We promote contemporary and innovative work from the UK to audiences around the world through the British Council's global network. We are working in over 70 countries, leading or supporting a range of projects including festivals, showcases, workshops, conferences and skills development. We work extensively with artists and cultural organisations, building skills, capacity and cultural awareness, creating access to audiences and markets, and promoting international collaboration and creative exchange.

Our aims and objectives

Our work aims to:

• Help build and develop relationships between the UK and other countries in order to foster partnership, mutual understanding and tolerance
• Challenge stereotypes and attempt to change out-of date perceptions of the UK
• Promote contemporary UK creativity and innovation
• Present the UK in all its diversity and multiculturalism

Our target audiences

Our main target audience is young adults - roughly defined as being aged between 16 and 35, but we also frequently engage with older and younger audiences, depending on the population demographic in a particular country or region. What we programme depends very much on audience taste and experience, considerations of language and cultural sensibility and current perceptions of the UK. Our UK arts team and arts officers in each region have extensive knowledge of all these factors and continually update this knowledge through dialogue with our partners, advisers and contacts.

How we assess work

We have a core team of sector specialists with critical skills, in-depth knowledge of contemporary UK cinema and an extensive network of contacts within the UK film industry. This resource is backed up by direct access to an international network of British Council offices, film festivals and counterpart organisations. This is how we build up a picture of the UK film scene and work being created.

What we do

For some feature films, and most short films, festivals are often the only method of reaching an international audience. In many countries film festivals are an extremely effective way of enabling large numbers of predominantly young, intelligent people to regularly refresh their perceptions of the UK. Enabling festivals to programme high-quality work from the UK therefore remains at the heart of our activities and so if new work seems particularly suitable for an international market we will actively promote it to our overseas partners and colleagues. New opportunities for UK artists are constantly being created through this ongoing dialogue and advocacy.

We produce publications in print and on the web. Directories and key websites can be found on the Publications and Resources page.

Our activities include:

• curating programmes and obtaining prints, speakers and publicity material for international events (festivals, seminars, masterclasses, workshops, UK/European film weeks, multi-arts festivals etc)
• selecting new UK short films to promote at international festival screenings
• providing a preview service for selectors from major film festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and Sundance
• organising UK stands at key film markets (the European Film Market in Berlin and the European Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand)
• providing grants to enable UK filmmakers to attend selected festivals, markets and showcase screenings
• operating a print fund
• the annual publication of our British Films Catalogue
• www.britfilms.com: our portal website providing a range of information on the UK film industry including our online Directory of British Film Directors and Directory of International Film & Video festivals

Note: we do not invest in the development or production of films, or provide grants to enable filmmakers to attend professional training courses.