Ralph Fiennes’ 'Coriolanus' Among Movies Receiving Ad Money From the British Film Institute

LONDON – Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin and Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus will be two of the high profile independent movies to benefit from a pledge by the British Film Institute to pump an extra £1 million ($1.6 million) into its Prints and Advertising Fund.

our editor recommends

BAFTA to Honor Ralph Fiennes with Tribute

Ralph Fiennes, Kenneth Branagh to Get Special Nods at British Independent Film Awards

Ralph Fiennes Reveals Backstory on His Name, Finest Performances and Directorial Debut, 'Coriolanus' (Video)

Why 'Shame' Could 'Legitimize' the NC-17 Rating

The additional cash raises the total value of the fund to £4 million ($6.2 million).

The BFI said it was upping the cashpool for the fund to “further widen the distribution and marketing of specialized films” such as Fiennes’ directorial debut.

The boost comes as U.K. film minister Ed Vaizey lands in Los Angeles “for meetings with top US studio and indie movie executives” on a charm offensive to discuss the freshly extended U.K. movie tax relief (HR 11/10/2011).

BFI CEO Amanda Nevill is accompanying Vaizey on the Hollywood sojourn.

“As the UK’s rich and diverse film talent achieves success worldwide and our competitive tax system helps bring record levels of inward investment at home, it’s more important than ever for the BFI to ensure that momentum is maintained," said Nevill.

"By providing strategic, targeted support at the right time and in a way that industry needs, we are helping lay the foundations for film to spearhead the growth of Britain’s creative industries and help drive growth in the UK economy.”

The appetite for independent British films in U.K. theaters remains healthy.

The BFI’s research and statistics unit reports the market share of independent British films at the U.K. box office in the first nine months of 2011 was 14.4%, the highest on record, up from 5.8% in 2010.

Inward investment from UK/USA studio films in 2010 was almost £922 million ($1.4 billion) according to the BFI, and with movies such as the latest Bond installment Skyfall shooting now, industry observers remain confident of healthy levels of production coming to the U.K.

Since April 1 2011 the BFI’s P&A Fund has invested over £2.5 million ($3.9 million) helping 23 films reach wider audiences across the U.K.

Projects to have received investment through the P&A Fund since April this year 2011 also include Steve McQueen’s Shame, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In and Jeanie Finlay’s crowd-funded documentary Sound It Out.