British Film Institute

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  In 2009, the British Film Institute was told it should no longer exist. The UK Film Council had convinced the government that Britain needed only one public film body. The BFI was not going to be that body. By the 1st of April 2011, the situation had reversed. The BFI absorbed most of the Film Council's functions and took over its funding stream. The Film Council was abolished. What kind of institution survives a government plan to eliminate it, then absorbs its would-be replacement? And what does it take, practically, to operate a film archive of that scale and importance?

• 2. The National Archive

  ›

  Its current name dates only to 2006. The institution now called the BFI National Archive was established in 1935 as the National Film Library. It became the National Film Archive in 1955, then the National Film and Television Archive in 1993. Inside, the collection runs to more than 50,000 fiction films, over 100,000 non-fiction titles, and around 625,000 television programmes. These holdings make it the largest film archive in the world. The majority of the material is British, but the archive also holds internationally significant works from around the world. Documents relating to key actors and the methods of filmmakers are part of the collection too.

  On the 29th of November 2016, the BFI announced a digitisation drive covering more than 100,000 television programmes. The video tapes storing many of these recordings carry an estimated five-to-six-year shelf life. The BFI aims to keep the television archive accessible for 200 years. Physical storage spans facilities in Hertfordshire and Warwickshire. Those sites received long-overdue development funded by a £25 million capital investment. The investment was announced by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the opening night of the 2007 London Film Festival.

• 3. Cinema on the Thames

  ›

  The largest cinema screen in the United Kingdom is inside the BFI IMAX, on the south bank of the River Thames in London. It runs popular recent releases and short films designed to demonstrate its capabilities. Those capabilities include IMAX 70mm and IMAX 3D projection, backed by 11,600 watts of digital surround sound.

  Next door stands BFI Southbank, formerly the National Film Theatre. It programmes work from around the world, prioritising critically acclaimed historical and specialised cinema that might not otherwise reach a screen.

  Each year, the BFI distributes archival and cultural cinema to more than 800 venues across the UK. A substantial number of overseas venues also receive programming.

  When BFI Southbank was redeveloped in 2007, a mediatheque was installed inside it. For the first time, members of the public could access archive materials free of charge. The BFI described the mediatheque as the most successful element of the whole redevelopment. Plans exist to roll out a network of them across the UK.

  The 2007 redevelopment also created new education spaces and launched the BFI Gallery, a venue dedicated to contemporary artists' moving image work.

• 4. Survival and Reinvention

  ›

  A government report on Film in National Life, submitted in 1933, recommended that Britain create a dedicated institution for the arts of cinema. The BFI that emerged was not a public body but a private company. It drew money from the Privy Council and Treasury from the outset.

  The Radcliffe Report of 1948 redirected the institute's role. It recommended the BFI focus on developing appreciation of filmic art, rather than making films itself. Control of educational film production passed to the National Committee for Visual Aids in Education. The British Film Academy assumed responsibility for promoting production.

  From 1952 to 2000, the BFI maintained the BFI Production Board, which channelled funding to new and experimental filmmakers. That board kept a direct creative line open even as the organisation's primary identity shifted toward curation and education.

  The institute received a royal charter in 1983. The charter was updated in 2000. That same year, the newly formed UK Film Council took responsibility for managing the BFI's annual government subsidy.

  In 1988, the BFI opened the London Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank. Known as MOMI, the museum drew international acclaim for advancing education through entertainment. It was never funded at a level that allowed it to keep pace with changing technology and rising audience expectations. The museum was 'temporarily' closed in 1999, with a promise of relocation. That promise was not kept. By 2002, when a South Bank redevelopment was approved, MOMI's closure had become permanent.

  In its most contested period, the BFI drew criticism for using public funding to hire public relations agencies to argue its case to government.

• 5. Education and Festivals

  ›

  In late 2012, the Department for Education provided funding to create the BFI Film Academy Network. The programme targets young people aged 16 to 25. The Department for Education in England committed £1 million per year from April 2012 to the 31st of March 2015. Further support comes through the National Lottery, Creative Scotland, and Northern Ireland Screen. A residential element runs annually at the National Film and Television School. The Film Academy forms part of a broader BFI education scheme covering ages 5 to 19.

  The London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival both run annually under BFI management, alongside the youth-oriented Future Film Festival.

  In February 2021, the BFI announced a partnership with #StartWith8Hollywood, an American diversity and inclusion programme. Its founders are Cheryl L. Bedford, Manon de Reeper, and Thuc Doan Nguyen. The aim was to take the programme global.

• 6. Beyond the Screen

  ›

  Sight & Sound is the BFI's monthly film magazine. Its publishing output also includes releases on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as film-related books.

  Two databases complete the institutional record: the BFI Film & TV Database and SIFT, which stands for Summary of Information on Film and Television. These compile credits, synopses, and other production details. SIFT holds approximately 7 million still frames from film and television.

  The BFI Reuben Library at BFI Southbank is a free reference library open to the public, covering screen history and scholarship. BFI Player, the BFI's streaming service, extends access through niche and art films that commercial platforms rarely carry.

  Working with the BBC, the BFI has co-produced several television series that draw on footage from its archive. Among the titles produced together are The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon, The Lost World of Friese-Greene, and The Lost World of Tibet.

  In 2000, the BFI published a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, assembled from votes by a range of industry figures. The project underscored how seriously the BFI had come to treat television alongside film.

  Between March 2007 and March 2011, the BFI Gallery commissioned new works from contemporary artists, several of which engaged directly with the archive. Patrick Keiller contributed 'The City of the Future'. Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard produced 'RadioMania: An Abandoned Work'. Deimantas Narkevicious made 'Into the Unknown'. Filmmakers including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Michael Snow, Jane and Louise Wilson, and John Akomfrah each initiated projects through the gallery.

  Anthony Minghella held the BFI chair from 2002 to 2007. He was succeeded by Greg Dyke, who led the organisation until 2016.

• 7. Funding and Governance

  ›

  For the financial year 2021-22, the BFI received £74.31 million from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as Grant-in-Aid funding. That amount represents the largest of the organisation's three income sources. The Department formally sponsors the BFI.

  Commercial activity, including ticket sales at BFI Southbank and the IMAX, generated around £5 million in 2007. A third stream from grants, sponsorship, and donations brings in roughly a further £5 million. Among the BFI's donors, J. Paul Getty Jr. left a notable legacy. He died in 2003, bequeathing the BFI around £1 million.

  National Lottery funds for film in the UK all flow through the BFI. In 2011-12, the total distributed came to approximately £25 million. That figure has since grown to more than £40 million per year.

  The BFI is managed day-to-day by its chief executive, Ben Roberts. Supreme decision-making authority rests with a chair and a board of up to 15 governors. All governors, including the chair, are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Jay Hunt, a television executive, became chair in February 2024. Harriet Finney serves as deputy chief executive. As an independent registered charity, the BFI is regulated by both the Charity Commission and the Privy Council.

  The BFI's authority to distribute public funds rests on the British Film Institute Act 1949. That law remains in effect today.