Sergei Loznitsa's "Imperium" Takes Best Film at London Film Festival

Sergei Loznitsa's "Imperium", an archive film about the Soviet Union in the early 1970s, wins Best Film at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, from an Official Competition jury led by Sam Pollard with Mariano Llinás and Julie La Bassiere, which calls it "an extraordinary film" with a "visually arresting perspective". The Sutherland Award for a first feature goes to Sompot Chidgasornpongse's "9 Temples to Heaven", the Grierson documentary award to Asmahan Bkerat's "Concrete Land", a portrait of a mixed-race family in Jordan, and the short film award to Rahul Roye's "Aman". Special mentions go to Bertil Nilsson's "Masc", Theo Rollason's "Queer Edward II" and Elizabeth Hobbs' "Daughters of the Late Colonel"; audience award voting stays open until 21 October.