27 June 2007

Gordon Brown likes sport and film

The UK's new prime minister Gordon Brown is a fan of football, tennis and film, according to his profile on the Treasury website. Hopeful as this sounds, it could indicate a potential conflict of interests as the 2012 Olympics machine gets into gear and arts funding continues to diminish as a result.

Like other UK cultural organisations, the BFI will find it increasingly difficult to survive in such a climate. All the more reason to work out a long-term strategy based on the range of integrated activities and resources offered by the institute. The partial approach taken by management offers short-term solutions in response to the current crisis, but as Director Amanda Nevill has acknowledged, the BFI's financial future remains very uncertain (see her
Guardian response posted below).

A proper consultation process about the direction taken by management would be a starting point from which to put the BFI's plight on the government's agenda. Since the current crisis has taken many years to reach this acute stage, one could be forgiven for asking why public consultation has not happened before. Unfortunately, it looks unlikely to happen now.

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