THE BFI PRESENTSANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2004/2005 WWW.BFI.ORG.UK The bfi annual report 2004-2005 2 The British Film Institute at a glance 4 Director’s foreword 9 The bfi’s cultural commitment 13 Governors’ report 13 – 20 Reaching out (13) What you saw (13) Big screen, little screen (14) bfi online (14) Working with our partners (15) Where you saw it (16) Big, bigger, biggest (16) Accessibility (18) Festivals (19) Looking forward: Aims for 2005–2006 Reaching out 22 – 25 Looking after the past to enrich the future (24) Consciousness raising (25) Looking forward: Aims for 2005–2006 Film and TV heritage 26 – 27 Archive Spectacular The Mitchell & Kenyon Collection 28 – 31 Lifelong learning (30) Best practice (30) bfi National Library (30) Sight & Sound (31) bfi Publishing (31) Looking forward: Aims for 2005–2006 Lifelong learning 32 – 35 About the bfi (33) Summary of legal objectives (33) Partnerships and collaborations 36 – 42 How the bfi is governed (37) Governors (37/38) Methods of appointment (39) Organisational structure (40) Statement of Governors’ responsibilities (41) bfi Executive (42) Risk management statement 43 – 54 Financial review (44) Statement of financial activities (45) Consolidated and charity balance sheets (46) Consolidated cash flow statement (47) Reference details (52) Independent auditors’ report 55 – 74 Appendices The bfi annual report 2004-2005 The bfi annual report 2004-2005 The British Film Institute at a glance What we do How we did: The British Film .4 million Up 46% People saw a film distributed Visits to the London Lesbian and Gay by the bfi on the big screen Film Festival website increased by 46% Institute champions while online ticketing grew four-fold moving image culture Up 8% 40,500 Admissions to the bfi NFT increased more People used our library and research than eight per cent on the previous year viewing, catalogue and stills service in all its richness and were the highest for 13 years Over 3,000 78,50 and diversity, across films were screened across the UK – Sight & Sound sales topped 278,150 from rare silent comedies to cult movies and archive television screenings the UK, for the benefit 12 million 33,000 Well over 12 million viewers watched Books and educational resources of as wide an audience a bfi film on the small screen were sold by bfi Publishing 50 Countries 12,000 as possible, to create The 48th London Film Festival screened The bfi Archive, the largest and one more than 180 feature films and 100 shorts of the busiest in the world, dealt with from over 50 countries in 364 screenings – 12,000 print loans and encourage debate. with over half completely sold out 66,000 copies 4,000 28 bfi titles were released on Screenonline user registrations more than DVD and 266,000 copies sold doubled to almost 4,000 schools and libraries across the UK The bfiannual report 004-005 The bfi annual report 2004-2005 3 Director’s foreword The number of films made available by thebfi last year is astonishing – some 3,000 titles booked and screened in cinemas, film societies and arts venues, released on DVD, presented in festivals or as stand-alone large event screenings. This is an inspiring contribution to the richness of film culture in this country. Most of these films simply wouldn’t have been available otherwise. The bfi depends on public funding to survive, because it provides public value. Much is being debated around the notion of public value and how this cultural currency can be measured and explained in terms as easy to manage as commercial ‘profit’ value. Commercial organisations aim to maximise shareholder value. We aim to maximise public value. Diversity and access Around 450 films were released commercially in the UK during 2004–2005, most of them contemporary. Some will be enjoyed and vanish; some are destined to become the stuff of legacy. But the economics dictate that overall diversity is limited. The bfi acts as provocateur, by weaving original and different films into this offering: films that have not yet found an audience, perhaps by first-time, first-seen directors, many of which appear in the Festivals programme; films from other parts of the world yet to find distribution in the UK, and emerging new experimental films such as many of those in Resfest or Antenna. An area of our programming for which we are known internationally, and which often involves working with other international archives, is the large number of retrospective seasons of celebrated film-makers. They are popular because there is a thirst to see much-loved classic films, and to discover lesser-known titles which, seen in context, give audiences a deeper understanding of a film-maker’s oeuvre. Such choice brings enjoyment to viewers, but it also nurtures personal, social and global understanding, promotes tolerance and enriches lives artistically. A very important part of the diversity of film we exhibit and distribute comes from the National Film & Television Archive, almost certainly the most significant archive of moving image in the world. Film archives exist within a rapidly-evolving dynamic. The volume of film and TV production is forcing archivists to question much more closely what they preserve and how. Film is very vulnerable and digital systems are not yet sufficiently time-proofed to provide a reliable storage method. And yet digital technology does seem to promise tantalisingly easy methods of distribution. Growing public interest in heritage film is causing rights owners to re-value their back catalogues, with the predicted result that in the future they will be more likely to invest in safeguarding new releases for future generations. The NFTVA embraces this fast-changing world by adopting a three-fold plan: firstly, to invest in state-of-the-art storage systems; next to develop curatorial expertise; and lastly to promote greater access by the public to the Archive. 4 The bfi annual report 004-005 The bfi annualannual reportreport 2004-2005004-005 55 The bfi’s strategy places emphasis on the need to safeguard the future of the National Film Theatre, which is approaching the end of its estate life. Some would argue it has passed it. Such a plan must respond to the expectations of today’s audiences, 50 years since the NFT first opened in a very different world. Our response is to create a staging post, a rehearsal room – bfi Southbank – where we can actively demonstrate a commitment to reaching new audiences in new, very 21st-century, ways. Through our actions we will amplify the argument for a new National Film Centre to provide a national focus for film in Britain and to demonstrate its international scope and ambition. Our plans for exhibition/distribution and the Archive are symbiotic. One cannot succeed without the other. But there is another important magic ingredient to stimulate curious minds: education. Lifelong learning, research and debate The bfi has lifelong learning at its core. Education can be as simple as the film notes provided for every screening at the NFT, or the contextual material on bfi DVDs, through to more complex debates in Sight & Sound, and the reservoirs of information to be found by visiting any one of our websites or the National Film & Television Library. These facilities have a growing impor- tance. The 20th century was the first to be recorded by moving image – this changed forever the way history is understood and remembered. We would argue that, just as no child should leave school without knowing how to read and write, so in today’s society critical skills for understanding the moving image should be an essential educational entitlement. Many film-makers can cite an influence, or pivotal moments in their lives when the experience of watching cinema shaped their thinking and provided an inspirational spark that led them to pursue a career in film, television or other creative industries. A broad spectrum of films can aid community cohesion, and build understanding of other diverse cultures, as we temporarily see the world through different eyes. The film and television industry is still so young compared to, say, painting or sculpture, that it sometimes struggles to command cultural authority, yet no one questions the impact it has on our lives – which is why it is important that the bfi exists, and why we must constantly seek to examine and improve the public value we bring to all our audiences. Amanda Nevill - director, British Film Institute 01 BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967/ dir Arthur Penn); 02 CARAVAGGIO (1986/ dir Derek Jarman); 03 DOGVILLE (2003/dir Lars Von Trier); 04 GHOST DOG : THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI (1999/dir Jim Jarmusch); 05 IF… (1968/dir Anderson Lindsay); 06 LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970/ dir Jean-Pierre Melville); 07 REPULSION (1965/dir Roman Polanski); 08 PERFORMANCE (1970/dirs Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg); 09 I VITELLONI (1953/dir Federico Fellini); 10 Sight & Sound cover (Audrey Tautou); (1970/ dirs Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg); 11 SOLARIS (1972/ dir Andrei Tarkovsky); 12 MUJERES AL BORDE DE UN ATAQUE DE NERVIOS (1988/ dir Pedro Almodovar) 6 The bfi annual report 2004-2005 The bfi annual report 004-005 7 The bfi’s cultural commitment The bfi’s work explores cinema, television and other related moving-image materials in a way that reflects the cultural, historical and aesthetic diversity of those media. The bfi is concerned not only to introduce audiences to work that is new or for some other reason unfamiliar, but also to facilitate a reappraisal of acknowledged classics; it aims not only to encourage innovation and experiment, but also to foster and reward curiosity and a desire to learn more about past achievements.