British Council partners BFI to support emerging film talent

23 May 2012

The British Council Film Department today announced a new Short Support Scheme designed to help emerging UK film talent travel with their work and reach new international audiences. The scheme has been launched in partnership with BFI and has the support of key UK industry organisations who have a short film interest including Sheffield Doc/Fest and Encounters International Film Festival.

The centrepiece of the scheme is a Travel Grant Fund that will support makers of short films from the UK in showing their work at international film festivals. The Fund can be used to cover travel and accommodation costs as well as marketing support. Awards will range from £100 to £1000 pounds and filmmakers can apply more than once to the scheme should their film be selected for multiple festivals.

The Fund, delivered in partnership with the BFI’s Film Export Fund, accompanies the Artists’ International Development Fund, a joint three-year programme between the British Council and Arts Council England to support individual artists based in England to work internationally. The support of the BFI now ensures that filmmakers are eligible to apply to the scheme.

The Short Support Scheme will also offer UK Filmmakers the following services:

The British Council will promote films on the Scheme to exclusive programming contacts from key film festivals including Oberhausen, CFC Worldwide Shorts in Canada, Aspen, Clermont-Ferrand, Tampere and many others.

  • Selected films will be featured in preview screenings arranged in London for visiting programmers.
  • The films will be featured in the annual online BritFilms Catalogue which profiles a range of new British films produced each year and is made available to a network of international festival contacts.
  • Scheme Members will be invited to bi-monthly development and networking events designed to connect new talent with key industry organisations.
  • Scheme Members without representation will have their films promoted to UK talent agents
  • Selected films from the Scheme will be screened as part of touring packages curated by British Council in partnership with its network of offices abroad in 110 countries
  • Selected films from the Scheme will be placed in front of feature films at international festivals or film events worldwide

Briony Hanson, Director Film, British Council said: "British Council has long championed emerging UK filmmakers. Its previous short film scheme has seen many filmmakers benefitting at the beginning of their careers including Andrea Arnold, Asif Kapadia and Carol Morley. After a hiatus it is fantastic to be able to relaunch our support for emerging talent now as a result of this new partnership with the BFI."

To be eligible for the Scheme and the Travel Grant Fund filmmakers will have had their work selected to screen at an international Film Festival included on British Council’s Key Festivals List. British Council will work with key organisations in the UK to curate the best possible selection for promotion to its programming contacts worldwide. These organisations include Animate Projects, BAFTA, BFI, Dazzle Films, Encounters International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, Lux, Rushes Soho Shorts, Sheffield Doc/Fest and Shorts International.

Applications to the Short Support Scheme and Travel Grant Fund will be open from June 2012. Application forms available at www.britishcouncil.org/film

For more information please contact Alex Bratt, Senior Press Officer on 020 7389 4872 or email alex.bratt@britishcouncil.org

Notes to Editors:

The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Our 7000 staff in over 100 countries work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes. We earn over 75% of our annual turnover of nearly £700 million from services which customers pay for, education and development contracts we bid for and from partnerships. A UK Government grant provides the remaining 25%.  We match every £1 of core public funding with over £3 earned in pursuit of our charitable purpose.

For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org or call our Press Office on +44 (0)20 7389 4268. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.

BFI

The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:

  • Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
  • Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
  • Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
  • Promoting British film and talent to the world 
  • Growing the next generation of film makers and audiences

The Artists International Development Fund is a joint three-year programme between the British Council and Arts Council England to support individual artists based in England to work internationally. The £750,000 fund provides grants of between £1,000 to £5,000 for artists to travel, explore and collaborate internationally while carrying out professional projects. It aims to support artists who have carried out little or no work internationally, and is designed to help artists build on their domestic success and develop markets and audiences overseas for their work.

Arts Council England

The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.www.artscouncil.org.uk