What we do in Film

Film Department

Our Film department promotes 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, and in 2003 took the lead in or supported more than 350 projects including showcases, workshops, festivals, conferences, tours, residences and virtual projects. 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.

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

The main purpose of our activities in film is to broaden and build international audiences (particularly amongst young people) for new work from the UK.

To do this we have a core team of sector specialists with critical skills, a wide knowledge of contemporary UK cinema and personal relationships with a range of film industry professionals. This resource is backed up by direct access to an international network of British Council offices, film festivals and counterpart organisations.

For some feature films, and most short films, festivals are often the only method of reaching an international audience. Similarly, 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 new, high-quality work from the UK therefore remains at the heart of our activities.

Our activities include:

• obtaining prints, speakers and publicity material for events overseas (festivals, seminars, masterclasses, workshops, UK/European film weeks, multi-arts festivals etc)
• acting as a central clearing house for short films seeking international festival screenings (see submission form: HTML format, Microsoft Word format)
• providing a preview service for selectors from major film festivals
• co-ordinating UK stands at key events such as the European Film Market in Berlin and the European Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand
• providing support for the training of overseas personnel - eg professional training attachments in the UK for Commonwealth broadcasters; screenwriting and production workshops in South Africa

We also operate a portal website, www.britfilms.com, which provides a range of information on the UK film industry for UK and international enquirers.

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