The BFI announces latest awards through its UK Global Screen Fund

Thursday 21 November 2024. The BFI has made 18 new awards through its UK Global Screen Fund, supporting international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. Financed through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the awards see a further £413,995 being allocated through the £7m per year fund’s International Distribution strand.

Financial support for International Distribution, open for application and assessed on a rolling basis, provides sales agents and producers from all over the UK with funding via three tracks:

• Film Sales, supporting UK sales agents to increase their international promotion and sales of UK feature film projects
• Prints and Advertising (P&A), supporting UK films to reach international audiences
• Festival Launch, supporting the festival launch of UK films in order to enhance their promotion, reach and audiences internationally

Denitsa Yordanova, BFI Head of UK Global Screen Fund and International Funds, said: “It is fantastic to see this latest round of awards supporting such a strong selection of UK feature films with ambitious strategies to reach new audiences worldwide. Many of these titles are already well on their way to achieving international success, having garnered visibility and acclaim on the festival circuit with the support of the fund, and we look forward to following the newly forged distribution partnerships as they unlock vital export opportunities for our unique and talented screen sector.”

Applications for International Co-production funding are also currently open, with a deadline of 25 November. Applications for International Business development will re-open in 2025.

The International Distribution strand is managed by Jordan Allwood who joined the team in October with 10 years of experience in distribution, sales and acquisitions gained at companies including Universal Pictures, Altitude and, most recently, Independent Entertainment.

UK Global Screen Fund International Distribution awards via the Festival Launch Support track have been made to support the following:

A WANT IN HER

Written and directed by Myrid Carten this Ireland/Netherlands/UK co-production is an immersive, autobiographical documentary charting Carten’s return home to Ireland as she searches for her missing mother. The Festival Launch Support grant contributes towards activities connected to its world premiere in main competition at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, driving increased awareness with the aim of securing a sales agent and strong international sales in key territories. The film is produced by Taghg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty and Kat Mansoor and the award is granted to Snowstorm Productions.

BLUE ROAD: THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY

Written and directed by Sinéad O’Shea, this Ireland/UK co-production is a profile of famed Irish author Edna O’Brien. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere in the TIFF Docs section at the Toronto International Film Festival, enhancing the presence of the film with the aim of generating buzz around the title and securing strong international sales in key territories. The film Is produced by Claire McCabe, Sinéad O’Shea and Eleanor Emptage and the award is granted to Tara Two (trading as Tara Films).

BRING THEM DOWN

Written and directed by Christopher Andrews, this feature directorial debut is an Ireland/UK/Belgium co-production chronicling a feud between neighbouring families in rural Ireland with performances from Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, enhancing presence of the film and its talent with the aim of securing strong international sales in key territories. The film, which won Best Film at Fantastic Fest in Austin and Best Screenplay at the Rome Film Festival, is produced by Ivana MacKinnon, Jacob Swan Hyam, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Jean-Yves Roubin and Cassandre Warnauts and the award is granted to Wild Swim Films. 

CHAPLIN: SPIRIT OF THE TRAMP

Written by Carmen Chaplin, Ashim Bhalla, Isaki Lacuesta and Amaya Remírez, this directorial debut by Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter, Irish/English actress Carmen Chaplin, is a revealing journey into the Gypsy heritage that inspired the creation of his infamous and beloved character, The Tramp. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed toward activities connected to its world premiere in the Zinemira section of the San Sebastián Film Festival, enhancing the film and its talent with the aim of increasing international sales and promotion. The film won the San Sebastián Film Festival Irizar Basque Film Award and has already secured distribution deals in Spain, Benelux, Former Yugoslavia, Israel and Japan. The film is produced by Ashim Bhalla, Carmen Chaplin, Dolores Chaplin, Stany Coppet, Carlos Juárez, Mariano Arrieta, and Silvia Martínez and the award is granted to Kwanon Films. 

EBONY AND IVORY

Written and directed by Jim Hosking, this comedy imagines a meeting of musical legends Paul and Stevie at a cottage on the Mull of Kintyre for a tense summit to discuss a potential collaboration that will ultimately result in a smash hit single. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, raising the profile of the film and its talent with the aim of helping to secure key international territories. The film is produced by Denzil Monk and Ant Timpson and the award is granted to Bosena.

HARVEST

Written by Joslyn Barnes and Athina Rachel Tsangari, adapted from a novel by Jim Crace, this third feature from director Athina Rachel Tsangari is a UK/Germany/Greece/France/USA co-production, within which, over seven hallucinatory days a remote village in a place undefined is torn apart. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, enhancing promotion of the UK talent internationally and helping to generate wider interest and further international sales. The film is produced by Rebecca O’Brien, Joslyn Barnes, Michael Weber, Viola Fugen and Marie-Elena Dyche and the award is granted to Sixteen Films. 

HER NAME WAS MOVIOLA

Written by Walter Murch and directed by Howard Berry, the film is a cinematic love letter to the Moviola film editing machine, taking the audience through the process of how a film was pieced together using two scenes from Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its International/North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, attracting global film press and helping to increase awareness of the film to potential international audiences and buyers. The film is produced by Howard Berry and the award is granted to The Curators!

NINETEEN

Written and directed by Giovanni Tortorici, this debut feature and Italy/UK co-production is a coming-of-age story that observes the emotional state of a young man in a confusing time of his life. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival, increasing visibility of the film and its talent to international buyers and audiences. Following this success it has screened in Official Selection at Toronto International Film festival, BFI London Film Festival and Hamburg Film Festival, where it won the NDR Young Talent Award. The film is produced by Luca Guadagnino, Paula Vaccaro, Aaron Brookner and Agustina Costa and the award is granted to Pinball London.

ON FALLING

Written and directed by Laura Carreira, this feature directorial debut is a UK/Portugal co-production presenting a portrait of social and financial precarity as Portuguese migrant Aurora (Joana Santos) struggles to make ends meet over the course of a week in Scotland. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere in the Discovery section at the Toronto International Film Festival 2024, including promotional materials and screenings for press and buyers to generate enhanced profile of the film and increase international sales. The film is produced by Jack Thomas-O’Brien and Mário Patrocínio and the award is granted to Sixteen Films.

PAUL AND PAULETTE TAKE A BATH

Written, directed and produced by Jethro Massey, this film is an unconventional romantic comedy about a young American photographer in Paris who meets a French girl with a taste for the macabre. The Festival Launch Support award contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere at Venice Film Festival for the International Critics’ Week, helping maximise exposure of the film and talent with the aim of enhancing international sales opportunities. The film went on to win the festival’s Audience Award followed by the Dinard British & Irish Film Festival’s ‘Talent of Tomorrow’ award and has already secured distribution in Spain. The award is granted to Film Fabric.

THE CEREMONY

Written and directed by Jack King, this micro-budget directorial debut represents two troubled characters among the diaspora of migrant workers dragged into an escalating moral crisis as night falls. Each of them carries private hopes, traumas and beliefs shaped by their diverse cultures, raising questions of identity, faith and human frailty. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere in competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival where it won the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, voted for by audiences. The film is produced by Hollie Bryan and Lucy Meer and the award is granted to Cosmosquare Films. 

THE SALT PATH

Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz from the 2018 memoir by Raynor Winn, this feature directorial debut by Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs as a middle-aged couple that impulsively set out on a 630-mile walk along the southwest English coast. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, with the aim of generating a buzz around the title and securing strong international sales in key territories. The film is produced by Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Lloyd Levin and Beatriz Levin and the award is granted to Rocket Science.

THE SEVERED SUN

Written and directed by Dean Puckett, this fiction debut is a folk horror set in Cornwall and filmed entirely on Bodmin Moor. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, helping to attract increased press, audiences, buyers and other festivals from around the world whilst boosting the profiles of the filmmakers internationally. The film, being sold by MPI Media with Dark Sky Films handling North American distribution, is produced by Rebecca Wolff of Grasp the Nettle Films and Jude Goldrei of Lunar Lander Films. The award is granted to Lunar Lander Films.  

THE PENGUIN LESSONS

Written by Jeff Pope and Tom Michell and directed by Peter Cattaneo, this poignant dramedy starring Steve Coogan follows an Englishman’s personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere as a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, expanding the expand promotion. The film is produced by Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh, Andy Noble and Adrián Guerra and the award is granted to Rocket Science.

TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Written and directed by Mahdi Fleifel and written by Fyzal Boulifa and Jason McColgan, this UK/France/Germany/The Netherlands/Greece/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Palestine co-production tells the story of the desperate attempts of two Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens to find a way to reach Germany. The Festival Launch Support grant contributed towards activities connected to its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, raising increased awareness among international buyers, festivals, TV channels and press. The film is produced by Geoff Arbourne and Mahdi Fleifel and co-produced by Maria Drandaki, Layla Meijman, Maarten van der Ven and Francois Morisset, and the award is granted to Inside Out Films.

UK Global Screen Fund International Distribution awards, via the Prints & Advertising (P&A) Support track, have been made to support the following:

FREUD’S LAST SESSION

Written by Mark St Germain and directed by Matt Brown, this UK/Ireland co-production starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode is set on the eve of the Second World War and depicts an imagined meeting between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. The P&A Support grant contributes towards an enhanced theatrical release across a grouping of four major international territories – Spain, Italy, France, Germany – capitalising on the film’s recent international success following its premiere at AFI Fest 2023. The film is produced by Alan Greisman, Rick Nicita, Meg Thomson and Hannah Leader and the award is granted to WestEnd Films.

KNEECAP

Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, this UK/Ireland co-production follows the formation of a Belfast hip-hop group who lead a movement to save their native Irish language. Following the success of its premiere at Sundance, the P&A Support grant contributes towards the film’s enhanced theatrical release across a grouping of six international territories – Australia/New Zealand, Spain, Greece, Nordics, Portugal, German Speaking – strengthening relationships and further building the profile of UK talent. The film is produced by Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling and co-produced by Patrick O’Neill and the award is granted to Fine Point Films.

SANTOSH

Written and directed by Sandhya Suri, this Hindi-language crime thriller follows a widow who inherits her late husband’s job as police officer. The P&A Support grant contributes towards enhancing the film’s theatrical release across a grouping of five international territories – Sweden, Benelux, Taiwan, US, France – with the aim of increasing audiences, box office and financial returns in addition to boosting the profile of the key UK talent involved. The film is produced by Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Balthazar de Ganay and Alan McAlex and the award is granted to Good Chaos.