Written by Kianna Best on Oct 21, 2024. Posted in Awards and Festivals

BFI LFF announces winners for 2024 edition

After an exciting 11 days of screenings, networking and informative panel talks, the 2024 BFI London Film Festival has come to a close. To conclude the festivities, the winners of this year’s LFF Awards. The winning films touched on all elements of filmmaking from stop-motion animation to powerful documentary formats.

 

The Best Film Award winner for the 2024 edition went to Memoir of A Snail directed by Oscar winning talent Adam Elliot, a stop-motion animated flick telling the tale of separated twins in 1970’s Australia through a comedic and lighthearted lens.

“Our jury was incredibly moved by Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail, which is a singular achievement in filmmaking,” commented the official jury. “Emotionally resonant and constantly surprising, Memoir tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head-on, creating a crucial and universal dialogue in a way that only animation can. The jury is delighted to recognise an animated film alongside its live-action peers."

 

“We could never have imagined when we started making our little blobby film eight years ago, how audiences around the world would connect and engage with our character Grace Puddle,” commented Elliot. “This film was made by so many wonderful artists who toiled very long days, months and years to bring our blobs of clay to life. This award is for them. To win best film amongst such incredible films from around the world shows that stopmotion animation is alive and well and is not a genre but a wonderful medium and vehicle to tell potent and universal stories that can make audiences both laugh and cry. Thank you to the BFI, the jury and the London audiences for supporting our eccentric film.”

 

The Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition went to Laura Carreira’s On Falling telling the story of a young Portuguese warehouse employee in Scotland. On winning the award Carreira commented:  “I’m so honoured to receive the Sutherland award for “On Falling” and for our film to join the long list of winners which includes some of my favourite films and most important cinema reference points. I want to extend my thanks to the jury and everyone involved in this amazing festival.  This award is shared with our incredible cast, and crew who brought this film to life.”

 

“We hope the film speaks to the relentless and dehumanising growth of neoliberalism while reminding us that human nature will keep resisting. We offer our film in solidarity."

 

On the documentary front Mother Vera by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson took home the Grierson Award and Vibrations from Gaza was celebrated in the short film category. Mother Vera captures the story of a young Orthodox nun who confronts her past as she faces her desires and an uncertain future.

 

The Documentary Competition Jury said: “This exquisite film masterfully captures the inner transformation of its central character using evocative visuals that mirror her emotional journey. Each frame is rich with detail, and the directors’ sensitive approach allows the audience to intimately experience Vera’s perspective as her story evolves. The balance of aesthetic beauty and emotional depth makes Mother Vera a powerful meditation on personal growth and resilience, and the delicate treatment of momentous issues such as addiction, lost love and faith is executed with profound potency. The Grierson Award goes to Mother Vera, directed by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson.”

 

“We are thrilled and delighted that our film has been recognised by this prestigious award, and It was a great privilege that Vera trusted us with her story and was able to be so vulnerable in sharing her inner world with such honesty, “commented Embleton and Tomlinson” We hope that audiences are moved by the film, which invites us to reflect and meditate on our own lives. We have been incredibly lucky to work with a team that brought tremendous amounts of care, innovation and dedication to this piece of work, and who are deeply committed to the art of documentary and cinema. We would like to highlight the outstanding work of our producer, Laura Shacham, editor, Romain Beck, sound designer, Leonardo Cauteruccio, and colourist, Romain Kedochim. We would like to thank our Executive Producers Vikram Gudi and Murugan Thiruchelvam for their support. We would also like to thank the jury for recognising and celebrating the film, it means a great deal and we are very grateful and honoured.”

 

Vibration from Gaza came out on top with the Short Film Award for a poignant glimpse into the resilience of Palestinian deaf children in Gaza who are living with Israel’s military attacks.

 

“Through its simplicity of storytelling, Vibration from Gaza demands our presence, urging us not only to bear witness but to deeply reflect on the impact of growing up deaf in Gaza — a reality that many of us could never fully comprehend,” commented the short film jury on the winning project.

 

Director Rehab Nazzal said: “I thank the BFI London Film Festival jury for honouring Vibrations from Gaza with the Short Film Award, and for recognizing the experiences of the Deaf children in Gaza— who have known only torment, a suffocating 17-year-long siege, and frequent onslaught by the settler-colonial state of Israel. Since the 1948 Nakba, these children, their parents, and grandparents, have endured ongoing zionist colonization, occupation, apartheid, and now genocide, while some western states continue to arm, finance, and shield Israel from accountability.

 

“I intended through this film to awaken our humanity to the cruelty imposed upon 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, and the use of the coastal territory as a testing ground for Israel's killing machines, including sonic weapons. During dark times such as these, I believe that art can contribute to justice and freedom for all, not just for a few. Thank you, and Free Palestine, from the River to the Sea.”

 

This year’s Jury Presidents were: Alexandre O. Philippe, (Official Competition), Dionne Edwards (First Feature Competition), June Givanni, (Documentary Competition) and Chloe Abrahams (Short Film Competition).

 

Images courtesy of the BFI