Picturehouse Cinemas and Picturehouse Entertainment creative director Clare Binns will receive the outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the 2026 Bafta Film Awards.
Binns has worked in the industry for around 40 years, starting as a cinema usher in the early 1980s, and joining UK exhibitor-distributor Picturehouse in 2003. She has spearheaded several initiatives to bring new audiences into cinemas and put them at the heart of their local communities, such as programming relaxed, parent-and-baby, over-sixties, and dog-friendly screenings.
She has also overseen an increase in Picturehouse’s outreach, including collaborations with Brixton Soup Kitchen and Poetic Unity at The Ritzy Picturehouse. Additionally, under her leadership, Refuge, the UK’s leading charity for victims of domestic violence, became Picturehouse’s charity partner, regularly holding fundraisers and raising awareness of their work.
Binns has helped showcase the work of the likes of Danny Boyle, Francis Lee, Steve McQueen, Shola Amoo, Charlotte Regan and Alice Winocour on screens across the UK and forged a partnership with Sundance Film Festival for a London event, before establishing its successor Picturehouse Create.
She held the position of managing director of Picturehouse until November last year, transitioning into a part-time creative director role, with Sara Frain (formerly director of marketing and distribution) being promoted to managing director of the distribution arm Picturehouse Entertainment, while company co-founder Lyn Goleby now leads on the exhibition side.
“Clare Binns’ impact on the British film industry is profound – she is a hugely talented and beloved visionary,” said Bafta film committee chair Emily Stillman. “Clare’s unwavering commitment to bring a diverse range of storytelling to the big screen, her belief in the power of cinema, and her ongoing work championing emerging independent filmmakers, is inspirational. We look forward to presenting Clare with Bafta’s outstanding British contribution to cinema award next month.”
“I was totally blown away when I heard that I was getting this award,” noted Binns. “I’m so thrilled not just for myself but for everyone who has worked with me throughout my career and for those who continue to support the mission to welcome audiences into local cinemas across the UK, who are just getting on with the job of giving film the home it deserves.”
Previous outstanding British contribution to cinema recipients, first awarded in 1979, include MediCinema, Andy Serkis, June Givanni, Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, the National Film and Television School, Curzon, Angels Costumes and BBC Films.
The 2026 Bafta film awards will take place on February 22.
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