Please read the following information before completing the form at the bottom of the page:
We think that it’s important that BIFA is genuinely representative of the film industry and open to new voices and new opinions, so we are constantly expanding our pool of voters. We invite film industry professionals who fit any of the following criteria to apply to become a BIFA voter:
- Previous BIFA nominees and winners
- Those longlisted in BIFA debut categories – The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary , Best Debut Screenwriter, Breakthrough Producer and Breakthrough Performance
- HoDs on BIFA-nominated films in the following categories:
- Best British Independent Film
- Best Director
- Performance Categories
- Best Documentary
- Industry professionals who haven’t worked on BIFA-nominated films but who have significant (three or more years) experience in independent feature film production or the wider industry (eg sales, marketing, distribution).
Less than half our voters are asked to take part in ‘active’ duty (ie. voting for the nominations) each year. This means that voters can choose to stand down for a year or two if they’re too busy to commit time to the process.
HOW BIFA VOTING WORKS
Read a full description of our voting process here
From our pool of around 1500 voters, around 500 are selected to take part in the first two rounds of voting, which narrow down all entries to the nominations through a rigorous selection process based around group discussion and individual voting.
The voters are divided into subgroups based on the award categories and meet a few times throughout the process to discuss the films that they have seen.
Votes are then cast privately in two rounds, once to reach the longlist and once to reach the nominations. In calculating the results, BIFA takes into account the number of people who have seen a film.
ALL REGISTERED VOTERS CAN VOTE FOR THE WINNERS
All voters, including those who have not taken part in the first two rounds of voting, can vote for the winners in the following categories:
- Best British Independent Film
- Best International Independent Film
- Best British Short Film
- Best Documentary
- The Raindance Maverick Award
The winners in the Performance, Director, Screenplay and Debut categories are decided by independent juries, newly appointed each year.
APPLY TO VOTE
You can apply to become a BIFA voter by filling in a new voter application form here.
The deadline for applications for voters wishing to take part in 2025 nominations is Sunday 9 March 2025. Any applications received after this time will be considered for 2026 voting. If you have any questions about applying to vote or BIFA voting, please email voting@bifa.film
Film Craft Professionals
We are particularly keen to widen our voting pool of film craft professionals. If you are working in one of our craft awards category professions, especially in the Effects, Sound and Music Supervision areas and would like to become a BIFA voter, please email voting@bifa.film. we would be grateful if you could also spread the word amongst your professional networks.
Applications are considered by BIFA’s Nomination Committee, who have final say over BIFA’s voting membership and rules.
