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: https://www.bifa.film/about/voting-and-adjudication/
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
- Craft categories (Casting, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Effects, Make-up & Hair, Original Music, Music Supervision, Production Design, Sound)
The winners in the other categories are decided by independent juries, newly appointed each year.
APPLY TO VOTE
We closed applications for new voters on Wednesday 13th March 2024. If you would like to apply for BIFA next year, please email voting@bifa.film and we will get in touch when we open for applications in 2025.
Call-Out for Film Craft Professionals – Extended Deadline
We have extended the deadline for nominations voting for craft professionals only. If you are working in one of our craft awards category professions and would like to become a BIFA voter, please email voting@bifa.film
Applications are considered by BIFA’s Nomination Committee, who have final say over BIFA’s voting membership and rules.
