Juries Announced for New Look of London Film Fest

The 56th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express revealed its juries for the 2012 Festival Awards which will take place at Banqueting House, Whitehall, SW1 on Saturday Oct. 20, 2012.

The BFI London Film Festival Awards have undergone a significant change this year by introducing competitive sections that are given much more prominence in the Festival campaign and programme.  The Best Film Award in partnership with American Express will be presented to the winner of the Official Competition; the Sutherland Award will be presented to the winner of the Best First Feature and the Grierson will be presented to the winning film in the Documentary Competition.

Each section is open to international and British films and 12 films have been shortlisted for each Competition. Swarovski continues its sponsorship of the Best British Newcomer Award for the third consecutive year, recognizing new or breakthrough talent across a range of disciplines (see selection), including a bursary of £5000.

At this year’s ceremony, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton will each be presented with the BFI’s highest honour, the BFI Fellowship.

Widely regarded as one of the cinema’s most imaginative filmmakers. Tim Burton  is known for creating visually striking films that blend themes of fantasy and horror, and has enjoyed great success in both the live-action and animation arenas. He will be on the red carpet in support of his latest 3D animation feature "Frankenweenie," which opened this year’s Festival.

His extensive directing credits  include  "Edward Scissorhands," "Alice In Wonderland," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Sleepy Hollow," "Beetlejuice," "Ed Wood" and "Sweeney Todd." Tim Burton said “I feel very touched and grateful to the BFI for this tremendous honor.  It means more than I can put into words to receive the BFI Fellowship and to be included alongside the great directors who have received it before me”.

Celebrated British actress Helena Bonham Carter has lent her talents to a wide array of diverse feature films such as David Fincher’s "Fight Club," Tim Burton’s "Sweeney Todd," for which she received a Golden Globe nomination and the multi award-winning film "The Kings Speech" for which she received Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, and went on to win the BAFTA.

Other notable film credits include "Howard’s End," "A Room With A View," "Wings of the Dove" and "Frankenstein."  Helena Bonham Carter stars as Miss Havisham in the Festival’s closing night film Great Expectations. Helena Bonham Carter said “I am somewhat bewildered and not sure that I am deserving of such an honor as a Fellowship from the BFI, but shall accept it with deep gratitude”.

The Best Film Award, presented in partnership with the Festival’s principal partner American Express, recognises inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.  The initial shortlist was drawn up by BFI Head of Exhibition and Festival Director Clare Stewart together with the Festival programming team.

President of the Best Film Jury is the highly garnered screenwriter, playwright, film and theatre director, Sir David Hare, and his fellow jurors are  influential veteran Hong Kong film producer Nansun Shi, renowned Argentine director  PabloTrapero,  Victoria Pearman, producer of Crossfire Hurricane and President of  Jagged films and the young and talented  British  actress Romola Garai.

The Official Competition selection is:

"After Lucia," Michel Franco, Mexico
"End of Watch," David Ayer, U.S.
"EVERYDAY," Michael Winterbottom, U.K.
"Fill The Void," Rama Burshtein, Israel
"Ginger and Rosa," Sally Potter, U.K.
"In the House," François Ozon, France
"It Was The Son," Daniele Ciprì, Italy/France
"Lore," Cate Shortland, Germany/Australia/U.K.
"Midnight’s Children," Deepa Mehta, Canada/U.K.
"No," Pablo Larraín, Chile/U.S./Mexico
"Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard, France/Belgium
"Seven Psychopaths," Martin McDonagh, U.S./U.K.

The Sutherland Award has been recognizing original and imaginative feature debut directing talent since 1958. Presiding over the jury for this illustrious award is journalist  and former director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Hannah McGill and her fellow jurors comprise  award-winning novelist, Sebastian Faulks CBE, Emmy and BAFTA-winning filmmaker David Yates, BAFTA award-winning producer of Warp Films, Robin Gutch, and stage and screen actress  Louise Brealey.

The First Feature competition selection is:

"Beasts of the Southern Wild," Benh Zeitlin, U.S.
"Clip," Maja Miloš, Serbia
"The Comedian," Tom Shkolnik, U.K.
"Eat Sleep Die," Gabriela Pichler, Sweden
"My Brother The Devil," Sally EI Hosaini, U.K.
"Neighbouring Sounds," Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
"The Samurai that Night," Masaaki Akahori, Japan
"Shell," Scott Graham, U.K.
"Ship of Theseus," Anand Gandhi, India
"Sleeper’s Wake," Barry Berk, South Africa
"Tomorrow," Andrey Gryazev, Russia
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour, Saudi Arabia/Germany

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary, presented in partnership with the Grierson Trust, recognises  films with integrity, originality, and social or cultural significance. The jury is presided over by BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker Roger Graef  who is joined by the multi award-winning,  fearless  foreign correspondent and world affairs editor John Simpson,  vice chairman of the Grierson Trust Emma Hindley, Head of Documentary Commissioning at the BBC, Charlotte Moore and award-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Matthews.

The Documentary Competition selection is:

"Beware of Mr. Baker," Jay Bulger, U.S./South Africa
"Canned Dreams," Katja Gauriloff, Finland
"The Central Park Five," Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah Burns, U.S.
"The Ethnographer," Ulises Rosell, Argentina
"For No Good Reason," Charlie Paul, U.K.
"Free Angela and All Political Prisoners," Shola Lynch, U.S./France
"Les Invisibles," Sébastien Lifshitz, France
"Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," Alex Gibney, U.S./Ireland
"The Summit," Nick Ryan, Ireland/Switzerland
"Turned Towards The Sun," Greg Olliver, U.K./France/Germany
"Village at the End of the World," Sarah Gavron, U.K./Denmark/Greenland
"West of Memphis," Amy Berg, U.S.

The Best British Newcomer Award is presented in partnership with Swarovski and recognises new British talent, this year highlighting accomplishments in writing, directing and acting. Jury president is BAFTA-winning producer David Heyman and fellow jurors include acclaimed actor Tom Hiddleston, award-winning actress Olivia Colman, celebrated authorKazuo Ishiguru, and BAFTA-winning director Eran Creevy.

The Best British Newcomer selection is:

Fady Elsayed, Actor, "MY BROTHER THE DEVIL"
Sally EI Hosaini, Director/Screenwriter, "MY BROTHER THE DEVIL"
Rufus Norris, Director, "BROKEN"
Eloise Laurence, Actor, "BROKEN"
Chloe Pirrie, Actor, "SHELL"
Scott Graham, Director/Screenwriter, "SHELL"
Tom Shkolnik, Director/Screenwriter, "THE COMEDIAN"
Rowan Athale, Director/Screenwriter, "WASTELAND"

Source: BFI London Film Festival
Image Courtesy: Le Segretain/Getty