London Film Festival Awards: Lucrecia Martel’s ‘Landmarks’ Wins Best Film

Lucrecia Martel‘s documentary “Landmarks” (“Nuestra Tierra”) was awarded best film in the official competition of this year’s London Film Festival.

“Landmarks” explores the murder of Indigenous leader Javier Chocobar and the legacy of colonialism in Latin America. Of selecting the film, the competition jury — which was led by president Elizabeth Karlsen — said: “With deep empathy and extraordinary journalistic and cinematic rigor, the director Lucrecia Martel dives deep into the events surrounding the 2009 murder of the Chuschagasta leader Javier Chocobar, in Argentina’s Tucumán Province. In foregrounding present-day voices and neglected histories, Martel emerges with a portrait of — and for — an Indigenous community, and grants them a measure of the justice the courts have long denied them. Within a remarkably strong competition, our jury is proud to honor this singular achievement.”

Elsewhere, Vincho Nchogu’s “One Woman One Bra” — a humorous account of one woman’s fight to keep her ancestral land — was awarded the Sutherland Award for best first feature. David Bingong’s “The Travelers,” an intimate and hopeful account of the dangerous journey taken by a group of migrants from Cameroon to Europe, won the documentary competition. The short film competition winner was Said Zagha’s “Coyotes,” which follows a Palestinian doctor’s journey after Israeli soldiers interrupt her commute home.

London Film Festival comes to a close on Sunday night with the U.K. premiere of Julia Jackman’s fantasy fairytale “100 Nights of Hero.” Meanwhile, voting for the LFF Audience Awards will continue through Monday and the winners of best feature film and British feature film will be announced soon.