Mumbai: A film starring, written and directed by a new filmmaker, an art-house biopic and a Lebanese film have received Lottery funding from the UK Film Council’s P&A Fund. The council’s most recent round of awards to film distributors continues to help gain exposure for films which might otherwise only have a limited distribution, thereby increasing viewing choice for audiences.

Pathé Distribution received £210,000 for Adulthood, starring, written and directed by new talent Noel Clarke and the follow-up to the Clarke-penned Kidulthood.  A fast-paced urban drama with a pounding soundtrack by Chad Hobson, Adulthood sees Sam battling to end the cycle of violence he started. The film was also co-funded in production by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund.

Lionsgate UK received £200,000 for John Maybury’s The Edge of Love, the true story of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys. After the premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, an audience Q&A with John Maybury will be transmitted by satellite to City Screen cinemas across the UK.  

Momentum Pictures received £155,111 for Caramel, a Lebanese film set in and around a busy Beirut beauty parlour, which follows the lives and loves of five Lebanese women. The award allowed the release to widen from 30 to 50 screens and receive enhanced national advertising.

Park Circus and the British Film Institute are releasing a number of films made by one of Britain’s greatest filmmakers, Sir David Lean as part of a nationwide centenary tribute tour to the filmmaker. Park Circus has been awarded £17,200 to Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, In Which We Serve and This Happy Breed and the BFI has been awarded £17,180 for Oliver Twist, The Passionate Friends, Great Expectations and Madeleine.