Three films from the Biennale Cinema 2025 win at the BFI London Film Festival 2025

Nuestra Tierra (Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Netherlands/Denmark) by Lucrecia Martel, a documentary presented Out of Competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia, yesterday, Sunday October 19^th, won the Best Film award at the prestigious 2025 London Film Festival organized by the British Film Institute.
Two other films presented at the 82^nd Venice Film Festival also won important acknowledgments at the BFI London Film Festival 2025. Respectively, the Biennale College Cinema film One Woman One Bra (Kenya/Nigeria) by Vincho Nchogu won the Sutherland Award for Best Debut Film, and the short film Coyotes (Palestine/France/Jordan/United Kingdom) by Said Zagha, presented in the Orizzonti section, won the Best Short Film award.

La Biennale di Venezia wishes to heartily congratulate the directors Lucrecia Martel, Vincho Nchogu and Said Zagha for these remarkable results. 

Nuestra Tierra by Lucrecia Martel is a documentary about Argentina’s strategies to deny the Chuschagasta Community its own territory. Drawing from the 2018 trial of the assassins who murdered Javier Chocobar in 2009, from conversations with the Chuschagasta and their photo archives, the author of the film reconstructed the community’s journey from the 17th century to the present time. The director has stated: “This film addresses our mother tongue’s racist mechanisms, which deny many access to a vital space. The language of documents: lives lost due to dubious papers and futile bureaucracy. A historical document is a script for a non-existent scene, serving its signers. Cinema can be useful in this sense: that is my deepest wish”.

One Woman One Bra by Vincho Nchogu tells the story of the villagers of Sayit and how they receive the deeds to properties marking the first time in centuries they will claim legal ownership of their land. Though for many this was excellent news, thirty-eight year old Star risks losing her home. The director has stated that “One Woman One Bra is my first feature film and explores the tensions of personal ambition, cultural reclamation and ethical dilemmas. I am grateful for the support of Biennale College Cinema, which allowed me to tell the story of a woman fighting for recognition despite lacking family, husband, or children”. 

Coyotes by Said Zagha is about a Palestinian surgeon who, driving home after a long night shift, in unaware that a commute through a desolate West Bank road will change her forever. The director has stated: “Coyotes was born out of true stories and an urgent question: what happens when one’s humanity is pushed into a proverbial iron cage, an impossible corner?” 

Biennale College Cinema, organised by La Biennale di Venezia which in 2025 has reached its 14th edition after 41 feature films made since 2012, enjoys the support of the Ministry of Culture – General Directorate Cinema and the additional support of Chanel. Biennale College Cinema relies on the academic collaboration of the Gotham Film & Media Institute and the TorinoFilmLab. The Director is Alberto Barbera, Head of Programme Savina Neirotti.