Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 16, 2026

Sutherland Trophy

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". The award was named after a patron of the BFI, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland.

Last revised
Jun 16, 2026
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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".12 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

Year Director(s) Film Country
1958 Yasujirō Ozu2 Tokyo Story Japan
1959 Satyajit Ray2 The World of Apu India
1960 Michelangelo Antonioni2 L'Avventura Italy
1961 Ermanno Olmi2 Il Posto Italy
1962 Jacques Rivette2 Paris Belongs to Us France
1963 Alain Resnais2 Muriel France
1964 Grigori Kozintsev2 Hamlet Soviet Union
1965 Jean-Luc Godard2 Pierrot le Fou France
1966 André Delvaux2 The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short Belgium
1967 Masaki Kobayashi2 Samurai Rebellion Japan
1968 Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet2 The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach France
1969 Jacques Rivette2 L'Amour fou France
1970 Bernardo Bertolucci2 The Conformist Italy
1971 Robert Bresson2 Four Nights of a Dreamer France
1972 Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas2 The Hour of the Furnaces Argentina
1973 Giorgi Shengelaia2 Pirosmani Soviet Union
1974 Rainer Werner Fassbinder2 Martha West Germany
1975 Theodoros Angelopoulos2 The Travelling Players Greece
1976 Nagisa Oshima2 In the Realm of the Senses Japan
1977 Hans-Jürgen Syberberg2 Hitler: A Film from Germany West Germany
1978 Mark Rappaport2 The Scenic Route United States
1979 Zeki Ökten and Yılmaz Güney2 The Herd Turkey
1980 Peter Greenaway (shared)2 The Falls United Kingdom
Xie Jin (shared)2 Two Stage Sisters China
1981 Helma Sanders-Brahms2 No Mercy, No Future West Germany
1982 Adoor Gopalakrishnan2 Elippathayam India
1983 Chris Marker2 Sans Soleil France
1984 Lino Brocka2 This Is My Country Philippines
1985 Chen Kaige2 Yellow Earth China
1986 Bill Douglas2 Comrades United Kingdom
1987 Edward Yang (shared)2 Terrorizers Taiwan
Souleymane Cissé (shared)2 Yeelen Mali
1989 Nils Gaup2 Pathfinder Norway
1990 Steve Kloves2 The Fabulous Baker Boys United States
1991 Elaine Proctor2 On the Wire South Africa
1992 Jocelyn Moorhouse2 Proof Australia
1993 Julio Medem2 Vacas Spain
1994 Tran Anh Hung2 The Scent of Green Papaya Vietnam
1995 Moufida Tlatli2 The Silences of the Palace Tunisia
1996 Jevon O'Neill2 Bob's Weekend United Kingdom
1997 Bruno Dumont2 The Life of Jesus France
1998 Samira Makhmalbaf2 The Apple Iran
1999 Lynne Ramsay2 Ratcatcher United Kingdom
2000 Kenneth Lonergan2 You Can Count on Me United States
2001 Asif Kapadia2 The Warrior United Kingdom
2002 Delphine Gleize3 Carnages France
2003 Siddiq Barmak2 Osama Afghanistan
2004 Jonathan Caouette4 Tarnation United States
2005 Kari Paljakka5 For the Living and the Dead Finland
2006 Andrea Arnold2 Red Road United Kingdom
2007 Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi6 Persepolis France
2008 Sergey Dvortsevoy2 Tulpan Kazakhstan
2009 Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani2 Ajami Palestine
2010 Clio Barnard7 The Arbor United Kingdom
2011 Pablo Giorgelli8 Las Acacias Argentina
2012 Benh Zeitlin9 Beasts of the Southern Wild United States
2013 Anthony Chen10 Ilo Ilo Singapore
2014 Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy11 The Tribe Ukraine
2015 Robert Eggers12 The Witch United States
2016 Julia Ducournau13 Raw France
2017 John Trengove14 The Wound South Africa
2018 Lukas Dhont15 Girl Belgium
2019 Mati Diop16 Atlantics France
2021 Laura Wandel17 Playground Belgium
2022 Manuela Martelli18 1976 Chile
2023 Mika Gustafson19 Paradise Is Burning Sweden
2024 Laura Carreira20 On Falling United Kingdom
2025 Vincho Nchogu21 One Woman One Bra Kenya
See also

See also

References

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 16 October 2023.
  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 16 October 2023.
  9. "BFI London Film Festival announces 2012 award winners". BFI. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  10. "Child of the 90s: Anthony Chen on Ilo Ilo". BFI. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  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 16 October 2023.
  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 16 October 2023.
  20. "Award winners announced at 2024 BFI London Film Festival". BFI. 20 October 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  21. Dalton, Ben (19 October 2025). "BFI London Film Festival winners led by Lucrecia Martel's 'Landmarks'". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
External links