On October 24, 2026, the 70th London Film Festival awarded its prestigious Grierson Documentary Competition prize to Jordanian-Palestinian filmmaker Asmahan Bkerat, as reported by BBC, the Grierson Award went to the Jordanian documentary debut Concrete Land (also known as Teyaha>) by director Asmahan Bkerat.
Alongside Sergei Loznitsa’s archival-driven Soviet-era documentary Imperium winning the top official competition prize, Bkerat claimed the Grierson Documentary Competition trophy for her observational feature capturing the displacement and quiet resilience of a Bedouin family on the outskirts of Amman.
The festival’s juries leaned toward observational realism over fiction, honoring a style of filmmaking where the camera records daily life without director-led commentary, narration, or manipulation, leaving interpretation entirely to the viewer.
Observational Realism Triumphs in London
- Concrete Land (Teyaha>), directed by Asmahan Bkerat, won the Grierson Award at the 70th London Film Festival.
- The feature chronicles three generations of the displaced Bedouin Al-Najjar family as they struggle against rapid urban expansion in Jordan.
- Sergei Loznitsa’s archival documentary Imperium claimed the festival’s main competition prize, highlighting a night for nonfiction cinema.
Bkerat spent about seven and a half years completing the project, visiting the family around four times a week and amassing more than 400 hours of footage. The film documents the Al-Najjar family, originally displaced from Beersheba, as they move through the encroaching concrete villas of modern city expansion that threaten their traditional pastoral life.
The narrative focuses heavily on micro-interactions: a grandfather of African origin devoted to nature and livestock, a grandmother forming a profound bond with her favorite ewe named Badriya, an overburdened truck-driver father, and a young girl named Iman growing up from nine years old into a TikTok-watching teenager. The project originated when the director and her friend, co-writer and editor Luban Murqa, happened upon the grandmother’s relationship with her ewe during a walk.
The jury noted: This was a portrait of family life distinguished by beauty of observation, achieved with skill and confidence.
Through image composition, sound design, and scene construction—and above all, a deep, trusting relationship with the film’s subjects—the director proved her worthiness for the Grierson Award.
| Film Title | Director | Origin / Focus | London Film Festival Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete Land (Teyaha>) | Asmahan Bkerat | Jordanian observational documentary on displaced Bedouins | Grierson Documentary Competition Award |
| Edward II the Queer | Theo Rolvason | Archive-driven look at Derek Jarman’s filmmaking | Special Commendation (Documentary Competition) |
| Nine Temples to Heaven | Sompot Chidgasornpongse | Thai road movie pilgrimage | Sutherland Award (First Feature Competition) |
Meanwhile, the Sutherland Award for best first feature went to Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse for Nine Temples to Heaven, a road movie following a family pilgrimage prompted by an elderly grandmother’s prophecy. Bertil Nilsson’s Mask picked up a special mention in the first feature category, while Rahul Roy’s Aman claimed the short film prize.
By refusing to dramatize artificial narrative arcs, Concrete Land preserves the quiet dignity of a vanishing way of life right up to its conclusion, where the family packs into a dilapidated truck to face an urban future.
