
The Awards About BIFA News & Events Watch Films
The Awards About BIFA News & Events Watch Films
Members

BIFA 2025 Short Film Entries

RULES & ELIGIBILITY

This page is best viewed on a laptop or desktop – phones and tablets may distort or omit parts of the tables. A PDF of this information is available to download here.

Timeline

To see the full awards timeline, click here

ENTRY DEADLINES & FEES

Entries for short films will remain free until Friday 1 August. Thereafter, each film entry will incur an entry fee of £50 + VAT

Short Films
Dates
Entry fee
Early Entry deadline 1 August Free
Final Entry deadline 22 August £50 + VAT
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.

VOTING & ADJUDICATION PROCESS

More details about the BIFA voting and adjudication process can be found here.

FILM eligibility requirements

In all cases, final decisions about a film’s eligibility rest with BIFA’s Nomination Committee. Under exceptional circumstances, inclusion and consideration of films which do not strictly comply with the below criteria will be subject to the discretion of the Committee. If you have questions about your film’s eligibility, please contact BIFA via entry@bifa.film.

Independent

Short films entered into BIFA generally qualify as independent, however the Nomination Committee may ask for more information about films that are produced as campaign films or branded content by commercial companies in order to make a determination about eligibility.

In general, films will usually qualify as independent where there is no involvement in the production or financing of a film by a major studio.

BIFA considers the following companies to be ‘major studios’*:
20th Century Fox/Disney, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros

*studios may be added to this list at any time

UK nationality – British shorts and features

BIFA considers a film to be ‘British’ if the writer(s), director(s) and originating producer(s) are British.

Where this is not the case, films are assessed by BIFA’s Nomination Committee, who take into account the following factors:

  • Whether the film was originated by a British production company or individual(s)
  • The creative contribution from the UK (i.e. key creative team, lead cast and HoDs)
  • UK funding source(s)
  • Where each stage of production took place

Films that are not originated by a UK production company or individual(s) and that do not have a lead UK production company are unlikely to be eligible.

UK nationality – individuals

Where an individual must be British to qualify for an award, such as in the debut categories, or for the purposes of identifying the nationality of a film, we will ask entrants if they or others who worked on a film have a British passport or the right to hold one, or if they have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or have achieved ‘settled status’ by living in the UK for more than five years. BIFA’s Nomination Committee may, at its discretion, accept individuals as ‘British’ if they have not lived in the UK for more than five years but have demonstrably been living and working in the UK for a considerable period of time and intend to do so in the future.

For short film qualification only, individuals who have not lived in the UK for more than five years will qualify as British if they have demonstrably lived in the UK for 3-5 years and intend to do so in the future.

If you are unsure, please use this test: https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizen and get in touch with us on entry@bifa.film.

*Studios may be added to this list at any time.

BFI DIVERSITY STANDARDS

In April 2023 the BFI introduced updated Diversity Standards criteria and meeting the Standards now requires passing three of five Standards (A, B, C, D, E). Standards C and E are mandatory for all (some concessions may be made for smaller projects).

Films entered to the Best British Short Film award must be assessed against the BFI’s new Diversity Standards. There is no requirement for short films to meet the Standards, simply to be assessed against them. The deadline for completing the form for your short film is Friday 22 August. Short films that have already been assessed against the Standards (either pre or post Diversity Standards updates) do not need to be re-assessed.

Please note, all assessments are made by the BFI and BIFA has no input into this process.

FILM RELEASE REQUIREMENTS.

This year, the eligibility period is 1 November 2024 to 30 November 2025.

British Shorts
  • Must have been completed on or after 1 May 2024
  • Must be under 40 minutes in running time
  • Must be narrative, experimental, documentary or animation. Music videos and fashion films are usually ineligible but may be included at the discretion of the Nomination Committee and Shorts Subgroup where the film has sufficient narrative elements. To request an exception, please contact entry@bifa.film
  • Must:
    • Screen, or have been scheduled to screen at an in-person screening, as part of the official selection at one or more* of BIFA’s qualifying festivals for short films during the eligibility period of 1 November 2024 to 30 November 2025 (you can see the list of BIFA Qualifying Festivals for short films here)

OR

  • Screen on one of BIFA’s recognised online channels during the eligibility period (you can see the list of BIFA Qualifying Channels for short films here)

OR

  • Have won an award from one of BIFA’s qualifying awards organisations during the eligibility period (you can see the list of BIFA Qualifying awards organisations for short films here)

Short films that have won awards which are not on the qualifying festivals / awards list may still be entered but their acceptance to the BIFA competition is at the discretion of the Nomination Committee.

Please note: BIFA qualifying festivals for short film now fall into two categories:

A (primarily international festivals)

B (primarily British festivals)

To qualify for BIFA, short films must have screened at at least one festival from list A or at least two festivals from list B. You can see the full list of qualifying festivals for short films here.

category rules

Credits and eligibility decisions are based on the credits featured on exhibited prints of the film.

The named nominee(s) for Best British Short Film are fully credited writers, producers and directors. Co-directors and co-writers are only eligible where there are no lead directors.

Other producer credits, such as Associate, Executive, etc. are not eligible for this award.

One award trophy will be issued for this category.  Where multiple nominees have been accepted by BIFA, additional trophies can be purchased in the event of an award win.

BIFA aims to include all nominees at events held to celebrate the nominees and to announce the winners but unfortunately this is not always possible. Confirmation of which nominees will be offered complimentary tickets to BIFA events will be issued in advance of each event.

access to Entered films

All entrants must provide BIFA voters with online access to their entered films. In-person screening can be organised at the discretion of the entrant, in addition to online access.

Where adequate access to films has not been provided by the 22 August deadline, entry to BIFA will be rescinded and the film will be removed from contention.

access requirements:

  • Mandatory:
    all screeners should be provided with closed caption subtitles
  • Preferred:
    Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and audio description should be included in screeners where possible .

how to Enter

Short film entries to BIFA can be made by a film’s distributor or another representative, such as the producer, director, a sales agent or a festivals/awards advisor. If duplicate entries are made, BIFA will contact the entrants to clarify which one to proceed with.

It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that all information submitted is accurate and complete as no changes can be made once voting is open.

Entry to

entry to bifa 2025 will open on 17th june

 

All decisions made by BIFA and its Board and Committees are final and no correspondence will be entered into as to why particular entries were or were not nominated.