All good things come to an end when tomorrow 56th BFI London Film Festival concludes with the closing gala of Mike Newell’s Great Expectations starring Jeremy Irvine, Ralph Fiennes. Many of the biggest names industry as well as some of the best films coming our way in the next 12 months. Tonight the 56th BFI London Film Festival’s Gala Awards Ceremony were held at Banqueting House in Whitehall, London hosted by Sue Perkins .
Sir David Hare, Tom Hiddleston, David Yates, Sebastian Faulks, Olivia Colman, Kazuo Ishiguru, made up for some of the industries top names in the awards categories.The categories where as follows the Best Film Award for the Official Competition; the Sutherland Award for the First Feature Competition; the Grierson Award for the Documentary Competition; and the Best British Newcomer Award.
The Highest honours went to Tim Burton and his partner Helena Boham Carter who both picked up BFI Fellowships with Frankenweenie opening this years festival showing that the old Burton magic as returned.
Here’s the categories with winners in RED
Best Film Award
- Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard, France/Belgium
- After Lucia, Michel Franco, Mexico
- End of Watch, David Ayer, USA
- EVERYDAY, Michael Winterbottom, UK
- Fill The Void, Rama Burshtein, Israel
- Ginger and Rosa, Sally Potter, UK
- In the House, François Ozon, France
- It Was The Son, Daniele Ciprì, Italy/France
- Lore, Cate Shortland, Germany/Australia/UK
- Midnight’s Children, Deepa Mehta, Canada/UK
- No, Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/Mexico
- Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh, USA/UK
David Hare said: “Jacques Audiard has a unique handwriting, made up of music, montage, writing, photography, sound, visual design and acting. He is one of only a very small handful of film-makers in the world who has mastered, and can integrate, every element of the process to one purpose: making, in RUST AND BONE, a film full of heart, violence and love.”
The jury also admired, and commended, AFTER LUCIA, in particular for its terrifying portrayal of school bullying; and the highly original NO, a study of how controversial advertising techniques contributed to the end of General Pinochet.”
Best First Feature – The Sutherland Award
- Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, USA
- Clip, Maja Miloš, Serbia
- The Comedian, Tom Shkolnik, UK
- Eat Sleep Die, Gabriela Pichler, Sweden
- My Brother The Devil, Sally EI Hosaini, UK
- Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
- The Samurai that Night, Masaaki Akahori, Japan
- Shell, Scott Graham, UK
- Ship of Theseus, Anand Gandhi, India
- Sleeper’s Wake, Barry Berk, South Africa
- Tomorrow, Andrey Gryazev, Russia
- Wadjda, Haifaa Al Mansour, Saudi Arabia/Germany
Hannah McGill said, “We commended Anand Gandhi’s incredibly ambitious Ship of Theseus, for tickling our intellect and showing us rarely-seen facets of Indian life; as well as Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda, a profound but wickedly funny take on Saudi Arabia’s assault on female autonomy. However one film stood out as most clearly deserving of the top prize recognising innovation and originality: Benh Zeitlin’s daringly vast, richly detailed BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD”
Best Documentary – The Grierson Award
- Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Alex Gibney, USA/Ireland
- Beware of Mr. Baker, Jay Bulger, USA/South Africa
- Canned Dreams, Katja Gauriloff, Finland
- The Central Park Five, Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah Burns, USA
- The Ethnographer, Ulises Rosell, Argentina
- For No Good Reason, Charlie Paul, UK
- Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Shola Lynch, USA/France
- Les Invisibles, Sébastien Lifshitz, France
- The Summit, Nick Ryan, Ireland/Switzerland
- Turned Towards The Sun, Greg Olliver, UK/France/Germany
- Village at the End of the World, Sarah Gavron, UK/Denmark/Greenland
- West of Memphis, Amy Berg, USA
Roger Graef, President of the jury said “MEA MAXIMA CULPA was the unanimous choice of the judges. It was a life- changing film that was made with real integrity. The use of deaf men for interviews finally telling their story was both very distinctive and respectful. The journalism showed an extraordinary paper trail of events leading right to the Vatican in an incredibly compelling manner. It deeply affected the judges who said ‘it sat in the gut.’.”
Best British Newcomer Award
- Sally EI Hosaini, Director/Screenwriter, My Brother the Devil
- Fady Elsayed, Actor, My Brother the Devil
- Rufus Norris, Director, Broken
- Eloise Laurence, Actor, Broken
- Chloe Pirrie, Actor, Shell
- Scott Graham, Director/Screenwriter, Shell
- Tom Shkolnik, Director/Screenwriter, The Comedian
- Rowan Athale, Director/Screenwriter, Wasteland
Jury president David Heyman said “Sally El Hosaini’s writing and direction displayed a remarkable maturity. The film transcended its genre with lyricism and tenderness and possessed a wonderful emotional truth”.
