The UK Global Screen Fund’s (UKGSF) next round of awardees from its distribution strand of support includes The Penguin Lessons, Bring Them Down, The Salt Path and Kneecap.
The UKGSF has issued 18 new awards, administered by the BFI, to support international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. UKGSF is financed through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the awards see a further £413,995 allocated through the £7m per year fund’s international distribution strand.
The international distribution strand is now managed by Jordan Allwood, who joined the team in October from UK sales agent Independent Entertainment and replaces Francesca Walker. He brings 10 years of experience in distribution, sales and acquisitions at companies including Universal Pictures and Altitude.
Financial support for international distribution, assessed on a rolling basis, provides UK sales agents and producers with funding via three tracks: film sales, to support sales agents increase promotion and sales; prints and advertising (P&A); and for festival launches.
The Penguin Lessons, the latest feature from The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo, received the festival launch support grant ahead of its premiere as a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival. Steve Coogan plays an Englishman on a personal and political journey after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. The award was granted to sales agent Rocket Science, who received festival launch support in this round of funding for another Toronto premiere, The Salt Path, directed by Marianne Elliott and starring Gillian Anderson.
Also receiving a festival launch support grant for Toronto was Bring Them Down, the debut feature from Chris Andrews. The Ireland-UK-Belgium co-production chronicles a feud between neighbouring families in rural Ireland, with performances from Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan. The award was granted to producer Wild Swim Films.
Rich Peppiatt’s Sundance premiere Kneecap, about a Belfast-based Irish-language hip-hop trio, received P&A support for its theatrical release across Australia/New Zealand, Spain, Greece, Nordics, Portugal and German-speaking territories. Producer Fine Point Films received the support.
Applications for the international co-production funding are currently open, with a deadline of November 25. Applications for international business development will re-open in 2025.
UKGSF distribution awards
Festival support
A Want In Her
Dir. Myrid Carten
Prods. Taghg O’Sullivan, Roisin Geraghty, Kat Mansoor
Award recipient: Snowstorm Productions
Premiere: IDFA
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
Dir. Sinéad O’Shea
Prods. Claire McCabe, Sinéad O’Shea and Eleanor Emptage
Award recipient: Tara Two
Premiere: Toronto
Bring Them Down
Dir. Chris Andrews
Prods. Ivana MacKinnon, Jacob Swan Hyam, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Jean-Yves Roubin, Cassandre Warnauts
Award recipient: Wild Swim Films
Premiere: Toronto
Chaplin: Spirit Of The Tramp
Dir. Carmen Chaplin
Prods. Ashim Bhalla, Carmen Chaplin, Dolores Chaplin, Stany Coppet, Carlos Juárez, Mariano Arrieta, Silvia Martínez
Award recipient: Kwanon Films
Premiere: San Sebastián
Ebony And Ivory
Dir. Jim Hosking
Prods. Denzil Monk, Ant Timpson
Award recipient: Bosena
Premiere: Fantastic Fest, Austin
Harvest
Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari
Prods. Rebecca O’Brien, Joslyn Barnes, Michael Weber, Viola Fugen and Marie-Elena Dyche
Award recipient: Sixteen Films
Premiere: Toronto
Her Name Was Moviola
Dir. Howard Berry
Prod. Howard Berry
Award recipient: The Curators
Premiere: Telluride
Nineteen
Dir. Giovanni Tortorici
Prod. Luca Guadagnino, Paula Vaccaro, Aaron Brookner, Agustina Costa
Award recipient: Pinball London
Premiere: Venice
On Falling
Dir. Laura Carreira
Prods. Jack Thomas-O’Brien, Mário Patrocínio
Award recipient: Sixteen Films
Premiere: Toronto
Paul And Paulette Take A Bath
Dir. Jethro Massey
Prod. Jethro Massey
Award recipient: Film Fabric
Premiere: Venice
The Ceremony
Dir. Jack King
Prods. Hollie Bryan and Lucy Meer
Award recipient: Cosmosquare Films
Premiere: Edinburgh
The Salt Path
Dir. Marianne Elliott
Prods. Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Lloyd Levin, Beatriz Levin
Award recipient: Rocket Science
Premiere: Toronto
The Severed Sun
Dir. Dean Puckett
Prods. Rebecca Wolff, Jude Goldrei
Award recipient: Lunar Lander Films
Premiere: Fantastic Fest, Austin
The Penguin Lessons
Dir. Peter Cattaneo
Prods. Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh, Andy Noble, Adrián Guerra
Award recipient: Rocket Science
Premiere: Toronto
To A Land Unknown
Dir. Mahdi Fleifel
Prods. Geoff Arbourne, Mahdi Fleifel
Award recipient: Inside Out Films
Premiere: Cannes
P&A support
Freud’s Last Session
Dir. Matt Brown
Prods. Alan Greisman, Rick Nicita, Meg Thomson, Hannah Leader
Award recipient: WestEnd Films
Kneecap
Dir. Rich Peppiatt
Prods. Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling
Award recipient: Fine Point Films
Santosh
Dir. Sandhya Suri
Prods. Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Balthazar de Ganay, Alan McAlex
Award recipient: Good Chaos
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