Senior Trio to exit BFI film fund

• Natascha Wharton will depart from the BFI Film Fund Later this year.
• The three senior team members have been in charge of directing the BFI’s national lottery.
• The BFI set aside £54 million ($66 million) over the following three years for the support of filmmakers.

Natascha Wharton, the head of editorial, Fiona Morham, the head of production, and Lizzie Francke, the editor-at-large, will depart from the BFI Film Fund Later this year.

The three senior team members have been in charge of directing the BFI’s national lottery financing for the planning and creation of British films. They have backed a number of well-known films, such as “Rye Lane,” “Aftersun,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Blue Jean,” and “After Love,” among many others.

In the late spring or early summer, Francke, Morham, and Wharton will depart. While the filmmaking fund team transfers to a new organisation, they will still support their current line-up of projects. The information was released just before of the new fund’s March 21 unveiling.

Under its Screen Culture 2033 10-year plan, which was released in 2022, the BFI set aside £54 million ($66 million) over the following three years for the support of filmmakers. Part of that is the new BFI filmmaking fund. According to the BFI, the resources needed to support the delivery of the new fund are presently being reviewed.

Ben Roberts, BFI CEO, said: “Natascha, Lizzie and Fiona leave a huge legacy behind them and a lasting impact on U.K. film making that has seen them steer some of the most exciting and important work coming out of the UK independent sector. They also leave us with an amazing slate of projects of which we are all incredibly proud. At this moment of change for the filmmaking fund, it is important to recognize the tremendous work of all three of them that we are building on.

As we focused on debuts and put our values of equity, diversity and inclusion front and centre during the last strategy period they were instrumental in ensuring we supported great, important and impactful work. I wholeheartedly thank them for their enormous contribution to the BFI, their passion, intelligence and dedication and their legacy of incredible work.”

Francke, Morham and Wharton said in a joint statement: “It has been such a huge privilege to work for the Film Fund over the years and to champion an extraordinary range of filmmakers. With the 2023-33 strategy and the Filmmaking Fund being launched this week we feel it is a perfect time to step away to pursue our own ventures.

In recent years we have been immensely proud to have worked collectively across a broad range of films and in that witness an exceptional sea change in U.K. cinema with many new and original voices and perspectives being amplified. The vital work continues with a compelling range of projects going into imminent production and we are excited for the team we leave behind.

The new wave we have overseen and supported feels like a mighty force.”

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