Award winners announced for 2025 BFI London Film Festival

The BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express today announces the winners of this year’s LFF Awards. Showcasing an incredible range of talent from across the world, the Competition sections are a celebration of exciting new films — creatively powerful and often provocative. The winning films, which were chosen by four esteemed LFF juries, explore a fascinating breadth of themes and stories including a gripping chronicle on the legacy of colonialism, a humorous account of one woman’s fight to keep her ancestral land, a rich oral tapestry of resilience and a psychological neo-noir thriller. The winning short film Coyotes is available to watch for free on BFI Player until 26th^tOctober. 

Voting for the ever-popular LFF Audience Awards closes on Monday 20 October. The winners of Best Feature Film and Best British Feature Film categories will be announced in due course. 2024 winners of LFF Audience Awards were Four Mothers (Best Feature), Holloway (Best Documentary), and Two Minutes (Best Short Film). 

This year’s Jury Presidents were: Elizabeth Karlsen (Official Competition), Kibwe Tavares (First Feature Competition), Eloïse King (Documentary Competition) and Ming-Jung Kuo (Short Film Competition).  

Artistic ambition and political advocacy meld in Lucrecia Martel’s documentary, a bold and beautiful reflection on the death and legacy of indigenous activist Javier Chocobar. 

The Official Competition jury said: “Our jury has chosen Landmarks as the BFI London Film Festival’s Best Film for 2025. With deep empathy and extraordinary journalistic and cinematic rigor, the director Lucrecia Martel dives deep into the events surrounding the 2009 murder of the Chuschagasta leader Javier Chocobar, in Argentina’s Tucumán Province. In foregrounding present-day voices and neglected histories, Martel emerges with a portrait of — and for — an Indigenous community, and grants them a measure of the justice the courts have long denied them. Within a remarkably strong competition, our jury is proud to honor this singular achievement.” 

Kenyan filmmaker Vincho Nchogu stuns with her humorous account of one woman’s fight to keep her ancestral land. 

The First Feature jury said: “We are delighted to award the Sutherland Prize to Vincho Nchogu for her brilliant debut film, “One Woman One Bra”. We were incredibly impressed by her ability to confidently move between so many tones, but always holding the audience with care. Her film uses humour to shattering effect. Vincho also elicited fantastic performances from her entire cast, complemented by stunning cinematography throughout. The piece is at once funny, life-affirming, and deeply moving; its emotional journey stayed with us and will continue to do so.” 

David Bingong’s personal film is an intimate and hopeful account of the dangerous journey taken by a group of migrants from Cameroon to Europe. 

The Documentary Competition jury said: “Facing the most inhumane of circumstances—a dangerous sea crossing from Morocco to Spain—the camaraderie of young Cameroonian men is rendered with kinetic intensity. An immersive journey of intimate photography, humour, and a spontaneously arising soundtrack contextualises the past lives and present perils of its protagonists. In his raw film “The Travelers”, David Bingong, himself a migrant among them, offers a deeply personal and affecting lens on the humanitarian crisis of African refugees and asylum seekers adrift in both the Mediterranean Sea and the legal limbo of the EU’s broken immigration system.” 

Deming Chen’s sophomore feature, the recipient of the top prize at CPH:DOX, is a lyrical portrait of a gifted young poet growing up in rural China. 

The Documentary Competition jury said: “The solitude and loneliness of a prodigious poet in a remote Chinese village becomes a catalyst for creativity in Deming Chen’s contemplative documentary feature. Poetry is captured through two lenses: the first written by a young boy interpreting his feelings and surround but also though the director’s own poetic lens. The film is at once a hushed meditation, a quiet political cry and an exemplar of quietly still and enormously confident cinematography. “Always” deserves all the accolades it has already received and we believe it deserves a very special mention.” 

When Israeli soldiers interrupt her commute home, a Palestinian doctor is forced down a desolate road and her future is thrown into disarray. 

The Short Film Competition Jury said: “Coyotes quietly opens a door into a psychological state of fear faced by people caught in the midst of conflict; a fear that cuts through the everyday atrocities witnessed by those watching publicly from outside. We chose the film for its subtle introduction of characters, the evident love for its craft, and its confident command of viewer expectations.”