The 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) is wrapping up Sunday night with the U.K. premiere of Julia Jackman’s star-studded 100 Nights of Hero, following the unveiling of this year’s award winners, led by Lucrecia Martel’s Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra), which was honored with the best film award in the official competition.
David Bingong’s The Travelers (Les Voyageurs) is the winner of the Grierson Award in the LFF documentary competition, while One Woman One Bra, directed by Vincho Nchogu, won the Sutherland Award in the first feature competition. And Coyotes, directed by Said Zagha, received the Short Film Award in the LFF short film competition.
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Landmarks is Argentinian auteur Martel’s first feature-length documentary. THR‘s review called the chronicle of the systemic theft of native land “a searing chronicle of a slow-motion crime.”
The LFF jury lauded the film this way: “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. In foregrounding present-day voices and neglected histories, Martel emerges with a portrait of — and for — an Indigenous community, and grants them a measure of the justice the courts have long denied them. Within a remarkably strong competition, our jury is proud to honor this singular achievement.”
Kenyan filmmaker Nchogu’s One Woman One Bra also explores the theme of land in a humorous account of one woman’s fight to keep her ancestral land. “We were incredibly impressed by her ability to confidently move between so many tones, but always holding the audience with care,” the jury highlighted in explaining why it deserved the first feature honor. “Her film uses humor to shattering effect. Vincho also elicited fantastic performances from her entire cast, complemented by stunning cinematography throughout. The piece is at once funny, life-affirming, and deeply moving; its emotional journey stayed with us and will continue to do so.”
The Travelers, meanwhile, focuses on the dangerous journey of a group of migrants from Cameroon to Europe. “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,” the documentary competition jury highlighted. “David Bingong, himself a migrant among them, offers a deeply personal and affecting lens on the humanitarian crisis of African refugees and asylum seekers adrift in both the Mediterranean Sea and the legal limbo of the EU’s broken immigration system.”
The doc jury also gave a special mention to Always, from director Deming Chen. His sophomore feature is “a lyrical portrait of a gifted young poet growing up in rural China,” LFF noted.
Coyotes won the LFF short award with its story about a Palestinian doctor. “When Israeli soldiers interrupt her commute home, [she] is forced down a desolate road, and her future is thrown into disarray,” according to a synopsis.
“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,” said the LFF short film competition jury. “We chose the film for its subtle introduction of characters, the evident love for its craft, and its confident command of viewer expectations.”
LFF 2025 wraps Sunday night with Jackman’s second feature, 100 Nights of Hero, a fairytale based on Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel. It features an all-star cast, including Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, Maika Monroe, Amir El-Masry, Richard E Grant, and Charli xcx.
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