Travel Grant Fund Application Guidelines 2026

Making an application for Travel Grant funding

This guide gives you advice and recommendations on how make an application for a Travel Grant for:

• Short filmmakers or feature film producers attending film festivals
• XR creatives attending festivals and showcases
• Producers attending co-production forums
• Filmmakers attending development labs

Contents

1. Fund overview

2. Delivering against the BFI’s National Lottery Strategy

3. Check if you are eligible

4. What you can use travel grant funding for

5. Making an application

6. What happens after you apply?

7. Terms and Conditions

1. Fund Overview

The British Council offers early to mid-career filmmakers, and creatives producing XR (including virtual reality, immersive storytelling experiences and installations) the opportunity to apply for Travel Grant funding. This can be used to attend key international film festivals and showcases, training / development and co-production events (referred to collectively as ‘events’ throughout these guidelines). The purpose of this funding is to enable filmmakers to represent their work abroad, develop new contacts and networks, reach new audiences, and increase the exposure of new and emerging UK films and film talent internationally. The British Council’s Film department manages the applications process for these Travel Grants.

*If you have received funds from the UK Global Screen Fund Festival Launch Support, a second grant is available for a separate international event from the Travel Grant Fund. If you have not received funds from the UK Global Screen Fund Festival Launch Support, you can apply for up to two grants from the Travel Grant Fund.

Grants are designed as a contribution towards travel and accommodation costs, participant fees for labs, training and co-pro forums, and XR showcasing. Grants will rarely cover the full cost of attendance and are subject to available funds.

Additional bursaries are available upon application to support costs associated with:

• Access Support
• Green Travel: International Travel Overland

Successful applicants attending European festivals and events can expect a smaller grant than those attending events which require a long-haul journey.

The eligible festivals and events are detailed in the following Key Lists:

• Key List Festivals and Showcases: Short Films
• Key List Festivals and Showcases: Feature Films
• Key List Festivals and Showcases: XR Projects
• Key List: Labs and Co-production Forums

Each list is divided into categories A-B, where category A events are prioritised, and category B events are subject to availability of funding (‘the Events’). A small amount of funding is available for discretionary grants for events not on the key lists. Your project must be able to evidence being in official selection at events on the Key List. See sections 3 and 4 for more detail on eligibility requirements.

Once you have read these guidelines in their entirety, please submit your application on the Travel Grant Fund webpage

The UK Global Screen Fund offers alternative funding opportunities for the sales and distribution of UK feature films in international territories. This includes Festival Launch Support for feature films that have been invited to have their World, International, North American or European premiere in an official category/competition at key A-list festivals.

Find out more about the UK Global Screen Fund

2. Delivering against the BFI's National Lottery Strategy

Aims of Funding

Travel Grants are supported by the British Council and through BFI National Lottery funding.

We consider the following six priorities drawn from the BFI National Lottery Strategy 2023-26 when reviewing our Key Lists, which happens every six months, and when deciding how we support filmmakers to attend Events:

1.Equity, diversity and inclusion: people from under-represented groups across the UK access the support they need to develop their careers and skills.

2. Impact and audience: people across the UK access a wider choice of film and the moving image, including stories that reflect their lives.

3. Talent development and progression: creative talent is supported and nurtured, as they emerge and throughout their careers and more people understand how to express their creativity through stories on screen.

4. Creative risk: people are better enabled to innovate and experiment creatively; a wider range of stories on screen are told that otherwise would not be.

5. UK-wide: everyone across the UK should be able to experience and create the widest range of screen culture. They should feel the benefits from the screen sector in terms of jobs and growth too.

6. Environmental sustainability: screen organisations significantly reduce their carbon footprint.

How We Will Measure Success

We will measure the success of the Travel Grant Fund using the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Number of grants awarded per year: 200
• Turnaround time: from submission of an eligible application to first payment being made (providing contract has been signed without delay) – 45 days
• Minimum number of access bursaries awarded per year: 15
• UK-wide activity to promote the fund to filmmakers, in partnership with BFI NETWORK and other sector partners.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

While we cannot influence the UK work that is selected at Events, we regularly assess data and feedback from all Events on our list, to ensure their programming and industry offerings are supportive, inclusive and representative, in line with the focus areas of the BFI Diversity Standards.

We prioritise Events that:

• specifically focus on filmmakers/creatives with protected characteristics including Black and LGBTQIA+ voices, and disabled filmmakers/creatives. We recognise the value to filmmakers/creatives of showing work in safe, supportive spaces.
• maximise sales, career development and international opportunities for under-represented filmmakers/creatives.
• offer a broad global perspective on career development and networking opportunities.
• The diversity of applicants receiving a Travel Grant will be monitored against the BFI inclusion targets.

3. Check if you are eligible

The Travel Grant Fund can support the following individuals to attend eligible festivals and events:

To apply, you must meet all of the following basic eligibility criteria:

• Age/Residency: Over 18 and a UK resident or citizen
• Project Type: Must be a short film, feature film or XR project that is an official UK production or co-production, and is listed as such in the Event programme
• Invitation: You must have been invited to an event on the "Key Lists" or be seeking a Discretionary Grant for an unlisted major event
• Official Selection: Your project must appear in an official selection category at an eligible Event. Sidebar programmes and retrospective programmes do not qualify.
• Timeline: You must apply at least 2 weeks before the event starts
• Short Films: Must be new films under 60 minutes
• Feature Films: Budget must be £15M or less; project completed within the last 12 months or currently in production

The fund cannot support:

• TV / Series or Audio projects
• Requests for showcasing in a gallery or exhibition space outside of a festival context
• Applications to take part in Events that have already taken place or are happening less than two weeks from the date of your application
• Executive producers (Lead producers only) or any other creative team members, actors or film crew not listed above

Number of Grants Available:

Only one application per project per event

You cannot receive more than:

• two separate grants per short film
• two grants per feature film (or one if you have been a recipient of the UK Global Screen Fund Festival Launch Support for the same project)

• You cannot receive more than one Large XR grant for an XR project or more than two separate standard travel grants.

(If you have received a Large XR Grant you can only receive one additional separate standard travel grant. Large XR grants are only available for A-list festivals as categorised by the Key List)

• One Lab grant per filmmaker or project

• Up to two Co-Production Forum grants for producers

We will give priority to feature, lab, co-pro forum and XR grants to filmmakers/ creatives and projects who have not previously received a British Council Travel Grant.

Please note that applications for participation at IFFR Pro and Creators Labs at International Film Festival Rotterdam specifically must be submitted through our open call in October. The British Council is a nominating partner for UK participants at IFFR Pro.

4. What you can use travel grant funding for

If you’re registered for VAT, your figures should not include VAT that you can claim back. If you’re not registered for VAT, or you’re registered for VAT but cannot fully recover the VAT you incur on costs, your figures should include irrecoverable VAT. Grants we make are ‘outside the scope’ of VAT and should be listed in your accounts as a grant and not, for example, as a fee for any services supplied to the British Council. You should get financial advice from your own accountant or the relevant tax office.

Environmental Sustainability and Green Travel Grants

All filmmakers/creatives applying for a Travel Grant need to plan their travel with the environment and the climate crisis in mind. We encourage filmmakers to consider sustainable travel options where possible. If you are able to travel to an Event over land or sea - by rail, car, boat etc - please let us know in your application (there is a specific question dedicated to this in the application form).

Standard travel grants can be supplemented with an additional Green Travel Bursary to support additional costs, which will range between £150-£350.

We offer guidance through our Greener Travel Guide (developed in consultation with Julie’s Bicycle) to best help filmmakers to make informed and responsible choices for greener methods of travel and to highlight the role of film festivals in being accountable and proactive cultural leaders in sustainability.

Access Support and Bursaries

We can help if you need support to make an application, or if you have specific access needs to participate in your Event.

Application support

We are committed to making our funding accessible to all. We can help if you need support to make an application.

For example you can ask for:

• our funding guidelines in other formats, like large print or audio
• support to understand these guidelines
• support to complete an application form

You can find an audio version of our guidelines and key information under each fund.

Access bursaries

If you have access requirements associated with attending an Event, you can apply for additional funding to cover costs such as:

• Travel with a BSL interpreter or access worker
• Any other costs directly associated with your access requirements as a disabled filmmaker

Please share your individual access requirements in the application form.

Caring responsibilities

If you have caring responsibilities that would prevent you from attending an event without additional support, you may be eligible for a bursary contribution. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis and is available to sole carers.

If applying for childcare support, please explain why you would be unable to attend without it. Please note that childcare costs are classified as a taxable benefit by HMRC. While we can contribute to these costs, you are responsible for reporting this benefit in your tax return.

Discretionary Support

In exceptional circumstances, there is a limited amount of funding set aside to support travel to selected events not currently appearing on either Key List (‘Discretionary Grants’). This includes international travel to the Oscars award ceremony (for short films only) where a filmmaker has a work that has been nominated, as well as festivals, labs or forums not currently on the Key Lists. Professional development and potential for exposure on the international stage are key factors we take into account when considering whether to make someone a Discretionary Grant.

Priority is also given to significant festivals and showcases in the Global South and regions that are currently less well represented by the key lists.

All discretionary granting is subject to assessment criteria and eligibility checks. With every discretionary grant offer, we require a written report from the grantee to share their experience of the event.

5. Making an Application

Applications for the Travel Grant Fund are accepted on a rolling basis year roundyear-round, subject to available funds.

To ensure that we can assess your application in advance of the Event taking place, it is important that you apply as soon as you receive your Event invitation. Applications must be received no less than 2 weeks prior to the Event start date. Applications made within 2 weeks or after an Event has started will not be considered.

Applicants will be required to complete an online application form and provide evidence of an invitation to the Event.

Applications can be made by a director, producer or writer of the project depending on the requirements of each funding strand as detailed in section one. Within the application form you will be asked to confirm that you are eligible for funding and to include:

• Project details where travel is to attend a screening of a film or XR work (key personnel, synopsis, technical information, cast etc)
• Your contact details
• A CV/Filmography of all individuals benefitting from the grant
• Details of the event you have been invited to attend
• An explanation as to why you want to attend and why you need public funding to enable your attendance
• A breakdown of the costs of attendance (confirming how much you wish to be covered by the Travel Grant and how much is being met by other means including the festival or event)

Following your application, you must provide written evidence of acceptance into the Event by sending your invitation to films@britishcouncil.org

Equality Monitoring

All Travel Grant Applicants are required to complete an Equality Monitoring Form when submitting an application. The Equality Monitoring Form is anonymous and, on receipt, will be processed separately from your application. The data is managed confidentially and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act, is not personally attributable and has no bearing on your application or decision-making on grant offers. The data we receive from Equality Monitoring Forms is aggregated to provide Fund-level Inclusion Data.

Submission:

6. What happens after you apply?

Even where standard grant applications meet all eligibility criteria, grant offers remain subject to the availability of the fund. Grants cannot be guaranteed, but we strive to make offers of funding to all eligible applications for Events on our Key Lists.

We assess all Standard Grant applications within 2 weeks and will notify you by email within this time whether your application has been successful or if it is ineligible for funding.

If your application is eligible but there is a mistake, or we need more information before making a decision, we will contact you by email to resolve this within 2 weeks.

Please get in touch with the team for enquiries about events not on the key list films@britishcouncil.org. Discretionary funds are not guaranteed and invitations to apply are subject to available funds.

7. Terms and Conditions

When you submit your application you are also confirming your acceptance of the following Terms and Conditions.

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