Sergei Loznitsa’s Imperium Wins Best Film at 70th BFI London Film Festival

Sergei Loznitsa’s Imperium has won the Best Film Award at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, leading the 2026 competition winners announced as this year’s festival came to a close in London.

The awards recognised films across the Official Competition, First Feature Competition, Documentary Competition and Short Film Competition, with Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples to Heaven, Asmahan Bkerat’s Concrete Land and Rahul Roye’s Aman also taking major prizes.

Imperium received the festival’s top honour in the Official Competition. Built around archive footage shot by Italian cameramen in the Soviet Union during the early 1970s, Loznitsa’s film examines everyday life, society and culture in the period before the eventual dissolution of the USSR.

The Official Competition jury praised the film for the breadth of its archival perspective and its ability to create an emotionally engaging portrait of the era.

“Imperium is an extraordinary film that explores the Soviet Union in the early 1970s from a rich archive with a wide-ranging perspective,” said the Official Competition jury.

The Official Competition was judged by jury president Sam Pollard, director of Tutu, MLK/FBI and Citizen Ashe, alongside filmmaker and writer Mariano Llinás and DDA Chief Strategy Officer Julie La Bassiere.

In the First Feature Competition, Thai filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse won the Sutherland Award for 9 Temples to Heaven.

Chidgasornpongse’s fiction debut explores family, faith, life and death through a meditative narrative that the jury described as both visually accomplished and capable of transcending borders and generations.

British filmmaker Bertil Nilsson received a Special Mention in the category for Masc, his debut feature following Robin as he navigates temporary employment, relationships and a search for belonging.

The First Feature Competition jury was headed by actor Amir El-Masry, joined by independent film producer Alemberg Ang and international film sales, distribution and awards strategy executive Rosa Bosch.

The Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition went to Asmahan Bkerat for Concrete Land.

Bkerat’s feature directorial debut is an intimate, multi-generational portrait of a mixed-race family in Jordan confronting displacement, hostility and the erosion of cultural traditions.

The documentary jury highlighted the filmmaker’s close relationship with her subjects and the film’s observational approach, particularly its depiction of resilience and dignity across generations.

Theo Rollason’s Queer Edward II received a Special Mention in the Documentary Competition. Constructed entirely from archive material, the film revisits the making of Derek Jarman’s Edward II against the political backdrop of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in 1980s Britain.

The Documentary Competition jury was led by Santosh director Sandhya Suri alongside Melbourne International Film Festival senior programmer Kate Fitzpatrick and BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning producer Andee Ryder.

Rahul Roye won the Short Film Award for Aman, a film centred on a trans man who discovers that he is pregnant on the eve of gender-affirming surgery.

The story examines identity, masculinity and fatherhood without presenting simple answers to the questions confronting its central character. The jury recognised the film for its nuanced storytelling, cinematography and assured approach to complex subject matter.

Elizabeth Hobbs’ Daughters of the Late Colonel received the Short Film Competition’s Special Mention. The film follows two middle-aged sisters attempting to adjust to life following the death of their controlling father.

The Short Film Competition jury was chaired by writer and producer Helen Simmons, alongside comedian and creator Leo Reich and script editor, story consultant and executive producer Jack Casey.

Aman remains available to watch free on BFI Player until 25 October.

The BFI said voting for the 2026 LFF Audience Awards was due to close on 21 October, with the winners of Best Feature Film and Best British Discovery to be announced separately.

The competition awards conclude the 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival, which once again brought together established filmmakers and emerging international talent across fiction, documentary and short-form cinema.