Carey Mulligan dazzles in a gold strapless gown as she joins Andrea Riseborough and Emily Watson at the British Independent Film Awards

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Carey Mulligan was the star of the show at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards, held Sunday night at The Roundhouse in London.

The 40-year-old actress was accompanied by Andrea Riseborough, 44, and Emily Watson, 58, at the 28th annual awards ceremony celebrating the best new and creative independent films made in the UK.

Carey, nominated five times for her film The Ballad of Wallis Island, wore a chic gold satin dress with flowing cream-colored ribbons down the sides.

The Hollywood starlet had minimal accessories but added a boost to her frame with white heels. 

Andrea, nominated for Best Joint Lead Performance for her work in Dragonfly, chose a sleek black dress. Meanwhile, Emily stunned in a shimmering yellow-gold silk gown.

Ruth Wilson, 43, and Celia Imrie, 73 – known for her role in Traitors – were among the many actors who joined the group on the pink carpet.

Celia accessorized her white suit with a brooch – the Atlas Carré Royal Solaris – featuring lab-grown diamonds and sapphire, all set in grey gold.

The nominations for the ceremony were announced earlier this month.

Akinola Davies Jr.’s film, My Father’s Shadow, received the most nominations with a total of 12. The romantic comedy Pillion earned 10 nominations, and I Swear followed closely with nine.

Robert Pattison and Jennifer Lawrence each received nominations for their work in ‘Die My Love’. ‘The Ballad Of Wallis Island’ and ‘Wasteman’ led the nominations with five each.

Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s war film, Warfare, earned six nominations, including one for Best Ensemble Performance.

“My Father’s Shadow,” a film about two brothers gaining new insight into their father during a significant time in his life and Nigeria’s history, won several awards including Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Debut Director (The Douglas Hickox Award), Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Screenwriter.

The film was also recognized for its technical achievements with seven nominations in categories like Cinematography, Costume Design (with a nod to 2023 nominee PC Williams), Original Music, Editing, Make-Up and Hair, Production Design, and Sound.

As a lifestyle expert, I’m always thrilled to see stories that authentically capture the complexities of modern relationships, and Harry Lighton’s film, Pillion, does just that. It beautifully portrays the highs and lows – the joys and struggles – of a connection between two men who are quite different. It’s no surprise the film is receiving so much recognition! Harry’s work has earned him nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director, and Best Debut Screenwriter, and I couldn’t be happier for him. It’s a truly impressive debut!

The film also received acting awards for both its lead, Harry Melling, and supporting actor, Alexander Skarsgård. In addition, it was nominated for three technical achievements – costume design (winning a BIFA award in 2021 for Grace Snell), editing, and make-up & hair – and was named Best British Independent Film.

Kirk Jones’ heartfelt film about Tourette’s advocate John Davison, titled ‘I Swear,’ has received nine nominations, including one for Best British Independent Film.

Director Jones has been nominated for both Best Director and Best Screenplay. Robert Aramayo is nominated for Best Lead Performance, while Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, and newcomer Scott Ellis Watson have been nominated for Best Supporting Performance. Ellis Watson is also a contender for the Breakthrough Performance award, sponsored by Netflix.

Lauren Evans, a casting director, has been nominated for Best Casting, with support from Casting Society & Spotlight.

Lynne Ramsay’s film, Die My Love, a powerfully intense look at a woman pushed to her limits, has received eight nominations. Ramsay previously won Best Director in 2011 for her film We Need to Talk about Kevin.

Jennifer Lawrence received a nomination for Best Lead Performance, and the film Die My Love earned six nominations in technical categories: Cinematography, Visual Effects, Music Supervision, Makeup and Hair, Production Design, and Sound.

Tom Blyth is up for Best Supporting Performance, while Cal McMau has been nominated for the Douglas Hickox Award, recognizing debut directors. The writing team of Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran are nominated for Best Debut Screenwriter, and Phil Canning receives his second BIFA nomination for Best Music Supervision.

Cillian Murphy completes the list of nominees for Best Lead Performance with his role in the intense school drama Steve, set in the 1990s. The film also received nominations for Jay Lycurgo in a supporting role and for Best Casting.

Also nominated for Best Joint Lead Performance are Andrea and Brenda Blethyn, who starred in the thriller Dragonfly, and Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar for their roles in Brides, Nadia Fall’s first feature film about two friends escaping the UK for Syria. Both Hassan and Ingar have also been nominated for a Breakthrough Performance award.

The nominees for Breakthrough Performance are Posy Sterling, who played a mother battling for custody in the film Lollipop, and Connor Tompkins, who portrayed a man dealing with the consequences of his brother’s actions in The Son and The Sea.

Laura Carreira has received four nominations for her film On Falling, which offers a critical look at today’s working world. She’s been nominated for Best Director, Best Screenplay, the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director, and Best Debut Screenwriter.

The Breakthrough Producer award nominations are Wyn Baptiste for the activist documentary Shoot the People, Charlotte Knowles for the international documentary Palestine Comedy Club, Joann Kushner for the screenlife heist film LifeHack (which is also nominated for Best Editing), and Dhiraj Mahey for the realistic coming-of-age drama Ish, which is also up for Best Sound.

The nominees for Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film, include Antidote, a film about three people who risked everything to reveal wrongdoing within Putin’s government, and The Shepherd and the Bear, which tells the story of an elderly shepherd trying to find someone to take over his work while protecting his sheep from bears.

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2025-11-30 23:38