Films in First Feature Competition
The Sutherland Award recognises the most original and imaginative directorial debut.
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Apostasy
Dir-Scr Daniel Kokotajlo | UK
Written and directed by a former Jehovah’s Witness, this gripping debut depicts a family struggling with a cruel choice: devotion to one another or to their faith.
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Beast
Dir-Scr Michael Pearce | UK
The hunt for a Jersey serial killer sparks a dangerous awakening in a young woman in this astonishing psycho-sexual thriller, which sets all the senses aflame.
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The Cakemaker
Dir-Scr Ofir Raul Graizer | Israel-Germany
A gay German baker and an Israeli widow find comfort in their shared grief, in this tale of loneliness, complex desire, and lots of cakes.
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Cargo
Dir Gilles Coulier | Belgium-Netherlands-France
Tensions erupt when three sons are forced to take over a failing family fisheries business in this dark and compelling North Sea drama.
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Columbus
Dir-Scr Kogonada | USA
A young librarian with a thing for Modernist architecture expands her horizons when a Korean lawyer (John Cho) comes to town, in this impeccable debut.
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I Am Not a Witch
Dir-Scr Rungano Nyoni | UK-France-Zambia
Welsh-raised, Zambian-born Rungano Nyoni delivers a dazzling debut with this dark satirical fairy tale about a little girl accused of being a witch.
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Jeune femme
Dir-Scr Léonor Serraille | France-Belgium
Paula is a one-woman riot of tangled emotion and self-destructive tendencies. Paris is a city for lovers. The cat of divorce is in a cardboard box.
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Most Beautiful Island
Dir-Scr Ana Asensio | Spain-USA
Searing social realism with a bold genre twist.
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Summer 1993
Dir-Scr Carla Simón | Spain
Bereavement is seen through the eyes of a six-year-old girl in this assured, visually arresting debut from Catalan filmmaker Carla Simón.
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Winter Brothers
Dir-Scr Hlynur Pálmason | Denmark-Iceland
Two quarry-worker brothers are swept into a vicious feud in this intensely performed and aesthetically distinctive debut, featuring House of Cards’ Lars Mikkelsen.
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The Wound
Dir John Trengove | South Africa
A tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.
Festival calendar
2018 Festival submissions
2018 BFI London Film Festival submissions are now open.
