What is the British Film Institute?
Founded in 1933, the BFI has, since 1952, placed on emphasis on providing funding for new and experimental film makers. This organisation was created by the Royal Charter to encourage British television and film, promote education surround film and to promote access to a wide range of British films. The BFI National Archive is the world's largest film archive that contains over fifty thousand fiction films, more than one hundred thousand non-fiction films and somewhere around six hundred and twenty-five thousand television programmes. The BFI Southbank and London IMAX cinemas are also ran by the BFI that show films from all over the world but particularly one that may not have received cinema showings but are critically acclaimed and/or historically significant. Another important aspect of the BFI is its festivals, like the annual London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival.
The Government and BFI
In 2010, the government announced there would be one body for film and that one of the UKFC or BFI would have to disband. The BFI was chosen to remain and took over most of the UKFC's functions but has also since then been responsible for all Lottery funding for films. Its academy I supported by the Department of Education, who committed one million pounds per annum to it. This helps people between the ages of sixteen to nineteen start their careers in the film industry and gain employment.
Film Funding
In order to receive funding for a film, the BFI states that filmmakers must demonstrate previous experience in writing, directing and producing. The BFI aims to help create projects that are able to seek production funding from the BFI itself or other sources. It also provides guidelines for people at the beginning of their careers in terms of how to gain experience, funding and valuable networks. The National Lottery is the most significant contributor in terms of getting indie films off the ground, as it provides funding that is subsequently distributed by the BFI. Filmmakers can apply through the BFI website.
The National Lottery
National Lottery funded films have won fourteen Oscars and thirty-two BAFTAS. Some of the films it has funded, such as The King's Speech, have gone on to be critically acclaimed and become relatively well known films. Many films have famous and well regarded actors too (Joaqin Phoenix, Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Rosamund Pike, Steve Buscemi) who many people within the British public are familiar with.
Its Goals
One of the priorities of the BFI is cultivating diversity in the British film industry. The BFI also produces reports on the turnover of the film industry which recently made over ten billion a year. Perhaps the purpose of this, as well as its polls on what people consider to be the greatest British films, is to inspire optimism in the industry and its growth but, in addition to that, its scope for improvement.
BFI's CEO is outspoken in her support for causes like 50/50, Me Too and Time's Up. Partially because of this, the BFI launched 'Diversity Standards', which states that the organisation would not support/fund any project that didn't show diversity in its cast and crew, storyline and employee training. CEO Nevill says she believes that some issues within the industry, such as pay parity, can quickly "self-adjust". She also talks about the future of the industry being interlinked with the advent of new technologies and ways of watching moving images, such as virtual reality and streaming.
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