Elsinore, the drama in which Andrew Scott plays the actor Ian Charleson as he takes on Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the last months of his life, before he died of Aids in 1990, has emerged as the leading contender for the British independent film awards (Bifas).The film, which is directed by Simon Stone and co-stars Olivia Colman, Billie Piper and Johnny Flynn, received 12 nominations, including best British independent film, best director for Stone and best lead performance for Scott. Elsinore has collected rave reviews since its premiere at the Telluride film festival in September, with the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee describing it as “a devastating movie [that] is a reminder of Charleson’s strength and the many men like him and it implores us to remember them too”.

Scott is also already being tipped as the favourite for the best actor Oscar – and he would be the first out gay actor to win.In second place is Clio Barnard’s Birmingham-set ensemble drama I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, which has eight nominations including best British independent film, best director for Barnard and best ensemble performance for its main cast. In a five-star review, the Guardian’s chief critic Peter Bradshaw said its “mix of poignancy, defiance and contaminated euphoria stayed with me hours after the closing credits”.Animol, the feature-length directing debut of Top Boy and Adolescence star Ashley Walters, came in third with seven nominations, including best lead performance for Tut Nyuot and best debut director for Walters.

Mike Leigh’s final film, Tender Loving Care, has four nominations.Jay Lycurgo, Anthony Boyle and Lola Petticrew are among the Bifa-nominated ensemble cast of I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning. Photograph: Chris HarrisWith their focus on British independent cinema, the Bifas are also distinctive for their non-gendered acting categories, in which Scott and Nyuot will compete against, among others, Juliette Binoche for dementia drama Queen at Sea and Leisa Gwenllian for Welsh-language stage play adaptation Effi o Blaenau.The Bifas have an award for cinema of the year which was won in its inaugural year in 2025 by the Magic Lantern Cinema in Tywyn, Wales.

This year’s contenders include Campus West in Welwyn Garden City, the Hippodrome in Bo’ness, and the Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford, the last of which is is threatened with closure by its landlord, Oriel College, Oxford University.The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Roundhouse in London on 6 December.Full list of nominationsBest British independent film Effi o Blaenau Elsinore I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Queen at Sea Tender Loving CareBest director Clio Barnard, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Andrew Haigh, A Long Winter Mark Jenkin, Rose of Nevada Mike Leigh, Tender Loving Care Simon Stone, ElsinoreBest screenplay Stephen Beresford, Elsinore Lance Hammer, Queen at Sea Mike Leigh, Tender Loving Care Gary Owen, Effi o Blaenau Enda Walsh, I See Buildings Fall Like LightningBest lead performance Juliette Binoche, Queen at Sea Erin Doherty, Faith Leisa Gwenllian, Effi o Blaenau Jonathan Jules, Florid Tut Nyuot, Animol Andrew Scott, ElsinoreBest supporting performance Anna Calder-Marshall, Queen at Sea Tom Courtenay, Queen at Sea Sekou Diaby, Animol Claire Foy, Ink Billie Piper, Elsinore Bill Pullman, Everybody Digs Bill EvansBest joint lead performance Séamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley, California Schemin’ Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia, The Education of Jane Cumming Marni Duggan, Galaxie Clear, Extra Geography Chimpaye Florence Mariserena, Bizimana Hussain, Small GodsBest ensemble performance I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Sunny Dancer Tender Loving CareBest feature documentary All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea Everybody to Kenmure Street One in a Million Something Familiar We, the HatedCinema of the year Abbeygate Cinema, Bury St Edmunds Campus West, Welwyn Garden City Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness The Kinema in the Woods, Woodhall Spa The Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford Douglas Hickox award for best debut director Billy Lumby, Florid Molly Manners, Extra Geography Bertil Nilsson, Masc Louis Paxton, The Incomer Ashley Walters, AnimolBreakthrough producer Itab Azzam, Jack Macinnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer, One in a Million [also produced by Raney Aronson-Rath] Branwen Cennard, Effi O Blaenau Tom Hawkins Animol [also produced by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Nick Love, Ashley Walters] Oskar Pimlott Bad Apples Alex Polunin Black Church Bay [also produced by Tristan Goligher]Breakthrough performance Galaxie Clear, Extra Geography Sekou Diaby, Animol Leisa Gwenllian, Effi o Blaenau Jonathan Jules, Florid Tut Nyuot, AnimolBest debut screenwriter Miriam Battye, Extra Geography Thea Gajić, Surviving Earth Rhys Marc Jones, Black Church Bay Jess O’Kane, Bad Apples Louis Paxton, The IncomerThe Raindance maverick award Act 3 Chatlines Masc The Peril at Pincer Point Something FamiliarBest British short film Allies in Exile Coyotes Forgotten Spaceman Untitled Woman Vote Gavin LyleBest international independent film All of a Sudden Club Kid La Bola Negra La Gradiva Possible LoveBest casting I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Animol Florid Extra Geography ElsinoreBest cinematography Elsinore Everybody Digs Bill Evans Straight Circle I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning A Long WinterBest costume design The Incomer Savage House A Long Winter Straight Circle ElsinoreBest editing Elsinore Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story Straight Circle I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning InkBest effects Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom The Magic Faraway Tree The IncomerBest music supervision I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Queen at Sea Sunny DancerBest make-up & hair sesign Savage House Elsinore Madfabulous The Magic Faraway Tree Straight CircleBest original music Everybody Digs Bill Evans Elsinore Rose of Nevada Underland Effi O BlaenauBest production design Straight Circle Ink Elsinore The Magic Faraway Tree Savage HouseBest sound Everybody Digs Bill Evans A Long Winter Ink Rose of Nevada Florid