Here’s our annual rundown of the largest distribution awards handed out by the British Film Institute in 2022. The BFI supports cinema releases through two channels: Cash awards via its audience fund for individual titles and Organisation Awards, where a distributor can secure a year-long award to support multiple titles.
Joachim Trier’s Cannes-winning romcom The Worst Person in the World (£105,785) was at the top of this year’s individual awards. The cash went towards aiding MUBI, the film’s UK distributor, with a “wide theatrical release and an ambitious marketing campaign designed to reach a more mainstream, younger female audience (aged 18 to 30) currently not engaged with foreign language cinema,” the BFI said.
The Norwegian language film opened in the UK on March 25 and grossed over £900,000. The second title was Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage (£75,000), starring Vicky Krieps. The period drama also debuted at Cannes and was released in the UK by Picturehouse in December.
Altitude was the most heavily backed distributor last year, with an organization award totaling £199,064. The next most backed company was documentary distributor Dogwoof, which nabbed £125,000 towards a campaign to increase “regional and diverse audience development for documentary film.”
Check out the full list of recipients below:
Largest individual film awards in 2022:
The Worst Person in the World, MUBI (£105,785)
Corsage, Picturehouse Entertainment (£75,000)
Aftersun, MUBI (£75,000)
Happening [UK Distribution Campaign], Picturehouse (£40,000.00)
Little English, [UK Tour], Resource Productions CIC (£40,000)
The Feast, Picturehouse (£39,000)
Great Freedom, MUBI (£30,000)
The Gravedigger’s Wife, Aya Films C.I.C. (£28,920)
Tigers, Studio Soho Distribution Limited (£20,000)
Queen of Glory, Bohemia Media Limited (£15,802)
Largest Organisation Awards to distributors:
Altitude Film Distribution (£199,064)
Dogwoof Ltd (£125,000)
Peccadillo Pictures Ltd (£113,500)