BFI Outlines £30M Culture Recovery Fund for Indie Cinemas

The British Film Institute has released guidelines outlining their £30 million Culture Recovery Fund for non-profit and independent cinemas in England. The fund has come after cinemas around the country have struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the BFI hoping to support venues in reopening in the near future. 

Applications for the fund will be accepted from 10 August and will hope to give independent cinemas a boost to open with safety measures in place for staff and guests. With social distancing measures widespread, cinemas will have to run on a reduced capacity which will restrict the level of admissions and have a huge financial impact on establishments. The grants offered by the BFI will aim to support cinemas while opening and functioning on reduced admissions. 

The grants included in the Culture Recovery Fund will be administered by the British Film Institute as part of the government’s £1.57 billion support package to help arts, culture and heritage industries in Britain. The applications will remain open until 30 October.

“The challenges facing the entire UK cinema sector as it seeks to recover from the COVID-19 lockdown are difficult to overstate. Today’s confirmation of significant funding support for smaller cinema operators is therefore hugely welcome. We’d like to thank BFI colleagues for all of their hard work in getting us to this point, and look forward to working with them over the coming weeks in ensuring that as wide a range of venues as possible are able to benefit.”

Phil Clapp, UK Cinema Association Chief Executive

The £30 million will be split into two strands of grants with £3 million (up to £10,000 per cinema) going towards getting independent cinemas operational with new safety measures in place, while £27 million (up to £200,000 per organisation) will support cinemas staying open and functioning under the restrictive conditions. Cinemas are able to apply for grants from both of these strands to ensure they can operate fully during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Those wishing to apply for such grants will need to prove that they are committed to increasing diversity in their organisations, as well as in their audiences. The BFI hopes to enact change in the film industry by improving cinema’s diversity of their boards and senior staff, as well as developing more public programmes by curators from minority backgrounds. As well as this, each non-profit or independent cinema will be expected to demonstrate commitments to reducing negative impacts on the environment and improving their educational outreach. 

Words by Kate Goodyer

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