British Film Institute (BFI)

First look image revealed from Akinola Davies Jr's bold and poetic debut My Father's Shadow! Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Slow Horses, Gangs of London) leads the semi-autobiographical film, following a father, estranged from his young sons, over the course of a day in Lagos as political unrest threatens their journey home. #BFIBacked My Father's Shadow will premiere at Festival de Cannes in Un Certain Regard this May. #NationalLottery MUBI https://theb.fi/3G80cuR

Can't make tonight's UK premiere of The Wife's Confession at BFI Southbank? Catch more Masumura titles and restorations at this year's Cinema Rediscovered in Bristol, including a new restoration of The Wife of Seisaku (1965) to close the festival. Early bird passes are now on sale.

Do you know a 16-19 year old interested in learning about film programming, marketing, distribution and how to put on a film festival? The BFI Film Academy Film Programming Specialist Course offers participants a chance to explore all aspects of film exhibition whilst working alongside well-known industry professionals. All courses are completely free to attend and open to applicants across the UK. Applications close on 30 June 2025. Find out more. https://theb.fi/4jiTiSo

Wishing a Happy Vaisakhi to our colleagues, partners and audiences who are celebrating today, and all the best for the year ahead.

A new report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has suggested measures to revitalise UK production of culturally significant British film and television programmes. The report calls for urgent action to ramp up support for the industry. Recommendations include introducing tax breaks for high-end television, a levy to be paid by streamers into a cultural fund to help finance British drama, measures to support film distribution and cinemas, and a drive to bolster the workforce. Find out more. https://theb.fi/3Rh96Zq

Announced: BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund has reopened! UK screen organisations can now apply for up to £150,000 to create and deliver targeted project development programmes for features or immersive projects. Organisations must respond to one of multiple challenges focusing on: early career producers, independent producers with ambitious projects or emerging filmmakers with genre projects. We’ll invest a further £1.7m before March 2026 and now accept applications on a rolling basis. Organisations can apply for short or long-term programmes. Projects supporting early career creatives working at pre-debut level may also access additional funding from BFI NETWORK. To find out more and apply, visit our website. https://theb.fi/4luGLwz

Revealed: first look at Harry Lighton's #BFIBacked Pillion! Starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, the plot sees a timid man swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive. Pillion is based on Adam Mars-Jones' novel Box Hill and is produced by Emma Norton, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Lee Groombridge. Harry Lighton's debut feature will screen in Un Certain Regard at this year's Festival de Cannes . #NationalLottery #Cannes2025

The Festival de Cannes 2025 line-up has been revealed, including three #BFIBacked debut features! Congratulations to Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow and Harry Lighton’s Pillion which will be screening in Un Certain Regard this May. Mia Bays, Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, said: ‘We are incredibly proud to have supported three striking debuts which have been selected for Un Certain Regard. Akinola, Harris and Harry are distinctive and exciting storytellers, and together with their talented producers and filmmaking teams they have created films that will resonate with international audiences, and we can't wait for them to share their films in Cannes.’ See full line-up: https://theb.fi/4j469rt #NationalLottery #Cannes2025

'A stunning piece of storytelling through music' Edith Bowman Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard’s The Extraordinary Miss Flower, starring acclaimed Icelandic singer/songwriter Emilíana Torrini opens in cinemas on 9 May, with Q&A previews across the UK from 5 May.

Excited to share that writer-director Daisy-May Hudson’s life affirming #BFIBacked drama Lollipop has been picked up for UK-Ireland theatrical release by MetFilm Studio.   Produced by Olivier Kaempfer and Cecilia Frugiuele of Parkville Pictures and starring, Posy Sterling, the film is about 'power of friendship and community' and will be released in cinemas on 13 June. https://theb.fi/4iZKTTt