Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling, and The Thing With Feathers, headlined by Benedict Cumberbatch, are among the major recipients of British Film Institute (BFI) Filmmaking Fund production support in 2024.
As of 2023, the BFI has changed the way in which the public can access information about its awards – previously both recent and historic awards could be accessed via the BFI website. Now, awards post-2022 are available to download from the site, while awards issued prior to April 2022 can be accessed via an email request.
The BFI Filmmaking Fund has awarded production funding to 12 films in 2024, but at time of writing had not published full information on all titles to receive support. All funding awards will be published on the BFI site once the project, and how it is funded, is in the public domain.
Screen has highlighted some of the notable films to receive substantial support in 2024, plus a selection of projects that received BFI awards in 2023, but were unannounced.
In addition to the funding awards outlined below, each film received funding to support development opportunities within the crew up to £20,000 and to support a wellbeing coordinator, for up to £15,000.
Pillion, Element Pictures (£814,000)
Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard lead the cast of the debut feature of UK filmmaker Harry Lighton, produced by UK-Ireland outfit Element Pictures, which shot in the UK across the summer. It is based on Adam Mars-Jones’ novel Box Hill, in which a romance emerges between a shy young man and the handsome leader of a kinky, queer motorbike club. Cornerstone Films is handling worldwide sales. BBC Film developed the project and is backing the film with the BFI; the project will also receive finance from UK distributor-exhibitor Picturehouse in its first production venture. Picturehouse will release in the UK, while A24 has US rights.
The Thing With Feathers, Lobo Films (£700,000)
Dylan Southern’s adaptation of Max Porter’s acclaimed novel Grief Is The Thing With Feathers is backed by the BFI alongside Film4, and sold by mk2 Films. A father and his two young sons must deal with the sudden death of their wife and mother. Andrea Cornwell of Love Lies Bleeding outfit Lobo Films produces alongside with SunnyMarch’s Adam Ackland and Leah Clarke. The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Untitled Harris Dickinson directorial debut, Dream Space Films (£615,000)
Harris Dickinson, Screen Star of Tomorrow 2017, and star of Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, Scrapper and Babygirl, has moved into directing. His first feature shot in the summer. Casting is yet to be announced, but the film is understood to address homelessness. Archie Pearch and Scott O’Donnell produce.
Retreat, Retreatthefilm Ltd (£566,185)
Ted Evans’ debut feature is a thriller set in an isolated deaf community. It features an all-deaf principal cast (London-born filmmaker Evans is himself also deaf). Anne Zander, James Boyle and Sophie Stone star. XYZ Films handles world sales. Producers are Michelle Stein, Jennifer Monks and Alex Usborne for The Fold and 104 Films.
Funding awards from 2023
Surviving Earth, Surviving Earth Ltd (£945,000)
Screen Star of Tomorrow 2024 Thea Gajić’s debut feature follows a talented harmonica player who arrives in the UK in the 1990s after fleeing the conflict in Yugoslavia. He rebuilds his life in Bristol, but when traumas from his past life start to resurface, his life starts to fracture. Slavko Sobin and Olive Gray star, while Aleksandra Bilić of My Accomplice and Sophie Reynolds of Sona Films produce, with Film4 financing alongside the BFI. Bankside Films represents sales.
The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford, Weatherford Ltd (£880,000)
Ozark’s Peter Mullan and The Greatest Showman’s Gayle Rankin star in Sean Dunn’s debut feature, a Scotland-shot dark comedy about a historical local tour guide whose sanity starts to crumble when a big-budget fantasy TV show comes to town to film. It’s produced by Alex Polunin for the UK’s Ossian Pictures, Scott Macaulay for New York-based Forensic Films and Jennifer Monks for UK outfit The Fold, and developed with BBC Film, which co-financed the project alongside the BFI Filmmaking Fund, BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland. Charades is selling, with Mubi releasing in the UK and Ireland.
On Falling, Sixteen Films Ltd (£530,000)
On Falling world premiered at Toronto, ahead of playing at San Sebastian and the BFI London Film Festival. The debut feature of Portugal native and Screen Rising Star Scotland 2022 Laura Carreira tells the story of a Portuguese warehouse picker in Edinburgh, attempting to resist alienation. Conic is releasing in UK-Ireland in early 2025. The film was produced by Sixteen Films and BRO Cinema, with the BFI, BBC Film and Screen Scotland among backers.
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