Warp X feature competing for prestigious award at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival. The Sutherland Trophy is for the most original and imaginative first feature at this year's festival

The award, presented for the first time by the BFI in 1958, has a long and distinguished history and has been awarded to a remarkable spread of filmmakers including Yasujiro Ozu, Souleymane Cissé, Bernardo Bertolucci and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Some of the films recognised in recent years include Asif Kapadia's The Warrior, Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count On Me, Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher, Andrea Arnold's Red Road. Last year, Sergey Dvortsevoy's Tulpan, the disarmingly sweet comedy about a desperate Khasak sheep-herder and his attempt to find a wife, was chosen as the worthy recipient. This year's Sutherland Trophy winner will again be selected by an invited jury of filmmakers, actors, writers, critics, producers and artists.

Shortlist 2009:
Ajami
Bunny And The Bull
Cold Souls
Eyes Wide Open
Lebanon
Metropia
Samson & Delilah
Shirley Adams
Wah Do Dem
Wolfy