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No matter how proud one can be that so many British creatives have contributed to the most talked about films of the preceding year, this year’s BAFTA Awards have underlined a pressing need for an answer to the following question and that is: “What it is a British film, after all? Though one might agree with Mark Twain who said that: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”, in this case one could argue that statistics do not lie. According to the BFI statistics unit, the figures for 2013 reveal a UK film industry increasingly reliant on US inward investment to fill its coffers, with inward investment from international film productions accounting for 81% of production spend in the UK last year. While nobody could argue with the fact that inward investment remains vital to the UK economy, the number of domestic UK features produced in the UK fell dramatically last year to 166 [that number is expected to rise as more sub-£500k productions are reported to the BFI throughout the year] from 242 in 2012, the lowest level in at least five years. At the same time there was a decline in the number of UK films produced for more than £500k and less than £500 k. Encouraging inward investment is and it will always be very important and who could argue with the merit of it? Yet, it is very sad to see the adverse effects of those very same measures introduced to boost the domestic skills base, its revenues and its prestige.
As somebody who is a British film school graduate, but who lives and works in Europe and that both in national and supranational funding bodies, I can not but deplore the legal framework which has put Britain adrift from the European continent and its underpinning principles of cultural diversity in favour of a complete subordination to the dictates of the market place and let’s not mince the words: Hollywood. To the detriment of home grown talent focused on telling British stories, and whitnessing to its uninqueness.
It was a sorry sight to see that the home grown gems such as “The Selfish Giant” by Clio Barnard, recognized as a athorial tour de force by so many film festivals, and yes, that in Europe and beyond, losing to “Gravity” on a purely technical matter, as in “Gravity” being able to contend in the “British Film of the Year” category in the first place.
A serious re-think of qualifying films is needed and I am sure that Nik Powell, in his capacity of the BAFTA president and director of the NFTS and not so long ago vice-president of the EFA, could offer some pointers.
In my opinion, Britain needs a serious re-think about what is a British film after all, and adjustment of its cultural test, which as it stands, now clearly favours American films shooting in Britain above any European co-production endveour.
Maybe this is something powers that be, ambiguous of their stance on Europe, welcome, but I am sure as hell that it is not something that the British filmmaking community thinks should be a foregone conclusion.