BFI London Film Festival

The London Film Festival is presented by the British Film Institute. It has as its objective the promotion of cinematographic art by presenting films of quality. It is an annual event based at the BFI South Bank and other central London venues. It runs for 16 days and wherever possible each film is presented at least twice. Feature films, documentaries and short subjects of any genre on 16mm, 35mm, 70mm and video are selected by invitation, according to quality, from among those shown at festivals outside of the UK, during the preceding year. The organisers also welcome unsolicited submissions made in accordance with these regulations.

For many years the festival has given a small number of awards in recognition of the creative talent which finds a home in the Festival. The programme showcases and supports the work of imaginative and original film-makers and in 2009, a new annual standalone Awards ceremony was launched to reflect this and to reward distinctive and intriguing work. Prior to 2009, a number of festival awards were presented at the Closing gala.