Andrew Scott and his Oscar-aspiring Elsinore team got some good news on the homefront, as their film led all comers with a dozen nominations at the 2026 British Independent Film Awards. Elsinore, the true story of a Shakespearean actor delivering a final performance of Hamlet while battling AIDS, will contend for Best British Independent Film, director for Simon Stone, lead performance for Scott, and supporting performance for Billie Piper at the awards, which recognize the best of the U.K. indie scene.
Another Oscar hopeful, Mike Leigh‘s Tender Loving Care, received nods for film, director and screenplay for Leigh, and Best Ensemble, but had one big miss: Widow’s Bay breakout Kate O’Flynn, who is being positioned for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar run, didn’t make the cut in the nongendered Best Supporting Performance race.
Other top nominees include I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning with eight nominations; Animol with seven; Effi o Blaenau and Queen at Sea with six apiece; and Extra Geography, Straight Circle and Florid each with five.
Craft winners will be revealed Nov. 24, with the remaining awards presented at London’s Roundhouse on Dec. 6. Below is the full list.
Best British Independent Film
- Effi o Blaenau
- Elsinore
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
- Queen at Sea
- Tender Loving Care
Best Screenplay
- Stephen Beresford — Elsinore
- Lance Hammer — Queen at Sea
- Mike Leigh — Tender Loving Care
- Gary Owen — Effi o Blaenau
- Enda Walsh — I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Best Director
- Clio Barnard — I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
- Andrew Haigh — A Long Winter
- Mark Jenkin — Rose of Nevada
- Mike Leigh — Tender Loving Care
- Simon Stone — Elsinore
Best Lead Performance
- Juliette Binoche — Queen at Sea
- Erin Doherty — Faith
- Leisa Gwenllian — Effi o Blaenau
- Jonathan Jules — Florid
- Tut Nyuot — Animol
- Andrew Scott — Elsinore
Best Ensemble Performance
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack, Lola Petticrew
- Sunny Dancer — Bella Ramsey, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Ruby Stokes, Earl Cave, Conrad Khan, Jasmine Elcock, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Louis Gaunt, Josie Walker, Jessica Gunning, James Norton, Neil Patrick Harris, James Blunt
- Tender Loving Care — Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O’Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson
Best Joint Lead Performance
- California Schemin’ — Séamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley
- The Education of Jane Cumming — Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia
- Extra Geography — Marni Duggan, Galaxie Clear
- Small Gods — Chimpaye Florence Mariserena, Bizimana Hussain
Best Supporting Performance
- Anna Calder-Marshall — Queen at Sea
- Tom Courtenay — Queen at Sea
- Sekou Diaby — Animol
- Claire Foy — Ink
- Billie Piper — Elsinore
- Bill Pullman — Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Breakthrough Performance
- Galaxie Clear — Extra Geography
- Sekou Diaby — Animol
- Leisa Gwenllian — Effi o Blaenau
- Jonathan Jules — Florid
- Tut Nyuot — Animol
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
- Billy Lumby — Florid
- Molly Manners — Extra Geography
- Bertil Nilsson — Masc
- Louis Paxton — The Incomer
- Ashley Walters — Animol
Best Debut Screenwriter
- Miriam Battye — Extra Geography
- Thea Gajić — Surviving Earth
- Rhys Marc Jones — Black Church Bay
- Jess O’Kane — Bad Apples
- Louis Paxton — The Incomer
Best Debut Director — Feature Documentary
- Birds of War — Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
- Super Nature — Ed Sayers
- Something Familiar — Rachel Taparjan
Breakthrough Producer
- One in a Million — Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer; also produced by Raney Aronson-Rath
- Effi o Blaenau — Branwen Cennard
- Animol — Tom Hawkins; also produced by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Nick Love, Ashley Walters
- Bad Apples — Oskar Pimlott
- Black Church Bay — Alex Polunin; also produced by Tristan Goligher
Best Feature Documentary
- All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea — Jeanie Finlay, Charlie Phillips
- Everybody to Kenmure Street — Felipe Bustos Sierra, Ciara Barry
- One in a Million — Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, Andrew Palmer, James Bluemel, Raney Aronson-Rath
- Something Familiar — Rachel Taparjan, Aleksandra Bilić, Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
- We, the Hated — Rich Felgate, David Allen
The Raindance Maverick Award
- Act 3 — Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Alex Thiele, Hannah Patterson
- Chatlines — Neil Ely, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, Paul Mortlock
- Masc — Bertil Nilsson
- The Peril at Pincer Point — Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine
- Something Familiar — Rachel Taparjan, Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Elena Martin, Aleksandra Bilić
Best International Independent Film
- All of a Sudden — Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna, David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Kôsuke Oshida, Yûji Sadai, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç, Hiroko Matsuda
- Club Kid — Jordan Firstman, Galen Core, Alex Coco
- La Bola Negra — Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
- La Gradiva — Marine Atlan, Anne Brouillet, Inès Daïen Dasi
- Possible Love — Lee Chang-dong, Oh Jung-mi
Best British Short Film
- Allies in Exile — Hasan Kattan, Orlando von Einsiedel
- Coyotes — Said Zagha, Myriam Sassine, Laura Jumel
- Forgotten Spaceman — Elham Ehsas, Lorraine Bhattachary
- Untitled Woman — Camille Summers-Valli, Rosmarie Vind, Sorcha Bacon, Martha McGuirk, David Zander
- Vote Gavin Lyle — Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell, Tom Gardner
Best Casting
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — Shaheen Baig
- Animol — Heather Basten
- Florid — Lara Manwaring
- Extra Geography — Lucy Pardee
- Elsinore — Jessica Ronane
Best Cinematography
- Elsinore — Mike Eley
- Everybody Digs Bill Evans — Piers McGrail
- Straight Circle — Christopher Ripley
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — Simon Tindall
- A Long Winter — André Turpin
Best Costume Design
- The Incomer — Sarah Blenkinsop
- Savage House — Alex Bovaird
- A Long Winter — Carol Case
- Straight Circle — Darion Hing
- Elsinore — Mel Page
Best Editing
- Elsinore — Valerio Bonelli
- Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story — Otto Burnham
- Straight Circle — Fouad Gaber
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — Maya Maffioli
- Ink — Fin Oates
Best Effects
- Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom — Jon Biggins, Jeff Dillon
- The Magic Faraway Tree — Ruslan Borysov, Richard Cheal, Tim Ledbury
- The Incomer — Daniel Morris
Best Music Supervision
- I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning — Connie Farr
- Queen at Sea — Connie Farr
- Sunny Dancer — Phil Canning
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
- Savage House — Jacquetta Levon
- Elsinore — Nadia Stacey
- Madfabulous — Nadia Stacey
- The Magic Faraway Tree — Karen Hartley Thomas
- Straight Circle — Tristan Versluis
Best Original Music
- Everybody Digs Bill Evans — Roger Goula
- Elsinore — Stefan Gregory
- Rose of Nevada — Mark Jenkin
- Underland — Hannah Peel
- Effi o Blaenau — Siôn Trefor, Ioana Selaru
Best Production Design
- Straight Circle — Luke Moran-Morris
- Ink — Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl
- Elsinore — Helen Scott
- The Magic Faraway Tree — Alexandra Walker
- Savage House — Gary Williamson
Best Sound
- Everybody Digs Bill Evans — Andy Coles, John Brennan
- A Long Winter — Paul Cotterell, Ron Osiowy, Joakim Sundström
- Ink — Simon Hayes, Johnnie Burn
- Rose of Nevada — Mark Jenkin, Ian Wilson
- Florid — Dario Swade, George Elliott, Tom Harburt
Cinema of the Year
- Abbeygate Cinema
- Campus West
- Hippodrome Cinema
- The Kinema in the Woods
- The Ultimate Picture Palace
