New Government Cuts Funding For British Film Institute

Talk about getting the rug pulled out from under you.

According to Studio Briefing, the recently elected British government has decided to take drastic measures to aid the ever growing deficit that plagues the U.K. The outlet is reporting that the government will be ditching the previously discussed plan to give over $67 million to build a new home for the British Film Institute.

This doesn’t come as a shock to those involved with the BFI, who reportedly saw this coming. However, that doesn’t make it any less upsetting.

I wholeheartedly understand that there are bigger fish to fry than a new home for a film institute, however, just like the cutting of music programs in school systems to make room in the budget, I could think of many other ways to fix the budget than ditching something within the realm of the arts. This was going to be home to the penultimate film institute in the U.K., and while I’m sure it will still run, this is no less aggravating. There seems to be something about the arts that it becomes the one place that people decide to ‘save money.’ However much money you may save, you lose in culture, which is definitely something that I see as a bit more important for a given area.

Source: Studio Briefing