The British Film Institute will create a new streaming service called BFI+, use National Lottery funds to invest in film education in schools and open up access to its research collections through the Screen Archive of the Future as part of a new 10-year strategy announced. on Friday.
Entitled ‘Screen Culture 2033’, the BFI’s plan aims to ‘transform access to its unique and valuable collections, cultural and educational programmes, and use policy and research work … to create a diverse and accessible screen culture that benefits the whole of society and promotes a thriving UK economy’.
At the same time, the BFI announced its plans to spend National Lottery money over the same 10-year period until 2033.
Among other ambitions, the Screen Culture initiative aims for the BFI to “be digital first in delivering cultural programming through BFI+, the next-generation streaming service”, to “provide access to world-class learning material” for use in schools and to make the National Archives’ collection The BFI is more accessible to the public through digitisation.
In an interview with the Guardian, BFI chief executive Ben Roberts said: “Screens are a universal cultural space, we all interact with them every day and there are huge benefits and benefits to be gained from them. I really think it’s important that, given the moment we get most of our information from the screen, that we can interpret what we get, that we understand the concepts of authorship and integrity.”
The National Lottery Strategy and Funding Plan sets out how the BFI will spend the £136m it will receive between 2023 and 2026: this will include £54m for film-making, £34.2m for vocational training and £26.7m sterling to improve the audience. Following its report, which said the UK’s independent filmmakers are facing particularly difficult financial conditions, the BFI is promising that “better support will be available for SMEs and independents to grow their businesses”. The strategists are also keen to make the BFI an advocate for the video games industry, but say that due to pressures on their finances, their “support for video games must start small”.
BFI chairman Tim Richards said: “The ambitions we set out in Screen Culture 2033 – which will take the BFI to its centenary – and the BFI’s National Lottery Strategy aim to empower creators, audiences, educators and industry to ensure the screen culture that is being created and consumed in the UK truly reflects our vibrant and diverse population.”
