Sutherland Trophy

In 1997, the criteria changed to honour the maker of the most original and imaginative first feature screened during the London Film Festival. The award is a sculpture in silver by Gerald Benney. It is presented on the closing night of the Festival.

• Year — Director(s) — Film — Country • 1958 — Yasujirō — Tokyo Story — Japan • 1959 — Satyajit — The World of Apu — India • 1960 — Michelangelo — L'Avventura — Italy • 1961 — Ermanno — Il Posto — Italy • 1962 — Jacques — Paris Belongs to Us — France • 1963 — Alain — Muriel — France • 1964 — Grigori — Hamlet — Soviet Union • 1965 — Jean-Luc — Pierrot le Fou — France • 1966 — André — The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short — Belgium • 1967 — Masaki — Samurai Rebellion — Japan • 1968 — Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet — The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach — France • 1969 — Jacques — L'Amour fou — France • 1970 — Bernardo — The Conformist — Italy • 1971 — Robert — Four Nights of a Dreamer — France • 1972 — Octavio and Fernando — The Hour of the Furnaces — Argentina • 1973 — Giorgi — Pirosmani — Soviet Union • 1974 — Rainer Werner — Martha — West Germany • 1975 — Theodoros — The Travelling Players — Greece • 1976 — Nagisa — In the Realm of the Senses — Japan • 1977 — Hans-Jürgen — Hitler: A Film from Germany — West Germany • 1978 — Mark — The Scenic Route — United States • 1979 — Zeki and Yılmaz — The Herd — Turkey • 1980 — Peter (shared) — The Falls — United Kingdom • Xie (shared) — Two Stage Sisters — China • 1981 — Helma — No Mercy, No Future — West Germany • 1982 — Adoor — Elippathayam — India • 1983 — Chris — Sans Soleil — France • 1984 — Lino — This Is My Country — Philippines • 1985 — Chen — Yellow Earth — China • 1986 — Bill — Comrades — United Kingdom • 1987 — Edward (shared) — Terrorizers — Taiwan • Souleymane (shared) — Yeelen — Mali • 1989 — Nils — Pathfinder — Norway • 1990 — Steve — The Fabulous Baker Boys — United States • 1991 — Elaine — On the Wire — South Africa • 1992 — Jocelyn — Proof — Australia • 1993 — Julio — Vacas — Spain • 1994 — Tran Anh Hung — The Scent of Green Papaya — Vietnam • 1995 — Moufida — The Silences of the Palace — Tunisia • 1996 — Jevon — Bob's Weekend — United Kingdom • 1997 — Bruno — The Life of Jesus — France • 1998 — Samira — The Apple — Iran • 1999 — Lynne — Ratcatcher — United Kingdom • 2000 — Kenneth — You Can Count on Me — United States • 2001 — Asif — The Warrior — United Kingdom • 2002 — Delphine — Carnages — France • 2003 — Siddiq — Osama — Afghanistan • 2004 — Jonathan — Tarnation — United States • 2005 — Kari — For the Living and the Dead — Finland • 2006 — Andrea — Red Road — United Kingdom • 2007 — Vincent and Marjane — Persepolis — France • 2008 — Sergey — Tulpan — Kazakhstan • 2009 — Scandar and Yaron Shani — Ajami — Palestine • 2010 — Clio — The Arbor — United Kingdom • 2011 — Pablo — Las Acacias — Argentina • 2012 — Benh — Beasts of the Southern Wild — United States • 2013 — Anthony — Ilo Ilo — Singapore • 2014 — Myroslav — The Tribe — Ukraine • 2015 — Robert — The Witch — United States • 2016 — Julia — Raw — France • 2017 — John — The Wound — South Africa • 2018 — Lukas — Girl — Belgium • 2019 — Mati — Atlantics — France • 2021 — Laura — Playground — Belgium • 2022 — Manuela — 1976 — Chile • 2023 — Mika — Paradise Is Burning — Sweden • 2024 — Laura — On Falling — United Kingdom • 2025 — Vincho — One Woman One Bra — Kenya