The BFI London Film Festival has announced the line-up of industry figures who will decide this year’s competition winners, with documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard among those heading up the juries.

Pollard, the director behind MLK/FBI, will preside over the Official Competition jury, which will choose the winner of the festival’s Best Film Award.

He will be joined by Argentine filmmaker and writer Mariano Llinás, known for The Flower, and Julie La Bassiere, chief strategy officer at DDA Global.

Imperium is competing for the Best Film Award at the London Film Festival

Provided by BFI

The 70th BFI London Film Festival runs from October 7 to 18, with the competition winners set to be announced on the final day.

Four juries will oversee this year’s competition categories, covering feature films, first features, documentaries and short films.

Sam Pollard will lead the jury for the festival’s main competition.

The acclaimed American documentary filmmaker has worked in the industry for more than four decades and has received Peabody and Emmy Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination.

Sam Pollard will lead the jury for the festival’s main competition

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His recent directing credits include Tutu, I Was Born This Way, The League, South to Black Power, Citizen Ashe and MLK/FBI.

Pollard will be joined by Mariano Llinás and Julie La Bassiere.

• 7 Miles Out – Carol Morley
• Act 3 – Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor
• Glaxo – Benjamín Naishtat
• Imperium – Sergei Loznitsa
• Ketticè – Giovanni Tortorici
• Look Back – Hirokazu Koreeda
• My Notes on Mars – Lili Horvát
• The Difficult Bride – Rubaiyat Hossain
• The Idiot(s) – Małgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert
• Woman Unknown – May el-Toukhy

Actor Amir El-Masry will chair the jury for the Sutherland Award, which recognises an original and imaginative directorial debut.

Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime will screen at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, October 11, 2026

Provided by BFI

El-Masry, who won a Scottish BAFTA for Limbo, has also appeared in Giant and 100 Nights of Hero.

He will be joined by Filipino independent film producer Alemberg Ang and film sales and distribution executive Rosa Bosch.

The ten films competing for the Sutherland Award are:

• 9 Temples to Heaven – Sompot Chidgasornpongse
• Animol – Ashley Walters
• Ben’Imana – Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
• A Common Story – Anna Foglietta
• Forest High – Manon Coubia
• Fruit Gathering – Aung Phyoe
• Lady – Olive Nwosu
• The Last Day – Rachel Rose
• Masc – Bertil Nilsson
• Our Share of Sand – Shalini Adnani

British Indian writer and director Sandhya Suri will lead the jury deciding the winner of the Grierson Award.

Masc is a 2026 British drama about Robin, a queer, biracial autistic man navigating masculinity by observing and imitating the men around him

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Suri made her feature narrative debut with Santosh, which premiered at Cannes in 2024 and went on to win the BIFA for Best Screenplay and receive an Outstanding British Debut BAFTA nomination.

She began her career with the documentary I For India in 2005 and will be joined on the jury by Kate Fitzpatrick, senior programmer at Melbourne International Film Festival, and BAFTA and Emmy-winning producer Andee Ryder.

The eight films competing for the Grierson Award are:

• Ba’s Book – Ashley Duong
• The Calf Doll – Ankur Hooda
• Concrete Land – Asmahan Bkerat
• Concrete Turned to Sand – Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora
• Dependence – Grace Harper Brighouse
• Once Upon a Time in Harlem – William Greaves and David Greaves
• Queer Edward II – Theo Rollason
• Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing – Erik Shirai

Producer and writer Helen Simmons will chair the Short Film Competition jury.

Simmons is co-founder of Erebus Pictures and has produced films including BAFTA-nominated Hoard, 100 Nights of Hero and Berlinale Crystal Bear winner Last Swim.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem is competing for the Grierson Award

Provided by BFI

She will be joined by comedian and writer Leo Reich and script editor, story consultant and executive producer Jack Casey.

The ten films shortlisted for the Short Film Award are:

• Aman – Rahul Roye
• Daughters of the Late Colonel – Elizabeth Hobbs
• Fareye – Hayden Mclean
• How to Hide It – Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore
• Into the Forest – Antonin Niclass
• A Kind of Purity – Theo Shivdasani
• Landscapes of Shame – Patrick Hough
• Mon Taxi – Meriem Sakrouhi
• Treasure Island – Miryam Charles
• White Musk – Fatima Wardy

The festival's Audience Awards will also return this year, giving visitors the chance to vote for their favourite feature film, short and British discovery.

The winners of the four main competition awards will be announced on Sunday, October 18, the final day of the 70th BFI London Film Festival.

Official CompetitionFirst Feature CompetitionDocumentary CompetitionShort Film Competition