BFI Reveals Three-Year Funding Strategy: £150m Available + New Dedicated Fund For Independent Cinemas 

The BFI today said that it will have access to £150m across the next three years (2026-2029) to invest in “UK Screen Culture” as part of its latest National Lottery Funding Plan. 

The £150m figure works out to around £50 million a year of National Lottery “good cause” funding, representing a theoretical 10% increase on the £136.3 million available over the last three years. 

The BFI has divided the cash among six funding strands: 

The breakdown of these figures that will perhaps be most interesting for the industry is around Audiences. The £33.5 million figure includes investment in the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund, which supports distributors, exhibitors, and festivals working across independent film and immersive. The cash will also support the creation of a pilot Open Cinemas fund, which will facilitate regular free screenings across the UK.

The pilot project will use National Lottery Funding to book cinema screens every month in independent cinemas across the UK. The same film will screen in all participating cinemas on the same day and date. Audience groups that are identified as having current low engagement with cinema will be prioritised and invited to attend through what the BFI described as “targeted marketing and promotion.”

The BFI said the £150 million figure is based on projections of the good cause funding that will be available as a result of ticket sales across the next three years.

BFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts said in a statement that the funding plan aims to “ensure £150 million of good cause National Lottery funding over three years can have the greatest possible impact for the UK public.” 

“We are committed to nurturing filmmakers and creative risk-takers, developing the UK’s world-class workforce, inspiring children and young people, and connecting audiences to a more diverse screen culture – all driven by the ambition to deliver benefit to the UK public and provide support where there is an absence of sufficient commercial funding,” he said.

 “We believe the Plan responds to developments across the sector and learnings from the activity we have supported over the last three years and will contribute to economic growth while enabling cultural development and greater appreciation of UK screen culture.” 

Lisa Nandy, UK Culture Secretary, added: ““The UK’s film and TV industry provides a huge contribution to our country. It generates billions for our economy, employs millions of people and demonstrates Britain’s talents on a global stage. We welcome the news of this increased investment from the BFI and National Lottery with open arms. From actors and producers to cinematographers and VFX designers, this funding promises to nurture emerging talent and develop industry skills to keep our screen sector at the top of its game.” 

BFI-backed films this year include Urchin, My Father’s Shadow, Pillion, and Palestine 36.