If you’re an aspiring British filmmaker of colour, a new initiative has been launched to help you make a major breakthrough on the path to becoming the next Steve McQueen or Amma Asante.
The Diverse Film Fund – a £50,000 bursary – is a brand new scheme designed to amply BAME voices in filmmaking, giving five first-timers concrete help getting a short film made, and setting them up for future success.
It’s now open for submissions from any wannabe director over 18 years old and living in the UK. To be eligible, you need to be an emerging filmmaker who doesn’t yet have a broadcast credit as director or producer. You can be in the profession or a graduate with a film or TV degree.
How does it work? Successful applicants will get mentoring and help putting together a doc themed around ‘Black British Lives today’. It’ll be up to ten minutes long and have a total budget of £10,000. You’ll film from May onwards with editing and delivery for mid-August, with help from production house Naked.
Best of all, the five winners will have their film screened during Black History Month in October on the freeview channel of the fund’s organisers Together TV.
If you want to be in the running, get cracking on a submission – the closing deadline is March 31. They’ll then be put to a judging panel of broadcasters and creatives, who will pick the five winners. It’s free to apply, you can apply with more than one idea, but remember to make it non-fiction. It’s docs that they’re after.
Head to the official site for all the information.
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