Isabel Davis to lead BFI Filmmaking Fund
The Screen Scotland executive director will join the BFI in October 2026 on a five-year term, succeeding Mia Bays.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Isabel Davis has been named director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, putting the current Screen Scotland executive director in charge of one of the UK film sector’s key public funding roles.
The BFI said Davis will start in October 2026 on a five-year fixed term. She will succeed Mia Bays, who has led the Filmmaking Fund since October 2021.
Davis arrives after eight years as executive director of Screen Scotland. The appointment also marks a return to the BFI, where she previously spent a long stint that included serving as head of international.
A return to the BFI
BFI chief executive Ben Roberts said Davis brings experience across the UK and beyond, and described the Filmmaking Fund role as a central post for independent film in the country.
“Isabel is tenacious when it comes to doing the right thing for UK independent film and filmmakers,” Roberts said in the BFI announcement. He added that she brings “experience, passion, and a national and a global outlook” along with “a firm commitment to fairness and public service.”
Roberts led the recruitment process with BFI deputy chief executive Harriet Finney, according to the BFI. The interview process also included external panellists: producers and BFI board members Elizabeth Karlsen and Hakan Kousetta, plus Nicky Bentham, co-chair of Pact’s Film Producers’ Group.
Davis points to a difficult moment for UK indie film
In a statement, Davis said she was “honoured” to take on the job at a time when public funding is vital to the future of UK film and its wider public value.
She also pointed to pressure on the independent sector. “It’s a challenging moment for UK independent film, economically and structurally,” Davis said. She added that audiences are showing renewed appetite for strong stories and shared cinema-going, while UK filmmaking talent remains among the best internationally.
Davis said helping filmmakers make work that reaches broad audiences across the UK should sit at the centre of the fund’s response, citing ambition, inventiveness and heart as key aims.
She also said she would bring lessons from her time in Scotland to the post, along with a UK-wide view of how the BFI supports independent film. Davis added that Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the English regions would continue to be part of her focus.
Recent BFI-backed titles
During Bays’ tenure, BFI-backed films included Kneecap, My Father’s Shadow and the BAFTA-winning animated short Two Black Boys in Paradise, according to the BFI.
The BFI Film Fund’s 2026 slate includes Shalini Adnani’s Our Share of Sand, which is set for Venice, and Theo Rhys’s Stuffed, a Toronto world premiere starring Jodie Comer and Harry Melling.
Another BFI-backed title this year is Clio Barnard’s I See Building Fall Like Lightning, which won the People’s Choice award in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.