Documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard will lead the London Film Festival jury for the 2026 Official Competition, the BFI London Film Festival announced Wednesday, Sept. 30. Pollard’s panel will pick the winner of the festival’s best film award at the event, which runs Oct. 7-18 in London.
Who is on the London Film Festival jury
On the London Film Festival jury, Pollard will sit with Argentine filmmaker and writer Mariano Llinás, whose credits include “The Life of Jorge Luis Borges” and “The Flower,” and Julie La Bassiere, chief strategy officer at DDA, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
“When I was asked to be the jury president for the London Film Festival, I was very surprised,” Pollard said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I have been a jury member at other festivals but to be asked by the London Film Festival leaves me over the moon and very excited to weigh in on the films we will be asked to screen.”
Festival director Kristy Matheson thanked all of this year’s jurors. “Our competition films bring together an extraordinary range of stories and filmmaking voices, and our juries bring distinct perspectives to the films,” she said.
The 10 films in competition
The London Film Festival jury will weigh 10 titles, Deadline reported: Carol Morley’s “7 Miles Out,” Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s “Act 3,” Benjamín Naishtat’s “Glaxo,” Sergei Loznitsa’s “Imperium,” Giovanni Tortorici’s “Ketticè,” Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Look Back,” Lili Horvát’s “My Notes on Mars,” Rubaiyat Hossain’s “The Difficult Bride,” Małgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert’s “The Idiot(s)” and May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown.”
Other London Film Festival juries
Actor and producer Amir El-Masry, a Scottish BAFTA winner for “Limbo,” heads the first feature jury for the Sutherland Award. Writer-director Sandhya Suri, whose “Santosh” was shortlisted for the Oscars, leads the documentary jury that picks the Grierson Award. Erebus Pictures co-founder Helen Simmons leads the short film jury, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sam Pollard’s career
Pollard brings a long résumé to the London Film Festival jury, including an Oscar nomination, Peabody and Emmy wins and a Career Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association. His latest film, “Tutu,” took the Peace Film Prize at the Berlinale this year. His recent work also includes “I Was Born This Way” (2025), “The League” (2023), “South to Black Power” (2023), “Citizen Ashe” (2021) and “MLK/FBI” (2020), The Hollywood Reporter noted.
What’s next
The 2026 BFI London Film Festival opens Oct. 7 and closes Oct. 18. For more film coverage, see our report on Andrew Scott’s “Elsinore”, our picks for 2025’s best overlooked indie films and the latest movie news.
Reporting from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter contributed to this story.
