The British Film Institute (BFI) is a lead organisation for film in the UK which uses lottery funds to support film production, distribution, education and audience development. The BFI was founded in 1933. The BFI's goal is to encourage the developments of the arts of film, to educate and deepen public understanding of film, to work with the government and industry to ensure the growth of the UK's screen industries. The BFI covers a variety of different projects including fiction, animation and documentary. They also provide a lot of support for cinemas and production companies after COVID-19.
The BFI works with the government and has funding from them which is a grant in Aid for BFI activities. Also, their funding from DfE for BFI Film Academies is confirmed annually. The BFI Film Academy programme is essential to their development in skills initiative, and they have been working with DfE to seek commitment to the programme. However, this isn't the BFI's only source of funding. Shockingly, they receive funding from the lottery which is made up of income from the lottery ticket sales, return of investments made from the film productions and also the release of BFI lottery reserves.
The BFI has a long list of successful films one of its undoubtedly most successful films that it helped fund is the film titled '71. '71 is a British historical action thriller film directed by Yann Demange in 2014. The film was very successful at the awards being nominated for two baftas (Award for best British film and BAFTA film award). The story follows a new recruit to the army in Belfast in 1971 during an era of the troubles (conflict in Northern Ireland). The film starred Jack O'Connell who is also known for his role Pukey Nicholls in the film This Is England which the BFI similarly funded. The BFI contributed to the economic and cultural success of the British Film Industry as it heavily increased diversity in audience and talent. Between 2018 and 2019 alone the BFI helped fund 19 films 10 of which being debut films. In this space of time the BFI helped fund £12,869,580 worth just to films alone.
Know you might be wondering how easy is it to get funding for the BFI? Well, there are a number of criteria's you must fit in to including applications must come from the lead producer, a different person from the director and the writer, and should be producing a project between £250,000 and £15,000,000. However, this may seem hard to fit into with little experience so the BFI advice that if a filmmaker has little to no experience they should apply for short films or TV for the BFI network. Although, this isn't the only thing the BFI has to offer as it has offers for courses, events, resources and many other opportunities.
The BFI is an extremely important part in British film as without it, it may not still be here today. With the takeover of American and Hollywood blockbuster films. Aswell as, Franchise films it is hard for British films to be produced as the target audiences are harder to reach due to these big franchises and high budget films. With the introduction of the BFI, it makes it possible for young aspiring filmmakers to be able to produce films, as the BFI aims to maximise the achievements of British film and thus gives out a lot of funding to British filmmakers.
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