Paul Howson is the director of the Film and Television Department at the British Council. This department promotes British films - features and shorts - abroad and can help films from up-and-coming filmmakers get screened in festivals around the world. The department's main objectives are to use film as a way of introducing contemporary Britain to new audiences around the world; to help develop overseas markets for British films; and to help develop the careers of promising young filmmakers.

One of the ways in which the British Council can help these filmmakers is by paying for their films to be sent to festivals around the world. Filmmakers can send their shorts on VHS to the British Council where a panel of up to five people watch them and decide whether to take the films on board.

Filmwaves: What criteria does the panel adopt?
Paul Howson: We select in the context of what we've seen over the last year or couple of years, and of what we know that festivals around the world are looking for. The people who constitute the panel visit a lot of festivals during normal course of their work and see quite a wide range of short films from other countries, so they have something to judge against. This instinct for what a festival is looking for or for what it's not interested in is important. Remember that it's not us who makes the final decision whether the film is screened at a festival or not: what we do is to make recommendations. We're like a clearing-house. The selectors from the festivals will either come here and spend days in our preview theatre looking at work that we propose to them, or we will send them a consignment of tapes. But because they can also choose from somewhere else, we always say to filmmakers that just because we may have turned their film down it doesn't mean that we're infallible. They can submit their film directly to a festival. If the festival accept it then we will treat it as if we had chosen it.

FW: What happens when you like the film?
PH: If we take the film on it doesn't mean that we sell it - we're not a sales agent - but we will submit the film to a range of international, often competitive, festivals. If the film is accepted we will pay for the print to be sent there (the festival pays for it to come back). Sometimes we will pay for the filmmaker or maybe the producer to attend the screening of the film, not simply to be there to introduce it but also to meet other filmmakers, or producers, or acquisitions people, or talent spotters, to see what other possibilities may emerge from such encounters. We do not, repeat not, invest in production (although we get a lot of funding requests): we only deal with the finished product. That's the golden rule.

FW: Would you accept a film on neg that has been telecined, edited on video but not printed?
PH: Yes. Here's where we break the golden rule. Sometimes a film is accepted into competition at a recognized festival, and there's no print available because the filmmaker has run out of money (or the print is screening elsewhere). In such cases, we might offer a grant towards the cost of striking a print.

FW: Can you accept something shot on video?
PH: Of course. The limitation is on the part of the festival: some only accept film. Cannes only takes 35mm. Critics' Week at Cannes also takes 16mm. Others, like Oberhausen, will take just about any format. As long as they like the film, of course.

FW: Now that filmmakers have started shooting on DV, would you consider paying for the transfer as you now pay for a contact print?
PH: There's a lot of economic sense in that, and we'd look at it on a case by case basis. Of course our resources as a public body are limited.

What festivals do you send the films to? Those in your book? (The Directory of International Film and Video Festivals)*...
How many films do you receive and how many do you turn down?...
A lot. Is it because there is a lot of good work around?...
Are there any more criteria that come into play for the selection?...
How do you consider a film "British"?...
What are you looking for in a short film?...
Did you notice any trends?...
Are there any festivals that are more successful for British films than others?...
Do you see many non-narrative or experimental shorts?...
Earlier on you mentioned Poland, what's so good about Poland?...
Do you also deal with feature films?...
Will they approach the British Council or the distributor?...

*The British Council publishes a book containing information on about 400 film festivals and is available from them at
11 Portland Place
London W1N 4EJ
price £12.00