Overview
- Isabel Davis was named director by the BFI on Thursday, July 23, 2026, and will start a five-year fixed-term in October to lead the National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.
- The fund Davis will run provides about £20 million a year in public funding that helps UK independent films get made and reach major festivals and awards.
- Davis joins from Screen Scotland, where she was executive director for eight years, and previously spent seven years at the BFI as head of international negotiating co-production treaties.
- BFI CEO Ben Roberts and deputy CEO Harriet Finney led a recruitment process that included external industry panellists to ensure sector input into the hire.
- The appointment comes while the fund’s current slate is headed to Venice, Toronto, Cannes and Edinburgh, underscoring how Davis’s decisions will affect regional filmmakers, festival exposure and the wider health of the UK independent sector.