Even with the pandemic still affecting most corners of the industry, the BFI London Film Festival went ahead as planned – with a few virtual adjustments – this year. Now the fest's award winners have been announced, with Thomas Vinterberg's Danish comedy Another Round taking Best Film.
Like a big part of the festival itself, the awards were handed out online, with Vinterberg offering his acceptance message via video: "Thank you to the audience at the London Film Festival for bringing this award to us. We are very proud to receive this from a British audience; it’s a great honour. We are so sad that we can’t be there."
Other winners included Benjamin Ree, who took Best Documentary with The Painter And The Thief, Shuttlecock director Tommy Gillard earning Best Short Film, with Best XR/Immersive Art handed to directors Anna West and David Callanan. Wildfire's Cathy Brady, meanwhile, won the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award, a £50,0000 prize for an outstanding first or second time UK writer, director, or writer/director. "I'm deeply honoured to receive the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary," Brady said. "In a year that has been so turbulent for so many, it feels like a safe harbour and for a first feature filmmaker, the chance to recalibrate, dream and immerse myself in the next project is such an incredible gift. Thank you IWC and BFI."