# British Film Institute Fellowship

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: British actor John Hurt said the award was "the highest honour possible".
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. 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. 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 film-maker Satyajit Ray and American director and actor Orson Welles. The most recent Fellowship was bestowed in 2024 on Christopher Nolan.
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.
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

| Year | Recipient | Occupation | Nationality |
| 1983 | Marcel Carné | Director | France |
| 1983 | David Lean | Director / Producer / Writer | United Kingdom |
| 1983 | Michael Powell | Director / Producer / Writer | United Kingdom |
| 1983 | Emeric Pressburger | Director / Producer / Writer | Hungary |
| 1983 | Satyajit Ray | Director / Writer | India |
| 1983 | Orson Welles | Director / Actor / Writer | United States |
| 1984 | Sidney Bernstein | Media executive | United Kingdom |
| 1985 | John Brabourne | Film and Television Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1985 | Laurence Olivier | Director / Actor | United Kingdom |
| 1986 | Jeremy Isaacs | Television Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1986 | Deborah Kerr | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1986 | Akira Kurosawa | Director | Japan |
| 1986 | Dilys Powell | Film Critic | United Kingdom |
| 1987 | Dirk Bogarde | Actor / Screenwriter / Novelist | United Kingdom |
| 1987 | Bette Davis | Actress | United States |
| 1987 | Elem Klimov | Filmmaker | Soviet Union |
| 1988 | Graham Greene | Writer | United Kingdom |
| 1988 | Vanessa Redgrave | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1988 | Anthony Smith | Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1989 | Peggy Ashcroft | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1989 | Gérard Depardieu | Actor | France |
| 1989 | David Francis | Film Archivist | United Kingdom |
| 1990 | Derek Jarman | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 1990 | Krzysztof Kieślowski | Filmmaker | Poland |
| 1990 | Jeanne Moreau | Actress | France |
| 1990 | Fred Zinnemann | Director | Austria |
| 1991 | Alec Guinness | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 1991 | Leslie Hardcastle | Art Administrator | United Kingdom |
| 1992 | Richard Attenborough | Director / Actor | United Kingdom |
| 1992 | Maggie Smith | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1993 | Clint Eastwood | Filmmaker / Actor | United States |
| 1993 | Denis Forman | Television Executive | United Kingdom |
| 1993 | Maureen O'Hara | Actress | Ireland |
| 1994 | Nicolas Roeg | Director / Cinematographer | United Kingdom |
| 1994 | Jean Simmons | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1995 | Michelangelo Antonioni | Filmmaker | Italy |
| 1995 | John Mills | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 1995 | Martin Scorsese | Filmmaker | United States |
| 1995 | Robert Wise | Director / Producer / Writer | United States |
| 1996 | Michael Caine | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 1996 | Ken Loach | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | Michael Parkinson | Television Presenter | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | Lynda La Plante | Screenwriter / Actress | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | Verity Lambert | Television Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | David Puttnam | Film Producer / Activist | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | Sydney Samuelson | Director / Cinematographer | United Kingdom |
| 1997 | Thelma Schoonmaker | Film Editor | United States |
| 1997 | Alan Yentob | Television Presenter / Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1998 | Bernardo Bertolucci | Filmmaker | Italy |
| 1998 | Jeremy Thomas | Producer | United Kingdom |
| 1999 | John Paul Getty, Jr. | Philanthropist | United States |
| 2000 | Elizabeth Taylor | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 2001 | Robert Altman | Filmmaker | United States |
| 2001 | Lewis Gilbert | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 2002 | Jack Cardiff | Cinematographer | United Kingdom |
| 2002 | Bob Weinstein | Film Producer | United States |
| 2005 | Abbas Kiarostami | Filmmaker | Iran |
| 2005 | Mike Leigh | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 2005 | Ousmane Sembène | Filmmaker | Senegal |
| 2007 | Terence Davies | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 2009 | Souleymane Cissé | Director | Mali |
| 2009 | John Hurt | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 2009 | Ridley Scott | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2010 | Danny Boyle | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2010 | David Rose | Producer | United Kingdom |
| 2011 | Isabelle Huppert | Actress | France |
| 2011 | Judi Dench | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 2011 | Ralph Fiennes | Actor / Director | United Kingdom |
| 2011 | David Cronenberg | Director | Canada |
| 2012 | Bryan Forbes | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 2012 | Helena Bonham Carter | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 2012 | Tim Burton | Director | United States |
| 2012 | Richard Lester | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2013 | Philip French | Film Critic | United Kingdom |
| 2013 | Christopher Lee | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 2013 | John Boorman | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2014 | Al Pacino | Actor | United States |
| 2014 | Stephen Frears | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2015 | Mel Brooks | Filmmaker / Actor / Comedian | United States |
| 2015 | Cate Blanchett | Actress | Australia |
| 2016 | Hugh Grant | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 2016 | Greg Dyke | Media Executive | United Kingdom |
| 2016 | Steve McQueen | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |
| 2017 | Peter Morgan | Screenwriter / Playwright | United Kingdom |
| 2017 | Paul Greengrass | Director | United Kingdom |
| 2019 | Olivia Colman | Actor | United Kingdom |
| 2020 | Tilda Swinton | Actress | United Kingdom |
| 2020 | Amanda Nevill | Chief Administrator of BFI | United Kingdom |
| 2022 | Michael G. Wilson | Film Producer of James Bond | United Kingdom |
| 2022 | Barbara Broccoli | Film Producer of James Bond | United Kingdom United States |
| 2023 | Spike Lee | Filmmaker | United States |
| 2024 | Christopher Nolan | Filmmaker | United Kingdom |