First details announced of increased £33.5 million BFI investment in audience development
The ESCAPES initiative is renewed for three years following a successful pilot which saw over 215,000 tickets claimed across 223 independent cinemas since 2024.
Today we announce the first details of the £33.5m pledged to Audiences over the next three years in the BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029, representing a 20% increase from 2023-2026, to support the UK exhibition and distribution sectors. £10.8m is awarded to the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) enabling 10 UK-wide strategic partners to deliver audience facing work, and £3m for the Open Cinemas fund which powers ESCAPES and has successfully attracted new audiences to independent cinemas across the UK through free regular screenings.
A further £19.7m is allocated to the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund to support a broad range of activity from distributors, exhibitors and festivals working across independent film and immersive, which is currently open for applications and initial awards will be announced in the coming months. This activity, supported by ‘good cause’ National Lottery funding, sees the BFI continue to invest and grow the activity it supports UK-wide to increase cinema audiences for UK independent and international film.
ESCAPES is the groundbreaking audience development initiative supported by BFI National Lottery funding which will receive £3m investment over the next three years. Hosting free and accessible cinema screenings at over 120 independent cinemas across the UK each month, ESCAPES engages UK distributors and exhibitors to expand audiences for independent film in cinemas. Entertainment specialists elevenfiftyfive will continue to deliver ESCAPES which has seen over 215,000 tickets claimed for screenings in 223 locations since launching in February 2024.
Audience feedback has reported that 33% of ESCAPES customers were new to the cinemas they visited, with 82% likely to return to the cinema they visited for a paid visit and 84% of those planning to return, pledging to revisit within three months. ESCAPES will continue to grow the number of participating sites and screen a broad spectrum of films — from new releases such as February’s screenings of BAFTA-nominated prison thriller Wasteman, to cult classics, such as iconic French rom-com Amelie which screens in March as part of National Lottery Open Week ahead of its 25th anniversary re-release.
The 10 UK-wide strategic partners managing BFI FAN activity in eight Hubs across the nations and English regions have been renewed and will collectively receive £10.8m over the next three years, representing a 9% increase on the previous 3-year period from 2023-2026. Over that period, FAN has funded over 1000 audience facing projects in over 1500 locations across the UK.
Activity has included local and specialist film festivals, rural touring schemes, and a diverse range of projects delivered in communities across the UK, including the Cine North initiative which provides access to screen culture in 35 villages across Northern England, the Abertoir Horror Festival in Aberystwyth and the Rainbow Film Festival which screens films by and for the Bangladeshi communities of East London. The BFI FAN Hubs will also continue to provide a talent development offer for early career filmmaking talent in the English regions as part of BFI NETWORK, with details published in the coming months.
The 10 strategic partners renewed to manage BFI FAN activity in the nations and English regions are:
- Film London in London
- Broadway in Nottingham in partnership with Flatpack in Birmingham in the Midlands
- Showroom in Sheffield in partnership with HOME in Manchester in the North
- Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast in Northern Ireland
- Glasgow Film Theatre in Scotland
- The Independent Cinema Office in the South East
- Watershed in Bristol in the South West
- Chapter in Cardiff in Wales
Each BFI FAN hub will continue to deliver the SPOTLIGHT programme in newly identified areas across the UK, boosting audience choice and improving access to independent film where there is currently very limited public access to film screenings. The SPOTLIGHT areas set to receive support for 2026-2029 are:
- Film Hub London: Redbridge & Enfield (previous SPOTLIGHT area of Barking & Dagenham will also continue for a further year)
- Film Hub Midlands: Ashfield, Bolsover, Chesterfield and Mansfield, in partnership with Flatpack Festival
- Film Hub North: Hull, in partnership with Hull Independent Cinema, plus Blackburn with Darwen, Rochdale and Oldham
- Film Hub Northern Ireland: Derry/Londonderry and surrounds, in partnership with Nerve Centre
- Film Hub Scotland: Fife & Clackmannanshire, in partnership with OnFife
- Film Hub South East: Luton
- Film Hub South West: Cornwall with a focus on the East, North and Camborne, in partnership with Creative Kernow
- Film Hub Wales: South West Wales, in partnership with WOW
This hyper-local approach to audience development was initiated in 2023 and creates new opportunities for communities to enjoy access to screen culture where previously there was little or none. The programme has facilitated the development of several new community cinemas, including Sinema Llangoed on The Isle of Anglesey/ Ynys Môn, and supported the launch of new festivals, such as the Peterborough Bengali Film Festival. The recent PictureEast and Elgin Film Festivals showcased the work of Spotlight partners in Newham, Barking & Dagenham, and Moray Firth respectively and are intended to provide a future legacy for audiences.
In addition to delivering SPOTLIGHT, FAN will continue to invest in local exhibitors and deliver professional development opportunities to its members. Over £3.3m of National Lottery funding has been ringfenced over 3 years for Hubs to support a wide range of audience facing exhibition activity across the UK and many of these opportunities are now open via individual Hub websites. FAN will also be offering courses on marketing, audience development, programming, and technical skills to support skills development across the FAN membership.
The second edition of the UK-wide exhibitor conference, BFI FAN CON, will take place at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, from 7-9 September, aimed at connecting the full spectrum of film exhibitors — from small community cinemas and touring collectives to large multi-screen independent cinemas and landmark film festivals. Offering networking opportunities and panel discussions with sector experts, the conference provides an opportunity to discover fresh ideas for reaching and engaging audiences.
“With the 20% increase in investment in audiences for 2026-2029, we are committed to building cinema audiences and securing a sustainable, vibrant future for the sector,” said Ben Luxford, Director of UK Audiences at the BFI. “Our UK-wide audience development strategy is three-fold to ensure maximum public benefit: The BFI Film Audience Network to deliver funding and leadership at a local level; the BFI Audience Projects Fund to enable events of national scale; and ESCAPES which ensures there is a regular, accessible offer for the public that also helps us respond to our industry’s need to grow new audiences for independent film. As always this funding is delivered in partnership with organisations committed to audience development across the UK and we’re continually grateful to them for their continued energy and engagement. See you at the cinema.”
Continuing to support this UK-wide structure also responds to a consistent message heard throughout the extensive consultation with public and industry undertaken to develop the strategy: that every part of the country has a different set of needs, opportunities and challenges around screen culture, and local organisations are best placed to respond to these. Further UK-wide partners will be announced in the coming weeks, as recipients of National Lottery funding to support skills and education activity which will complement this work. Alongside BFI FAN, support of the exhibition and distribution sector is available via the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund which is currently open for applications.
A collaboration of ten leading venues or film organisations representing the UK nations and regions, the BFI Film Audience Network supports a stronger and more connected approach to growing audiences for UK and international film on the big screen. FAN has over 1,700 members comprising cinemas, festivals, mixed-arts venues, community cinema and film archives, which can access training, funding, programming support and network opportunities.