Ceremony date announced for BIFA 2023

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) today announced its key dates for 2023, including the ceremony on Sunday 3 December.

168 new voters will join the pool of over 1500 registered voters including BIFA winning and nominated performers Jessie Buckley, Tamara Lawrance, Rosy McEwen and Daryl McCormack, writer Chris Hayward (Brian & Charles), directors Kathryn Ferguson (Nothing Compares) and Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) producers Debbie Gray (Good Luck to You Leo Grande) and Nadira Murray (Winners) and craft winners Jenny Beaven (Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), Raoul Brand (Flux Gourmet) and Scarlett O’Connell (Medusa Deluxe).  The demographic breakdown for the 2023 nominations voting group is now as follows:

63% under 45

21% under-represented ethnic groups

59% women/non-binary

24% LGBTQ+

11% disability

42% carers

26% free school meals

38% outside of London

Voting categories remain unchanged from 2022, which saw the introduction of gender-neutral performance categories. Minor changes to the rules are laid out below, including an adjustment to the Ensemble Performance award, which will allow flexibility in the number of nominations presented in that category.

The latest season of BIFA’s podcast – British Indie Film Club – launches today also, featuring an interview with 2022 Richard Harris Award recipient Samantha Morton and hosted by Leila Latif and Karis Aldridge. This limited series is produced in collaboration with Little White Lies and celebrates the past, present and future of independent British cinema.

BIFA became a Community Interest Company in late 2022, reflecting its expanded programme of year-round activity supporting the independent film community and audiences. This includes BIFA Springboard – a unique suite of training, networking, labs and mentoring for second-time feature filmmakers; BIFA’s ongoing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training which continues this year with new sessions focussed on bullying and harassment intervention and prevention, inclusive recruitment and supporting a diverse crew in addition to BIFA’s unconscious bias training; and the organisation’s growing profile as an influential champion of independent film and talent to younger audiences. More information about how to get involved with BIFA’s work is available here.

Entries are open now for short films and will open in early July for features. The 2023 nominations will be announced on Thursday 2 November and the ceremony will take place on Sunday 3 December.

Key dates

Key rule changes:

• Raindance Discovery Award changes its name to Raindance Maverick Award and budget cap rises to £1m (from £500k)
• Budget cap for independent features with studio involvement will rise to $25m
• The winner of Ensemble Performance will be announced in advance of the ceremony, with no nominations selected. In exceptional years however, at the discretion of the subgroup, up to three nominations may be announced
• Juries have been reorganised into Filmmaker and Performance Juries, deciding winners as follows:

Learn more about the BIFA voting process here.