This year's London Film Festival jury has finally been announced along with the shortlist of the films up for Best Film Award, Best British Newcomer, Sutherland Award and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary. 

The Best Film Award jury will be chaired by American actress Patricia Clarkson (Green Mile, The Pledge, Shutter Island) and includes Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing), Sandy Powell (costume designer in The Departed, The Aviator and pretty much all Scorsese/DiCaprio collaborations) and Shekhar Kapur (director of Elizabeth). 

This year's shortlist for Best Film Award are:

127 Hours (dir Danny Boyle)

Another Year (dir Mike Leigh)

Archipelago (dir Joanna Hogg)

Black Swan (dir Darren Aronofsky) 

How I Ended This Summer (dir Sergei Popogrebsky)

The King's Speech (dir Tom Hooper)

Meek's Cut-off (dir Kelly Kerchardt)

Never Let Me Go (dir Mark Romanek)

Of Gods and Men (dir Xavier Beauvois)

The Sleeping Beauty (dir Catherine Breillat)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (dir Apitchatpong  Weerasethakul)

Patricia Clarkson remarked, "It's an honour to be on such a prestigious film jury, and a pleasure to be judging a shortlist which showcases such a diverse range of films from some of the most exciting filmmakers around."

As for Danny Boyle, the Festival will bestow upon him the highest accolade available at the BFI, meant for those that have made significant contributions to film culture. He said of the news, "A significant helping of humility is called for in the face of this honour and that is not difficult considering those awarded it before. I am shocked, flattered and delighted to receive the fellowship on behalf of everyone who has helped me make the films, the successful ones and the not so successful ones, and on behalf of all runt in every litter." 

The award for Best British Newcomer will be judges by Andrea Calderwood (producer of Last King of Scotland), Antonia Bird (mostly a TV director and runs 4-Way Film productions), David Morrisey (actor in The Other Boleyn Girl), Mike Goodridge (editor of Screen International) and Tony Grisoni (writer of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Tideland). And the shortlist is:

Brian Welsh (dir In Our Name)

Clio Barnard (dir The Arbor)

Richard Ayoade (dir Submarine)

Michelle Eastwood (prod In Our Name)

Tracy O'Riordan (prod The Arbor)

Conor McCarron (actor Neds)

Craig Roberts (actor Submarine)

Manjinder Virk (actress The Arbor)

David Morrisey shared "It's a great privilege for me to be on the Best British Newcomer Jury at the LFF this year and that the festivals continues to support new and innovative talent in Britain. It's such a strong year and fills me with hope for the future of our industry, if, of course, we can find government support and funding for these nominees to go on and become world renowned film makers."

For the Sutherland Award, attributed to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the festival. The jury for this award are Ed Fletcher (Managing Director of Soda Pictures), Esther Freud (writer of Hideous Kinky), Michael Winterbottom (director of 24 Hour Party People, A Might Heart and, most recently, The Killer Inside Me), Olivia Williams (actress in Sixth Sense and An Education), Rebecca O’Brien (producer of The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Sweet Sixteen), Stephen Poliakoff (writer/director of Glorious 39), Stuart Boreman (Director of Film Buying at Vue Entertainment) and Will Gompertz (BBC Arts Editor). And the shorlisted are THE ARBOR, DON’T BE AFRAID, BI!, LEAP YEAR, LOVE LIKE POISON, MEMORY LANE, OCTOBER, PICCO, SPORK, SUBMARINE and TWO GATES OF SLEEP.

Michael Winterbottom commented "Film festivals are hugely important events for filmmakers and the London Film Festival is one of the biggest and best. It's very exciting to get a chance to watch films by new directors from all over the world."

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary recognises outstanding feature-length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance. The Award is presented in commemoration of John Grierson, the grandfather of the documentary. Kevin Macdonald (director of The Last King of Scotland and State of Play) will chair the jury, which also includes Mandy Chang (producer of Sons of Cuba) and Christo Hird (Grierson Trust), Charlotte Moore (Head of Documentary Commissioning at the BBC) and Dick Fontaine of the NFTS. This year’s shortlist is:

ARMADILLO  

BENDA BILILI! 

CIRCO 

MARIA AND I 

THE PEDDLER 

PINK SARIS 

THE TILLMAN STORY 

WASTE LAND 

Kevin Macdonald remarked "The list of documentaries showing at this year’s LFF is mouth-wateringly good and I’m genuinely thrilled to chair the Grierson Award Jury. What could be more fun than getting to see all these great films for free and then getting to passionately argue about them with my fellow jurors?!"

A special hour-long programme, with exclusive coverage of the ceremony, will be broadcast on 7 November, 9pm on Sky Arts 2 HD – including all the nominees and winners, an insight into the juries’ decisions, and a 75th anniversary tribute to the unique work of the BFI Archive.