Kelly Reichardt's Certain Women has been named best picture at the London Film Festival, as 12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen got its highest honour
The filmmaker, who already has a Turner Prize and Oscar under his belt, was presented with the BFI Fellowship prize at the annual awards ceremony for his "outstanding contribution to film culture".
Speaking to the British Film Institute ahead of the ceremony, McQueen said: "I first walked into the BFI library and cinema 28 years ago.
"To think that I will now be a Fellow and honorary member, with such a distinguished list of people, is mind-blowing. I'm humbly honoured."
The British director was presented with the accolade by actor Michael Fassbender, who worked with him in his three award-winning films Hunger, Shame and 12 Years A Slave.
Fassbender called McQueen "a rarity - both a sensitive and dangerous man".
McQueen is the first black director or producer to receive the honour.
The festival has sought this year to encourage diversity in the film industry, opening with Amma Asante's A United Kingdom, a story of interracial love and politics inspired by real events.
It was also the first time a black female director has held the prestigious opening slot at the festival.
The night's top prize went to writer-director Kelly Reichardt's Certain Women, a subtle drama which follows intersecting narratives shared by three women in Montana.
The jury, headed by Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari, called it "a humane and poignant story that calibrates with startling vulnerability and delicate understatement the isolation, frustrations and loneliness of lives unlived in a quiet corner of rural America".
The film stars this year's proclaimed 'Queen of Cannes' Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams and Laura Dern.
The festival wrapped up on Sunday with Ben Wheatley's 1970s-set comic thriller Free Fire starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Irish actor Cillian Murphy.
The film follows an arms deal between two gangs that goes wrong, leading to a shootout in a derelict warehouse in Boston.
Peaky Blinders star Murphy joked that the the only thing he did to prepare for the role was grow a 1970s handlebar moustache.
"I grew a moustache," he said. "That was it. I miss it terribly now but it was basically a woman-repellent."
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