At the annual BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Awards on Thursday, Tilda Swinton, Edward Enninful, and BFI chief executive Ben Roberts came together to celebrate creative audacity in film and award prizes to emerging filmmakers. This year’s awards were given to rising filmmakers Harry Lighton (writer and director of Pillion), the Neurocultures Collective (which consists of Sam Chown-Ahern, Georgia Bradburn, Benjamin Brown, Robin Elliott-Knowles, and Lucy Walker) and Steven Eastwood, and Sandhya Suri (writer and director of Santosh).
So what exactly does creative audacity entail? According to Roberts, “I think it means that we see someone taking some risks in their work. This work is, how do we help people thread the needle of big, bold, imaginative, creative, risky ideas? They might fail spectacularly as well. But audiences love it when creative audacity lands.”
Each of the award winners received financial support of 20,000 British pounds to aid in expanding their work and exploring new ideas. The winners were selected by a jury led by Swinton, Enninful, and Roberts.
“I think all artists have to aim for [originality],” said Swinton during Thursday’s event at Claridge’s. “That’s the project. Because no artist sets out to be a facsimile of anybody else. What we need is original artists. We don’t need people dressed up as other people pretending to be other people. We need original, authentic voices.”
Guests enjoyed a Champagne reception, presentation of the awards, and a sociable standing lunch. Attending the star-studded event were actors Imogen Poots, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sophie Cookson, George MacKay, Lily Allen, and Connor Swindells.
“I think what [the BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Awards] demonstrate is how deeply Chanel understands what artists’ lives are, what artists need to make work. They need time and they need support. Money is support. But money is also time,” Swinton explained, while enjoying a miniature ice cream cone. “You can’t eat it and not be funny. No, you can’t stand in an insouciant way,” she said jokingly of the tiny dessert.
Lighton, whose debut feature, Pillion, stars Alexander Skarsgård as a biker in the world of BDSM**,** was a highlight of the Cannes Film Festival. Upon collecting his award, Lighton noted how his parents would see the film for the first time this Saturday. “How his parents react will be livestreaming,” said Roberts.
Suri’s narrative feature debut, Santosh, was the UK’s official selection for the best-international-feature Oscar in 2024, while The Stimming Pool is an experimental docu-fiction made, in part, by a collective of autistic artists.
Chanel and the BFI have been partners since 2022, and are striving to create a burgeoning community of filmmakers. Previous winners include Kathryn Ferguson (Nothing Compares), Savannah Leaf (Earth Mama), and Pinny Grylls (Grand Theft Hamlet).
The afternoon was a testament to the power of film. “I honestly believe people need cinema. And as I say, they would really miss it if it wasn’t there,” Swinton said.
