Longlist Announced: BIFA Raindance Maverick Award 2025
Raindance Film Festival, renowned as the UK’s largest independent film festival, celebrates the spirit of maverick filmmaking. Known for supporting films made on tight budgets, Raindance honours these daring creatives with the Raindance Maverick Award at the annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), founded by Raindance in 1998. This award is reserved for maverick fiction features produced with budgets less than £1 million and documentaries under £500k.
This year’s BIFA Raindance Maverick Award longlist features an impressive collection of 15 films, blending both documentaries and feature films. These selections highlight themes of human resilience and connection amidst adversity and transformation. From the comedic strength of Palestinian comedians in Palestine Comedy Club to the nuanced challenges of personal relationships in Departures, and the deep exploration of identity and existence in Dali, each film examines how individuals navigate their unique circumstances and find meaning in their journeys.
“The Raindance Maverick Award lineup embodies the true spirit of independent cinema: bold, groundbreaking, and utterly fearless,” says Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance and BIFA. “Raindance continues to be the beacon for discovering daring filmmakers, and we are excited to spotlight these fearless innovators.”
Winner of the Spirit of Raindance Award at the 33rd Raindance, Palestine Comedy Club follows six Palestinian comedians on their tour through Palestine and Israel, facing cultural and security challenges, and their search for humour becomes a plea for humanity in the face of brutal war. Ben Wheatley’s Bulk marks his return to experimental filmmaking with a thrilling lo-fi sci-fi about a failed multiverse experiment. Meanwhile, Dali, which had its world premiere at Raindance, tells the story of a Bulgarian-born, American-raised rapper encountering The Gatekeeper at the afterlife’s crossroads. The queer comedy-drama Departures navigates the evolving relationship between Benji and Jake, revealing complex power dynamics during their Amsterdam adventures. In the musical documentary The Extraordinary Miss Flower, Geraldine Flower’s love letters hint at a mysterious double life as a spy. Debuting with Foul Evil Deeds, the film delves into the morally ambiguous actions of seemingly ordinary people. Hakeem offers an intimate look at Hak Baker, whose life was transformed after winning a guitar in a prison raffle. Holloway, awarded Best Audience Award at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival, follows six women returning to the abandoned Holloway Prison. In Belarus, Mother Vera intricately weaves the story of a young nun in a secluded Orthodox monastery. Motherboard, shot entirely on a smartphone by BAFTA-winner Victoria Mapplebeck, captures the essence of motherhood over two decades. On the Sea is a visually striking exploration of masculinity and desire in a remote fishing community, while Paul & Paulette Take a Bath, a dual award-winner at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, follows a young American photographer and a French woman with a taste for the macabre. Phase is a coming-of-age sci-fi tale about Ursula, a young pregnant woman facing unexpected life changes. Irish filmmaker Myrid Carten’s debut, A Want in Her, is a raw, honest portrayal of her relationship with her alcoholic mother. Lastly, Zodiac Killer Project, the NEXT Innovator Award winner at Sundance 2025, delves into the true crime genre as a filmmaker revisits his abandoned documentary on the Zodiac Killer.
Full Longlist:
BULK – Dir/Wri. Ben Wheatley, Prod. Andy Starke
DALI – Dir/Wri. Mickey Angelov, Prods. Joseph Bushell, Jazelle Cheong
DEPARTURES – Dir/Wri/Prod. Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, Dir/Prod. Neil Ely, Prod. Paul Mortlock
THE EXTRAORDINARY MISS FLOWER – Dir. Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard, Prod. Zoe Flower
FOUL EVIL DEEDS – Dir/Wri. Richard Hunter
HAKEEM – Dir. Deadhorses (Ivo Beckett, James Topley,)
HOLLOWAY – Dirs. Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Wri. Stella Heath Keir, Prods. Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
MOTHER VERA – Dirs. Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Prod. Laura Shacham
MOTHERBOARD – Dir. Victoria Mapplebeck
ON THE SEA – Dir. Helen Walsh, Prods. David Moores, David A Hughes
PALESTINE COMEDY CLUB – Dir. Alaa Aliabdallah, Prod. Charlotte Knowles
PAUL & PAULETTE TAKE A BATH – Dir. Jethro Massey
PHASE – Dir/Wri/Prod. Jessica Vogt, Prod. Tom Ransom
A WANT IN HER – Dir/Wri. Myrid Carten, Prods. Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisín Geraghty, Kat Mansoor
ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT – Dir. Charlie Shackleton, Prods. Catherine Bray, Anthony Ing
In 2024, the prestigious BIFA Raindance Maverick Award was bestowed upon directors Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, and producers Rebecca Wolff and Julia Ton for their outstanding work on Grand Theft Hamlet. This acclaimed film has garnered significant recognition, winning the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW, the Frontier Competition Grand Prize at DMZ Docs in South Korea, and Best Documentary at Sitges. Additionally, it secured two British Independent Film Awards in 2024. Grand Theft Hamlet was released theatrically in both the UK and USA and is now available for streaming on Mubi.
The BIFA 2025 nominations will be announced on Monday 3 November, 2025.
Winners will be announced at the BIFA awards ceremony on Sunday, November 30, 2025.