BFI Auteurs Circle
Introduction
Since the BFI’s foundation in 1933, we have set the agenda for film culture in the UK. With our centenary on the horizon, our mission today is to ensure that everyone has access to the dynamic potential of screen culture – in all its diversity.
At the heart of this ambition sits the BFI Auteurs Circle. Members make a contribution of £25,000* each year, and the impact of this generosity is transformational. Collectively and individually, the group provides vital support across all areas of our work – support that drives the BFI forward. In return, members are granted the highest level of access to the BFI: our work, our people and our events.
Each Auteurs Circle member is unique, and so is their philanthropy. We work with members to tailor their giving, and their experience of being part of the group. This document outlines just some of the organisational priorities members can choose to support, foregrounding interconnection and collaboration across the BFI. Whatever their interests, we always have something for members to discover.
*Consisting of a voluntary Gift Aid-eligible donation of £21,670, and a benefit payment of £3,330
Storytelling
The moving image brings stories to life and helps us
to see the world through a different lens. We broaden horizons through our cultural programming, the stories in our collections, and by nurturing the next generation of storytellers.
Supporting Storytelling will enable us to develop and champion different perspectives. It could bring a retrospective on an under-appreciated director to BFI Southbank, or support a digitisation project at the BFI National Archive. We believe that society needs stories, and those stories need your support.
Choice
We provide platforms for different points of view and create vital physical spaces for a diverse screen culture to exist, at BFI Southbank and beyond. We want the breadth of films we present to reflect where we are as a society, so we can develop and sustain the broadest possible audience.
Supporting Choice means strengthening our cultural programming and world-leading festivals, and investing in our ability to bring as many people as possible into contact with the widest range of film and moving image.
Opportunity
We drive the industry forward, develop future talent, and expand the possibilities of storytelling. The moving image is a uniquely powerful educational tool, with an unmatched capacity to broaden perspectives. Our education and skills programmes provide fundamental opportunities for the creative forces of tomorrow to find their voices.
Supporting Opportunity means helping us to provide specialist training to aspiring screen talent, with UK-wide courses for all interests and abilities, as well as celebrating and nurturing the UK’s young filmmaking talent. The Auteurs Circle helps us create real and lasting opportunity within the screen sector.
Discovery
We help audiences get more from the moving image and place its past, present and future at the heart of our cultural lives. We are unafraid to lead the way, push boundaries and use our expertise to make screen culture more inclusive, exciting and innovative.
Supporting Discovery means ensuring that everyone can find something new through the BFI, helping us to preserve and champion our screen heritage at the BFI National Archive, restore under-seen films for new audiences, and broaden perceptions through our year-round Immersive and XR programming at BFI Southbank.
Connection
We use the transformative power of screen culture to nurture community. The shared cinematic experience is at the heart of our work, but so is gathering at home to watch a favourite series or film with friends. We provide a space for these communities to develop, creating a vibrant, inclusive culture that reflects our society today.
Supporting Connection means strengthening these communities, making our work more accessible and inclusive, growing our UK-wide activity in cinemas and online, and securing delivery of much-loved BFI Southbank programme strands that cater to a wealth of interests and passions.
Join the Auteurs Circle
You can help us to transform access to screen culture by joining the Auteurs Circle. This is just the start of an open conversation about your philanthropy, what you would like it to achieve, and what kind of experience you would like to have as a member of this group. Your support can do so much, while opening new avenues of passion, knowledge and experience.
To learn more about the transformational impact of the Auteurs Circle, and the benefits of membership, please contact us.
Together, we can do more.
‘The cinema is more than our culture – the cinema is us.’
Martin Scorsese, BFI Fellow
BFI Philanthropy
Together, we can do more
Fundraising & Enterprise Department
British Film Institute
21 Stephen Street, London W1T 1LN
The BFI is a registered charity no. 287780
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