London film director ‘struggles to get funding for different films’

Gurinder Chadha, the film’s director, said: “I’m sorry to say that if a film has a protagonist of color, it automatically becomes less commercial for financiers.”

The London director of 2002 hit film Bend It Like Beckham said she struggled to attract funding for her new film as a result.

Gurinder Chadha, who is British-Kenyan and of Indian descent, said she believed investors were “cautious” about supporting her work, which she said often explores the experiences of Asian communities and is written by Asians. Starring actors.

Her new film, “Christmas Karma,” is inspired by Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” starring London-born Indian actor Kunal Nayyar, a star of “The Big Bang Theory,” as Scrooge.

Chadha, who grew up in Southall, west London, also warned that the film industry “will never change” if investors don’t support more diverse films.

“People talk about diversity… but in practice, I don’t think that’s what I want to see,” she told BBC Radio London.

Bend it like Beckham, The film, which tells the story of a girl from west London who is torn between playing football and traditional Sikh family life, had a production budget of £3.5 million and grossed £60 million at the box office.

But she said despite her success, investors still lacked the confidence to back her.

“It’s all about money,” she told BBC presenter Asad Ahmed.

“I actually think people want to see the full package of movies… I just think financiers are being very cautious.

“Honestly, that’s something I don’t understand and I wish that wasn’t the case,” she added.

The British Film Institute (BFI) said representation in the UK film industry “has long been unequal” but that its film program funding targets are “improving these statistics”.

The BFI added: “To help address this historic imbalance and the long-standing barriers for Black people and global majority People, equity, diversity and inclusion are among the three core principles that underpin our National Lottery funding strategy.

The report said that of the 18 films the BFI funds each year, 44% of directors have provided production funding for films identified as black and global majority in 2023/24 – compared with the target of 40% in London and 30% outside London. %.

It added that figures for writers (33%) and producers (9%) “fell short of target”.

After Bend Like Beckham starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, Chadha has won awards with films such as The Governor’s House (2017) and Blind Side (2019) success.

She hopes people will feel “differently” when her film Christmas Karma is released next year.

The modern adaptation of Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” stars Hugh Bonneville, Eva Longoria and Nayyar.

“It’s about all the things I care about: identity, Britishness, who we are as a country, where we’re going as a country, and all the things that Bend it Like Beckham is about.

“This is my ‘Bend Like Santa’ movie,” she said.