Brit fest scene is a tale of two cities
London, Edinburgh compete for UKFC dollars
The U.K. Film Council last week awarded the Edinburgh Film Festival $3.8 million over three years, representing a 50% budget increase, to turn itself into the "Sundance of Europe."
But the London Film Festival, which was hoping for a similar amount, has been sent back to the drawing board, with instructions to present a bolder plan for 2009.
The UKFC wants London to become one of the world's foremost red carpet festivals, with major premieres and a big dollop of razzle-dazzle, though not necessarily a competition. The fest proposed a more modest expansion.
"They made a bid, but it was a Band-Aid on the existing operation," confirms UKFC chairman Stewart Till. "So we said, 'Let's go on with the 2008 festival as it stands, let's not stick a Band-Aid on it, and let's work together on a strategy of creating a London Film Festival in 2009 and beyond that is the festival everybody in the British film industry wants."
The London event, which takes place in October, defines itself as a "festival of festivals," collecting the year's best movies from around the world for the city's cinephiles. It's run by the British Film Institute, itself funded by the UKFC, which this month installed the populist TV exec Greg Dyke as BFI chairman.
Dyke arrived too late to influence this year's bidding process. But he has already ruffled feathers among film buffs by declaring that he, too, wants a "glitzier" London Film Festival. Whether that desire is shared by the fest's organizers, or indeed by its loyal audience, is unclear.
"London, for its budget, is fantastic," Till insists. "But the U.K. is the Western world's second most important film industry, and the Film Council feels very strongly that it needs to work with the BFI to create a much bigger festival. We need to double the current budget to £7 million-£8 million ($14 million-$16 million), and the Film Council can contribute part of that alongside other sponsors."
That would put London in the financial league of Berlin, Venice and Rome, the last of which is its direct rival in October.
"The willingness of London to deliver on that is something the BFI and London will have to work out for themselves," said UKFC chief exec John Woodward at last week's Edinburgh press conference.
In November, the UKFC announced a fund of $7.5 million over three years to help one or two British festivals achieve "major international significance." Edinburgh and London were the only bidders for the coin.
But while London has been told to rethink, Edinburgh impressed the UKFC with its vision to become "the world's leading festival of discovery," focusing on new talent and training. The UKFC coin plus extra backing from Scottish Screen has doubled the fest's budget to $3.6 million.
It has moved from its traditional August slot to June 18-29, marking the first time it has stood apart from the world-famous arts festival that occupies the Scottish capital every August. That date switch is central to the plans of artistic director Hannah McGill to carve a fresh identity for the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Instead of being swamped in a sea of street performers, fringe theater, opera, jazz and standup comedy, the movies will be the sole focus of attention for the local audience, the press and U.K and foreign industryites, whom the fest hopes to attract in greater numbers.
That's the theory. But without the wider buzz of August, the film festival faces a Herculean task to generate its own heat, particularly since McGill is keen to downplay the red carpet element. Edinburgh has always been about fresh indie talent (Sundance, when it started, was sometimes dubbed "the American Edinburgh"). But all depends on having worthwhile films to discover, and details of exactly how McGill plans to take the fest's lineup to a new level remain elusive. The media, meanwhile, still want stars.
No films have yet been announced, but strong British candidates include "The Edge of Love," "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging," "Donkey Punch," "A Complete History of My Sexual Failures," "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," "Somers Town," "The Escapist," "Faintheart," "Dogging" and "Summer."
