Bird

Source: Atsushi Nishijima/Cornerstone

‘Bird’

Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Sandhya Suri’s Santosh and Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight are among the films to receive backing from the latest round of UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF) awards.

The BFI has made 19 additional awards totalling £527,563 through the £7m UKGSF, which is financed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Cannes premieres Bird, Santosh and Sister Midnight all received international distribution awards via the festival launch track, which supports festival runs for UK films to reach global audiences.

The only film to receive an international distribution award via the prints and advertising support track in this round of funding was Mikko Mäkelä’s Sundance premiere Sebastian, awarded to the film’s producer, James Watson of Bêtes Sauvages.

Polly Steele’s Four Letters Of Love, starring Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter, was the only recipient of the international development award via the film sales track, which supports UK sales agents specifically, and was given to Cornerstone Films.

Scroll down for the full list of awards

Modern Films and Wild Swim Films have both received international business development awards through the film transformation fund, which supports internationally-focused business strategies related to independent UK films, with strategies spanning three to five years.

Modern Films will channel the funding into research and development, intellectual property scouting and partnerships, along with training around international co-production. The company’s distribution portfolio includes Drive My Car, Four Daughters, Tish and Green Border.

How To Have Sex production outfit Wild Swim Films will use the support to make two key hires to allow the company to explore further international partnerships.

Companies to receive international business development awards via the general track, which is for business strategies to create, acquire and/or exploit IP across a range of screen formats, with strategies spanning three years, include T A P E Collective, who will use the support to consolidate its sales and distribution arm for Black and global majority projects, plus Fennec Labs, with the company planning to hire a senior developer for its virtual reality game distribution platform Spawnpoint.

Applications are now open for international distribution support, with the international co-production strand set to open in September.

UKGSF international business development awards

  • Modern Films
  • Wild Swim Films
  • Fennec Labs
  • T A P E Collective
  • The Illuminated Film Company
  • Turnover Films

UKGSF international distribution awards

7 Keys
Dir. Joy Wilkinson
Prods. Cassandra Sigsgaard and Dylan Rees
Award recipient: Jeva Films

Bird
Dir. Andrea Arnold
Prods. Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Lee Groombridge
Award recipient: Cornerstone Films

Doppelgängers3
Dir. Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stepanian
Prods. Sandra Leeming, Luke Moody, Victoria Adam and Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stepanian
Award recipient: Lono Moon

Restless
Dir. Jed Hart
Prods. Benedict Turnbull, Harri Kamalanathan, Iain Simpson, Jens Nielsen and Sophie Ede
Award recipient: Haus Pictures

Santosh
Dir. Sandhya Suri
Prods. Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Balthazar de Ganay and Alan McAlex
Award recipient: Good Chaos

Sister Midnight
Dir. Karan Kandhari
Prods. Alastair Clark, Anna Griffin and Alan McAlex
Award recipient: Protagonist Pictures

The Boy And The Suit Of Lights
Dir. Inma de Reyes
Prod. Aimara Reques
Award recipient: Aconite Productions

The Damned
Dir. Thordur Palsson
Prods. Emilie Jouffroy, Kamilla Hodøl, John Keville, Conor Barry, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page and Nate Kamiya
Award recipient: Protagonist Pictures

The Stimming Pool
Dirs. Steven Eastwood, Georgia Bradburn, Lucy Walker, Robin Knowles, Benjamen Brown and Sam Chown Ahern
Prods. Chloe White and Steven Eastwood
Award recipient: Whalebone Films

Timestalker
Dir. Alice Lowe
Prods. Vaughan Sivell, Mark Hopkins, Natan Stoessel and Tom Wood
Award recipient: Western Edge Pictures

Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other
Dirs. Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet
Prods. Manon Ouimet, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Jacob Perlmutter
Award recipient: Manon et Jacob

Four Letters Of Love
Dir. Polly Steele
Prods. Debbie Gray and Douglas Cummins
Award recipient: Cornerstone Films

Sebastian
Dir. Mikko Mäkelä
Prod. James Waston
Award recipient: Bêtes Sauvages