ENTRY to the 2023 British Independent film awards IS NOW CLOSED
Updated RULES & ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION for BIFA 2024 will be published in April
Here are the key 2023 changes and updates to our rules and eligibility criteria that entrants should know about
ENTRY FEES AND KEY DATES
Entries for short films and feature films with production budgets of under £1,000,000 will remain free until Friday 4 August. Thereafter, each film entry will incur an entry fee at the following rates*:
Dates |
Entry fee – short films |
Entry fee – feature films with production budgets under £1m |
Entry fee – feature films with production budgets over £1m |
|
| Entry deadline 1 | 4 August | Free | Free | £150 |
| Entry deadline 2 | 11 August | £20 | £125 | £200 |
| Entry deadline 3 | 25 August | £40 | £175 | £350 |
| Entry deadline 4 | 1 September | – | £350 | £700 |
*These prices exclude VAT
FREE ENTRY DEADLINE
In the event that an entry cannot be completed before the entry fees are applicable (e.g. if confirmation of a qualifying festival screening comes after 4 August), entrants are advised to submit an entry at the earliest possible point with the qualifying festival / release field left blank to avoid the entry fees. 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 on entry@bifa.film to discuss the possibility of a fee reduction or waiver.
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BFI DIVERSITY STANDARDS
In 2023 the BFI launched 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 BIFA British feature film categories must be assessed against these new criteria, and should fill in the mandatory elements for Standards they wish to meet as fully as possible. However, as productions transition to the new requirements and in recognition that most films entered into BIFA 2023 will have been in production before these updates came into effect, to qualify this year the rule will remain that entered films will only be required to meet standard C, plus one of standards A, B or D.
Films that have already been assessed against the Standards (either pre or post Diversity Standards updates) do not need to be re-assessed.
Short films entered to the Best British Short Film award must be assessed against the BFI’s Diversity Standards. There is no requirement for short films to meet the Standards, simply to be assessed against them.
You can find out more about the BFI Diversity Standards here
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FILM ACCESS REQUIREMENTS
BIFA required all entrants to provide BIFA voters with online access to their entered films. You can see our current requirements below.
Mandatory:
- Online: all screeners should be provided with closed caption subtitles
- In-person: access information must be provided for all screenings and included in screening invitations
Preferred:
- Online: subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and audio description should be included in screeners where possible
- In-person: an option for SDH subtitles at screenings or specific subtitled screenings where several screenings are offered….
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INTERNATIONAL FEATURES SCREENER DEADLINE EXTENSION
We recognise that occasionally it is not possible for screeners to be provided for some international features by the above deadlines, therefore in exceptional circumstances, international feature film entries may provide screeners after 15 September but before Friday 6 October. All extensions must be approved in advance by BIFA. Please email entry@bifa.film to discuss any application for extension before making your entry. This extension may be approved for international feature entries only.
QUALIFYING SCREENINGS – BRITISH SHORTS
We have updated and clarified our qualifying screening requirements for short films.
Qualifying Festival categories
Our Qualifying Festivals for short film now fall into two categories:
- A (primarily international festivals)
- B (primarily British festivals)
From 2023, 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
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
Qualifying screenings must be in-person, to a paying public audience. Online screenings only at BIFA recognised festivals will not apply.
CHANNELS
Online screenings via a BIFA qualifying channel remain eligible.
Please see the full eligibility criteria on our Shorts entry page here
CHANGES TO BIFA JURIES
The winners in many categories are decided by our two juries, members of which are newly appointed each year. This year, we have updated our juries oversight and renamed them to better reflect their remits as follows:
Filmmaker Jury |
Performance Jury |
| Best Director Best Screenplay The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary Debut Screenwriter Breakthrough Producer The Special Jury Prize |
Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Joint Lead Performance Best Ensemble Performance Breakthrough Performance The Special Jury Prize............ |
The winners in the following categories are decided by votes open to all of BIFA’s voters who have watched the nominations:
- Best British Independent Film
- Best International Independent Film
- Best British Short Film
- Best Feature Documentary
- The Raindance Maverick Award
- The ten Craft categories (Casting, Cinematography, Costume Design, Effects, Editing, Make-Up & Hair Design, Original Music, Music Supervision, Production Design, Sound)
BIFA also presents two honorary awards: The Richard Harris Award, which is bestowed by BIFA’s Board and Nomination Committee; and the Special Jury Prize, intended to recognise an individual or organisation for their outstanding contribution within the British independent film industry, which is decided by both BIFA Juries.
More details about the BIFA voting and adjudication process can be found here
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CHANGES TO AWARDS CATEGORIES
BEST ENSEMBLE
Entrants can now elect which performers to put forward.
- This award is for a group of three or more performers in films without a clear lead performer and where the ensemble drives the story. Examples might include films like The Death of Stalin or The History Boys, as opposed to films like Billy Elliot.
- Entrants are responsible for electing which performers to put forward for this category, but the suitability of entries will be subject to the approval of the Performance subgroup, who may decide to limit which performers are included in the ensemble of the film.
- This award will only be presented in the case that the Performance subgroup deem there to be a suitable winner. Ordinarily, the winner in this category will be announced in advance of the ceremony, with no nominations selected. In exceptional years however, where there are multiple competitive entries, up to three nominations may be announced and the winner declared at the ceremony.
- If BIFA does not receive sufficient suitable entries into the Best Ensemble category to ensure a winner can be announced, we may choose to present two awards in the Best Supporting Performance category.
All performance category winners will be decided by the BIFA Performance Jury.
THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Entrants are invited to put forward a single member of their production team whose work deserves recognition but whose role is not currently recognised by one our awards categories.
- This award is intended to recognise an individual or organisation for their outstanding contribution within the British independent film industry.
- All entrants are invited to submit a single member of their production team whose work deserves recognition but whose role is not currently recognised by one our awards categories. These recommendations will be compiled and submitted to our juries for consideration, though jury members reserve the right to award the Prize to a recipient not associated with any of the productions in competition.
THE RAINDANCE MAVERICK AWARD
Formerly The Raindance Discovery Award, changes have been made to reflect the spirit of the award – maverick filmmaking on a limited budget – and include a rise in budget cap to £1,000,000 and no limit on UK theatrical distribution.
- This award highlights innovation, uniqueness of vision, maverick filmmaking and risk-taking generally in fiction films with a budget under £1m, rewarding bold, creative, ambitious work that belies its limited budget.
- Eligible films must not have exceeded a £1m (gross) production budget.
- From 2023, films may enter this category which have achieved any level of UK theatrical distribution. All other eligibility criteria must be met.
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 on entry@bifa.film.
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ELIGIBILITY PERIOD FOR SHORTS & FEATURES
There are a number of BIFA qualifying festivals for which the official notification dates fall after BIFA’s entry deadline. To ensure that some eligible films are not excluded from entering due to this, we now have an overlapping eligibility period which runs from 1 November 2022 to 30 November 2023.
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RELEASE REQUIREMENTS 2023
To be eligible, feature films must be intended for theatrical release and must screen, or be scheduled to screen, to a paying public audience either at a qualifying festival or on general release during the eligibility period, which is 1 November 2022 to 30 November 2023.
Where formal distribution is confirmed after a qualifying festival screening, the festival screening remains as the qualifying eligibility criterion for BIFA.
INDEPENDENT
- We have increased the budget cap for films where there is major studio involvement to $25m (gross)
Films will usually qualify as independent where there is no involvement in the production or financing of a film by a major studio. Any involvement by a major studio will be assessed by BIFA and a budget cap of $25m (gross) usually applies.
As a guide, a film which has major studio involvement may be eligible for BIFA if:
– The film was acquired by the studio post completion for distribution only (no budget cap applies)
Or
– The gross production budget did not exceed $25m and the project was not originated or majority co-produced by the major studio
BIFA considers the following companies to be major studios*: Amazon, Apple, Disney/Fox, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros
If there is no major studio involvement, no budget cap applies.
*studios may be added to this list at any time
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BIFA QUALIFYING FESTIVALS LIST FOR BRITISH FEATURES AND SHORTS
We review our BIFA qualifying festival, awards and channels lists regularly. Please click here for this year’s qualifying list.
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PLEASE GET IN TOUCH
We believe that the above changes improve how we celebrate the people and films of our industry, making BIFA a fairer ceremony for all. However, we also believe that our ethos should be about feedback and flexibility. If you have objections or think that you or your work would be disadvantaged in due to the changes we’re making, please do get in touch with us on hello@bifa.film.
