UK Global Screen Fund backs further 14 international co-productions

The BFI has made a further 14 awards through its UK Global Screen Fund, boosting global opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. Financed through the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the awards allocate over £2.2 million through the fund’s International Co-production strand, supporting UK producers to work as partners on international co-productions and help create new global projects.

This latest round of awards sees the UK co-producing with 18 territories and will be the first time the fund has supported projects with Czech Republic, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania,  Saudi-Arabia, Ukraine and USA. The funding will also support partnerships closer to  home with Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg.

The funding, in the form of non-recoupable grants, supports UK independent companies as minority co-producers for feature films of all genres, and as majority and minority co-producers for TV projects in animation and documentary genre. The latest round of awards support 10 feature films, including two animations and one documentary, plus four TV projects, including three documentaries and one animation.

UK Global Screen Fund International Distribution funding is available now: 

• Film Sales Support, with applications assessed on a rolling basis, is open to UK sales agents for increasing their international promotion and sales of live action and animated, fiction and documentary UK feature film projects. 
• Prints & Advertising (P&A) Support, open for a pilot round of applications until 5 January 2023, supports UK films to reach international audiences with funding towards certain eligible P&A costs for the release of a single UK film across a grouping of at least four international territories. 

For more information and full details on how to apply, view the guidelines here or join the P&A informational webinar, taking place on 25 November, by registering in advance.

The next round of UK Global Screen Fund international co-production funding will open on 7 February, with a further round set to open in August. 

a minority UK co-production with Germany, Poland, Belgium and France to be made through the European Convention. The UK producers are Oiffy (Jörg Tittel) and Richard Mansell who will collaborate with German Pandora Film (Reinhard Brunding), Polish BreakThru Films (Hugh Welchman), Belgian Wrong Men North (Benoit Roland) and French Rumble Fish (Alexis Perrin). The animated feature film based on Franz Schubert’s song cycle combines live action performances with 3D environments and hand-painted animation. Written and directed by Alex Helfrecht, the film’s cast includes John Malkovich, Marcin Czarnik, Martina Gedeck, Jason Isaacs, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and UK newcomer Gabriella Moran. A Winter’s Journey has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for multiple territories, with mk2 Films handling international sales. 

A minority UK co-production with New Zealand and Ireland. The UK co-producer is Andrew Baker of Cantilever Media who is co-producing with New Zealand’s Mukpuddy (Simon Ward) and Ireland’s Kavaleer Productions (Gary Timpson). The animated TV series is based on Spike Milligan’s popular handwritten story.

An unofficial UK and US co-production. The UK producers are Sungazer (Lorine Plagnol) alongside Dogwoof, who will co-produce with US producer Ninety Thousand Words (David France), in association with Dare Pictures (Derren Lawford) and US Executive Producer Kevin Jennings. The TV documentary, which will be directed by Kim Longinotto and Franky Murray Brown, tells the story of a young queer musician from rural Jamaica and has already secured broadcast in Denmark, The Netherlands and with BBC Storyville in the UK.

A co-production between the UK and the USA. The UK producer is Scottish-based Tigerlily Two (Natasha Dack Ojumu and Nikki Parrott) who will co-produce with US-based Film First Corp (Gary Hustwit and Jessica Edwards). The documentary feature film directed by Gary Hustwit will explore visionary British musician and artist Brian Eno. It has UK-wide shoots planned and a US sales agent attached. 

A UK and Ireland co-production under the European Convention. The UK producers are Meg Thomson and Hannah Leader who will co-produce with Irish Subotica Operations (Tristan Orpen Lynch and Aoife O’Sullivan). The feature film, set on the eve of the Second World War, will be directed by Matthew Brown with Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode attached to star as Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. Rick Nicita and Alan Greisman are also producing. West End Films and CAA Media Finance are handling sales, with pre-sales in USA, Middle East, Eastern Europe, India, Turkey, Australia, Portugal, Italy,  Russia, Greece, Benelux, Scandinavia and Israel.

A Poland, Belgium, UK co-production directed by Gerald Conn. The UK co-producer will be Welsh production company Gritty Realism Productions (Gerald Conn and Richard Miller) who will work with Poland’s BreakThru Films (Sean Michael Bobbitt) and Belgium’s Artemis Productions (Stéphane Quinet). The film, the world’s first sand animation feature, is based on the novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad and has a confirmed voice over cast including Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen and James Norton. It has been pre-sold in four territories.

An unofficial UK and France co-production. The lead UK producer is Scottish based Two Rivers (Alan Clements) co-producing with French Illégitime-Défense (Arnaud Xainte) and working with Welsh associate producer, Boom Cymru (Catrin Rowlands). The TV documentary, which will tell the story of the creation, promotion and exploitation of Viagra, is directed by Stephen Bennett – winner of three BAFTA Scotland Awards — and has secured pre-sales in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Israel and Morocco. 

A minority UK co-production with Germany, Mexico and Romania made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Scottish based Mallinson Television Productions (James Heath) in collaboration with Skye Films, co-producing with German dragonfly films, Mexican Meli Melo Cultura & Piano and Romanian Digital Cube. The feature film, which is based on the bestselling novel Leonora by Elena Poniatowska, tells the story of the British surrealist painter Leonora Carrington. International sales by IndieSales.

An unofficial minority UK co-production with Saudi Arabia. The UK producers are Caspian Films (Georgie Paget and Thembisa Cochrane) who will be co-producing with Saudi Arabian Corniche Pictures (Hani Farsi) and Millimeter Productions. The feature film, set in 80s and 90s Jeddah, will be directed by Saudi-Arabian UK based Ahd Kamel and has secured pre-sales in the Middle East.

An Iceland, Ireland, UK and Belgian co-production under the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. The UK producers are Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl of Elation Pictures Limited. They will co-produce with Irish Wild Atlantic Pictures (John Keville and Conor Barry), Icelandic Join Motion Pictures (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson and Anton Máni Svansson) and Belgian Wrong Men (Benoît Roland). The feature film, set in a remote fishing outpost in the 19th century, is written by Jamie Hannigan and will be directed by Icelandic/UK director Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders). It is set to shoot early next year with Protagonist Pictures attached as sales agents and executive producers, and Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday, Shirley, The Staircase) in the lead. 

A Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and UK co-production through the European Convention. The UK producer is Moonspun Films Limited (Tracy O’Riordan) co-producing with Danish delegate producer Final Cut for Real (Signe Byrge Sørensen), German The Match Factory (Viola Fügen and Michael Weber), Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Pictures (Conor Barry) and Italian Dorje Film (Flaminio Zadra). The feature film will be directed by Academy Award nominated Joshua Oppenheimer with confirmed cast starring Tilda Swinton and George Mackay.

An official co-production between Poland, Luxembourg, UK and the Czech Republic to be made under the European Convention. The UK producer is FAME — Film and Music Entertainment Ltd (Sam Taylor) who will co-produce with Czech’s Marlene Film Productions (Šárka Cimbalová), Polish Wild Mouse Production (Olga Chajdas) and Luxembourg Iris Productions (Katarzyna Ozga/Nicolas Steil). The feature film, directed by Kasia Adamik tells the story of Professor Joan Edwards, will shoot in Bristol and has secured pre-sales in UK, Poland and Czech Republic.

A Netherlands, UK and Georgia co-production under the European Convention. The UK producer is the Electric Shadow Company (Jay Taylor and Kwesi Dickson) who will be co-producing with Revolver Amsterdam BV (Raymond van der Kaaij) and Georgian Studio Artizm (Lasha Khalvashi). The feature film, to be directed by Hugo Keijzer and starring British actress Ella Balinska, is represented for world sales by Altitude who have secured several key pre-sales.

A German, UK and Ukraine co-production. The UK producer and director is Yard 44 (David Belton) who will co-produce with German LOOKS Filmproduktionen (Regina Bouchehri and Gunnar Dedio) and Ukrainian MMD Pro (Roman Martynenko). The TV documentary, which has a sales agent attached, will tell the story of the war in Ukraine through Ukrainian women who enter a video booth to record their experiences of war.  Their testimonies come from women who have stayed in Ukraine as well as refugees from other parts of Europe including Germany, France and in the UK.