The U.K.’s Uncertain Kingdom Sets Next Funding Round (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran The Uncertain Kingdom Fund, which disburses development coin to U.K. film projects, is opening submissions for its second round from May 23-June 20.The fund was set up to support projects that interrogate British culture, asking questions of identity, the current journey and the future.

It was created to address the challenges directors and producers face creating sustainable careers and targets filmmakers who have previously made a feature.The stated aim of the fund is to take a hands-off approach and support filmmakers from a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Projects of 70-plus minutes in any form or genre that are currently at treatment or script stage are eligible to apply. Filmmakers must be residents of the U.K.

but need not be British. U.K. distributor Picturehouse Entertainment has an ongoing collaboration with the fund and will continue to be closely involved in the selection of projects.The first round of funding opened in 2021 and selected projects include “The Golden Radiance of a Beetle” from writer-director Henry Blake (BAFTA-nominated “County Lines”) and producers Victoria Bavister and Denzil Monk; “Just in Time” from director Carol Salter (British Independent Film Award-winner “Almost Heaven”); “Madam Tinubu” from writer Rex Obano (BBC’s “Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators”) and producer Jennifer Monks (Sundance short film grand jury prize nominee “Saturday”); and “Fulfilment” from producer Manon Ardisson (BAFTA-nominated “God’s Own Country”) and writer Ted Wilkes.The fund has its roots in a 2019 initiative to create an anthology of 21 short films celebrating British culture, which was released in 2020 and is now streaming widely.