London, 8 June 2016: The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) today announces that entry is open for the 2016 awards, along with newly implemented changes to the categories and voting process. The new categories allow BIFA to celebrate an even greater number of new voices in filmmaking and the changes to the voting process ensure that the Awards are more fully representative of the UK film industry. The 2016 awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 4th December.

New categories for 2016 are:

• Best Debut Screenwriter
• Breakthrough Producer – for first or second time producers. This award will replace previous category Producer of the Year

Longlists will be announced for the four newcomer categories (Debut Director, Debut Screenwriter, Breakthrough Producer, Most Promising Newcomer) in the week commencing 10th October.  The full list of nominations will follow in early November ahead of the ceremony on Sunday 4th December.

The changes made to the voting process as of 2016 are as follows:

• The pool of BIFA voters, who decide the longlist and subsequent nominations, has been expanded. Applicants were accepted earlier this year via an open call
• The process to decide nominations remains the same, and will use c. 140 of these voters each year. Around two thirds of the currently registered voters will participate this year
• To allow more registered voters to be part of BIFA, all registered voters will be able to vote for the winner of Best British Independent Film
• The voting system will take into account which of the films each voter has seen and where they have a conflict of interest
• The following categories will be decided by individual juries made up of relevant established practitioners: Debut Director, Debut Screenwriter, Breakthrough Producer and Most Promising Newcomer
• The remaining categories will be decided by one main jury as per previous years
• While voters have already been selected for this year’s nomination process, registration remains open for eligible voters who would like to be part of the winners’ vote via www.bifa.film

Deena Wallace and Amy Gustin, co-directors, BIFA said: “BIFA has always been about showcasing new talent and these new categories allow us to shine a light on even more of the most exciting future prospects in British film. We’re delighted to see so many people across the industry take up the opportunity to be part of the nominations process and we hope that placing the winner of Best British Independent Film into our voters’ hands will encourage even more people to sign up.”