Shortlist announced for 55th BFI London film festival

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The 55^th BFI London Film Festival has announced the shortlist and jury for 2011 Festival Awards including The Grierson Award for Best Documentary. The Awards will take place at LSO St Luke’s on 26 October.

A partnership between the Grierson Trust and the Festival, The Grierson Award for Best Documentary recognises outstanding feature-length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance. The Award is presented in commemoration of John Grierson. Two-time BAFTA winner Adam Curtis will chair the jury, which also includes documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto, and Grierson Trustees Mandy Chang and Charlotte Moore.

This year’s shortlist is:

BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY

Lelia Doolan, Ireland

BETTER THIS WORLD

Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, USA

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975

Goran Hugo Olsson, Sweden/USA

DRAGONSLAYER

Tristan Patterson

DREAMS OF A LIFE

Carol Morley, UK/Ireland

INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, A TALE OF LIFE

Werner Herzog

LAST DAYS HERE

Don Argott & Demian Fenton, USA

WHORES’ GLORY

Michael Glawogger, Austria/Germany

On chairing the Best Documentary category, Adam Curtis said “It is a great privilege and I am really looking forward to watching all the films and I am also hoping that somehow the films will help me make a bit more sense of what is happening in the world at the moment because frankly not much else on television or the cinema is doing that at present”.

About the BFI

The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:

• Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
• Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
• Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
• Promoting British film and talent to the world
• Growing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences

The BFI London Film Festival

The BFI London Film Festival champions creativity, originality, vision and imagination by annually showcasing the best of contemporary world cinema, documentaries, shorts, animation and experimental film. The BFI London Film Festival is a highly regarded and anticipated event in Europe's cultural calendar, attracting leading international filmmakers, industry professionals and the media together with large public audiences to London for a two week showcase of the best in contemporary world cinema.

Last year’s Festival hosted 201 feature films and 112 short films from 68 countries including 11 world premieres. There were 629 filmmakers in attendance, drawing the highest ever audience attendance of over 132,000 filmgoers. The Festival opened with the European Premiere of NEVER LET ME GO and closed with the European Premiere of 127 HOURS.