GrantRadar

British Film Institute (BFI)

BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund

National Lottery funding for ambitious, audience-facing projects that bring independent UK and international film and immersive work to audiences across the UK, plus sector-facing projects that help the exhibition and distribution industry adapt and build resilience. Projects must be of national significance, high-profile enough to attract national press coverage, and must grow participation among audiences currently under-represented. Two award tiers: pilot awards of £10,000 to £20,000 (only for organisations that have never had an award from this fund or its predecessor) and project awards from £20,000 up to £500,000 per year. Guidelines were updated on 3 November 2025 and the fund has £19.7 million allocated over three years.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£10,000 – £500,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • Your organisation must be legally constituted and centrally managed in the UK, and must be one of: a limited company registered at Companies House that is not defined as a 'large' company under the Companies Act 2006 and is not more than 50% owned by non-UK-resident individuals, by a company owned by non-UK residents, or by a stock-exchange-listed company; a community interest company registered at Companies House; a limited liability partnership registered at Companies House that is not more than 50% owned by non-UK-resident partners or members; a UK combined or local authority or statutory body; or a UK charity or trust registered with the Charity Commission
  • Individuals, unincorporated associations and ordinary partnerships cannot apply
  • You need demonstrable experience in at least one of: marketing initiatives, film festivals, film distribution (cinema or online), immersive installations and tours, major cultural festivals and programmes of national scale, in-venue programmes or seasons, touring projects, in-venue audience analysis, or strategic sector support initiatives
  • Your project must take place in the UK, be for a national public audience and public benefit, and be new, time-limited activity that is additional to your core delivery rather than an extension of ongoing work
  • Pilot awards are open only to organisations that have not previously had an award from this fund or a previous version of it
  • For immersive production costs you must also be a 'UK culturally significant organisation' that promotes public-facing cultural activity reaching significant UK-wide audiences; the BFI expects to make no more than three such awards a year

What it funds

Project costs for exhibition, distribution and touring of independent UK and international film and immersive work:

  • Marketing and curation
  • Specialist advice (PR, marketing, accessibility)
  • Accessibility provision such as subtitles, captions, audio description, BSL interpretation and relaxed screenings
  • In-venue programmes and seasons
  • Film festivals
  • Audience analysis projects
  • Strategic sector support initiatives
  • Professional development directly tied to project outcomes
  • A proportionate contribution to overheads relating to project delivery

UK culturally significant organisations can include up to £150,000 towards the physical production costs of a newly commissioned immersive project intended for UK-wide exhibition, within the £500,000 maximum.

All activity must be completed by 31 March 2029 unless the Audiences team has agreed otherwise before application.

What it will not fund

  • Projects whose focus is talent development, for example panels or workshops about filmmaking skills
  • Projects where filmmakers are the intended audience
  • Projects where students are the intended audience and the screenings form part of their studies
  • Screenings taking place solely or primarily in spaces closed to the general public, such as university campuses or invite-only events
  • Projects where developing audiences for screen culture is not the primary outcome, including issues-led or campaigning projects
  • Charity fundraising and awards events
  • Large-scale capital expenditure
  • Core costs for the day-to-day running of your organisation not associated with the project
  • Staffing costs already covered by other funding sources
  • Film production costs including post-production
  • Business start-up costs and business development not relating to the project
  • Costs relating to an extension of ongoing work
  • Parties, opening and closing night galas, awards ceremonies and prizes
  • Activity already specifically supported by another external funder, or by another BFI fund such as BFI Film Audience Network
  • Costs incurred before an offer of funding from the BFI
  • Promotional items such as standees, printed brochures and T-shirts that do not support environmental sustainability

individuals, unincorporated associations and partnerships cannot apply

How to apply

  1. Read the full Audience Projects Fund guidelines before doing anything else
  2. Discuss your project with the BFI Audiences team (audiencefund@bfi.org.uk) before applying - strongly encouraged, and essential for immersive projects or any request over £200,000
  3. Complete the BFI Diversity Standards form, which generates a reference number you must quote; an application without a submitted Diversity Standards form is incomplete and therefore ineligible
  4. Register on the BFI grant portal (the application link is inside the guidelines)
  5. Complete and submit the online application form with all required documents attached

apply at least 16 weeks before your project start date, or at least 10 weeks before the release date for a single-film distribution project - applications inside those windows are ineligible and will be declined

applications are accepted year round, there is no round deadline

documents submitted other than those requested will not be considered

Have ready

  • Project budget, on the BFI template
  • KPI targets, on the BFI template
  • Environmental plan for your organisation
  • Environmental plan for your project
  • Workplace bullying, harassment and anti-racism policies
  • Safeguarding policies
  • Marketing plan specific to the project, not your organisation

for a distribution project, the distribution agreement and a screening link for the film

for a multi-year project, also your latest statutory accounts, current-year budget and management accounts, an organisational budget and forecast for 2026 to 2029, and your organisational risk register

More like this

Other grants open to organisations like yours.

BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund — British Film Institute (BFI) — GrantRadar