‘Imperium’, built from rare footage found in a Rome archive, wins London’s top award
Photo: Collected
‘Imperium’ by Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has won the best film award at the 70th edition of the United Kingdom’s prestigious BFI London Film Festival. The names of the winners were announced on Sunday, the closing day of the festival.
The film is quite novel in terms of both its story and its style of construction. It is built on some rare footage shot by Italian filmmakers between 1970 and 1973 and preserved in an archive in Rome.
Beginning in Moscow, the film’s setting gradually spreads to regions where diverse beliefs and ethnic characteristics come to the fore; through this, the empire’s powerful domination over the people becomes clear. The film is essentially a forceful critique of Russia’s historical and present-day imperialism.
Director Sergei Loznitsa said he found this rare footage, shot by Italian filmmakers, in an archive in Rome, and only then planned to make the film. He did not want to let slip such an opportunity to bring before everyone the remote regions of the Soviet Union, which was dissolved in 1991, and the cultural diversity of the people there.
Several other films were also awarded at the London festival this time. Asmahan Bkerat’s ‘Concrete Land’ won the best documentary award (the Grierson Award), the Thai film ‘Nine Temples to Heaven’ received the award for best first feature film (the Sutherland Award), and ‘Aman’ by West Bengal filmmaker Rahul Roy won the award for best short film.
Background
The 70th edition of the festival ended on 18 October 2026 after nearly two weeks of screenings — Cineuropa reported this information on 19 October 2026. The jury of the main competition section was led by director Sam Pollard, with Mariano Llinas and Julie La Bassiere as members.
At a glance
Praising this documentary, which sees the Soviet Union of the early seventies through the eyes of the archive, the jury described it as ‘richly resonant and emotionally engaging on every level’; in their assessment the film also presents life before the fall of the Soviet Union from a ‘visually pleasing perspective’ — Cineuropa reported this information on 19 October 2026.
According to the list in the same report, the maker of ‘Nine Temples to Heaven’, which received the Sutherland Award, is Sompot Chidgasornpongse, and in the Grierson Award category Theo Rollason’s ‘Queer Edward II’ received a special mention; in the short film category Elizabeth Hobbs’s ‘Daughters of the Late Colonel’ received a special mention.
Sources
Background source: Cineuropa, 19 October 2026
