Cash Boost For Film Festivals

Northern Ireland's highly successful Cinemagic World Screen Film and Television Festival is to get a cash boost.

To help it expand into England, Scotland and Wales, around £150,000 is to be added to funding.

The move comes as part of a package of awards from the UK Film Council which aims to help British film festivals raise their profile with a cash boost totalling £740,000 over the next three years from lottery funds.

The council said that the funding would give thousands more people the opportunity to enjoy more films, learn about film and meet filmmakers and help raise the profile of British film at home and abroad, as well as contribute to the development of a more competitive UK film industry.

The festivals to benefit from this funding over the next three years cover a range of geographical areas and genres including children's films, animation, documentaries, silent movies, avant-garde, disability and films for and about women.

Festivals which will benefit from the funding are:

• Cinemagic World Screen Film and Television Festival for Young People - £150,000 over the next three years for the Belfast-based festival to help expand into England, Scotland and Wales
• Birds Eye View Film - £175,000 over the next three years for the showcase for women's filmmaking
• Sheffield International Documentary Festival - £175,000 over the next three years for the documentary showcase
• British Silent Film Festival - £70,000 over the next three years for the showcase for the best in pre-1930s world cinema
• Flatpack Festival - £70,000 over the next three years for the Birmingham-based festival which uses alternative venues such as churches, warehouses and shopping centres
• Deaffest - £50,000 over the next three years for the festival which celebrates films made by the deaf and hearing impaired
• London International Animation Festival - £50,000 over the next three years to help the animation showcase expand

The Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs from June 18-29, has been allocated £1.88 million over the next three from the international strand of the UK Film Council's Film Festivals Fund.

In addition, £10,000 will be spend on running supporting activity to facilitate learning, sharing and initiative-building between festivals. The allocation of the remaining £1.88 million from the film festivals pot (international strand) and will be announced in due course.

More than 40 applications were received for the films festivals national strand, totalling over £3,479,158.

John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council, said: "People love film and festivals give people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to immerse themselves in a huge array of exciting and powerful films. This funding will provide a huge step up for these festivals which have major plans to reach out to thousands more people and raise their profile significantly."

(KMcA/JM)