The one thing all film-makers agree on is the importance of film festivals; they create an audience and an appetite for short films that is invaluable. The British Council has been instrumental in finding and nurturing talented new filmmakers and has long recognised the necessity of providing them with a platform for presenting their work at key international events. As such, we are often the first port of call for international programmers seeking out what’s hot and new from the UK.

Film-makers submit their recently completed shorts to the British Council on VHS, with an accompanying festivals submissions form. There are no deadlines, all genres are eligible and generally anything under 45 minutes is classed as a short. The selection panel will then assess the work’s suitability for film festivals and select the best to promote internationally. We work with approximately 50 festivals annually. In some cases we give travel grants to enable filmmakers to attend festivals screening their film. We also have a fund to help with making a first print (this is a contribution towards the overall costs) – the two main criteria are that the British Council must have selected the film and it must have a definite offer of a screening from a major international film festival.

The British Council compiles an annual publication ‘The Directory of Film and Video Festivals'. This is an essential guide to assist film makers to make sense of the ever increasing plethora of festivals. An online version is at www.britfilms.com.

The British Council does not fund development or film production. Please see our funding page for more information on funding.

The endless list of filmmakers whose short films (and then features) have been promoted by the British Council includes industry heavy weights like Mike Leigh, Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman. More recent wunderkids include Nick Park (Chicken Run), Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar), Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty, Lucky Break) Gurinder Chadha (Bhaji On The Beach, Bend It Like Beckham), Andrew Kotting (Gallivant, This Filthy Earth), Damian O’Donnell (East Is East, Heartlands), Sara Sugarman (Mad Cows, Very Annie-Mary), Jamie Thraves (The Lowdown), Billie Eltringham (This is Not A Love Song), Ben Hopkins (Simon Magus, The Nine Lives of Thomas Katz); Asif Kapadia (The Warrior), Jeremy Wooding (Bollywood Queen), David MacKenzie (The Last Great Wilderness, Young Adam).

What they say about the British Council...

Ildiko Kemeny (Producer, Hotel Splendide, Room To Rent)
“From my film school years to and throughout my first feature films, I have always enjoyed a great relationship with the British Council: on our shorts film festival exposure, my very first trip into the fantastic world of the NY and LA film world to "Producers on the Move" in Cannes 2000, (all supported by the British Council). So, I can only say HUGE THANKS to your fantastic team and support!”

Andrew Kotting
“The fact that the British Council have supported the work consistently over the years helps build a confidence and focus in what one does as a practitioner. The opportunity to visit film festivals abroad, meet other film makers and show ones work has been invaluable. These festivals provide insight, inspiration and confidence in developing ones own artistic or cinematic language. Without them it would have been easy to remain 'stuckist', 'shouldavist' or worse still 'couldavist', which is the malaise waiting to trap us all.”

David MacKenzie (dir. Young Adam)
“I'm extremely fond of my relationship with the British Council…. I’m always grateful for the opportunities they give filmmakers to travel. Most recently for me was a trip to St. Petersburg’s Message To Man Festival to sit on the jury”. .

Asif Kapadia (dir. The Warrior)
“The British Council has been brilliant to me. I don’t think my shorts would've been half as successful without their help and support. The Sheep Thief was picked up by the films division and screened in festivals the world over, including Cannes, Clermont Ferrand and the London Film Festival. As a poor student there was no way I could afford to send the print out myself. The British Council handled the prints of my shorts. They also sent me to accompany the film at festivals. This gave me the chance to see how my films were received the world over, it also gave the chance to see amazing shorts and features that would never be seen in the UK. During these trips I met filmmakers, financiers and producers, including Bertrand Faivre, the producer of The Warrior who I first met at the Brest Film Festival. If the British Council had not flown me out with my film, he may never have seen my film and I would still be searching for a producer.  With The Warrior I was lucky enough to travel as far as Pusan in South Korea and Mumbai and Kolkata with the British Council.”