Over 35 organisations across the North have been supported by National Lottery funding this year.
Our aim this year at Film Hub North has been to support the sector as it re-connects with audiences, fund work over a longer term, make space for flexibility and support change. We have seen organisations retain and grow their commitment to independent titles; and projects on hold due to the pandemic have been able to deliver, reaching encouraging audience numbers. A list of all 2021 awardees from our Propeller, Film Exhibition, Engine and Screen Heritage New Directions Engagement funds can be found below.
The Propeller Fund
Propeller is designed to support organisations to deliver one-off events and short screening programmes up to a maximum of £1,500. The projects we supported this year are:
The Film Exhibition Fund
Launched in August 2020, the Film Exhibition Fund supports organisations with grants of up to £10,000 as they restart in-person screenings of British, international and independent cinema and continue to deliver online activity. National collaboration for this fund has supported joint approaches and projects that meet audience appetite across the regions covered by the BFI Film Audience Network (BFI FAN). The projects we supported via the Film Exhibition fund this year are:
The Engine Fund
The Engine Fund provides exhibitors with long-term, strategic support to help rebuild and grow their audiences through grants of up to £30,000. The organisations we have supported through this fund are:
There were several funded projects that had to be put on hold last year due to the pandemic that were able to resume this year; some of which have completed. They were run by the following organisations:
New Directions Engagement Fund
On behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network, we lead on the UK-wide BFI FAN Screen Heritage initiatives including New Directions - a programme supporting archive film events which retrace the historic steps that have brought the UK to its current political and cultural crossroads.
The relaunch of New Directions in January 2021 saw an increase in appetite from programmers who were eager to programme unique screenings and events for their audiences. This was evident in the high volume of proposals and interest received across the New Directions window. 14 projects were supported in total and for the first time in the programme, Film Hub North supported screen heritage activity in all regions and nations of the BFI Film Audience Network.
The broadness of New Directions allowed exhibitors to develop projects exploring a variety of contemporary subjects through archive film, and has opened opportunities to develop relationships with organisations new to the network. Matching previous years, the screening approaches have been a mixture of traditional and experimental. They included: outdoor screenings in parks, projections onto buildings, live score tours, AV installations and traditional feature-led seasons. The activity has championed the collections of 9 of our UK National & Regional Film Archives, and a further 8 specialist film collections have been engaged with across the programme. The 14 projects supported through the New Directions Engagement Fund are:
Also, July saw the launch of
Lost Connections, a new short film offering a poetic response to the experience of the Coronavirus pandemic. Devised to help members resume archive screenings and events, the timely short was the result of a unique collaboration involving 12 of our National and Regional film archives. Lost Connections is still
available to book for free for both online and in-venue screenings via our website, accompanied by an exhibitor guide and marketing assets.
Looking ahead to 2022 we will continue to support the Membership through strategic and project focussed grants, professional development and fostering networks across the region.
