BFI announces first details of increased £33.5m investment in Audience Development

© Taliesin Arts Centre
11th March 2026

The BFI today announces 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 initiative renewed for three years following successful pilot which saw over 215,000 tickets claimed across 223 independent cinemas since 2024. 

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.

EIGHT UK-wide BFI Film Audience Network Hubs receive £10.8m over three years, representing 9% increase on previous 3-year period. 

Abertoir Horror Film Festival - Zombie with Fabio Frizzi performing the composers cut score.
Zombie screens at Abertoir Horror Film Festival with Fabio Frizzi performing the composers cut score.

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:

SPOTLIGHT programme will invest in newly identified culturally underserved areas to improve access to screenings of independent film. 

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:

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.

Ben Luxford, Director of UK Audiences at the BFI, said:

“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. 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.

  • Claire Gascoyne, PR Consultant, BFI Industry & Partnerships Tel: +44 (0)7771 735 117 /  [email protected]
  • Colette Geraghty, Senior PR Manager, Corporate, Industry and Partnerships +44 (0)7771 980 231 / [email protected]

BFI National Lottery Strategy 2023-2033

The BFI receives 2.7% of available National Lottery funding, the terms for how the BFI awards National Lottery ‘good cause’ funding to deliver benefit to the UK public is set out in policy directions established by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and enshrined in legislation.

Within the parameters of that policy, the 10-year BFI National Lottery Strategy 2023-2033 benefitted from extensive UK-wide public and sector consultation and online events hosted across the UK. It has also been informed by the evaluation of funds from BFI2022 and targeted BFI research including the recently published Skills Review and the Economic Review of UK Independent Film. Out of this strategy, two three-year BFI National Lottery Funding Plans will run 2023-2026 and 2026-2029, and a final four-year Plan for 2029-2033.

The strategy honed four key objectives in addition to the three cross-cutting principles, plus a range of outcomes which together are designed to drive change and deliver benefits for all of society and for the screen sector UK-wide. These are:

  • Experiencing screen culture – so everyone can experience a great range of screen culture
  • Creativity and storytelling – so anyone from first-time creators to world-class professionals can create screen stories
  • A UK screen sector workforce that is skilled and reflects the population
  • Independents and cultural organisations are supported to achieve success in a changing economic and cultural landscape.

The £13.8m announced today aims to address a number of primary objectives of the BFI’s
National Lottery Strategy. These include seeking to:

  • Ensure people across the UK can access a wider choice of film and the moving image, including stories that authentically reflect their lives
  • Tackle a range of social, economic, and geographical barriers for UK audiences
  • Support the skilling up of the exhibition workforce so venues are better equipped to thrive in an increasingly challenging marketplace
  • Open up opportunities to those who want to express their creativity through stories on screen and support and nurture their careers.

BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029

The BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029 sets out how it will invest £150m into UK Screen Culture over three years. Through six strands addressing key areas across the sector, a range of funds and programmes benefiting public and industry seek to continue to deliver on the 10-year National Lottery Strategy 2023-2033 which was published as part of Screen Culture 2033.

Responding to available data from funded activity, evidence of need and demand, as well as sector feedback, the 2026-2029 Plan sees targeted changes to the funds and programmes run over the last three years. The Funding Plan guides how the BFI will invest approximately £50 million a year of National Lottery ‘good cause’ funding, representing a 10% increase on the £136.3 million available over the last three years £150m will be invested in the following areas:

  • £33.5 million for Audiences
  • £13.3 million for Education & Heritage
  • £61 million for Filmmaking & Talent Development
  • £35.55 million for Skills & Workforce Development
  • £1.4 million for International
  • £5.25 million for Insight & Industry

Am BFI
The BFI is a cultural charity, a National Lottery distributor, and the UK’s lead organisation for
film and the moving image.

Ein cenhadaeth yw:

  • cefnogi creadigrwydd a mynd ati i chwilio am y genhedlaeth nesaf o storïwyr y DU
  • tyfu a gofalu am Archif Genedlaethol y BFI, archif ffilm a theledu mwyaf y byd
  • cynnig yr ystod ehangaf o ddiwylliant delweddau symudol y DU a rhyngwladol drwy ein rhaglenni a'n gwyliau - a gyflwynir ar-lein ac mewn lleoliad
  • defnyddio ein gwybodaeth i addysgu a dyfnhau gwerthfawrogiad a dealltwriaeth y cyhoedd
  • gweithio gyda'r Llywodraeth a'r diwydiant i sicrhau twf parhaus diwydiannau sgrin y DU

Wedi'i sefydlu ym 1933, mae'r BFI yn elusen gofrestredig a lywodraethir gan Siarter Frenhinol.

Cadeirydd Bwrdd Llywodraethwyr BFI ydy Jay Hunt OBE.

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