Film Travel Grant Fund
The British Council have a new-look Travel Grant Fund, offering grants to filmmakers and XR creatives to support travel to selected international festivals and showcase events, labs, and co production forums.
Their Travel Grant Fund is supported by BFI National Lottery funding in partnership with BFI NETWORK and the BFI International Fund.
If you are a filmmaker or an XR creative, it is designed to enable you to represent your work abroad, develop new contacts and networks, and reach new audiences. It is particularly created to increase the exposure of new and emerging UK films, XR projects and talent on an international stage.
The British Council have separated the fund into five strands, accessed via two simple application processes:
Festivals and Showcases
- Short Film Festival Grants – for new/emerging writers or directors, and for producers of any experience level, to attend eligible festivals to support a short film screening
- Feature Film Festival Grants – for producers, to attend eligible festivals to support a feature film screening
- Interactive/immersive/XR Grants – for XR creatives to attend eligible festival/showcase events with an interactive/immersive/XR project
Apply for a grant to attend a Festival or Showcase here
Labs and Co-Pro Forums
- Lab Grants – for producers, writers, or directors working on new feature projects to attend eligible creative development labs
- Co-Production Forum Grants – for producers with feature projects looking for finance and partners to attend eligible market/co-production forums
Apply for a grant to attend a Lab or Co-Pro Forum here
There are no deadlines – this is a rolling fund. Applications must be made in advance of travel – and they can not fund events that have already taken place.
Where can I go to?
This depends on which strand you are applying to. There are two Key Lists of eligible events which we review throughout the year. The’ve tried to make sure that the major moments in Film and XR are covered, alongside some more specialist events offering a platform for a diversity of voices.
Access and support
The British Council are committed to making their funding accessible to all. They can help if you need support to make an application, and if you have specific access needs for your event visit.
For example you can ask for:
- their funding guidelines in other formats, like large print or audio
- support to understand these guidelines
- support to complete an application form
- funds to facilitate travel with a BSL interpreter or access worker
Please talk to The British Council about what additional help may be available by emailing Films@britishcouncil.org
Sustainability
The British Council know that while travel obviously contributes to the climate emergency, some face-to-face experience is incredibly valuable, especially for people at the start of their creative journey.
Witnessing an international festival audience watching your film or walking through your VR project, or workshopping with a future collaborator at labs and co-pro forums first hand, is an essential part of the creative process.
Accepting that, they’re keen to keep sustainability in mind so they are working with Julie’s Bicycle to produce a Greener Grants guide to help you plan and understand the impact of your travel. This will be released shortly. Meanwhile, Travel Grant recipients are encouraged to travel to European events by train and there is additional funding available to help with this.