Sundance award-winner Kneecap, The Outrun and Layla are among nine titles to receive the latest round of UK Global Screen Fund awards (UKGSF), totalling £129,498 through its international distribution strand.
Administered by the British Film Institute (BFI), 66 awards totalling more than £2m have now been given out by this strand, financed through the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Financial support for international distribution provides sales agents and producers with funding via three tracks – film sales, prints & advertising (P&A) and festival launch.
Rich Peppiatt’s Irish-language hip-hop drama Kneecap won the Next audience award at Sundance after receiving support from the UKGSF’s festival launch grant. Following the rise of the titular Belfast-based trio, the debut feature is a UK-Irish co-production from Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling. Fine Point Films receives the award.
Saoirse Ronan-starrer The Outrun, also a Sundance premiere supported by the festival launch grant, is directed by Nora Fingscheidt and follows a woman returning home to Scotland. The award is granted to the UK contingent of the UK-German production, Protagonist Pictures. Ronan produces with Jack Lowden, Sarah Brocklehurst and Dominic Norris.
A further Sundance premiere and festival launch support grant recipient, Amrou Al-Kadhi’s debut Layla centres around an Arab drag queen falling in love. Produced by Savannah James-Bayly, the award is granted to Fox Club Films.
The funding is awarded in the form of non-repayable grant and helps to enhance the profile and reach of UK feature films in the global marketplace. Additionally, it increases their international sales potential through promotion and international partnerships.
UKGSF applications are currently open for international distribution festival launch support, international distribution film sales support and international distribution P&A support – all assessed on a rolling basis.
The international co-production strand closes April 5 with the second round opening September 30. The international business development strand opens April 4.
UKGSF international distribution awards
Festival launch support
10 Lives (animation)
Dir. Christopher Jenkins
Prod. Guy Collins, Sean Feeney
Award recipient: 10 Lives Production
Eno (documentary)
Dir. Gary Hustwit
Prod. Gary Hustwit, Jessica Edwards
Award recipient: Tigerlily Productions
Kneecap
Dir. Rich Peppiatt
Prod. Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling
Award recipient: Fine Point Films
Last Swim
Dir. Sasha Nathwani
Prod. Campbell Beaton, Nisha Mullea, Bert Hamelinck, Sorcha Shepherd
Award recipient Last Swim Ltd.
Layla
Dir. Amrou Al-Kadhi
Prod. Savannah James-Bayly
Award recipient: Fox Club Films
Sebastian
Dir. Mikko Mäkelä
Prod. James Watson
Award recipient: Bêtes Sauvages
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Dir. Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Prod. Lizzie Gillett, Robert Ford and Ian Bonhôte
Award recipient: Passion Pictures
The Outrun
Dir. Nora Fingscheidt
Prod. Sarah Brocklehurst, Dominic Norris, Jack Lowden and Saoirse Ronan
Award recipient: Protagonist Pictures
Film sales support
The Bayou
Dir. Taneli Mustonen
Prod. James Harris, Mark Lane, Gavin Mehrtens and Ashley Holberry
Award recipient: Finely Crafted Media (trading as Architect)
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