Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s La Bola Negra has won the BFI London Film Festival 2026 audience award for best feature film, while Grace Harper Brighouse’s Dependence was voted by the public as best British discovery.
Spanish filmmakers Ambrossi and Calvo’s exploration of early 20th century queer culture in Spain premiered at Cannes in Competition and won the TIFF People’s Choice award in September. It is also Spain’s official Oscar submission. Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau and Penelope Cruz star.
”To receive this recognition from audiences is particularly meaningful,” said the filmmakers of their win. Altitude will release in cinemas in UK-Ireland on November 6, while Netflix has US rights.
UK documentary Dependence screened in the Grierson competition for best documentary and explores what it means to love an addict as the filmmaker sifts through decades of home movies following her father’s death.
London screenings reached their highest ever level of attendance, with 96% occupancy and 173,443 attendees, an increase of 1.3% from 2025. However, UK-wide attendance was down to 223,844, from last year’s 235,853, in part due to two popular free exhibitions boosting the 2025 figure.
The festival wrapped on October 18, when Sergei Loznitsa’s Imperium won the best film award.
LFF will run next year from October 6 to October 17.
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