Competition winners announced at 70th BFI London Film Festival

As the 70th BFI London Film Festival ends, the BFI 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 cinematic works. The winning films are: 

• IMPERIUM, Dir. Sergei Loznitsa wins Best Film Award in Official Competition 
• 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN, Dir. Sompot Chidgasornpongse wins Sutherland Award in First Feature Competition 
• CONCRETE LAND, Dir. Asmahan Bkerat wins Grierson Award in Documentary Competition 
• AMAN, Dir. Rahul Roye wins Short Film Award in Short Film Competition 

The winning films, which were chosen by four esteemed LFF Juries, explore a fascinating breadth of themes and stories including a revelatory examination of history and empire, a meditative exploration of family, faith and the cycles of life, an intimate portrait of resilience in the face of displacement and cultural erasure, and a nuanced exploration of identity and masculinity.  

The winning short film AMAN is available to watch for free on BFI Player until 25th October. 

Voting for the ever-popular LFF Audience Awards closes on Wednesday 21 October. The winners of Best Feature Film and Best British Discovery categories will be announced in due course. The 2025 winners of LFF Audience Awards included Chloé Zhao’s period drama Hamnet, which won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film, and Yemi Bamiro’s documentary Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, which won the Audience Award for Best British Discovery. 

This year’s Jury Presidents were: Sam Pollard (Official Competition), Amir El-Masry (First Feature Competition), Sandhya Suri (Documentary Competition) and Helen Simmons (Short Film Competition). 

The winners

IMPERIUM – Sergei Loznitsa, Official Competition (Best Film) 

Master of archival film reconstruction, Sergei Loznitsa, reframes Soviet history once again via the revealing gaze of Italian cameramen who captured life there in the early 1970s.  

The Official Competition jury said: “We, as a jury, have chosen Serge Loznitsa’s “Imperium” as the BFI London Film Festival’s Best Film for 2026. Imperium is an extraordinary film that explores the Soviet Union in the early 1970’s from a rich archive with a wide-ranging perspective that looks at life in a country with an extraordinary social and cultural landscape that has rarely been seen. The film is richly evocative and emotionally engaging on all levels giving us a visually arresting perspective of life before the Soviet Union was broken apart. Our jury is immensely proud to honour such a powerful and singular piece of work.” 

9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN – Sompot Chidgasornpongse, First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) 

Infused with gentle humour and profound humanity, Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s fiction debut presents a serene passage through family, faith and the cycles of life.  

The First Feature jury said: “An accomplished first feature paving his own path in the well-established tradition of filmmaking in the Southeast Asian region. The film is visually outstanding, spiritual, and meditative where a story about life and death transcends borders and generations.” 

Special Mention: MASC — Bertil Nilsson 

Bertil Nilsson’s distinctive debut follows Robin as he moves through temporary jobs and tentative relationships in search of a place to belong. 

The First Feature Competition jury said: “A strikingly original new voice in British cinema, using innovative storytelling, notable performances, and artistically crafted scenes.  We were impressed by Bertil’s highly unique concept coupled with capable new talent and humorous script.” 

CONCRETE LAND – Asmahan Bkerat, Documentary Competition (Grierson Award) 

Ashman Bkerat’s feature directorial debut is an intimate, multi-generational portrait of a mixed-raced family fighting displacement and hostility in Jordan.  

The Documentary Competition jury said: “This was a beautifully observed portrait filmed with mastery and confidence. In image creation, sound design, scene building and most importantly the deep and trusting relationship with the films’ characters the filmmaker proved themselves a worthy recipient of the Grierson award. It takes a tremendous cinematic skill and maturity to bring the audience to feel so close to each and every character of this remarkable family, across generations and in a very different part of the world yet the warmth we feel for each is profound. In a noisy and often polemical world it was refreshing, humbling and deeply relevant to see the quiet resilience and dignity of this family in the face of the erasure of their culture and traditions. This is filmmaking which never gets in the way of itself and will surely take its place in the annals of observational greats.” 

Special Mention: Queer Edward II - Theo Rollason 

This all-archival tour de force takes us behind the scenes of Derek Jarman’s Edward II, set against the backdrop of the anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation of 1980s Britain. 

The Documentary Competition Jury said: “This was a spirited and tightly constructed portrait of Jarman as both an artist and an activist. Along with the luscious making-of footage, the integration of wider political archive was skilfully and heart-fully done, making it a fitting and timely tribute to Jarman in its defiant call for tolerance and against prejudice.” 

AMAN – Rahul Roye, Short Film Competition (Short Film Award) 

Rahul Roye’s accomplished short follows a trans man whose journey takes an unexpected turn on the eve of his gender-affirming surgery, when he discovers he is pregnant, forcing a profound reckoning with identity, masculinity, and fatherhood. 

The Short Film Competition jury said: “We were deeply impressed by Aman’s accomplished filmmaking, tackling knotty themes through authentic and nuanced characters we felt compelled to follow. We were struck by the film’s painterly cinematography, and expansive and assured storytelling, which guided us through the world with care. Aman’s finely drawn narrative is made all the more engrossing by the film’s refusal to provide easy answers to the complexities it presents us with.” 

Special Mention: Daughters of the Late Colonel — Elizabeth Hobbs 

After the death of their ill-tempered and controlling father, two middle-aged sisters find themselves at a loss. 

The Short Film Competition Jury said: “We would like to give a special mention to “Daughters of the Late Colonel” for its singular and inventive visual style, and its deft balance of humour, pathos and provocation.” 

This year’s LFF Awards juries are: 

• Official Competition (Best Film Award) – Jury President Sam Pollard (Director, Tutu, MLK/FBI, Citizen Ashe), Mariano Llinás (Filmmaker and writer, Life of Jorge Luis Borges, The Flower) and Julie La Bassiere (Chief Strategy Officer, DDA) 
• First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) – Jury President Amir El-Masry (Actor, Giant, Limbo), Alemberg Ang (Independent film producer, Moonglow) and Rosa Bosch (International film sales, distribution and awards strategy executive) 
• Documentary Competition (Grierson Award) – Jury President Sandhya Suri (Director, Santosh, I for India), Kate Fitzpatrick (Senior Programmer, Melbourne International Film Festival) and Andee Ryder (BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning film producer) 
• Short Film Competition (Short Film Award) – Jury President Helen Simmons (Writer/Producer, 100 Nights of Hero, Hoard), Leo Reich (Comedian and creator, It Gets Worse) and Jack Casey (Script editor, story consultant and executive producer, Wren Boys, White Girl)