03/10/2013 - Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant to bow on new BFI Player simultaneously with its UK theatrical release

The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched the BFI Player, a new video-on-demand platform available from October 9. Apart from seven specialised channels, the Player will be an alternate distribution platform. Clio Barnard’s LUX Prize 2013 finalist The Selfish Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clio Barnard
interview: Clio Barnard
film profile] (photo) will launch on the BFI Player simultaneously with its UK theatrical release on October 25, and the BFI restoration of The Epic Of Everest (1924) will release on the Player on the same day as its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and UK cinema release on October 18. 

60% of the Player content will be free and 40% pay-per-view. The channels are: BFI London Film Festival Presents – exclusive footage from the festival; Backed by the BFI – British films supported by the BFI’s Film Fund; Gothic – dark themed genre films; Edwardian Britain – films of pioneering filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon made between 1900 and 1913; Sight & Sound Selects – films picked by the magazine; the self explanatory Cult Cinema; and Inside Film - documentaries and interviews about filmmaking.

BFI Chair Greg Dyke said, “The launch of the BFI Player is a defining moment in the BFI's 80 year history – it will unlock the past, present and future of British film and, most importantly, offers a new deal for UK audiences by ensuring that as many people as possible across the UK get access to great films.”

Edward Humphrey, BFI Director of Digital, said, “Audience behaviour has shifted to embrace digital platforms. Now the BFI Player gives us a foundation from which we can support a digital future for film lovers and bring the story of film to a truly national audience.”