One of Sheffield’s most iconic venues has been awarded half a million pounds to develop a new film festival for children and young adults.
Showroom Cinema, one of Sheffield’s cultural gems, has been awarded £585,000 by the British Film Institute (BFI) as part of their National Lottery Audience Projects fund.
Last week BFI announced the first 23 beneficiaries of their National Lottery Audience Projects fund, a rolling £19.7 million open fund supporting the exhibition and distribution of nationally significant, audience facing, independent film, and immersive projects over the 2026 to 2029 period.
The funding will support Showroom, Sheffield’s original independent cinema, to develop a new film festival for children and young people, ‘supporting community outreach and partnerships, new partnerships and increased access to screen culture’.
Johnathan Ilot, Head of Programming at Showroom cinema said: “We’re delighted that this funding will help us to keep building those ambitions and deliver even more screenings, programmes and festivals that have audiences and inclusivity at their heart.”
Since launching the BFI Audience Projects Fund in April 2023, 153 projects have been supported, including 24 venues, 84 festivals and special programmes, 39 distribution campaigns, and six audience development sector facing initiatives.
Ben Luxford, BFI’s Director of UK Audiences said: “As we enter the second phase of our 10-year National Lottery Fund strategy it’s vital we continue to collaborate with partners, old and new, across the UK to realise our ambition of bringing the broadest possible range of UK independent film and immersive storytelling to the widest possible audience.”
As part of this National Lottery fund, Sheffield Doc Fest has also been awarded £600,000 for ‘Public Audience Development Programme’ for 2026 through to 2028.
This award will support DocFest to develop its festival and year-round offer to engage broader audiences, including family and young people, as well as emphasis on access and relevance for younger, Black, and Global Majority, and lower socio-economic audiences.
