The Cultural Impact of UK Film: Questions and Evidence Birkbeck College, University of London, 27 November 2009

Abstract

Cultural impact: what is it, in what ways can it be conceptualised and identified, and how does the idea apply to film? These were the key questions underlying this event, co-hosted by the UK Film Council together with Birkbeck College and Royal Holloway, University of London. The seminar was occasioned by the publication of Stories We Tell: The Cultural Impact of UK Film 1946–2006 (UKFC 2009a), a report commissioned by the UKFC and produced by a consortium of researchers from Birkbeck, the Media Consulting Group and NARVAL Media. As part of the UKFC’s consultations around the research, the event aimed to gain feedback from the academic community and it drew a capacity audience. As Britain struggles to steer a path to recovery from the economic crisis, there is a tight squeeze on the public purse with direct consequences for the funding of both the cultural industries and education. In this context, questions of impact are not innocent or driven by mere curiosity. For the UKFC, proof of impact is essential if the Council is to legitimise its claim on public sponsorship from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Meanwhile, anyone working in British higher education will also by now be more than familiar with the increasing call to answer to the language of ‘impact’. Most contentiously, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the government-appointed body responsible for distributing funding to UK institutions, is currently undertaking a review of mechanisms for evaluating the research performance of institutions as a platform for determining the future apportionment of research funding across the sector. As part of its proposals, HEFCE is looking at ways to assess the impact of research outside the academic community as demonstrated in ‘social, economic, cultural, public policy and services, health, environmental and quality of life benefits’