# British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film

The British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film is an annual award given by the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) to recognize the best international independent films. The award was first presented in the 1998 ceremony.
From 1998 to 2002, two categories named Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language and Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language were presented, in 2003 both categories were merged into the current category.
In 2012 the category was renamed to its current name, previously the category was named Best Foreign Independent Film.

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | English title | Original title | Recipient(s) | Country |
| 1998 (1st) |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language ||||
| 1998 (1st) | The Apartment | L'Appartement | Gilles Mimouni | France |
| 1998 (1st) | Airbag | Airbag | Juanma Bajo Ulloa | Spain |
| 1998 (1st) | Live Flesh | Carne trémula | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| 1998 (1st) | Marquise | Marquise | Véra Belmont | France |
| 1998 (1st) | Men with Guns | Men with Guns | Kari Skogland | Canada |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language ||||
| 1998 (1st) | Boogie Nights | Boogie Nights | Paul Thomas Anderson | United States |
| 1998 (1st) | Left Luggage | Left Luggage | Jeroen Krabbé | Netherlands |
| 1998 (1st) | Broken Vessels | Broken Vessels | Scott Ziehl | United States |
| 1998 (1st) | Chasing Amy | Chasing Amy | Kevin Smith | United States |
| 1998 (1st) | The Castle | The Castle | Rob Sitch | Australia |
| 1999 (2nd) |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language ||||
| 1999 (2nd) | All About My Mother | Todo sobre mi madre | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| 1999 (2nd) | The Celebration | Festen | Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark |
| 1999 (2nd) | Life Is Beautiful | La vita è bella | Roberto Benigni | Italy |
| 1999 (2nd) | Romance | Romance | Catherine Breillat | France |
| 1999 (2nd) | The Dreamlife of Angels | La Vie rêvée des anges | Erick Zonca | France |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language ||||
| 1999 (2nd) | Happiness | Happiness | Todd Solondz | United States |
| 1999 (2nd) | Buffalo '66 | Buffalo '66 | Vincent Gallo | United States |
| 1999 (2nd) | Praise | Praise | John Curran | United States |
| 1999 (2nd) | Rushmore | Rushmore | Wes Anderson | United States |
| 1999 (2nd) | The Blair Witch Project | The Blair Witch Project | Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez | United States |

### 2000s

| Year | English title | Original title | Recipient(s) | Country |
| 2000 (3rd) |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language ||||
| 2000 (3rd) | Kadosh | Kadosh | Amos Gitai | Israel |
| 2000 (3rd) | Beau travail | Beau travail | Claire Denis | France |
| 2000 (3rd) | Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train | Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train | Patrice Chéreau | France |
| 2000 (3rd) | Une liaison pornographique | Une liaison pornographique | Frédéric Fonteyne | France |
| 2000 (3rd) | The Emperor and the Assassin | 荊軻刺秦王, Jīng Kē Cì Qín Wáng | Chen Kaige | China |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language ||||
| 2000 (3rd) | The Straight Story | The Straight Story | David Lynch | United States |
| 2000 (3rd) | Jesus' Son | Jesus' Son | Alison Maclean | Canada |
| 2000 (3rd) | Boiler Room | Boiler Room | Ben Younger | United States |
| 2000 (3rd) | Chuck & Buck | Chuck & Buck | Miguel Arteta | United States |
| 2000 (3rd) | Nurse Betty | Nurse Betty | Neil LaBute | United States |
| 2001 (4th) |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language ||||
| 2001 (4th) | In the Mood for Love | 花樣年華, huāyàng niánhuá | Wong Kar-wai | Hong Kong |
| 2001 (4th) | Amores perros | Amores perros | Alejandro González Iñárritu | Mexico |
| 2001 (4th) | The Taste of Others | Le Goût des autres | Agnès Jaoui | France |
| 2001 (4th) | Songs from the Second Floor | Sånger från andra våningen | Roy Andersson | Sweden |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language ||||
| 2001 (4th) | Memento | Memento | Christopher Nolan | United States |
| 2001 (4th) | Chopper | Chopper | Andrew Dominik | Australia |
| 2001 (4th) | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | John Cameron Mitchell | United States |
| 2001 (4th) | Dark Days | Dark Days | Marc Singer | United States |
| 2002 (5th) |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – Foreign Language ||||
| 2002 (5th) | Monsoon Wedding | Monsoon Wedding | Mira Nair | India |
| 2002 (5th) | Talk to Her | Hable con ella | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| 2002 (5th) | Nine Queens | Nueve reinas | Fabián Bielinsky | Argentina |
| 2002 (5th) | Y Tu Mamá También | Y Tu Mamá También | Alfonso Cuarón | Mexico |
| Best Foreign Independent Film – English Language ||||
| 2002 (5th) | Lantana | Lantana | Ray Lawrence | Australia |
| 2002 (5th) | Ghost World | Ghost World | Terry Zwigoff | United States |
| 2002 (5th) | Ivans XTC | Ivans XTC | Bernard Rose | United States |
| 2002 (5th) | Lost in La Mancha | Lost in La Mancha | Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe | United States |

#### Best Foreign Independent Film

| Year | English title | Original title | Recipient(s) | Country |
| 2003 (6th) | City of God | Cidade de Deus | Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund | Brazil |
| 2003 (6th) | The Triplets of Belleville | Les Triplettes de Belleville | Sylvain Chomet | France |
| 2003 (6th) | Secretary | Secretary | Steven Shainberg | United States |
| 2003 (6th) | Spirited Away | 千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Hayao Miyazaki | Japan |
| 2003 (6th) | Whale Rider | Whale Rider | Niki Caro | New Zealand |
| 2004 (7th) | Oldboy | 올드보이 | Park Chan-wook | South Korea |
| 2004 (7th) | Fahrenheit 9/11 | Fahrenheit 9/11 | Michael Moore | United States |
| 2004 (7th) | Pieces of April | Pieces of April | Peter Hedges | United States |
| 2004 (7th) | Hero | 英雄, Yīngxióng | Zhang Yimou | China |
| 2004 (7th) | The Motorcycle Diaries | Diarios de motocicleta | Walter Salles | Argentina |
| 2005 (8th) | Downfall | Der Untergang | Oliver Hirschbiegel | Germany |
| 2005 (8th) | Broken Flowers | Broken Flowers | Jim Jarmusch | United States |
| 2005 (8th) | Crash | Crash | Paul Haggis | United States |
| 2005 (8th) | The Woodsman | The Woodsman | Nicole Kassell | United States |
| 2005 (8th) | Secuestro Express | Secuestro Express | Jonathan Jakubowicz | Venezuela |
| 2006 (9th) | Caché | Caché | Michael Haneke | France |
| 2006 (9th) | Brick Lane | Brick Lane | Sarah Gavron | India |
| 2006 (9th) | Hard Candy | Hard Candy | David Slade | United States |
| 2006 (9th) | The Beat That My Heart Skipped | De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté | Jacques Audiard | France |
| 2006 (9th) | Volver | Volver | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| 2007 (10th) | The Lives of Others | Das Leben der Anderen | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Germany |
| 2007 (10th) | Black Book | Zwartboek | Paul Verhoeven | Netherlands |
| 2007 (10th) | La Vie en rose | La Môme | Olivier Dahan | France |
| 2007 (10th) | Tell No One | Ne le dis à personne | Guillaume Canet | France |
| 2007 (10th) | Once | Once | John Carney | Ireland |
| 2008 (11th) | Waltz with Bashir | ואלס עם באשיר, Vals Im Bashir | Ari Folman | Israel |
| 2008 (11th) | I've Loved You So Long | Il y a longtemps que je t'aime | Philippe Claudel | France |
| 2008 (11th) | Persepolis | Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud | France |
| 2008 (11th) | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Le Scaphandre et le Papillon | Julian Schnabel | France |
| 2008 (11th) | Gomorrah | Gomorra | Matteo Garrone | Italy |
| 2009 (12th) | Let the Right One In | Låt den rätte komma in | Tomas Alfredson | Sweden |
| 2009 (12th) | Il Divo | Il Divo | Paolo Sorrentino | Italy |
| 2009 (12th) | Sin Nombre | Sin Nombre | Cary Fukunaga | Mexico |
| 2009 (12th) | The Hurt Locker | The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow | United States |
| 2009 (12th) | The Wrestler | The Wrestler | Darren Aronofsky | United States |

### 2010s

| Year | English title | Original title | Recipient(s) | Country |
| 2010 (13th) | A Prophet | Un prophète | Jacques Audiard | France |
| 2010 (13th) | Dogtooth | Κυνόδοντας, Kynodontas | Yorgos Lanthimos | Greece |
| 2010 (13th) | I Am Love | Io sono l'amore | Luca Guadagnino | Italy |
| 2010 (13th) | The Secret in Their Eyes | El secreto de sus ojos | Juan J. Campanella | Argentina |
| 2010 (13th) | Winter's Bone | Winter's Bone | Debra Granik | United States |
| 2011 (14th) | A Separation | جدایی نادر از سیمین, Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín | Asghar Farhadi | Iran |
| 2011 (14th) | Animal Kingdom | Animal Kingdom | David Michôd | Australia |
| 2011 (14th) | Drive | Drive | Nicolas Winding Refn | United States |
| 2011 (14th) | Pina | Pina | Wim Wenders | Germany |
| 2011 (14th) | The Skin I Live In | La piel que habito | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| 2012 (15th) | The Hunt | Jagten | Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark |
| 2012 (15th) | Amour | Amour | Michael Haneke | Austria |
| 2012 (15th) | Searching for Sugar Man | Searching for Sugar Man | Malik Bendjelloul | Sweden |
| 2012 (15th) | Rust and Bone | De rouille et d'os | Jacques Audiard | France |
| 2012 (15th) | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Benh Zeitlin | United States |
| 2013 (16th) | Blue is the Warmest Colour | La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2 | Abdellatif Kechiche | France |
| 2013 (16th) | Blue Jasmine | Blue Jasmine | Woody Allen | United States |
| 2013 (16th) | Frances Ha | Frances Ha | Noah Baumbach | United States |
| 2013 (16th) | The Great Beauty | La grande bellezza | Paolo Sorrentino | Italy |
| 2013 (16th) | Wadjda | وجدة, Wajda | Haifaa al-Mansour | Saudi Arabia |
| 2014 (17th) | Boyhood | Boyhood | Richard Linklater | United States |
| 2014 (17th) | Ida | Ida | Paweł Pawlikowski | Poland |
| 2014 (17th) | Blue Ruin | Blue Ruin | Jeremy Saulnier | United States |
| 2014 (17th) | Fruitvale Station | Fruitvale Station | Ryan Coogler | United States |
| 2014 (17th) | The Babadook | The Babadook | Jennifer Kent | Australia |
| 2015 (18th) | Room | Room | Lenny Abrahamson | United States |
| 2015 (18th) | Force Mejeure | Turist | Ruben Östlund | Sweden |
| 2015 (18th) | Carol | Carol | Todd Haynes | United States |
| 2015 (18th) | Girlhood | Bande de filles | Céline Sciamma | France |
| 2015 (18th) | Son of Saul | Saul fia | László Nemes | Hungary |
| 2016 (19th) | Moonlight | Moonlight | Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Adele Romanski | United States |
| 2016 (19th) | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne Saunders, Taika Waititi | New Zealand |
| 2016 (19th) | Manchester by the Sea | Manchester by the Sea | Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Kenneth Lonergan, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Wals | United States |
| 2016 (19th) | Mustang | Mustang | Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Charles Gillibert, Alice Winocour | France, Turkey |
| 2016 (19th) | Toni Erdmann | Toni Erdmann | Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Michael Merkt | Austria, Germany |
| 2017 (20th) | Get Out | Get Out | Jordan Peele | United States |
| 2017 (20th) | The Florida Project | The Florida Project | Sean Baker | United States |
| 2017 (20th) | I Am Not Your Negro | I Am Not Your Negro | Raoul Peck | United States |
| 2017 (20th) | Loveless | Нелюбовь, Nelyubov | Andrey Zvyagintsev | Russia |
| 2017 (20th) | The Square | The Square | Ruben Östlund | Sweden |
| 2018 (21st) | Roma | Roma | Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodriguez, Nicolás Celis | Mexico |
| 2018 (21st) | Capernaum | كفرناحوم | Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Keserwani, Khaled Mouzanar, Michel Merkt | Lebanon |
| 2018 (21st) | Cold War | Zimna wojna | Paweł Pawlikowski, Janusz Glowacki, Ewa Puszczynska, Tanya Seghatchian | Poland |
| 2018 (21st) | The Rider | The Rider | Chloé Zhao, Mollye Asher, Sacha Ben Harroche, Bert Hamelinck | United States |
| 2018 (21st) | Shoplifters | 万引き家族, Manbiki Kazoku | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
| 2019 (22nd) | Parasite | 기생충, Gisaengchung | Bong Joon-ho | South Korea |
| 2019 (22nd) | Ash Is Purest White | 江湖兒女, jiānghú érnǚ | Jia Zhangke | China |
| 2019 (22nd) | Marriage Story | Marriage Story | Noah Baumbach | United States |
| 2019 (22nd) | Monos | Monos | Alejandro Landes | Colombia |
| 2019 (22nd) | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Céline Sciamma | France |

### 2020s

| Year | English title | Original title | Recipient(s) | Country |
| 2020 (23rd) | Nomadland | Nomadland | Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey | United States |
| 2020 (23rd) | Babyteeth | Babyteeth | Shannon Murphy, Alex White, Rita Kalnejais | Australia |
| 2020 (23rd) | Les Misérables | Les Misérables | Ladj Ly, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral, Giordano Gederlini, Alexis Manenti | France |
| 2020 (23rd) | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Eliza Hittman, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy | United States, United Kingdom |
| 2020 (23rd) | Notturno | Notturno | Gianfranco Rosi, Donatella Palermo, Paolo Del Brocco, Serge Lalou, Camille Laemlé, Orwa Nyrabia, Eva-Maria Weerts | Italy, Germany |
| 2021 (24th) | Flee | Flee | Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Amin Nawabi, Monica Hellstrøm, Signe Byrge Sørensen | Denmark |
| 2021 (24th) | Compartment No. 6 | Hytti nro 6 / Купе номер шесть | Juho Kuosmanen, Livia Ulvan, Andris Feldmanis, Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Hakka | Finland, Russia |
| 2021 (24th) | First Cow | First Cow | Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani | United States |
| 2021 (24th) | Petite Maman | Petite Maman | Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur | France |
| 2021 (24th) | Pleasure | Pleasure | Ninja Thyberg, Peter Modestij, Eliza Jones, Markus Waltå, Erik Hemmendorff | Sweden, Germany, France |
| 2022 (25th) | The Worst Person in the World | Verdens verste menneske | Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Thomas Robsahm | Norway |
| 2022 (25th) | All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov | United States |
| 2022 (25th) | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca | United States |
| 2022 (25th) | Close | Close | Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens, Michiel Dhont, Dirk Impens | Belgium |
| 2022 (25th) | Decision to Leave | 헤어질 결심, Heojil gyeolsim | Park Chan-Wook, Chung Seo-Kyung | South Korea |
| 2023 (26th) | Anatomy of a Fall | Anatomie d'une chute | Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, and David Thion | France |
| 2023 (26th) | Fallen Leaves | Kuolleet lehdet | Aki Kaurismäki, Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, and Reinhard Brundig | Finland |
| 2023 (26th) | Fremont | Fremont | Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, and Rachael Fung | United States |
| 2023 (26th) | Past Lives | Past Lives | Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, and Pamela Koffler | United States |
| 2023 (26th) | Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada, Megumi Banse, Taichi Ito, and Hijiri Taguchi | Japan |
| 2024 (27th) | Anora | Anora | Sean Baker, Alex Coco and Samantha Quan | United States |
| 2024 (27th) | All We Imagine as Light | Payal Kapadia, Thomas Hakim and Julien Graff | India, France |
| 2024 (27th) | La Chimera | La Chimera | Alice Rohrwacher, Carlo Cresto-Dina and Paolo Del Brocco | Italy |
| 2024 (27th) | No Other Land | No Other Land | Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Fabrien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning | Palestine, Norway |
| 2024 (27th) | The Seed of the Sacred Fig | دانه‌ی انجیر معابد / Les Graines du figuier sauvage / Die Saat des heiligen Feigenbaums | Mohammad Rasoulof, Rozita Hendijanian, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon and Mani Tilgner | Iran, Germany |