Too Much: Melodrama on Film

Too Much: Melodrama on Film

All That Heaven Allows
Director – Douglas Sirk. Courtesy of Park Circus & Universal.

Celebrate the female stars of melodrama…

Stella Dallas
Courtesy of Park Circus & Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Family Trust.

BFI FAN in partnership with the BFI, is proud to unveil the new UK-wide season – Too Much: Melodrama on Film – where audiences are invited to follow their emotions and get swept away by the big screen experience.

Too Much celebrates the visual excess and dramatic potency of a form of cinema which champions emotional intensity over propriety and ‘good taste’. With roots in the exaggerated performance and expressive staging of the silent era, the melodramatic mode evolved to incorporate a wealth of genres and stories. United by their emotion driven plots, vivid visual language and self-conscious audience manipulation, these films are designed to make you break down in tears, cause a scene, fall in love, feel something.

Backed by a UK-wide Press and marketing campaign and a central listing platform, the season will have a broad audience appeal.

There are three types of funding available depending on the type of activity you want to deliver.
Please read carefully the Creative Brief and Funding Guidelines below. 

Guidelines:

To be included in the season, films must meet the following criteria:

  • Heightened emotions and pathos: on screen, and/or deliberately induced in the audience.
  • Some combination of amplified performance, visuals, score and plot used to achieve this.
  • Personal relationships at the heart of the emotional conflict portrayed.

Gather ideas from the Melodrama title list of films available to book.

Period of activity:

  • The bulk of the season takes place October – December 2025.
  • Non-theatrical screenings of Key Menu titles (from the Melodrama title list) can be booked and screened until January 2026.

Key dates:

  • Deadline for Bespoke and Cross FAN proposals, 5pm, Monday 14th July 2025.
  • Deadline for Menu title proposals, 5pm, Monday 29th September 2025 (to be included in the listings announcement, films must be booked by the end of July 2025).

You must be a member of Film Hub Wales to access support from this programme. If you are not a member, you can sign-up here.

If you have any queries about how to submit your application, please email lisa@filmhubwales.org

  • Key Menu titles: Up to £500 (£125 per film). Pick from the Melodrama title list and access support for enhanced activities and audience development. Please note: this funding is not to cover minimum guarantees.
  • Bespoke: Up to £15,000 (average awards likely to be circa £5,000) to develop bespoke projects within the parameters of the Creative Brief.
  • Cross FAN (programmes that cover multiple BFI FAN regions): Up to £15,000. To develop a programme and/or Marketing/Outreach Activity with the potential to scale or tour across the UK and/or projects involving multiple site-specific events across the UK. Read the Funding Guidelines for more information and contact Ti Singh (ti.s@watershed.co.uk) at Film Hub South West to discuss your ideas before you submit a proposal.
  • Menu Applications – a simplified proposal that requires basic/topline information.
  • Bespoke and *Cross FAN – to help plan your proposal, templates of the Application Form and Budget can be downloaded before you begin an online application. Please note that you will need to upload a copy of your completed budget wiht your online application.

*Cross FAN only – please ensure you have contacted Ti Singh (ti.s@watershed.co.uk) at Film Hub South West to discuss your ideas before you submit a proposal.

All applications should be submitted via our online application form – please note the form cannot be saved mid-progress. 

BFI Access Support scheme

  • If you have access requirements that mean you need assistance with the process, you may be able to benefit from the BFI Access Support scheme.
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