BFI London Film Festival Awards 2025: Complete winners list and more explored

The 69th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) came to a close on Sunday, October 19, 2025, with an entertaining closing film and an excellent set of winners. The LFF showcases films from all corners of the world, and this year’s awards saluted impactful stories, new voices, and audacious filmmaking.

Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra), directed by Lucrecia Martel, received the most emphatic win of the festival when it took home the Best Film Award from the Official Competition jury, in large part because of the film’s deep concern for a long-neglected history.

In the First Feature competition, the Sutherland Award went to One Woman One Bra by Kenyan filmmaker Vincho Nchogu. The Documentary Competition’s Grierson Award was awarded to The Travellers (Les Voyageurs) by David Bingong. The Short Film Award went to Coyotes, directed by Said Zagha. The festival closed its run with the UK premiere of 100 Nights of Hero by Julia Jackman.

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Full winners list and key highlights of BFI London Film Festival Awards 2025

Best Film Award at BFI London Film Festival Awards 2025 (Official Competition)

Winner: Landmarks by Lucrecia Martel.

The jury noted:

"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."

The documentary examines the murder of environmentalist Javier Chocobar in 2009, his role as an indigenous leader in Argentina's Tucumán Province.

Sutherland Award at BFI London Film Festival (First Feature Competition)

Winner: One Woman One Bra by Vincho Nchogu.

Jury comment:

"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."

As a first film, this engaging documentary portrays one woman's struggle to retain her indigenous land while also employing humor and life-affirming energy and deeper emotional consciousness.

Grierson Award at BFI London Film Festival (Documentary Competition)

Winner: The Travellers (Les Voyageurs) by David Bingong.

Jury comment:

"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."

Short Film Award at BFI London Film Festival (Short Film Competition)

Winner: Coyotes by Said Zagha.

The jury praised the film for its subtle introduction of characters and its confident command of viewer expectations, describing it as,

"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."

Special Mention

In the Documentary Competition, the jury gave a special mention to Always by Deming Chen, which chronicles a gifted young poet growing up in rural China.

Beyond the competition awards listed above, the festival also announced winners of the BFI & Chanel Filmmaker Awards, where each received £20,000.

• Pillion by Harry Lighton
• The Stimming Pool by the Neurocultures Collective & Steven Eastwood
• Santosh by Sandhya Suri

These awards highlight films and creators who are taking fresh, bold creative steps and representing new voices in the UK film scene.

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More context, festival info, and an outlook into BFI London Film Festival

The 69th BFI London Film Festival ran from 8 to 19 October 2025 in London and across the UK. It featured 247 films from 79 countries, according to the official listing.

The juries for the competition awards were led by:

• Elizabeth Karlsen (Official Competition)
• Kibwe Tavares (First Feature)
• Eloïse King (Documentary)
• Ming‑Jung Kuo (Short Film)

The award winners show some clear themes: issues around land and justice (Landmarks, One Woman One Bra), migration and movement (The Travellers), and personal and political lives in conflict zones (Coyotes). The festival thus continues to engage with films that are socially conscious and artistically bold.

For watchers of film awards and industry seasons ahead, winning at LFF can be an early indicator of films that may travel on to further festival success or wider release. This recognition will assist the filmmakers and their films in reaching wider audiences and gaining wider distribution.

With Landmarks being the overall winner and additional awards across other continents and jurisdictions, the festival has once again reaffirmed its place as a key site for innovation in the International cinema landscape.