British Film Institute Fellowship

British Film Institute Fellowship
Awarded for	Outstanding Contribution to Film or Television Culture
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Film Institute
First award	1983
Website	BFI Fellows

The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established in 1933, based in the United Kingdom. It has awarded its Fellowship title to individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television culture" and is considered the highest accolade presented by the Institute: ^[1] British actor John Hurt said the award was "the highest honour possible". ^[2]

The first awards were made in 1983, the same year as BFI National Archive's Silver Jubilee and the BFI's fiftieth anniversary, and as of February 2023, there are 91 Fellows. ^[3] Awards are not presented every year, but every award ceremony has been held in London, on occasion at the National Film Theatre as part of the BFI London Film Festival. ^[2] The inaugural ceremony honoured six recipients of the Fellowship: French film director Marcel Carné, British film directors David Lean, Michael Powell, Hungarian screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray and American filmmaker and actor Orson Welles. The most recent Fellowship was bestowed in 2025 on Tom Cruise.

Following allegations of numerous sexual assaults and harassment allegations, American producer Harvey Weinstein was stripped of the fellowship that was originally awarded to him in 2002. ^[4]

Of the 91 Fellows, the majority (60) are from the United Kingdom, with 31 foreign recipients, mainly from the United States and France. There have been two African winners, both film directors, Malian Souleymane Cissé and Senegalese Ousmane Sembène while one recipient has come from each of Japan, India, Iran, Canada, and Australia.

Fellows

David Lean received the Fellowship in 1983

American Orson Welles was one of the six inaugural recipients of the Fellowship in 1983.

Dame Maggie Smith received the Fellowship in 1992

Irish actress Maureen O'Hara was awarded the Fellowship in 1993.

Martin Scorsese became a BFI Fellow in 1995.

Dame Judi Dench became a Fellow in 2011

Cate Blanchett was a 2015 recipient of the Fellowship.

Spike Lee was a 2023 recipient of the Fellowship

Year	Recipient	Occupation	Nationality	Ref
1983	Marcel Carné	Director	France	[5]
1983	David Lean	Director / Producer / Writer	United Kingdom	[5]
1983	Michael Powell	Director / Producer / Writer	United Kingdom	[5]
1983	Emeric Pressburger	Director / Producer / Writer	Hungary	[5]
1983	Satyajit Ray	Director / Writer	India	[5]
1983	Orson Welles	Director / Actor / Writer	United States	[5]
1984	Sidney Bernstein	Media executive	United Kingdom	[6]
1985	John Brabourne	Film and Television Producer	United Kingdom	[7]
1985	Laurence Olivier	Actor / Director	United Kingdom	[8]
1986	Jeremy Isaacs	Television Producer	United Kingdom	[9]
1986	Deborah Kerr	Actress	United Kingdom	[9]
1986	Akira Kurosawa	Director	Japan	[10]
1986	Dilys Powell	Film Critic	United Kingdom	[9]
1987	Dirk Bogarde	Actor / Screenwriter / Novelist	United Kingdom	[11]
1987	Bette Davis	Actress	United States	[12]
1987	Elem Klimov	Filmmaker	Soviet Union	[12]
1988	Graham Greene	Writer	United Kingdom	[13]
1988	Vanessa Redgrave	Actress	United Kingdom	[13]
1988	Anthony Smith	Producer	United Kingdom	[13]
1989	Peggy Ashcroft	Actress	United Kingdom	[14]
1989	Gérard Depardieu	Actor	France	[14]
1989	David Francis	Film Archivist	United Kingdom	[15]
1990	Derek Jarman	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[16]
1990	Krzysztof Kieślowski	Filmmaker	Poland	[16]
1990	Jeanne Moreau	Actress	France	[16]
1990	Fred Zinnemann	Director	Austria	[16]
1991	Alec Guinness	Actor	United Kingdom	[17]
1991	Leslie Hardcastle	Art Administrator	United Kingdom	[17]
1992	Richard Attenborough	Director / Actor	United Kingdom	[18]
1992	Maggie Smith	Actress	United Kingdom	[19]
1993	Clint Eastwood	Filmmaker / Actor	United States	[20]
1993	Denis Forman	Television Executive	United Kingdom	[20]
1993	Maureen O'Hara	Actress	Ireland	[20]
1994	Nicolas Roeg	Director / Cinematographer	United Kingdom	[21]
1994	Jean Simmons	Actress	United Kingdom	[21]
1995	Michelangelo Antonioni	Filmmaker	Italy	[22]
1995	John Mills	Actor	United Kingdom	[23]
1995	Martin Scorsese	Filmmaker	United States	[24]
1995	Robert Wise	Director / Producer / Writer	United States	[25]
1996	Michael Caine	Actor	United Kingdom	[26]
1996	Ken Loach	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[26]
1997	Michael Parkinson	Television Presenter	United Kingdom	[27]
1997	Lynda La Plante	Screenwriter / Actress	United Kingdom	[27]
1997	Verity Lambert	Television Producer	United Kingdom	[27]
1997	David Puttnam	Film Producer / Activist	United Kingdom	[27]
1997	Sydney Samuelson	Director / Cinematographer	United Kingdom	[28]
1997	Thelma Schoonmaker	Film Editor	United States	[28]
1997	Alan Yentob	Television Presenter / Producer	United Kingdom	[27]
1998	Bernardo Bertolucci	Filmmaker	Italy	[29]
1998	Jeremy Thomas	Producer	United Kingdom	[30]
1999	John Paul Getty, Jr.	Philanthropist	United States	[31]
2000	Elizabeth Taylor	Actress	United Kingdom	[32]
2001	Robert Altman	Filmmaker	United States	[33]
2001	Lewis Gilbert	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[34]
2002	Jack Cardiff	Cinematographer	United Kingdom	[35]
2002	Bob Weinstein	Film Producer	United States	[36]
2005	Abbas Kiarostami	Filmmaker	Iran	[37]
2005	Mike Leigh	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[38]
2005	Ousmane Sembène	Filmmaker	Senegal	[39]
2007	Terence Davies	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[40]
2009	Souleymane Cissé	Director	Mali	[2]
2009	John Hurt	Actor	United Kingdom	[2]
2009	Ridley Scott	Director	United Kingdom	[41]
2010	Danny Boyle	Director	United Kingdom	[1]
2010	David Rose	Producer	United Kingdom	[42]
2011	Isabelle Huppert	Actress	France	[43]
2011	Judi Dench	Actress	United Kingdom	[44]
2011	Ralph Fiennes	Actor / Director	United Kingdom	[45]
2011	David Cronenberg	Director	Canada	[45]
2012	Bryan Forbes	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[46]
2012	Helena Bonham Carter	Actress	United Kingdom	[47]
2012	Tim Burton	Director	United States	[47]
2012	Richard Lester	Director	United Kingdom	[48]
2013	Philip French	Film Critic	United Kingdom	[49]
2013	Christopher Lee	Actor	United Kingdom	[50]
2013	John Boorman	Director	United Kingdom	[51]
2014	Al Pacino	Actor	United States	[52]
2014	Stephen Frears	Director	United Kingdom	[53]
2015	Mel Brooks	Filmmaker / Actor / Comedian	United States	[54]
2015	Cate Blanchett	Actress	Australia	[55]
2016	Hugh Grant	Actor	United Kingdom	[56]
2016	Greg Dyke	Media Executive	United Kingdom	[57]
2016	Steve McQueen	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[58]
2017	Peter Morgan	Screenwriter / Playwright	United Kingdom	[59]
2017	Paul Greengrass	Director	United Kingdom	[60]
2019	Olivia Colman	Actor	United Kingdom	[61]
2020	Tilda Swinton	Actress	United Kingdom	[62]
2020	Amanda Nevill	Chief Administrator of BFI	United Kingdom	[63]
2022	Michael G. Wilson	Film Producer of James Bond	United Kingdom	[64]
2022	Barbara Broccoli	Film Producer of James Bond	United Kingdom United States	[64]
2023	Spike Lee	Filmmaker	United States	[65]
2024	Christopher Nolan	Filmmaker	United Kingdom	[66]
2025	Tom Cruise	Actor / Producer	United States	[67]

References

1. "Danny Boyle made BFI fellow at London Film Festival". BBC News. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
2. "John Hurt to be made BFI fellow". BBC News. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
3. "BFI Fellows". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
4. "Harvey Weinstein stripped of British Film Institute Fellowship". BBC News. 19 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
5. "BFI Fellowship: 1983". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
6. "Bernstein, Sidney". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
7. "Brabourne, John". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
8. "BFI Fellowship: 1985". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
9. "BFI Fellowship: 1986". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
10. "Kurosawa, Akira". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
11. "Dirk Bogarde Timeline". The Dirk Bogarde Estate. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
12. "BFI Fellowship: 1987". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
13. "BFI Fellowship: 1988". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
14. "BFI Fellowship: 1989". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
15. "BFI Fellowship: circa 1989". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
16. "BFI Fellowship: 1990". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
17. "BFI Fellowship: 1991". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
18. "Attenborough, Richard". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
19. "BFI Fellowship: 1992". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
20. "BFI Fellowship: 1993". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
21. "BFI Fellowship: 1994". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
22. "Antonioni, Micehlangelo". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
23. "Mills, John". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
24. "Scorsese, Martin". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
25. "BFI Fellowship: 1995". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
26. "BFI Fellowship: 1996". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
27. "London: British Film Institute Television Festivial: TV97". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
28. "BFI Fellowship: 1997". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
29. "Bertolucci, Bernardo". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
30. "BFI Fellowship: 1998". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
31. "BFI Fellowship: 1999". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
32. "Queen honours movie Dames". BBC News. 16 May 2000. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
33. "UK film honours Robert Altman". BBC News. 24 January 2001. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
34. "BFI Fellowship: 2001". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
35. "BFI Fellowship: 2002". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
36. Hall, Sarah (21 October 2002). "Showbiz glitz at cinema's 50th anniversary". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
37. Andrew, Geoff (28 April 2005). "Abbas Kiarostami". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
38. "BFI Fellowship: 2005". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
39. "Ousmane Sembène – continued". The Guardian . London. 5 June 2005. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
40. "BFI Fellowship: 2007". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
41. "Director Scott gets BFI honour". BBC News. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
42. Smith, Justin (October 2010). "Rose in the Pink". London: Channel 4. Archived from the original on 2011-01-29. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
43. "Isabelle Huppert in conversation". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
44. "Dame Judi Dench receives BFI fellowship". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
45. "We Need to Talk About Kevin scoops top prize at London film festival". The Guardian . 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
46. "Bryan Forbes Awarded BFI Fellowship". The Hollywood Reporter . 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
47. "Burton and Bonham Carter honoured with BFI Fellowships". The Independent . 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
48. "'Hard Day's Night', 'Superman II' Director Richard Lester Gets BFI Fellowship". The Hollywood Reporter . 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
49. "Philip French gets BFI award". ScreenDaily. 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
50. "Depp surprises Sir Christopher Lee with film award". BBC News. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
51. "John Boorman receives BFI Fellowship". BFI. 5 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
52. "Al Pacino honoured at British Film Institute". BBC News. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
53. Thorpe, Vanessa (19 October 2014). "Leviathan wins best film at the London film festival awards". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
54. Thorpe, Vanessa (20 March 2015). "Mel Brooks gets BFI fellowship for comedy career". BBC . Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
55. "Cate Blanchett to receive BFI Fellowship". Cineuropa. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
56. Brown, Mark (23 February 2016). "Hugh Grant awarded British Film Institute fellowship". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
57. "Greg Dyke awarded BFI Fellowship". British Film Institute. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
58. "Certain Women, Raw triumph in London". Cineuropa. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
59. "The Crown writer Peter Morgan CBE to be awarded BFI Fellowship". British Film Institute . 2 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
60. "Paul Greengrass to receive BFI Fellowship at BFI London Film Festival Awards Ceremony". British Film Institute . 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
61. "Olivia Colman to receive BFI Fellowshipdate = 7 February 2019". BFI. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
62. "Tilda Swinton to receive BFI Fellowship". BFI. 16 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
63. "Amanda Nevill celebrated with BFI Fellowship". BFI. 14 February 2020. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
64. "'James Bond' Duo Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli Honored with BFI Fellowships". 17 June 2022. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
65. "Spike Lee Accorded BFI Fellowship". 27 January 2023. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
66. "Christopher Nolan to receive a BFI Fellowship". BFI. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
67. "BFI to celebrate Tom Cruise with a BFI Fellowship". BFI. 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-20.

External links

• BFI Fellowship homepage Archived 2020-11-24 at the Wayback Machine
• BFI Fellowship award ceremonies