Who funds British film?

How was the British film industry funded in 2009?
Until 2011, British films were funded by the UK Film Council, which gained money from the lottery. It was abolished though because the Conservative-Liberal coalition said that it wasn't beneficial for Britain.

How is British film funded now?
The British Film Institute (the BFI) now funds the majority of British films, but there is not as much money that can be distributed.


What does the Government want for British film?
David Cameron thinks that British films should be commercialised, to be more popular in places like America also, which would then probably generate more profit, which show more middle class to upper class values of Britain, such as the stereotype associated with British royalty. This means that there is therefore little room for social realist films.

What were the most successful British films in 2012?
 There aren't many exact lists that show the figures for highest grossing British films of 2012, only lists that show the highest grossing films at the UK Box Office, including American films. However, according to sources such as the BFI, Skyfall ($1,108,561,013) was clearly one of the most successful British films of all time, and other successful films of British origin that year included The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ($136,836,156), The Woman in Black ($127,730,736), Sightseers ($2,102,166) and Great Expectations ($258,656).

Is it important for British films to be successful outside of Britain?
This depends on the purpose of the film. Overall it is important that British films are successful outside of Britain because it means financially the films will generate more profit and income for the UK. However, these commercialised films tend to show Britain more positively within the upper classes, for example through the use of royalty. Social realism lower budget films tend to aim to simply entertain the British audience as something they can relate to, which means these films don't need to be as successful globally.

Find an example of a critically acclaimed British film that was not financially successful.
Kill List was successfully critically acclaimed (76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), however was not financially successfully because it only made $462,206, even though its budget was $800,000. It was therefore a failure because it only just made half of its budget back.

What are the issues with British films being 'commercial'?
The main issue is that films would then have to be made to appeal to a wider audience (mostly the Americans), which means Britain would have to be portrayed in a positive light and a stereotypical image (such as with the use of royalty, London, etc.) otherwise the audience would not be able to relate to it as much as a British audience (such as with social realist films which are more reflective of the society the British audience live in), and so wouldn't be as successful. This therefore means that commercial British films lose their 'Britishness' about them and do not show an accurate collective identity.

What is your favourite British film and why?
A Clockwork Orange is probably one of my favourite British films because it reflects how realistically, society can become so corrupt compared to the 'rose-tinted' views shown by other films. It contains themes of morality and psychology which are two themes I am widely interested in because they are down to individual interpretation, which is reflected in the psycho-sociopathic nature of the main character, and how he is attempted to be changed. It is a very controversial film, unlike others, which contains interesting ranges of cinematography and music to affect the audience in different ways, and I like this because it doesn't follow the same elements as most films which could get boring a repetitive. I also am a big fan of the director (Stanley Kubrick) and most of his work anyway, which drew me to the film in the first place.