Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel was honored with the Best Film Award at the 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival for her documentary Nuestra tierra (international title: Landmarks). The official competition jury, chaired by producer Elizabeth Karlsen, praised the filmmaker’s profound empathy and journalistic and cinematic rigor in addressing the 2009 murder of Javier Chocobar, leader of the Indigenous Chuschagasta community in Argentina’s Tucumán Province. “By giving voice to the present and to long-overlooked histories, Martel creates a portrait of an Indigenous community and grants them a measure of the justice that the courts have long denied them,” the official statement read. The festival’s closing ceremony in London also celebrated other standout works from a diverse program that challenges mainstream awards-season trends.

The Sutherland Award went to One Woman One Bra, directed by Vincho Nchogu, a co-production between Kenya and Nigeria. The jury praised the film’s ability to move seamlessly through different narrative tones, its transformative humor, and the powerful performances of its cast. In the documentary category, the top prize was awarded to The Travelers by David Bingong, an intimate and urgent portrait of young Cameroonian migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. With this new recognition, Martel reaffirms her central place in contemporary cinema and amplifies a story deeply rooted in the memory and struggles of Argentina’s Indigenous peoples.

Best Film Award
Our Land – Lucrecia Martel (Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Netherlands/Denmark)

Sutherland Award
One Woman One Bra – Vincho Nchogu (Kenya/Nigeria)

Grierson Award
The Travelers – David Bingong (Cameroon/Spain)
Special Mention
Always – Deming Chen (China/USA/France/Switzerland)

Short Film Award
Coyotes – Said Zagha (UK/France/Jordan, short film)