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

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".

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
| 1998 (1st) | Kathy Burke | Nil by Mouth | Valerie |
| 1998 (1st) | Louise Goodall | My Name Is Joe | Sarah Downie |
| 1998 (1st) | Rachel Griffiths | My Son the Fanatic | Bettina/ Sandra |
| 1998 (1st) | Samantha Morton | Under the Skin | Iris Kelly |
| 1998 (1st) | Emma Thompson | The Winter Guest | Frances |
| 1999 (2nd) | Emily Watson | Hilary and Jackie | Jacqueline du Pré |
| 1999 (2nd) | Lara Belmont | The War Zone | Jessie |
| 1999 (2nd) | Rachel Griffiths | Hilary and Jackie | Hilary du Pré |
| 1999 (2nd) | Jane Horrocks | Little Voice | LV |
| 1999 (2nd) | Gina McKee | Wonderland | Nadia |

### 2000s

| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
| 2000 (3rd) | Gillian Anderson | The House of Mirth | Lily Bart |
| 2000 (3rd) | Kate Ashfield | The Low Down | Ruby |
| 2000 (3rd) | Brenda Blethyn | Saving Grace | Grace Trevethyn |
| 2000 (3rd) | Emily Watson | The Luzhin Defence | Natalia Katkov |
| 2001 (4th) | Kate Ashfield | Late Night Shopping | Jody |
| 2001 (4th) | Susan Lynch | Beautiful Creatures | Dorothy |
| 2001 (4th) | Samantha Morton | Pandaemonium | Sara Coleridge |
| 2001 (4th) | Kate Winslet | Enigma | Hester Wallace |
| 2002 (5th) | Samantha Morton | Morvern Callar | Movern Collar |
| 2002 (5th) | Elaine Cassidy | Disco Pigs | Rent/Sinead |
| 2002 (5th) | Shirley Henderson | Villa des Roses | Ella |
| 2002 (5th) | Harriet Walter | Villa des Roses | Olive Burrell |
| 2003 (6th) | Olivia Williams | The Heart of Me | Madeleine |
| 2003 (6th) | Kate Ashfield | This Little Life | Sadie McGregor |
| 2003 (6th) | Helena Bonham Carter | The Heart of Me | Dinah |
| 2003 (6th) | Samantha Morton | In America | Sarah |
| 2003 (6th) | Tilda Swinton | Young Adam | Ella Gault |
| 2004 (7th) | Imelda Staunton | Vera Drake | Vera Drake |
| 2004 (7th) | Eva Birthistle | Ae Fond Kiss... | Roisin Hanlon |
| 2004 (7th) | Scarlett Johansson | Girl with a Pearl Earring | Griet |
| 2004 (7th) | Natalie Press | My Summer of Love | Mona |
| 2004 (7th) | Anne Reid | The Mother | May |
| 2005 (8th) | Rachel Weisz | The Constant Gardener | Tessa Quayle |
| 2005 (8th) | Joan Allen | Yes | She |
| 2005 (8th) | Judi Dench | Mrs Henderson Presents | Mrs. Henderson |
| 2005 (8th) | Natasha Richardson | Asylum | Stella Raphael |
| 2005 (8th) | Emily Watson | Wah-Wah | Ruby Compton |
| 2006 (9th) | Kate Dickie | Red Road | Jackie Morrison |
| 2006 (9th) | Juliette Binoche | Breaking and Entering | Amira Simić |
| 2006 (9th) | Robin Wright | Breaking and Entering | Liv |
| 2006 (9th) | Frances de la Tour | The History Boys | Mrs. Lintott |
| 2006 (9th) | Helen Mirren | The Queen | Queen Elizabeth II |
| 2007 (10th) | Judi Dench | Notes on a Scandal | Barbara Covett |
| 2007 (10th) | Tannishtha Chatterjee | Brick Lane | Nazneen Ahmed |
| 2007 (10th) | Anne Hathaway | Becoming Jane | Jane Austen |
| 2007 (10th) | Sophia Myles | Hallam Foe | Kate Breck |
| 2007 (10th) | Kierston Wareing | It's a Free World... | Angela |
| 2008 (11th) | Vera Farmiga | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas | Elsa (Mother) |
| 2008 (11th) | Sally Hawkins | Happy-Go-Lucky | Pauline "Poppy" Cross |
| 2008 (11th) | Keira Knightley | The Duchess | Duchess Georgiana |
| 2008 (11th) | Samantha Morton | The Daisy Chain | Martha Conroy |
| 2008 (11th) | Kelly Reilly | Eden Lake | Jenny |
| 2009 (12th) | Carey Mulligan | An Education | Jenny Mellor |
| 2009 (12th) | Emily Blunt | The Young Victoria | Queen Victoria |
| 2009 (12th) | Abbie Cornish | Bright Star | Fanny Brawne |
| 2009 (12th) | Katie Jarvis | Fish Tank | Mia Williams |
| 2009 (12th) | Sophie Okonedo | Skin | Sandra Laing |

### 2010s

| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
| 2010 (13th) | Carey Mulligan | Never Let Me Go | Kathy H |
| 2010 (13th) | Sally Hawkins | Made in Dagenham | Rita O'Grady |
| 2010 (13th) | Andrea Riseborough | Brighton Rock | Rose |
| 2010 (13th) | Ruth Sheen | Another Year | Gerri Hepple |
| 2010 (13th) | Manjinder Virk | The Arbor | Lorraine Dunbar |
| 2011 (14th) | Olivia Colman | Tyrannosaur | Hannah |
| 2011 (14th) | MyAnna Buring | Kill List | Shel |
| 2011 (14th) | Rebecca Hall | The Awakening | Florence Cathcart |
| 2011 (14th) | Tilda Swinton | We Need to Talk About Kevin | Eva Khatchadourian |
| 2011 (14th) | Mia Wasikowska | Jane Eyre | Jane Eyre |
| 2012 (15th) | Andrea Riseborough | Shadow Dancer | Colette McVeigh |
| 2012 (15th) | Judi Dench | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Evelyn Greenslade |
| 2012 (15th) | Elle Fanning | Ginger & Rosa | Ginger |
| 2012 (15th) | Alice Lowe | Sightseers | Tina |
| 2012 (15th) | Meryl Streep | The Iron Lady | Margaret Thatcher |
| 2013 (16th) | Lindsay Duncan | Le Week-End | Meg Burrows |
| 2013 (16th) | Judi Dench | Philomena | Philomena Lee |
| 2013 (16th) | Saoirse Ronan | How I Live Now | Daisy |
| 2013 (16th) | Felicity Jones | The Invisible Woman | Nelly Ternan |
| 2013 (16th) | Scarlett Johansson | Under the Skin | The Alien |
| 2014 (17th) | Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Belle | Dido Elizabeth Belle |
| 2014 (17th) | Sameena Jabeen Ahmed | Catch Me Daddy | Laila |
| 2014 (17th) | Cheng Pei-pei | Lilting | Junn |
| 2014 (17th) | Keira Knightley | The Imitation Game | Joan Clarke |
| 2014 (17th) | Alicia Vikander | Testament of Youth | Vera Brittain |
| 2015 (18th) | Saoirse Ronan | Brooklyn | Eilis Lacey |
| 2015 (18th) | Marion Cotillard | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth |
| 2015 (18th) | Carey Mulligan | Suffragette | Maud Watts |
| 2015 (18th) | Charlotte Rampling | 45 Years | Kate Mercer |
| 2015 (18th) | Alicia Vikander | The Danish Girl | Gerda Wegener |
| 2016 (19th) | Sasha Lane | American Honey | Star |
| 2016 (19th) | Kate Dickie | Couple in a Hole | Karen |
| 2016 (19th) | Narges Rashidi | Under the Shadow | Shideh |
| 2016 (19th) | Hayley Squires | I, Daniel Blake | Katie Morgan |
| 2016 (19th) | Jodie Whittaker | Adult Life Skills | Anna |
| 2017 (20th) | Florence Pugh | Lady Macbeth | Katherine Lester |
| 2017 (20th) | Emily Beecham | Daphne | Daphne |
| 2017 (20th) | Frances McDormand | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Mildred Hayes |
| 2017 (20th) | Maggie Mulubwa | I Am Not a Witch | Shula |
| 2017 (20th) | Ruth Wilson | Dark River | Alice |
| 2018 (21st) | Olivia Colman | The Favourite | Queen Anne |
| 2018 (21st) | Gemma Arterton | The Escape | Tara |
| 2018 (21st) | Jessie Buckley | Beast | Moll |
| 2018 (21st) | Maxine Peake | Funny Cow | Funny Cow |
| 2018 (21st) | Rachel Weisz | Disobedience | Ronit Krushka |
| 2019 (22nd) | Renée Zellweger | Judy | Judy Garland |
| 2019 (22nd) | Jessie Buckley | Wild Rose | Rose-Lynn Harlan |
| 2019 (22nd) | Holliday Grainger | Animals | Laura |
| 2019 (22nd) | Sally Hawkins | Eternal Beauty | June |
| 2019 (22nd) | Vicky Knight | Dirty God | Jade |

### 2020s

| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
| 2020 (23rd) | Wunmi Mosaku | His House | Rial |
| 2020 (23rd) | Claire Dunne | Her Self | Sandra |
| 2020 (23rd) | Andrea Riseborough | Luxor | Hana |
| 2020 (23rd) | Bukky Bakray | Rocks | Olushola "Rocks" Omotoso |
| 2020 (23rd) | Morfydd Clark | Saint Maud | Maud |
| 2021 (24th) | Joanna Scanlan | After Love | Mary |
| 2021 (24th) | Caitríona Balfe | Belfast | Ma |
| 2021 (24th) | Carrie Coon | The Nest | Allison O'Hara |
| 2021 (24th) | Claire Rushbrook | Ali & Ava | Ava |
| 2021 (24th) | Ruth Wilson | True Things | Kate |