The 65th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express has announced its jury line-up for this year’s Festival Awards. The Awards will be held virtually on Sunday 17 October at 16:00 on BFI You Tube and social media #LFFAwards
Straight off the red carpet of the Bond film, No Time To Die, multi award-winning writer, actor and producer, known for the BBC 3 and Amazon series Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge will join BFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts to select this years’ winner.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Photo by Faye Thomas
The Official Competition jury is led by acclaimed Never Gonna Snow Again (LFF 2020)and Mug director Małgorzata Szumowska, the First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) jury will be headed up by director, writer, actor and editor Isabel Sandoval whose film Lingua Franca was selected as part of the Festival’s 2019 Official Competition line-up,Bafta winning documentary director Kim Longinotto (Sisters in Law, Pink Saris) will lead the jury selecting the winner of the Grierson Award for Best Documentary, theImmersive Art and XR Competition will be led by the founder and artistic director of immersive theatre company Punchdrunk Felix Barrett (The Third Day, Sleep No More, The Drowned Man) – whose new show The Burnt City opens in London next Spring – and the list is rounded off by Saint Maud (LFF 2019) director Rose Glass.
The BFI London Film Festival Awards are a celebration of the most exciting, innovative new films and cinematic storytelling. Creative, beautiful and often provocative, the nominees showcase an incredible range of talent from across the world.
The three filmmakers shortlisted for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with the BFI are Lee Haven Jones – director of debut feature THE FEAST, Harry Wootliff writer and director of her second feature TRUE THINGS and Rob Savage, co-writer, producer, executive producer and director of his second feature DASHCAM.
A panel of senior industry figures – BFI Festivals Director Tricia Tuttle, Film4 Head of Creative Oliver Madden, BBC Film Commissioning Executive Eva Yates, BFI Senior Development and Production Executive Farhana Bhula and Film Critic, broadcaster & host Anna Smith selected the shortlist of filmmakers.
The Best Film Award recognises inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking. The Official Competition films are:
- BELLE (Japan, dir-scr. Mamoru Hosoda)
- IL BUCO (Italy – Germany – France, dir. Michelangelo Frammartino)
- THE HAND OF GOD (Italy, dir-scr. Paolo Sorrentino)
- NITRAM (Australia, dir. Justin Kurzel)
- HIT THE ROAD (Iran, dir-scr. Panah Panahi)
- SUNDOWN (Mexico – France – Sweden, dir-scr. Michel Franco)
- LINGUI, THE SACRED BONDS (Chad – France – Germany – Belgium, dir.scr Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
- TRUE THINGS (UK, dir. Harry Wootliff)