Documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard will preside over the Official Competition jury at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, organizers announced Wednesday, giving one of America’s most respected nonfiction directors the final word on the festival’s Best Film Award.
The festival runs Oct. 7 to 18. Pollard will sit alongside Argentine filmmaker and writer Mariano Llinás, whose “The Life of Jorge Luis Borges” premiered at Venice, and Julie La Bassiere, chief strategy officer at the industry firm DDA.
Pollard earned an Academy Award nomination as producer of Spike Lee’s “4 Little Girls” and has won Peabody and Emmy awards. His directing credits include “MLK/FBI,” “Citizen Ashe” and “Tutu,” which took the Peace Film Prize at this year’s Berlinale. His work centers on race, history and social justice. He said the invitation caught him off guard. “I was very surprised,” Pollard said.
Festival director Kristy Matheson said the four juries “bring distinct perspectives” to the competition slate. The Official Competition includes ten films, among them new work from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Carol Morley and Lili Horvát.
Three other panels will judge separate prizes. British-Egyptian actor and producer Amir El-Masry leads the First Feature Competition jury, which awards the Sutherland Prize. El-Masry won a Scottish BAFTA for “Limbo” and appeared in the Naseem Hamed biopic “Giant.” He works with Filipino producer Alemberg Ang and veteran executive Rosa Bosch, whose career spans AFI Fest, San Sebastián and the London festival itself.
Sandhya Suri, the British-Indian director of “Santosh,” heads the Documentary Competition jury that selects the Grierson Award winner. Her Hindi-language debut premiered at Cannes in 2024, won the BIFA for best screenplay and made the Oscar shortlist.
Helen Simmons, a producer, writer and co-founder of Erebus Pictures, leads the Short Film Competition jury. Her producing credits include the BAFTA-nominated “Hoard,” last year’s closing gala film “100 Nights of Hero” and the Berlinale Crystal Bear winner “Last Swim.”
Winners will be announced during the festival’s final days.
