Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristin Scott Thomas will be on jury duty at the London Film Festival.

The pair will join jury president Pawel Pawlikowski, who won the 2013 Best Film award, Carol producer Christine Vachon and An Autumn’s Tale director Mabel Cheung on the official competition jury.

Chiwetel Ejiofor became one of Britain's biggest stars last year (Ian West/PA)
Chiwetel Ejiofor became one of Britain’s biggest stars after his leading role in 12 Years A Slave. He is also known for KInky Boots and miniseries Dancing On The Edge (Ian West/PA)

Thirteen films are competing in the Best Film category, which recognises “inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking”. A wide range of countries will be represented on the list, including Hungary, Thailand and Lebanon.

Among those Chiwetel and Kristin will be selecting from is Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts Of No Nation about a child soldier in West Africa, which stars Idris Elba. Netflix bought the distribution rights to the film for a reported $12 million (£7.8 million).

Kristin Scott Thomas is best known for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient. She most recently starred in Suite Francaise (Dominic Lipinski / PA Archive)
Kristin Scott Thomas is best known for her roles in Four Weddings And A Funeral and The English Patient. She most recently starred in Suite Francaise (Dominic Lipinski / PA Archive)

Critically acclaimed English director Terence Davies has been shortlisted for Sunset Song, which sees model Agyness Deyn star as a Scottish teenager coming of age and struggling with her father’s violent temper on the eve of World War One.

Room, based on Emma Donoghue’s Man Booker-shortlisted novel of the same name, is similarly nominated for her tale of a five-year-old boy growing up in captivity with his mother, inspired by the Josef Fritzl case.

It has already been announced that Cate Blanchett will be honoured at the festival with the BFI Fellowship for outstanding contribution to film.

Cate Blanchett (Jordan Strauss/AP)
Cate Blanchett will receive the BFI Fellowship (Jordan Strauss/AP)

The juries and competitors for the other award categories – First Feature, Documentary and Short Film – will be announced shortly.

The London Film Festival runs from October 7 to 18, with winners announced at an awards ceremony on the final night.