Competition juries announced for 69th BFI London Film Festival

The Official Competition jury is led by internationally renowned, award-winning producer Elizabeth Karlsen, co-founder of Number 9 Films. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has produced a wide range of critically acclaimed titles, including Carol, Made in Dagenham, Little Voice, Colette and Mothering Sunday. Her work has been recognised with an extraordinary 52 BAFTA nominations and wins and 20 Academy Award nominations and wins.

Karlsen is joined this year by: Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Justin Chang (The New Yorker, NPR, Los Angeles Times) and acclaimed artist, filmmaker, and co-founder of The Underground Museum in Los Angeles, Kahlil Joseph (BLKNWS). 

The First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) jury will be headed up by British filmmaker Kibwe Tavares. Tavares made his feature directorial debut with The Kitchen (2023), co-directed with Daniel Kaluuya, which premiered as the closing night film of the 67th BFI London Film Festival in 2023. He is the co-founder of Factory Fifteen, a studio that uses animation and emerging technologies to understand and explain the built environment. His first short, Robots of Brixton, was awarded the 2011 Royal Institute of British Architects President’s Medal as well as the Short Film Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2012.

Alongside Tavares will be: Head of Programme at Zurich Film Festival, Anja Fröhner and genre-defying theatre maker and film director Nadia Latif.

Leading the jury selecting the winner of the Grierson Award for Best Documentary is Eloïse King. Her groundbreaking debut feature documentary The Shadow Scholars premiered at the 68th BFI London Film Festival 2024. Formerly Global Executive Producer at VICE, she is a recipient of fellowships from Netflix, Firelight Media, and Logan Nonfiction. She previously founded the Women on Docs curatorial programme to champion women and non-binary work in non-fiction, and through her company White Teeth Films continues to tell powerful stories that centre marginalised perspectives in mainstream culture.

Joining King on the jury this year is: Josh Siegel, curator at The Museum of Modern Art and founding director of To Save and Project: The MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, and Film & TV Curator at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), Reece Goodwin.

The list is rounded off by Ming-Jung Kuo, who has over a decade of experience in festival programming and international co-production. She has previously served as Artistic Director of the Singapore International Film Festival, Advisor at the Locarno Film Festival, and currently a consultant for Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. She will lead the jury selecting the best short film.  

Joining Kuo will be BAFTA nominated British Filipino writer-director of Stomach Bug (2024), Matty Crawford and award-winning animation director Lee Ott, whose first stop-motion short, Dragfox (2024) — featuring Ian McKellen and Divina De Campo — celebrates queer identity and belonging and was showcased this year at BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.

The BFI London Film Festival Awards are a celebration of the most exciting, innovative new films and cinematic storytelling. Bold, visually striking and thought-provoking, the nominees highlight an extraordinary breadth of talent from around the globe.

“We are delighted to share our 2025 competition titles with audiences and our esteemed jury members,” said Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director. “My thanks to each of them for their generous participation in the festival this year.”