Picturehouse Central

Source: Screen File

Picturehouse Central

EXCLUSIVE: Film London’s London Screenings, the only export market dedicated to UK film, has been cancelled following the withdrawal of funding from the British Film Institute’s (BFI) UK Focus Fund. 

The event has been running for 21 years, and 2025 was its last edition.

”The BFI has let us know that funding for the London Screenings in its current iteration does not fit the framework or parameters of the UK Focus Fund as part of their 2026-29 National Lottery Funding Plan,” said Helena Mackenzie, Film London’s head of inward investment and business development. 

”As they were a major funder of the London Screenings, without access to this financial support, we will be unable to stage another edition.”

In addition to the BFI funding, the London Screenings had received support from the Department for Business and Trade and the Greater London Authority.

The BFI funding in recent years has been £80,000.

The funding breakdown was 39% from the BFI, 39% from the Greater London Authority (some of which was valued through staff time rather than cash funding) 5% from the Department of Trade and 17% from private income. 

The London event saw international buyers view titles, meet UK-based sales companies and negotiate deals. Film London has said that over the last decade to 2024, London Screenings helped UK sales companies to generate over $50m in sales.

Project-based activity 

The UK Focus Fund has a budget of £900,000  to invest from 2023-26. According to the BFI website, it is “open to organisers of established events with an international reach, both in the UK and internationally, to deliver activity that will increase the visibility of UK talent and content and connect UK content creators with international counterparts”.

”For 2026-29, the BFI UK Focus Fund is moving to support more project-based, one-off activity, for which eligible applicants can apply against a clear set of guidelines,” said a BFI spokesperson. ”With a limited amount of funding available [£510,000 for 2026-29], it is important to ensure these opportunities are as broad as possible, in terms of the territories covered, engaging in new markets and opportunities, as well as the creatives and companies they set out to support.

”As we consistently receive strong applications from other international markets and forums etc, we started conversations with Film London in 2024 to let them know it would be challenging for the UK Focus Fund to support the London Screenings in its current iteration throughout the next strategy period of 2026-29.

”The priorities of the UK Focus Fund are to increase the international engagement and reach of the UK screen sector, and it is continually assessed and streamlined in response to feedback from industry, taking into consideration the impact of the activities the fund has supported to date and the demand on the fund, in terms of the applications we receive.”

The BFI noted the enhanced role the UK Global Screen Fund [UKGSF] will play in international activity, which has had its government grant-in-aid funding increased from £7m to £18m per year for 2026-2029 to support international activity for the UK independent film sector, some of which was previously supported through the National Lottery. 

”We are currently consulting with industry to support and inform the UKGSF’s 2026-2029 strategy with the aim of ensuring the funding can have the greatest possible impact,” said the spokesperson. “This includes promoting UK screen content at international-focused events which have the primary purpose of facilitating the buying and selling of UK screen content internationally and fostering collaborations between UK companies and international counterparts, funders and financiers for the purposes of investing into and creating UK screen content.”

Around 120 distributors attended London Screenings this year at Picturehouse Central, with 36 festival directors and programmers, and 45 UK sales companies presenting projects. 

Among UK sellers taking part in recent years were Bankside, Protagonist Pictures, Anton, Mister Smith Entertainment, Hanway, Film Seekers, Blue Finch and Reason8, while international distributors have included Australia’s Palace Films, Germany’s Square One, France’s Studiocanal, Italy’s Maestro and US’s IFC Films.

London Screenings started out in 2004 as London UK Film Focus (LUFF) and was renamed London Screenings in 2014. 

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