Copyright Variety
“Hamnet” won the audience award for best feature film at London Film Festival amid its highest attendance ever, the BFI announced on Thursday. Chloé Zhao’s moving drama was the Mayor of London’s Gala on Oct. 11 and was introduced by the director, stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, and producer Steven Spielberg. The audience award marks the latest honor for the drama about William Shakespeare’s personal life and the making of “Hamlet,” which has been tipped as a major awards contender. Meanwhile, the audience award for best British discovery goes to Yemi Bamiro’s documentary “Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story.” The film — “a touching tribute to the forgotten photographer, freedom fighter and activist, who helped popularize the transformative ‘Black Is Beautiful’ movement,” according to its synopsis — world premiered at the fest on Oct. 9. Audiences that attended the festival in person and went to screenings across the U.K. could vote on the awards, with the BFI reporting its highest-ever audience numbers this year. In its 12 days of screenings in London and throughout the U.K. as well as LFF for Free and industry forum events, the fest reached 235,853 people. Occupancy across both free and paid in-person screenings also increased to 94%, up from 92% last year, with 47% of tickets being booked by first-time attendees. The festival hosted over 1,000 international and U.K. filmmakers, XR artists, series creatives and their teams who presented their work and the industry forum welcomed more than 3,400 delegates. “Our biggest thanks go to the artists who generously shared their unique views of the world with us this year,” festival director Kristy Matheson said in a statement. “Across screenings, talks, exhibitions, immersive experiences, it was a delight to see industry and audiences engage with each other and this program — proving once again the joy and comfort we all find in screen culture.” Next year’s London Film Festival is set to take place from Oct. 7-18, 2026.
