# British Independent Film Award for Best Director

The British Independent Film Award for Best Director is an annual award given by the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) to recognize the best directing in a British independent film. The award was first presented in the 1998 ceremony being Ken Loach the first recipient of this award for his work in the film My Name is Joe.
Andrea Arnold is the only director who has received this award more than once, with two wins, while Ken Loach holds the record of most nominations for this category with five.

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 1998 (1st) | My Name is Joe | Ken Loach |
| 1998 (1st) | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Guy Ritchie |
| 1998 (1st) | Nil by Mouth | Gary Oldman |
| 1998 (1st) | Regeneration | Gillies MacKinnon |
| 1998 (1st) | Under the Skin | Carine Adler |
| 1999 (2nd) | Hilary and Jackie | Anand Tucker |
| 1999 (2nd) | Gods and Monsters | Bill Condon |
| 1999 (2nd) | A Room for Romeo Brass | Shane Meadows |
| 1999 (2nd) | The War Zone | Tim Roth |
| 1999 (2nd) | Wonderland | Michael Winterbottom |

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2000 (3rd) | Billy Elliot | Stephen Daldry |
| 2000 (3rd) | The House of Mirth | Terence Davies |
| 2000 (3rd) | Last Resort | Paweł Pawlikowski |
| 2000 (3rd) | Saving Grace | Nigel Cole |
| 2000 (3rd) | Topsy-Turvy | Mike Leigh |
| 2001 (4th) | Sexy Beast | Jonathan Glazer |
| 2001 (4th) | Bread and Roses | Ken Loach |
| 2001 (4th) | The Claim | Michael Winterbottom |
| 2001 (4th) | Enigma | Michael Apted |
| 2002 (5th) | Bloody Sunday | Paul Greengrass |
| 2002 (5th) | Lawless Heart | Neil Hunter, Tom Hunsinger |
| 2002 (5th) | Morvern Callar | Lynne Ramsay |
| 2002 (5th) | Sweet Sixteen | Ken Loach |
| 2003 (6th) | Dirty Pretty Things | Stephen Frears |
| 2003 (6th) | 28 Days Later | Danny Boyle |
| 2003 (6th) | In America | Jim Sheridan |
| 2003 (6th) | In This World | Michael Winterbottom |
| 2003 (6th) | Young Adam | David Mackenzie |
| 2004 (7th) | Vera Drake | Mike Leigh |
| 2004 (7th) | Dead Man's Shoes | Shane Meadows |
| 2004 (7th) | Enduring Love | Roger Mitchell |
| 2004 (7th) | My Summer of Love | Paweł Pawlikowski |
| 2004 (7th) | Touching the Void | Kevin Macdonald |
| 2005 (8th) | The Descent | Neil Marshall |
| 2005 (8th) | A Cock and Bull Story | Michael Winterbottom |
| 2005 (8th) | The Constant Gardener | Fernando Meirelles |
| 2005 (8th) | The Libertine | Laurence Dunmore |
| 2005 (8th) | Mrs Henderson Presents | Stephen Frears |
| 2006 (9th) | The Last King of Scotland | Kevin Macdonald |
| 2006 (9th) | The Queen | Stephen Frears |
| 2006 (9th) | Shooting Dogs | Michael Caton-Jones |
| 2006 (9th) | This Is England | Shane Meadows |
| 2006 (9th) | The Wind That Shakes the Barley | Ken Loach |
| 2007 (10th) | Control | Anton Corbijn |
| 2007 (10th) | And When Did You Last See Your Father? | Anand Tucker |
| 2007 (10th) | Brick Lane | Sarah Gavron |
| 2007 (10th) | Eastern Promises | David Cronenberg |
| 2007 (10th) | Hallam Foe | David Mackenzie |
| 2008 (11th) | Slumdog Millionaire | Danny Boyle |
| 2008 (11th) | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas | Mark Herman |
| 2008 (11th) | Hunger | Steve McQueen |
| 2008 (11th) | Somers Town | Shane Meadows |
| 2008 (11th) | Son of Rambow | Garth Jennings |
| 2009 (12th) | Fish Tank | Andrea Arnold |
| 2009 (12th) | Bright Star | Jane Campion |
| 2009 (12th) | An Education | Lone Scherfig |
| 2009 (12th) | In the Loop | Armando Iannucci |
| 2009 (12th) | Moon | Duncan Jones |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2010 (13th) | Monsters | Gareth Edwards |
| 2010 (13th) | Another Year | Mike Leigh |
| 2010 (13th) | Kick-Ass | Matthew Vaughn |
| 2010 (13th) | The King's Speech | Tom Hooper |
| 2010 (13th) | Never Let Me Go | Mark Romanek |
| 2011 (14th) | We Need to Talk About Kevin | Lynne Ramsay |
| 2011 (14th) | Kill List | Ben Wheatley |
| 2011 (14th) | Shame | Steve McQueen |
| 2011 (14th) | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Tomas Alfredson |
| 2011 (14th) | Tyrannosaur | Paddy Considine |
| 2012 (15th) | Berberian Sound Studio | Peter Strickland |
| 2012 (15th) | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | John Madden |
| 2012 (15th) | Broken | Rufus Norris |
| 2012 (15th) | The Imposter | Bart Layton |
| 2012 (15th) | Sightseers | Ben Wheatley |
| 2013 (16th) | Metro Manila | Sean Ellis |
| 2013 (16th) | Filth | Jon S. Baird |
| 2013 (16th) | The Selfish Giant | Clio Barnard |
| 2013 (16th) | Starred Up | David Mackenzie |
| 2013 (16th) | Under the Skin | Jonathan Glazer |
| 2014 (17th) | '71 | Yann Demange |
| 2014 (17th) | Calvary | John Michael McDonagh |
| 2014 (17th) | Frank | Lenny Abrahamson |
| 2014 (17th) | Mr. Turner | Mike Leigh |
| 2014 (17th) | Pride | Matthew Warchus |
| 2015 (18th) | Ex Machina | Alex Garland |
| 2015 (18th) | 45 Years | Andrew Haigh |
| 2015 (18th) | Amy | Asif Kapadia |
| 2015 (18th) | The Lobster | Yorgos Lanthimos |
| 2015 (18th) | Macbeth | Justin Kurzel |
| 2016 (19th) | American Honey | Andrea Arnold |
| 2016 (19th) | Free Fire | Ben Wheatley |
| 2016 (19th) | I, Daniel Blake | Ken Loach |
| 2016 (19th) | Notes on Blindness | James Spinney, Pete Middleton |
| 2016 (19th) | Under the Shadow | Babak Anvari |
| 2017 (20th) | I Am Not a Witch | Rungano Nyoni |
| 2017 (20th) | The Death of Stalin | Armando Iannucci |
| 2017 (20th) | God's Own Country | Francis Lee |
| 2017 (20th) | Lady Macbeth | William Oldroyd |
| 2017 (20th) | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Martin McDonagh |
| 2018 (21st) | The Favourite | Yorgos Lanthimos |
| 2018 (21st) | American Animals | Bart Layton |
| 2018 (21st) | Beast | Michael Pearce |
| 2018 (21st) | Lean on Pete | Andrew Haigh |
| 2018 (21st) | You Were Never Really Here | Lynne Ramsay |
| 2019 (22nd) | For Sama | Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts |
| 2019 (22nd) | Bait | Mark Jenkin |
| 2019 (22nd) | Diego Maradona | Asif Kapadia |
| 2019 (22nd) | Moffie | Oliver Hermanus |
| 2019 (22nd) | The Souvenir | Joanna Hogg |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2020 (23rd) | His House | Remi Weekes |
| 2020 (23rd) | Calm with Horses | Nick Rowland |
| 2020 (23rd) | The Father | Florian Zeller |
| 2020 (23rd) | Rocks | Sarah Gavron |
| 2020 (23rd) | Saint Maud | Rose Glass |
| 2021 (24th) | After Love | Aleem Khan |
| 2021 (24th) | Ali & Ava | Clio Barnard |
| 2021 (24th) | Boiling Point | Philip Barantini |
| 2021 (24th) | The Nest | Sean Durkin |
| 2021 (24th) | The Souvenir Part II | Joanna Hogg |
| 2022 (25th) |
| 2022 (25th) | Aftersun | Charlotte Wells |
| 2022 (25th) | Blue Jean | Georgia Oakley |
| 2022 (25th) | Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | Sophie Hyde |
| 2022 (25th) | Living | Oliver Hermanus |
| 2022 (25th) | The Wonder | Sebastián Lelio |
| 2023 (26th) |
| 2023 (26th) | All of Us Strangers | Andrew Haigh |
| 2023 (26th) | Femme | Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping |
| 2023 (26th) | How to Have Sex | Molly Manning Walker |
| 2023 (26th) | Rye Lane | Raine Allen-Miller |
| 2023 (26th) | Scrapper | Charlotte Regan |
| 2024 (27th) | Andrea Arnold | Bird |
| 2024 (27th) | Nora Fingscheidt | The Outrun |
| 2024 (27th) | Rose Glass | Love Lies Bleeding |
| 2024 (27th) | Rungano Nyoni | On Becoming a Guinea Fowl |
| 2024 (27th) | Rich Peppiatt | Kneecap |