Award
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
TheBritish Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established in 1933, based in theUnited Kingdom . It has awarded its Fellowship title to individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution tofilm ortelevision culture" and is considered the highest accolade presented by the Institute:[ 1] John Hurt said the award was "the highest honour possible".[ 2]
The first awards were made in 1983, the same year asBFI National Archive 'sSilver Jubilee and the BFI's fiftieth anniversary, and as of February 2023, there are 91 Fellows.[ 3] National Film Theatre as part of theBFI London Film Festival .[ 2] Marcel Carné , British film directorsDavid Lean ,Michael Powell , Hungarian screenwriterEmeric Pressburger , Indian filmmakerSatyajit Ray and American filmmaker and actorOrson Welles . The most recent Fellowship was bestowed in 2025 onTom Cruise .
Following allegations of numerous sexual assaults and harassment allegations, American producerHarvey 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, MalianSouleymane Cissé and SenegaleseOusmane Sembène while one recipient has come from each of Japan, India, Iran, Canada, and Australia.
David Lean received the Fellowship in 1983AmericanOrson Welles was one of the six inaugural recipients of the Fellowship in 1983. Maggie Smith received the Fellowship in 1992Irish actressMaureen O'Hara was awarded the Fellowship in 1993. Martin Scorsese became a BFI Fellow in 1995.Judi Dench became a Fellow in 2011Cate Blanchett was a 2015 recipient of the Fellowship.Spike Lee was a 2023 recipient of the Fellowship^a b "Danny Boyle made BFI fellow at London Film Festival" . BBC News. 28 October 2010.Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b c d "John Hurt to be made BFI fellow" . BBC News. 7 October 2009. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellows" . British Film Institute.Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved21 January 2013 .^ "Harvey Weinstein stripped of British Film Institute Fellowship" . BBC News. 19 October 2017.Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved19 October 2017 .^a b c d e f "BFI Fellowship: 1983" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "Bernstein, Sidney" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "Brabourne, John" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 1985" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b c "BFI Fellowship: 1986" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "Kurosawa, Akira" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Dirk Bogarde Timeline" . The Dirk Bogarde Estate. Archived fromthe original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1987" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b c "BFI Fellowship: 1988" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1989" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: circa 1989" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b c d "BFI Fellowship: 1990" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1991" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "Attenborough, Richard" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 1992" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^a b c "BFI Fellowship: 1993" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1994" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Antonioni, Micehlangelo" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "Mills, John" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Scorsese, Martin" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 1995" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1996" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^a b c d e "London: British Film Institute Television Festival: TV97" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^a b "BFI Fellowship: 1997" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Bertolucci, Bernardo" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 1998" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 1999" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Queen honours movie Dames" . BBC News. 16 May 2000.Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "UK film honours Robert Altman" . BBC News. 24 January 2001. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 2001" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 2002" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ Hall, Sarah (21 October 2002)."Showbiz glitz at cinema's 50th anniversary" .The Guardian Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved16 May 2011 . ^ Andrew, Geoff (28 April 2005)."Abbas Kiarostami" .The Guardian Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved17 May 2011 . ^ "BFI Fellowship: 2005" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Ousmane Sembène – continued" .The Guardian Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "BFI Fellowship: 2007" . British Film Institute. Archived fromthe original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved17 May 2011 .^ "Director Scott gets BFI honour" . BBC News. 21 March 2009. Retrieved16 May 2011 .^ Smith, Justin (October 2010)."Rose in the Pink" . London:Channel 4 . Archived fromthe original on 2011-01-29. Retrieved16 May 2011 . ^ "Isabelle Huppert in conversation" .British Film Institute . Archived fromthe original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved28 March 2017 .^ "Dame Judi Dench receives BFI fellowship" . BBC News. 23 June 2011.Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved15 September 2011 .^a b "We Need to Talk About Kevin scoops top prize at London film festival" .The Guardian Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved20 March 2015 .^ "Bryan Forbes Awarded BFI Fellowship" .The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved20 March 2015 .^a b "Burton and Bonham Carter honoured with BFI Fellowships" .The Independent Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved21 January 2013 .^ " .The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved20 March 2015 .^ "Philip French gets BFI award" . ScreenDaily. 26 September 2013.Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved20 March 2015 .^ "Depp surprises Sir Christopher Lee with film award" . BBC News. 20 October 2013.Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved20 October 2013 .^ "John Boorman receives BFI Fellowship" . BFI. 5 February 2014.Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved20 March 2015 .^ "Al Pacino honoured at British Film Institute" . BBC News. 25 September 2014.Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved25 September 2014 .^ 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. Retrieved24 October 2014 . ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (20 March 2015)."Mel Brooks gets BFI fellowship for comedy career" .BBC Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved20 March 2015 . ^ "Cate Blanchett to receive BFI Fellowship" .Cineuropa . 28 August 2015.Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved28 August 2015 .^ Brown, Mark (23 February 2016)."Hugh Grant awarded British Film Institute fellowship" .The Guardian .Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved23 February 2016 . ^ "Greg Dyke awarded BFI Fellowship" .British Film Institute . 28 February 2016.Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved13 November 2016 .^ "Certain Women, Raw triumph in London" .Cineuropa . 17 October 2016.Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved18 October 2016 .^ "The Crown writer Peter Morgan CBE to be awarded BFI Fellowship" .British Film Institute Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved9 February 2017 .^ "Paul Greengrass to receive BFI Fellowship at BFI London Film Festival Awards Ceremony" .British Film Institute Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved29 August 2017 .^ "Olivia Colman to receive BFI Fellowshipdate = 7 February 2019" . BFI. 7 February 2019.Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved7 February 2019 .^ "Tilda Swinton to receive BFI Fellowship" . BFI. 16 January 2020.Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved16 January 2020 .^ "Amanda Nevill celebrated with BFI Fellowship" . BFI. 14 February 2020.Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved15 February 2020 .^a b " . 17 June 2022.Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved14 February 2023 .^ "Spike Lee Accorded BFI Fellowship" . 27 January 2023.Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved14 February 2023 .^ "Christopher Nolan to receive a BFI Fellowship" .BFI . 4 December 2023.Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved2023-12-04 .^ "BFI to celebrate Tom Cruise with a BFI Fellowship" .BFI . 2025-03-20. Retrieved2025-03-20 .^ "Laura Mulvey to receive a BFI fellowship" .BFI . 2025-08-14.Archived from the original on 2025-10-07. Retrieved2025-12-12 .^ "Guillermo del Toro to receive a BFI Fellowship" .BFI . 2025-12-03. Retrieved2025-12-03 .
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