Andrew Scott nominated for best lead performance at British Independent Film Awards

Andrew Scott has been nominated for best lead performance for his role in Elsinore at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).

Elsinore has been nominated for a total of 12 BIFA awards, including best British independent film, best director, and best casting. Scott has already generated buzz as a favourite for the best actor Oscar, making him the first out gay actor to win the award.

Directed by Simon Stone and written by Stephen Beresford, the movie also stars Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Luke Thompson, and Johnny Flynn.

The biographical film is based on the life of Scottish actor Ian Charleson, best known for his roles in Chariots of Fire and Gandhi. The movie is set during the run up to his performance as Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1989. Charleson acted in the play while seriously ill from AIDs. He died in January 1990, aged 40.

The movie had its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival in September and opened the 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival in October.

It has already won the International People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Elsinore will be released in Irish cinemas on January 29, 2027.

I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, which stars Irish actors Anthony Boyle, Daryl McCormack, and Lola Petticrew has received 8 nominations. These include best British independent film, best editing, and best ensemble performance. Directed by Clio Barnard and written by Enda Walsh, the film is set in Birmingham and follows five childhood friends as they face "adult struggles."

Anthony Boyle won best actor for his role in the movie at Rome Film Fest on Saturday, October 24. I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning also won best film at the event.

It had its world premiere at the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the People's Choice Award.

The film will be released in Ireland on December 4, 2026.

Andrew Haigh's latest film, A Long Winter, which adapts Colm Tóibín's novel of the same name, received 4 nominations, including best sound and best cinematography. The film stars Irish actress Catríona Balfe, along with Fred Hechinger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

The story is set in 1951 in the mountains of Colorado. It follows the disappearance of Mike's mother (Balfe) in the wilderness. Mike (Hechinger), his father (Moss-Bachrach), and their tight-knit community begin searching for her. The film will explore Mike's own journey of self-discovery and belonging during the search for his mother.

The movie premiered at the 2026 Telluride Film Festival, and was also selected for the 70th BFI London Film Festival. The UK premiere for The Long Winter took place on October 14. It will drop in Irish cinemas on January 15, 2027.

Elsewhere, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, which was filmed in Cork, received 4 nominations, including for best original music.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Roundhouse in London on December 6.

Check out the full list of nominations below:

Best British independent film
Effi o Blaenau
Elsinore
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Queen at Sea
Tender Loving Care

Best 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, Elsinore

Best 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 Lightning

Best lead performance
Juliette Binoche, Queen at Sea
Erin Doherty, Faith
Leisa Gwenllian, Effi o Blaenau
Jonathan Jules, Florid
Tut Nyuot, Animol
Andrew Scott, Elsinore

Best 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 Evans

Best 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 Gods

Best ensemble performance
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Sunny Dancer
Tender Loving Care

Best feature documentary
All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea
Everybody to Kenmure Street
One in a Million
Something Familiar
We, the Hated

Cinema 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, Animol

Breakthrough 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, Animol

Best debut screenwriter
Miriam Battye, Extra Geography
Thea Gajić, Surviving Earth
Rhys Marc Jones, Black Church Bay
Jess O’Kane, Bad Apples
Louis Paxton, The Incomer

The Raindance maverick award
Act 3
Chatlines
Masc
The Peril at Pincer Point
Something Familiar

Best British short film
Allies in Exile
Coyotes
Forgotten Spaceman
Untitled Woman
Vote Gavin Lyle

Best international independent film
All of a Sudden
Club Kid
La Bola Negra
La Gradiva
Possible Love

Best casting
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Animol
Florid
Extra Geography
Elsinore

Best cinematography
Elsinore
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Straight Circle
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
A Long Winter

Best costume design
The Incomer
Savage House
A Long Winter
Straight Circle
Elsinore

Best editing
Elsinore
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story
Straight Circle
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Ink

Best effects
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
The Magic Faraway Tree
The Incomer

Best music supervision
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Queen at Sea
Sunny Dancer

Best make-up & hair design
Savage House
Elsinore
Madfabulous
The Magic Faraway Tree
Straight Circle

Best original music
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Elsinore
Rose of Nevada
Underland
Effi O Blaenau

Best production design
Straight Circle
Ink
Elsinore
The Magic Faraway Tree
Savage House

Best sound
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
A Long Winter
Ink
Rose of Nevada
Florid