British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film explained

British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Awarded For:	Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film
Presenter:	BIFA
Country:	United Kingdom
Year:	1998
Year2:	Joanna Scanlan – After Love (2021)

The British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film is an annual award given by the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) to recognize the best leading performance by an actress in a British independent film. The award was first presented in the 1998 ceremony with Kathy Burke being the first recipient of the award for her performance as Valerie in Nil by Mouth.

With two wins each, Carey Mulligan and Olivia Colman are the only nominees who have won more than once. Samantha Morton holds the record of most nominations with five, followed by Judi Dench with four.

In July 2022, it was announced that the performance categories would be replaced with gender-neutral categories, with both Best Actor and Best Actress merging into the Best Lead Performance category. Additionally, a category named Best Joint Lead Performance was created for "two (or exceptionally three) performances that are the joint focus of the film, especially where performances share a large number of scenes and screen time".^[1]

Winners and nominees

1990s

Year	Actress	Film	Character
1998 ^[2]	Kathy Burke	Nil by Mouth	Valerie
	Louise Goodall	My Name Is Joe	Sarah Downie
		My Son the Fanatic	Bettina/ Sandra
		Under the Skin	Iris Kelly
		The Winter Guest	Frances
1999 ^[3]	Emily Watson	Hilary and Jackie	Jacqueline du Pré
		The War Zone	Jessie
		Hilary and Jackie	Hilary du Pré
		Little Voice	LV
		Wonderland	Nadia

2000s

Year	Actress	Film	Character
2000 ^[4]	Gillian Anderson	The House of Mirth	Lily Bart
		The Low Down	Ruby
		Saving Grace	Grace Trevethyn
		The Luzhin Defence	Natalia Katkov
2001 ^[5]	Kate Ashfield	Late Night Shopping	Jody
		Beautiful Creatures	Dorothy
		Pandaemonium	Sara Coleridge
		Enigma	Hester Wallace
2002 ^[6] ^[7]	Samantha Morton	Morvern Callar	Movern Collar
		Disco Pigs	Rent/Sinead
		Villa des Roses	Ella
			Olive Burrell
2003 ^[8] ^[9]	Olivia Williams	The Heart of Me	Madeleine
		This Little Life	Sadie McGregor
		The Heart of Me	Dinah
		In America	Sarah
		Young Adam	Ella Gault
2004 ^[10]	Imelda Staunton	Vera Drake	Vera Drake
		Ae Fond Kiss...	Roisin Hanlon
		Girl with a Pearl Earring	Griet
		My Summer of Love	Mona
		The Mother	May
2005 ^[11]	Rachel Weisz	The Constant Gardener	Tessa Quayle
		Yes	She
		Mrs Henderson Presents	Mrs. Henderson
		Asylum	Stella Raphael
		Wah-Wah	Ruby Compton
2006 ^[12] ^[13]	Kate Dickie	Red Road	Jackie Morrison
		Breaking and Entering	Amira Simić
			Liv
		The History Boys	Mrs. Lintott
		The Queen	Queen Elizabeth II
2007 ^[14] ^[15]	Judi Dench	Notes on a Scandal	Barbara Covett
		Brick Lane	Nazneen Ahmed
		Becoming Jane	Jane Austen
		Hallam Foe	Kate Breck
		It's a Free World...	Angela
2008 ^[16] ^[17]	Vera Farmiga	The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas	Elsa (Mother)
		Happy-Go-Lucky	Pauline "Poppy" Cross
		The Duchess	Duchess Georgiana
		The Daisy Chain	Martha Conroy
		Eden Lake	Jenny
2009 ^[18] ^[19]	Carey Mulligan	An Education	Jenny Mellor
		The Young Victoria	Queen Victoria
		Bright Star	Fanny Brawne
		Fish Tank	Mia Williams
		Skin	Sandra Laing

2010s

Year	Actress	Film	Character
2010 ^[20] ^[21]	Carey Mulligan	Never Let Me Go	Kathy H
		Made in Dagenham	Rita O'Grady
		Brighton Rock	Rose
		Another Year	Gerri Hepple
		The Arbor	Lorraine Dunbar
2011 ^[22] ^[23]	Olivia Colman	Tyrannosaur	Hannah
		Kill List	Shel
		The Awakening	Florence Cathcart
		We Need to Talk About Kevin	Eva Khatchadourian
		Jane Eyre	Jane Eyre
2012 ^[24] ^[25]	Andrea Riseborough	Shadow Dancer	Colette McVeigh
		The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	Evelyn Greenslade
		Ginger & Rosa	Ginger
		Sightseers	Tina
		The Iron Lady	Margaret Thatcher
2013 ^[26] ^[27]	Lindsay Duncan	Le Week-End	Meg Burrows
		Philomena	Philomena Lee
		How I Live Now	Daisy
		The Invisible Woman	Nelly Ternan
		Under the Skin	The Alien
2014 ^[28] ^[29]	Gugu Mbatha-Raw	Belle	Dido Elizabeth Belle
	Sameena Jabeen Ahmed	Catch Me Daddy	Laila
		Lilting	Junn
		The Imitation Game	Joan Clarke
		Testament of Youth	Vera Brittain
2015 ^[30] ^[31]	Saoirse Ronan	Brooklyn	Eilis Lacey
		Macbeth	Lady Macbeth
		Suffragette	Maud Watts
		45 Years	Kate Mercer
		The Danish Girl	Gerda Wegener
2016 ^[32] ^[33]	Sasha Lane	American Honey	Star
		Couple in a Hole	Karen
		Under the Shadow	Shideh
		I, Daniel Blake	Katie Morgan
		Adult Life Skills	Anna
2017 ^[34] ^[35]	Florence Pugh	Lady Macbeth	Katherine Lester
		Daphne	Daphne
		Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Mildred Hayes
	Maggie Mulubwa	I Am Not a Witch	Shula
		Dark River	Alice
2018 ^[36] ^[37]	Olivia Colman	The Favourite	Queen Anne
		The Escape	Tara
		Beast	Moll
		Funny Cow	Funny Cow
		Disobedience	Ronit Krushka
2019 ^[38] ^[39]	Renée Zellweger	Judy	Judy Garland
		Wild Rose	Rose-Lynn Harlan
		Animals	Laura
		Eternal Beauty	June
		Dirty God	Jade

2020s

Year	Actress	Film	Character
2020 ^[40] ^[41]	Wunmi Mosaku	His House	Rial
	Claire Dunne	Her Self	Sandra
		Luxor	Hana
		Rocks	Olushola "Rocks" Omotoso
		Saint Maud	Maud
2021 ^[42]	Joanna Scanlan	After Love	Mary
		Belfast	Ma
		The Nest	Allison O'Hara
		Ali & Ava	Ava
		True Things	Kate

Multiple nominations

5 nominations

• Samantha Morton

4 nominations

• Judi Dench

3 nominations

• Emily Watson
• Kate Ashfield
• Sally Hawkins
• Andrea Riseborough
• Carey Mulligan

2 nominations

• Rachel Griffiths
• Rachel Weisz
• Saoirse Ronan
• Keira Knightley
• Tilda Swinton
• Scarlett Johansson
• Olivia Colman
• Alicia Vikander
• Jessie Buckley

Multiple wins

2 wins

• Carey Mulligan (consecutive)
• Olivia Colman

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: BIFA ANNOUNCES NEW CATEGORIES FOR THE 2022 AWARDS. BIFA. July 5, 2022. October 13, 2022.
2. Web site: The Awards 1998. British Independent Film Awards. 24 October 1998 . October 5, 2021.
3. Web site: The Awards 1999. British Independent Film Awards. 24 October 1999 . October 5, 2021.
4. Web site: The Awards 2000. British Independent Film Awards. 24 October 2000 . October 5, 2021.
5. Web site: Sexy Beast scores at British indie film awards. Screen Daily. Patrick. Frater. October 24, 2001. October 5, 2021.
6. Web site: Morvern Callar leads British Independent Film Awards nominations. Screen Daily. September 17, 2002. October 5, 2021.
7. Web site: Sweet Sixteen named best of the independents. The Guardian. Fiachra. Gibbons. October 31, 2002. October 5, 2021.
8. Web site: Dirty Pretty Things leads BIFA nominations. Screen Daily. Tim. Dams. September 22, 2003. October 5, 2021.
9. Web site: Dirty Pretty Things sweeps Brit indie awards. The Guardian. November 3, 2003. October 5, 2021.
10. Web site: 'Drake' takes the cake. Variety. Adam. Dawtrey. November 30, 2004. October 5, 2021.
11. Web site: Constant Gardener wins UK awards. BBC News. December 1, 2005. October 5, 2021.
12. Web site: 'Scotland' duo, 'Queen' pic among top BIFA nominees. The Hollywood Reporter. October 31, 2006. October 5, 2021.
13. Web site: "This is England" Takes Top Prize at British Independent Film Awards. Indiewire. November 30, 2006. October 5, 2021.
14. Web site: British Independent Film Awards nominations list. Variety. October 23, 2007. October 5, 2021.
15. Web site: Control takes over at British Independent Film Awards. CBC News. November 29, 2007. October 5, 2021.
16. Web site: Nominations for British Independent Film Awards announced. Screen Daily. Audrey. Ward. October 28, 2008. October 5, 2021.
17. Web site: 'Slumdog' wins big at British indie awards. The Hollywood Reporter. Stuart. Kemp. December 1, 2008. October 5, 2021.
18. Web site: "Fish Tank," "Moon" Lead British Indie Award Nods. IndieWire. Peter. Knegt. October 26, 2009. October 5, 2021.
19. Web site: British Independent Film Awards: Moon Wins Best Film. IndieWire. Anne. Thompson. December 6, 2009. October 5, 2021.
20. Web site: The King's Speech rings out in Bifa awards nominations. The Guardian. Ben. Child. November 2, 2010. October 5, 2021.
21. Web site: King's Speech reigns at British Independent Film awards. BBC News. Tim. Masters. December 6, 2010. October 5, 2021.
22. Web site: "Shame," "Tyrannosaur" and "Tinker Tailor" Lead British Independent Film Award Nominations. IndieWire. Peter. Knegt. October 31, 2011. October 5, 2021.
23. Web site: Tyrannosaur in triple win at British Independent Film Awards. BBC News. Tim. Masters. December 5, 2011. October 5, 2021.
24. Web site: Broken fixed up with nine British independent film award nominations. The Guardian. Ben. Child. November 6, 2012. October 5, 2021.
25. Web site: British Independent Film Awards: 'Broken' Takes Best Film, 'Berberian Sound Studio' and 'The Imposter' Big Winners. IndieWire. Matt. Mueller. December 9, 2012. October 5, 2021.
26. Web site: 'Metro Manila' gets 5 nominations in British film awards. ABS-CBN News. November 13, 2013. October 5, 2021.
27. Web site: 'Metro Manila' Wins Big at British Independent Film Awards. The Hollywood Reporter. Stuart. Kemp. December 8, 2013. October 5, 2021.
28. Web site: '71, Pride lead BIFA nominations. Screen Daily. Michael. Rosser. November 3, 2014. October 5, 2021.
29. Web site: Pride wins best film at British Independent Film Awards. BBC News. December 7, 2014. October 5, 2021.
30. Web site: 'The Lobster', '45 Years', 'Macbeth' Lead British Independent Film Award Nominations. Deadline. Nancy. Tartaglione. November 3, 2015. October 5, 2021.
31. Web site: Ex Machina triumphs at British independent film awards. The Guardian. Benjamin. Lee. December 7, 2015. October 5, 2021.
32. Web site: I, Daniel Blake leads British independent film award nominations. The Guardian. Alan. Evans. November 1, 2016. October 5, 2021.
33. Web site: 'American Honey' Triumphs at British Independent Film Awards. Variety. Leo. Barranclough. December 4, 2016. October 5, 2021.
34. Web site: 'Lady Macbeth' Tops Nominations for British Independent Film Awards. Variety. Stewart. Clarke. November 1, 2017. October 5, 2021.
35. Web site: British Independent Film Awards: 'God's Own Country' and 'Lady Macbeth' Win Top Prizes. IndieWire. Michael. Nordine. December 10, 2017. October 5, 2021.
36. Web site: The Favourite dominates British independent film award nominations. The Guardian. Mark. Brown. October 31, 2018. October 5, 2021.
37. Web site: 'The Favourite' Wins 10 British Independent Film Awards, Living Up to Its Title. IndieWire. Michael. Nordine. December 2, 2018. October 5, 2021.
38. Web site: 2019 British Indie Film Awards Nominations: 'David Copperfield,' Zellweger, and More. IndieWire. Zack. Sharf. October 30, 2019. October 5, 2021.
39. Web site: British Independent Film Awards: 'For Sama' Wins Top Prize. The Hollywood Reporter. Alex. Ritman. December 1, 2019. October 5, 2021.
40. Web site: 'Saint Maud,' 'His House,' 'Rocks' Lead British Independent Film Awards Nominations. Variety. Naman. Ramachandran. December 9, 2020. October 5, 2021.
41. Web site: 'Rocks' & 'His House' Win Big At British Independent Film Awards. Deadline. Tom. Grater. February 18, 2021. October 5, 2021.
42. Web site: 'Belfast,' 'Boiling Point' Lead BIFA Nominations. Variety. Naman. Ramachandran. November 3, 2021. November 3, 2021.