The 70th BFI London film festival closed on Sunday with a ceremony that highlighted two contrasting works: Sergei Loznitsa’s archival collage Imperium and Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s debut 9 Temples to Heaven. Both films walked away with the festival’s most prestigious accolades, underscoring the event’s commitment to historic reflection and global storytelling.
Imperium crowned best film in the official competition
In the festival’s Official Competition, the jury—chaired by documentary veteran Sam Pollard—named Imperium the winner of the Best Film Award. The panel praised the Ukrainian director for assembling a rich tapestry of Italian-shot footage from the early 1970s, offering a “richly evocative and emotionally engaging” glimpse of Soviet life before its dissolution. As the jury noted, the film provides a “visually arresting perspective of life before the Soviet Union was broken apart,” revealing social and cultural layers rarely captured in state-sanctioned productions.
First-feature triumph: 9 Temples to Heaven wins the Sutherland Award
In the First-Feature Competition, the Sutherland Award went to Thailand’s Oscar-submission 9 Temples to Heaven. The road-movie, which premiered at Cannes, follows a young man named Sakol on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples after a prophecy hints at his mother’s impending death. The jury, led by actor Amir El-Masry and joined by producers Kissada Kamyoung and Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul hailed the work as “an accomplished first feature paving his own path in the well-established tradition of filmmaking in the Southeast Asian region.” They highlighted its “visually outstanding, spiritual, and meditative” treatment of life-and-death themes that transcend borders.
Documentary and short-form accolades
Asmahan Bkerat earned the Grierson Award for her debut documentary Concrete Land which records the quiet resilience of a mixed-race family in Jordan facing displacement. The jury described the film as “refreshing, humbling and deeply relevant” for portraying dignity amid cultural erasure. In the short-film category, Rahul Roye received the award for Aman a narrative about a trans man who discovers he is pregnant on the eve of gender-affirming surgery. Jury members praised its “painterly cinematography” and “expansive and assured storytelling,” emphasizing the film’s refusal to offer easy answers.
Special mentions also dotted the announcements: Theo Rollason’s archival piece Queer Edward II earned recognition for its spirited portrait of Derek Jarman’s activist legacy; the British debut Masc by Bertil Nilsson received a nod for its fresh voice and humorous script; and Elizabeth Hobbs’s Daughters of the Late Colonel was lauded for its inventive visual style and balance of humor, pathos, and provocation.
Audience voting for the festival’s popular awards closes on October 21, with the public’s choice to be revealed later. The LFF’s final night will feature a U.K. premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s ensemble piece The Debut rounding out a week that celebrated both archival discovery and contemporary narrative daring.
