{"id":14731,"date":"2026-07-23T15:11:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14731"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:11:48","slug":"isabel-davis-appointed-director-of-the-bfi-filmmaking-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14731","title":{"rendered":"Isabel Davis Appointed Director Of The BFI Filmmaking Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/isabel-davis\/\" id=\"auto-tag_isabel-davis\" data-tag=\"isabel-davis\">Isabel Davis<\/a> has been appointed Director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/bfi\/\" id=\"auto-tag_bfi\" data-tag=\"bfi\">BFI<\/a> Filmmaking Fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tDavis joins the BFI in October 2026 for a five-year fixed term after eight years as Executive Director of Screen Scotland. Before Screen Scotland, Davis served a lengthy term at the BFI, including as the Head of International.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tDavis takes over from Mia Bays, the outgoing Director of the Filmmaking Fund, who has been in the role since October 2021. Films backed by the BFI during Bays\u2019 tenure include <em>Kneecap, My Father\u2019s Shadow<\/em>, and the BAFTA-winning animated short <em>Two Black Boys in Paradise<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tDiscussing the hire, BFI CEO Ben Roberts said: \u201cIsabel is tenacious when it comes to doing the right thing for UK independent film and filmmakers. This is such a huge job, a cornerstone of UK independent film, and Isabel brings experience, passion, and a national and a global outlook, and a firm commitment to fairness and public service. She will be an asset to the film community and the BFI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tRoberts led the recruitment process alongside the BFI\u2019s Deputy CEO Harriet Finney. External panellists were also included during the interview process. They were producers and BFI board members Elizabeth Karlsen and Hakan Kousetta and Nicky Bentham, co-chair of Pact\u2019s Film Producers\u2019 Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tIn a statement, Davis said she was \u201chonoured to be stepping into this role at a time when this public funding is critical to building a successful future for UK film and the public value it represents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a challenging moment for UK independent film, economically and structurally,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut audience appetite for great stories, and for the communal experience of cinema-going, is strikingly resurgent and our filmmaking talent continues to be among the world\u2019s best. Enabling filmmakers to produce work that connects with a broad range of audiences across the UK \u2013 through ambition, inventiveness and heart \u2013 has to be at the core of our response. Daunting, yes, but exciting too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tDavis ended her statement: \u201cI\u2019ll bring my experience in Scotland to this role, and with it a truly UK-wide perspective on the BFI\u2019s support of independent film. So Scotland hasn\u2019t seen the last of me \u2013 nor indeed have Northern Ireland, Wales and the English regions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFilms backed by the BFI Film Fund this year include Shalini Adnani\u2019s <em>Our Share of Sand<\/em>, which is set for Venice, Theo Rhys\u2019s <em>Stuffed<\/em>, a Toronto world premiere starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling, and Clio Barnard\u2019s<em> I See Building Fall Like Lightning<\/em>, which won the People\u2019s Choice award in Directors\u2019 Fortnight at Cannes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Isabel Davis has been appointed Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund.\u00a0 Davis joins the BFI in October 2026 for a five-year fixed term after eight years as Executive Director of Screen Scotland. Before Screen Scotland, Davis served a lengthy term at the BFI, including as the Head of International.\u00a0 Davis takes over from Mia Bays,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Isabel-Davis-Headshot-e1784797041497.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}