British Film Festivals to Benefit from UK Lottery Cash - 06-19-06

June 19 - Not only is the UK Lottery loved by millions of lotto fans for its potential promise of instant riches, but also for the charities and good causes it helps to fund each year in Britain, such as the 700,000 pounds that was recently earmarked for British Film Festivals.

The UK Film Council announced this week that the 700,00 pound windfall generated by the UK Lottery, will be provide much-needed funding for a diverse range of film festivals in Britain, including those showcasing documentaries, animation and even films for the deaf.

Said UK Film Council CEO, John Woodward, 'We are very grateful to the UK Lottery as this funding will help provide a huge step up for these film festivals that each have big plans to reach out to thousands more people and raise their respective profiles significantly.'

The lucky UK Lottery grant recipients include the Cinemagic World Screen Film and Television Festival for Young People, a children's film festival based in Belfast, Ireland (150,000 pounds) and the Birds Eye View Film Festival, a festival focused on women's filmmaking (175,000 pounds).

There is also the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, which celebrates the best UK documentary makers (175,000 pounds), the British Silent Film Festival (70,000 pounds), the Flatpack Festival based in Birmingham (70,000 pounds) and finally the Deaffest Festival, which showcases films produced for both deaf and hearing audiences (50,000 pounds).

Since its inception, the UK Lottery has awarded almost 300,000 grants worth over 21 billion pounds for the benefit of individuals and organisations throughout Britain.