The 10 titles that were the biggest recipients of distribution funding for theatrical releases from the British Film Institute (BFI) received a total of £470,269 from the organisation’s Audience Projects Fund.
The fund has £15m available over three years, and is now in its second year.
As well as bolstering theatrical releases, as below, the fund backs a range of audience-facing projects across standalone and multi-year awards. Project-based recipients this year include £193,223 for a UK tour of immersive experience In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats; £150,000 for a UK-wide tour of Queer East festival; and a three-year £418,500 award to Leeds city council, which includes support for Leeds International Film Festival.
1. Io Capitano, Altitude Film Distribution (£70,000)
Venice Film Festival 2023 Silver Bear winner Io Capitano follows the adventurous journey of two teenagers who leave Dakar, Senegal, to make their way to Europe and chase their dreams of a better life. The Matteo Garrone-directed film made £185,273 at the UK-Ireland box office after its April release, and was nominated in the best international feature film category for Italy at last year’s Oscars.
2. Copa 71, Dogwoof (£65,000)
Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine’s Toronto 2023 premiere examines the systemic sexism surrounding the 1971 Women’s World Cup in Mexico, and features tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams and US soccer player Alex Morgan as executive producers. It brought in £148,000 at the UK-Ireland box office after its March release.
3. Kneecap, Zeppo Arts (£60,000)
Northern Irish organisation Zeppo Arts received an award to support a series of event screenings of Kneecap around the UK, targeted at young people, working in partnership with UK distributor Curzon. Rich Peppiatt’s musical comedy tells the origin story of the eponymous Irish-language Belfast hip-hop trio, and drummed up £2.2m at the UK-Ireland box office, with Curzon handling the UK release, and Wildcard in Ireland. The Sundance audience award winner is Ireland’s entry for the Oscars international feature race and recently scored seven Bifas. The film’s financiers include the BFI, Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.
4. Green Border, Modern Films (£50,000)
Agnieszka Holland’s Venice 2023 prize-winning documentary shines a chilling light on Europe’s refugee crisis. It was released in June for Modern Films, taking in £61,000.
5. Crossing, Mubi (£50,000)
An ageing Georgian woman travels to Istanbul in search of her trans niece in Levan Akin’s Crossing, which opened the Panorama section at this year’s Berlinale. It brought in £128,266 for Mubi at the UK-Ireland box office, following its July debut.
6. In Camera, Conic Films (£46,250)
UK filmmaker Naqqash Khalid’s feature debut, starring Nabhaan Rizwan, Amir El-Masry and Rory Fleck Byrne, follows a young man who spends most of his time recording self-tapes for parts he never gets. After he receives multiple rejections for a series of nightmarish commercial auditions, he takes it upon himself to find a new part to play. The feature was financed by BBC Film and the BFI, and made £20,920 at the UK-Ireland box office after its September release date.
7. Timestalker, Vertigo Releasing (£40,000)
Alice Lowe’s sophomore feature, a time-travelling anti-romantic comedy starring Lowe and Nick Frost, totted up £130,698 at the UK-Ireland box office for Vertigo during its October release, after a healthy festival run that included SXSW, Locarno and Edinburgh. The BFI was among the film’s funders, which also included Head Gear Films, Popcorn Group and Ffilm Cymru Wales.
8. Girls Will Be Girls, Modern Films (£33,500)
Modern Films’ second release in the top 10 is Girls Will Be Girls. The Sundance premiere is the debut feature of Indian filmmaker Shuchi Talati, and is a coming-of-age drama about a naive Indian teenager’s experiences of first love. After its September release, it brought in £23,000.
9. Black Box Diaries, Dogwoof (£33,469)
Documentary specialist Dogwoof also has two titles in the top 10 this year. Shiori Ito’s Sundance premiere Black Box Diaries follows the director’s investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender, which became a landmark case in Japan. It was released in October, and made around £12,000.
10. In Flames, Blue Finch Releasing (£22,050)
Zarrar Kahn’s Cannes 2023 premiere In Flames unfurls as a young Pakistani woman endures the horrors of a patriarchal society. While studying for exams, she begins a romance with another student. The thriller made around £5,700 in the UK-Ireland after its May opening.
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