Paul Greengrass: ‘BFI Fellowship honour means the world’

Director Paul Greengrass was left feeling “honoured and humbled” as he received the BFI Fellowship prize at the annual BFI London Film Festival Awards on Saturday night (14Oct17).
The Captain Phillips filmmaker was honoured with the BFI Fellowship from executives of the British Film Institute (BFI) for his career achievements at London’s Banqueting House on Saturday.
Talking to WENN/ Cover Media afterwards, he admitted he was shocked when he found out he was the recipient.
“If you’re a British filmmaker, it means the world,” Paul smiled. “It’s the BFI. It’s like a hugely important honour. I felt honoured and I felt humbled. I definitely thought about it today, I really did. I went for a cup of coffee and I was on my own and thought, ‘Wow’. I hadn’t realised it was 40 years since I’d joined the business. So you go, ‘OK, that’s quite a long time, that’s quite a journey’.
“That’s what I felt; honoured and humbled. I know they’re overused words, but that is honestly what you feel.”
The winner of the Official Competition for best film went to Loveless, a Russian drama about a couple whose son disappears while they are in the midst of a divorce. The movie won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and emerged victorious once again at the London Film Festival.
American Honey director Andrea Arnold headed up the jury along with Eric Bana and actress/model Lily Cole, among others, and they commended the movie, calling it “a very poetic and beautiful film” that was “dark and told with a fierce passion”.
Director Andrey Zvyagintsev, who had previously won the prize at the 2014 London Film Festival with Leviathan, told reporters backstage that he hopes the wins will help Loveless’ chances at the Academy Awards, for which it has been selected as Russia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
“It makes the movie seen, at least a lot of people pay attention… the London Film Festival win would definitely be an important step in getting the attention of BAFTA members and of course, the American Academy,” he said.
Other winners included The Wound, which won the first feature prize, Kingdom of Us, the recipient of the documentary prize, and The Rabbit Hunt, which received the award for best short film.
The ceremony was hosted by actor James Nesbitt on the penultimate day of the festival, which closes on Sunday with the gala premiere of Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri.