Watershed secures major BFI National Lottery funding.
Posted on Mon 20 April
Watershed is delighted to announce that we have received 3-year funding from the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund 2026-29 to expand our work engaging underrepresented communities and growing audiences for independent film.
We have received two multi-year awards through the fund. The first will support a major audience development project focused on four locations across Bristol, delivering bespoke activity that will engage and benefit underrepresented communities with film culture. Working in partnership with local organisations and co-curators, we will develop new approaches to programming, deepen relationships with audiences, and enhance our use of data and insight to attract and retain new audiences.
The second award will support Other Ways of Seeing, which is part of Cinema Rediscovered Festival (22 – 26 July 2026), and is a UK-wide initiative supporting co-curators and venues across the UK to deliver bespoke repertory programmes for specific audiences.
Clare Reddington, Watershed CEO says
“Watershed is extremely grateful for BFI’s continued support for our work championing film culture and bringing in new audiences. We are particularly delighted to be funded alongside other major independent cinemas across the UK. Despite the challenge of rising costs, our shared strengths in championing films and people are ensuring a thriving independent film ecology in the UK.“
Sarah-Jane Meredith, Senior Manager for National Lottery Audiences Projects says;
““The Audience Projects Fund was established to place audiences as key recipients of funding, and these two awards – which will support Watershed’s commitment to reaching new and diverse audiences – directly respond to this. The venue’s multi-year award seeks to enable them to reach and engage more underrepresented audiences across the city of Bristol with a rich and diverse programme, while funding Cinema Rediscovered supports a UK-wide Festival offering audiences across the country a range of rep titles often unavailable outside large cities or online. The latter award also provides opportunities for new and emerging curators, diversifying those who get to make programming choices, another key aim of the Fund.”
About the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund 2026-29
The fund aims to generate 3 million admissions across the UK through 88,000 screenings. It remains open, with further awards to be announced over the three-year period.
Since its launch in April 2023, the fund has supported 153 projects, generating 6.6 million admissions to date – 87% of which took place outside London and the South East.
A total of £19.7m has been allocated to the BFI Audience Projects Fund out of £33.5m pledged to audiences over the next three years in the BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029, representing a 20% increase from 2023-2026.
About Watershed Cinemas
Watershed is one of the UK’s leading independent cinemas, offering a distinctive curated programme of contemporary independent and world cinema designed to provide audiences with a deep engagement to the global diversity of film culture.
We connect audiences with around 350 films across 3,500 screenings annually, facilitating dialogue about creativity, diversity and the world around us. We champion underrepresented voices and stories from marginalised groups, host key festivals and deliver talks, community screenings and workshops. Our in-house curatorial team present a year-round cinema programme ranging from contemporary independent and world cinema to archive film and restorations.
Watershed is also home to Cinema Rediscovered, established by Watershed in 2016, it is now considered “the UK’s leading festival dedicated to classic cinema” (Sight & Sound), putting older great films back on the big screen, often as new restorations.
A substantial amount of our programme is produced in partnership with local community organisations and individuals, ranging from those that support emerging talent like FAM Films to other cultural organisations including Noods Radio, Bristol Radical History Group, and indie bookshops like Bookhaus and local publisher Tenement Press. Watershed is regularly one of the top cinemas in the country for the opening weekend box-office figures for British independent and international films and was one of five independent cinemas nominated for the inaugural BIFA Cinema of the Year Award.
