Sergei Loznitsa's 'Imperium' wins best film at 70th BFI London Film Festival

Imperium, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, won the Best Film Award in the Official Competition at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, the British Film Institute announced on Sunday 18 October (UK time) as the festival ended.

The BFI describes the film as reframing Soviet history through footage shot by Italian cameramen in the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. The Official Competition jury, led by director Sam Pollard, called it “an extraordinary film” that is “richly evocative and emotionally engaging on all levels”.

The other competition winners were:

• Sutherland Award (First Feature Competition): 9 Temples to Heaven, directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, with a special mention for Bertil Nilsson’s Masc.
• Grierson Award (Documentary Competition): Concrete Land, directed by Asmahan Bkerat, about a mixed-race family facing displacement in Jordan, with a special mention for Theo Rollason’s Queer Edward II.
• Short Film Award: Aman, directed by Rahul Roye, with a special mention for Elizabeth Hobbs’s Daughters of the Late Colonel.

The BFI said voting for the festival’s Audience Awards closes on Wednesday 21 October, with winners to be announced later. Last year’s Audience Award for Best Feature Film went to Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. Aman is available to watch free on BFI Player until 25 October, the BFI said.