30 game-changing film moments thanks to The National Lottery 

Since the first draw took place on 19 November 1994, good-cause funding raised through the National Lottery has been crucial to supporting almost 700,000 life-changing projects across the arts, sports, community and heritage. For the UK film industry, it has been transformational.  

Many beloved UK films of the last few decades have had significant financial backing thanks to National Lottery funding, with some going on to awards and box office success around the world. And back home, National Lottery-supported organisations help to ensure a diverse range of UK and international films get screened to as many audiences as possible, while also supporting programmes across the UK to provide entry points for aspiring talent, as well as career progression opportunities. All of which aims to ensure the UK continues to be one of the most vibrant centres for filmmaking and screen culture in the world.  
 
To mark the 30th anniversary of The National Lottery, here are just a few of the game-changing films and projects that hit the jackpot. Since 2011 the BFI has been the distributor for National Lottery funding for film.

Few films achieve such enduring legacies that even their stage musical adaptations have helped launch major movie stars (see Tom Holland). Anchored by the remarkable Jamie Bell, Stephen Daldry’s coming-of-age drama was an awards darling that danced to over $100 million in worldwide gross box office. 

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland’s nerve-shredder became one of the most influential horror films of the new millennium. An international box office success, it earned over $45 million in North America alone. 

Another homegrown hit from 2002 that proved a success internationally, Gurinder Chadha’s sports dramedy helped several new stars (Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Archie Panjabi) break out, while also making a game-changing contribution to the growing cultural footprint of UK women’s football. 

Lynne Ramsay is one of the defining UK filmmakers of the last 30 years. Her second feature, the elliptical Morvern Callar starring Samantha Morton, has been cited as a major influence on such directors as Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, 2016) and fellow Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells (Aftersun, 2022). 

The short Wasp kickstarted the career of acclaimed director Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank, American Honey), winning her an Academy Award for best live action short film. Some of Arnold’s films since have received National Lottery support, including her most recent feature, Bird (2024).

Nabbing best actor (for Colin Firth) and best film awards at both the Oscars and BAFTAs, this portrait of King George V’s unexpected ascension to the throne proved one of the more unexpected British success stories of the last 30 years, grossing over $450 million worldwide. 

Set on the cusp of the abolition process, Amma Asante’s astute period drama made a crucial contribution to representing the mixed-race experience, through its fictionalised account of the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the daughter of Royal Navy officer John Lindsay and an enslaved African woman. 

Pride tells the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, an activist group that partnered with a Welsh town in the 1980s during the UK miners’ strike. This sharp crowd-pleaser paints a portrait of queerness, allyship and activism that continues to resonate. 

One of the most absorbing and formally bold UK documentaries of recent years, Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s film explores writer John Hull’s journey into sudden blindness with sensitivity and immersive techniques, incorporating Hull’s audio diary recordings of his experiences. 

Turning Josh O’Connor into one of the UK’s most in-demand actors, Francis Lee’s acclaimed directorial debut received plentiful awards. The story of a sheep farmer in Yorkshire falling for a Romanian migrant worker, this tactile film is a touching and refreshingly frank look at male loneliness and newfound intimacy.

Made with the support of Doc Society, BFI NETWORK and The Guardian, Cherish Oteka’s BAFTA-winning docudrama The Black Cop is a compelling confessional short, exploring one former officer’s experience of being both victim and perpetrator of racial profiling in the police force, while also facing homophobia in his early career. 

Supported by BFI NETWORK with partners Northern Ireland Screen, this BAFTA winner for best British short film and Oscar winner for best short film (live action) also received the Ruderman Seal of Approval for Authentic Representation, for showing commitment towards full inclusiveness in the representation of people with disabilities in popular culture. 

One of the best surprise Oscar nominations in recent years is Paul Mescal’s acting nod for Charlotte Wells’ stunning debut feature. Following a troubled young Scottish father on a Turkey package holiday with his daughter (Frankie Corio), this cryptic and intimate drama wowed critics and became an indie hit internationally. 

Ella Glendining is both director and subject for her BAFTA-nominated debut feature, in which she searches for another person with a body like hers in a world structured around ableism. This vital, life-affirming documentary cleverly interrogates stigmas surrounding disability – both more subtle attitudes and those already widely debated. 

One of the most celebrated romantic comedies of modern times, writer-director Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature gives south London a vibrant, joyful screen depiction it’s been sorely lacking. Rising stars David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah (BAFTA-nominated for best leading actress) are an irresistible duo. 

Thousands of digitised videos and television programmes from the BFI National Archive and partner film archives – some rare and unseen for decades – are available to browse and enjoy, research or study through this free-to-access digital archive, exclusively available in UK public lending libraries. 

Available on BFI Player since 2015, this mass digitisation project – made possible by the BFI National Archive and regional archive partners – captures 120 years of Britain on film, granting free access to thousands of beautifully preserved films. Just type in your town and travel back in time. 

Offering a variety of courses, events and other opportunities for 16 to 25-year-olds to develop skills for careers in the film industry, BFI Film Academy has proved a major success after over a decade of support from the National Lottery and Department for Education. 

Supporting early career filmmakers, BFI NETWORK collaborates with film organisations and leading cultural venues to provide short film and early feature development funding, networking support and industry-backed professional development to writers, directors and producers aged 18 and above, helping to nurture the pipeline of next gen UK filmmaking talent. 

Supported through Film Hub North via the BFI Film Audience Network, this Relaxed Cinema project assists cinemas in the North of England to help build their inclusive film screenings that are accessible and comfortable for D/deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent audiences. 

Cinema for All is the national charity for developing community cinema, helping more than 1600 community cinemas and volunteer-led film societies across the UK, at all stages of operation, to build and broaden grassroots and often underrepresented audiences for a wider, affordable choice of culture. 

Launched in 2006, based in Wolverhampton and hosted by award-winning Deaf-led charity Zebra Access CIO, Deaffest is the UK’s principal Deaf-led films and arts festival. The currently biennial event seeks to preserve the importance of Deaf culture and heritage, alongside those of sign languages. 

elevenfiftyfive are on a mission to get more audiences watching more films in cinemas. Thanks to National Lottery funding their project Escapes helps people discover the possibilities of their nearest independent cinema, allowing people to catch brand new films for free ahead of release. 

Now in its 18th year, Flatpack Festival is a mobile arts organisation that champions and supports film across the Midlands, seeking to improve access to culture in the region. Screenings, innovative installations and live performances bring people together across Birmingham and beyond. 

Launched in 2005, the Glasgow Film Festival is known for favouring the public as its main guests rather than turning its venues into industry hubs, though the UK’s second-largest film festival has become an increasingly important event for world premieres of local and international features. 

Celebrating its 15th edition this year, this festival started in London but has since expanded to be a unique multiple-city event across the UK. The festival screens the latest and greatest Indian and South Asian independent cinema, and showcases emerging British Asian talent. 

Founded in 2004, Oska Bright is the world’s leading festival for films made by or featuring people with learning disabilities, autism or Asperger’s. Running annually in Brighton and touring other venues across the UK, the organisation also offers accessibility support for cinemas and skills development for aspiring filmmakers. 

Established in response to a lack of Asian representation on British screens, this cross-disciplinary festival showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities. National Lottery funding has helped the festival tour work well beyond its London origins. 

It’s not always easy for film fans with hearing loss to determine their nearest inclusive cinema-going options, especially with increasingly convoluted websites for multiplex chains. This service is an invaluable online resource used by thousands to find local subtitled screenings. 

Based in Aberystwyth but with touring screenings across the country (and, of late, additional online screenings), WOW is Wales’ longest-running film festival (founded in 2001) and the only UK festival dedicated principally to films from Africa, Asia and Latin America.