The UK Film Council hasannounced funding for nine new film projects through its Development Fund.

The total investment in thenine films is $1.2m (£628,339).

The projects funded are:

Mrs Ratcliffe'sRevolution written by PeterStraughan and Bridget O'Connor, to be directed by Bille Eltringham;

Ghetta Life, written by Christopher Browne;

West Is West from writer Ayub Khan Din and producer Leslee Udwin;

Bomber from writer Stuart Beattie, director Pete Travis and producers Roger Randall-Cutler and Robert Cheek;

The untitled Crowley Projectto be written and directed by John Maybury;

How to Start Your Own Country being written by Dan Mazer and Danny Wallace to beproduced by Andy Paterson and Cat Villiers;

Family Man by writer Shan Khan to be directed by Saul Dibb andproduced by Hal Vogel and David Aukin;

The Club written by Peter Bowker to be directed by BrianHills and produced by Marion Pilowsky and Colin Leventhal;

An Equal Music, based on the Vikram Seth novel adapted by AndreaGibb;

New Town Killers to be written and directed byRichard Jobson;and

and

How I Live Now, written by Tony Grisoni, directed by ThomasVinterberg and produced by Charles Steel and Ali Flind

The Development Fundpreviously supported several projects selected for Cannes 2006, includingAndrea Arnold's Red Road and Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation.

"It's important that wehelp to keep creativity flowing by supporting this talent in making their nextfilms," said Jenny Borgars, head of the development fund.