Oscar-winning director and Mile End resident Danny Boyle will receive the British Film Institute’s highest accolade at the London Film Festival awards in October.

The director of Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire, for which he received the Best Director Oscar in 2008, will be given the BFI Fellowship for his ‘outstanding contribution to film culture’, at an awards ceremony at Jerwood Hall in Old Street on October 27.

Boyle, 53, a patron of the Genesis cinema in Mile End Road, said: “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, and on behalf of all runts in every litter.”

His latest feature, 127 Hours, which will close the film festival on October 28, is also in the running for the best film award.

The true-life story of a mountaineer trapped in an isolated canyon for five days, reportedly led to three people fainting and one person having a seizure over a gruesome amputation scene when it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival this month.