The 2023 Juries have been announced

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) today announced the wealth of film industry talent that are sitting on the juries for its 2023 Awards. Onscreen stars including Nick Frost, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Emily Beecham, Sheila Atim, Paapa Essiedu and Kate Dickie, and filmmaking talent including Georgia Oakley, Kathryn Ferguson and J Blakeson, will decide the 2023 winners across 11 categories, including this year’s performance and debut categories.

Internationally renowned producer and former Director of UK Film at Netflix,  Fiona Lamptey heads up the Filmmaker Jury this year, which includes an outstanding line up of filmmaking expertise, with Georgia Oakley, director and writer of 2022 BIFA winning Blue Jean and Nadira Murray, producer of BIFA winning film Winners, director of BIFA winning Nothing Compares, Kathryn Ferguson, renowned producer, filmmaker and actor Nick Frost, film journalist Adam Woodward, J Blakeson, writer and director of BIFA nominated I Care A Lot, legend of screen and now BIFA nominated director Frances O’Connor and Head of Documentary at The Guardian, Lindsay Poulton. The Filmmaker Jury will decide the winners of Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema and Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple, as well as the highly anticipated new talent categories: The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film, Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4, Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios Group and the new Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary category. They also have in their gift The Special Jury Prize, which recognises outstanding contribution to the industry from an individual or organisation, and was last year presented to Open Door.

Chairing the Performance Jury is BIFA-winning casting director Lucy Pardee, the talent behind the award winning cast of 2020’s Rocks. The jurors are BIFA-winning British independent film legend Kate Dickie, BIFA nominated star of Daphne and Little Joe, Emily Beecham and Men, I May Destroy You and Gangs of London favourite Paapa Essiedu, joined by critically acclaimed star of stage and screen Sheila Atim, internationally renowned talent Daisy Edgar-Jones, recent star of highly celebrated Ghosts Mathew Bayton, and critic and presenter Hanna Flint. The Performance Jury decide the winners of Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Joint Lead Performance, and Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix, as well as the Special Jury Prize.

Find more information on the 2023 jurors here.

The winners in many categories are decided by these two juries, members of which are newly appointed each year. This year, BIFA has updated our juries and renamed them to better reflect their remits as follows. Information on previous jury make up can be found here.

The winners in the following categories are decided by votes open to all of BIFA’s voters who have watched the nominations:

• Best British Independent Film
• Best International Independent Film
• Best British Short Film
• Best Feature Documentary
• The Raindance Maverick Award
• The ten Craft categories (Casting, Cinematography, Costume Design, Effects, Editing, Make-Up & Hair Design, Original Music, Music Supervision, Production Design, Sound)

BIFA also presents two honorary awards: The Richard Harris Award, which is bestowed by BIFA’s Board and Nomination Committee; and the Special Jury Prize, intended to recognise an individual or organisation for their outstanding contribution within the British independent film industry, which is decided by both BIFA Juries.

More details about the BIFA voting and adjudication process can be found here.

In contention for their votes this year are 26 outstanding British films, including Scrapper, Rye Lane, All Of Us Strangers, Femme and How To Have Sex, nominated across 24 categories this year, with some already scooping up multiple craft awards.

The 26th British Independent Film Awards take place on Sunday 3 December at Old Billingsgate. A full list of this year’s nominations and 2023 Craft winners is here.

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