The Sutherland Trophy was created in 1958 by the British Film Institute (BFI) as an annual award for "the maker of the most original and imaginative [first or second] feature film introduced at the National Film Theatre during the year".[1][2] The award was named after a patron of the BFI, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland.[2]

History

In 1997, the criteria changed to honour the maker of the most original and imaginative first feature screened during the London Film Festival.[2]

The award is a sculpture in silver by Gerald Benney. It is presented on the closing night of the Festival.

List of winners

YearDirector(s)FilmCountry
1958Yasujirō Ozu[2]Tokyo StoryJapan
1959Satyajit Ray[2]The World of ApuIndia
1960Michelangelo Antonioni[2]L'AvventuraItaly
1961Ermanno Olmi[2]Il PostoItaly
1962Jacques Rivette[2]Paris Belongs to UsFrance
1963Alain Resnais[2]MurielFrance
1964Grigori Kozintsev[2]HamletSoviet Union
1965Jean-Luc Godard[2]Pierrot le FouFrance
1966André Delvaux[2]The Man Who Had His Hair Cut ShortBelgium
1967Masaki Kobayashi[2]Samurai RebellionJapan
1968Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet[2]The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena BachFrance
1969Jacques Rivette[2]L'Amour fouFrance
1970Bernardo Bertolucci[2]The ConformistItaly
1971Robert Bresson[2]Four Nights of a DreamerFrance
1972Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas[2]The Hour of the FurnacesArgentina
1973Giorgi Shengelaia[2]PirosmaniSoviet Union
1974Rainer Werner Fassbinder[2]MarthaWest Germany
1975Theodoros Angelopoulos[2]The Travelling PlayersGreece
1976Nagisa Oshima[2]In the Realm of the SensesJapan
1977Hans-Jürgen Syberberg[2]Hitler: A Film from GermanyWest Germany
1978Mark Rappaport[2]The Scenic RouteUnited States
1979Zeki Ökten and Yılmaz Güney[2]The HerdTurkey
1980Peter Greenaway (shared)[2]The FallsUnited Kingdom
Xie Jin (shared)[2]Two Stage SistersChina
1981Helma Sanders-Brahms[2]No Mercy, No FutureWest Germany
1982Adoor Gopalakrishnan[2]ElippathayamIndia
1983Chris Marker[2]Sans SoleilFrance
1984Lino Brocka[2]This Is My CountryPhilippines
1985Chen Kaige[2]Yellow EarthChina
1986Bill Douglas[2]ComradesUnited Kingdom
1987Edward Yang (shared)[2]TerrorizersTaiwan
Souleymane Cissé (shared)[2]YeelenMali
1989Nils Gaup[2]PathfinderNorway
1990Steve Kloves[2]The Fabulous Baker BoysUnited States
1991Elaine Proctor[2]On the WireSouth Africa
1992Jocelyn Moorhouse[2]ProofAustralia
1993Julio Medem[2]VacasSpain
1994Tran Anh Hung[2]The Scent of Green PapayaVietnam
1995Moufida Tlatli[2]The Silences of the PalaceTunisia
1996Jevon O'Neill[2]Bob's WeekendUnited Kingdom
1997Bruno Dumont[2]The Life of JesusFrance
1998Samira Makhmalbaf[2]The AppleIran
1999Lynne Ramsay[2]RatcatcherUnited Kingdom
2000Kenneth Lonergan[2]You Can Count on MeUnited States
2001Asif Kapadia[2]The WarriorUnited Kingdom
2002Delphine Gleize[3]CarnagesFrance
2003Siddiq Barmak[2]OsamaAfghanistan
2004Jonathan Caouette[4]TarnationUnited States
2005Kari Paljakka[5]For the Living and the DeadFinland
2006Andrea Arnold[2]Red RoadUnited Kingdom
2007Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi[6]PersepolisFrance
2008Sergey Dvortsevoy[2]TulpanKazakhstan
2009Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani[2]AjamiPalestine
2010Clio Barnard[7]The ArborUnited Kingdom
2011Pablo Giorgelli[8]Las AcaciasArgentina
2012Benh Zeitlin[9]Beasts of the Southern WildUnited States
2013Anthony Chen[10]Ilo IloSingapore
2014Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy[11]The TribeUkraine
2015Robert Eggers[12]The WitchUnited States
2016Julia Ducournau[13]RawFrance
2017John Trengove[14]The WoundSouth Africa
2018Lukas Dhont[15]GirlBelgium
2019Mati Diop[16]AtlanticsFrance
2021Laura Wandel[17]PlaygroundBelgium
2022Manuela Martelli[18]1976Chile
2023Mika Gustafson[19]Paradise Is BurningSweden
2024Laura Carreira[20]On FallingUnited Kingdom
2025Vincho Nchogu[21]One Woman One BraKenya

See also

References

  1. ^ 1963 London Film Festival Programme, London: BFI
  2. ^ "60 years of awards at the London Film Festival – A brief history of the competition". BFI. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  3. ^ The Independent, "'Carnages' at London Film Festival", 22 November 2002
  4. ^ 'Tarnation' wins top prize at London Film Festival – Chron.com
  5. ^ Finnish Embassy, "Kari Paljakka's film wins the Sutherland Trophy", 9 November 2002
  6. ^ Persepolis, Unrelated take prizes at London Film Festival| News |Screen Daily
  7. ^ London film festival: British director Clio Barnard wins best newcomer, The Guardian
  8. ^ "London Film Festival: Sutherland Trophy discoveries". Sight & Sound. October 2011. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  9. ^ "BFI London Film Festival announces 2012 award winners". BFI. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  10. ^ "Child of the 90s: Anthony Chen on Ilo Ilo". BFI. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  11. ^ "Russian Oscar Entry 'Leviathan' Takes Top Prize at London Film Fest". Variety. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  12. ^ "London Film Festival Closes With Well-Received 'Steve Jobs' And Femme-Dominated Awards Ceremony". Deadline Hollywood. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Certain Women, Raw triumph in London". Cineuropa. 17 October 2016.
  14. ^ Ide, Wendy (6 December 2017). "'The Wound' director John Trengove: 'It's an exciting time to be making queer cinema'". Screen International. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  15. ^ "2018 competition winners". British Film Institute. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  16. ^ "2019 competition winners". British Film Institute. 12 October 2019. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Belgian playground bullying drama wins at London Film Festival". British Film Institute. 18 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Competition winners announced at 66th BFI London Film Festival". British Film Institute. 16 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Award winners announced at 67th BFI London Film Festival". BFI. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  20. ^ "Award winners announced at 2024 BFI London Film Festival". BFI. 2024-10-20. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  21. ^ Dalton, Ben (19 October 2025). "BFI London Film Festival winners led by Lucrecia Martel's 'Landmarks'". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 19 October 2025.