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 awarded	1983
Official 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: 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 2016, there are 84 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 2016 on British film director Steve McQueen.

Of the 84 Fellows, the majority (54) are from the United Kingdom, with 30 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, and Canada.

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