‘Memoir of a Snail’ Wins Top Prize at London Film Festival

After claiming the Cristal at Annecy earlier in the year, Australian animation “Memoir of a Snail” has now won the top honor at the BFI London Film Festival.

Adam Eliot’s acclaimed stop-motion feature won the best film award in the official competition, selected by a jury led by Alexandre O. Philippe.

“Our jury was incredibly moved by Adam Elliot’s ‘Memoir of a Snail,’ which is a singular achievement in filmmaking,” the jury said. “Emotionally resonant and constantly surprising, Memoir tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head-on, creating a crucial and universal dialogue in a way that only animation can. The jury is delighted to recognise an animated film alongside its live-action peers.” 

Rungano Nyoni’s Cannes hit “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” was given a special mention, described as an “intricately crafted story brimming with imagination that dares to say the unsayable about a sexual predator in a close-knit Zambian community.”

Meanwhile, Laura Carreira’s “On Falling” claimed the Sutherland Award in the first feature competition for debut filmmakers, becoming the first British winner of the prize since Clio Barnard in 2010.

The first feature jury, led by Dionne Edwards, described “On Falling” as a “richly-layered portrait of a world governed by corporate profit motive, as seen through the story of an immigrant woman whose alienation we feel deeply, told with masterful cinematic precision and understated, lived in performances.” It added that the film was a “powerful, mesmerising and bold first feature.”

In the same category, a special mention went to Thomas Pchardo Espaillat’s animated feature “Olivia & The Clouds.”

Elsewhere, the Grierson Award in the documentary competition went to “Mother Vera,” from directors Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson and about a young Orthodox nun who must confront her past. The winner of the Short Film Award was Rehab Nazzal’s “Vibrations from Gaza,” about the resilience of deaf Palestinian children in Gaza as they live with Israel’s military attacks.

The 68th BFI London Film Festival, which kicked off on Oct. 9 with the world premiere of Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” concludes on Sunday night with the U.K. premiere of “Piece by Piece.”