What is British cinema?
British cinema is without a doubt fast become one of the largest contributors to the British and economy and is continuing to grow at an increasing rate. British cinema is becoming increasingly important to the British economy and in many cases has a massive effect of the way the rest of the world see the British people. David Cameron, UK prime minister said “the British film industry had made a £4bn contribution to the UK economy and an incalculable contribution to our culture”.(1) According to the British Film Institute (BFI) 2013 Statistical Yearbook, cinema admissions in the UK reached 172.5 million, the third highest level in the last 40 years.(2)
The questions that are often raised surrounding British cinema are not always to do with its success but in fact questions what constitutes a ‘British’ film, despite what many people think it’s not as simple as saying this film was made in Britain hence its British there are many factors taken into account when it comes to classifying something as a British film, an example of this is the Harry Potter franchise which is in fact a British film series despite being funded almost solely by American companies. What constitutes a British film remains to be an interesting issue, the BFI has a 32 question test of which a minimum score of 50% must be achieved to qualify for any of its grants, if a film achieves over 50% it is in fact classed as a ‘British’ film.(3)
wcsfmedia 