BFI Won’t Fund Films With Facial Scar Villains

Trying to quash the negative stigma that can be associated with disfigurement, the British Film Institute (BFI) have announced they will no longer provide funding for films that include villains with facial scars.

BFI deputy chief executive officer Ben Roberts tells The Telegraph: “Film is a catalyst for change and that is why we are committing to not having negative representations depicted through scars or facial difference in the films we fund.”

A physical disfigurement has often been sported by villains or (more often) villainous henchmen in films, from the one-armed man of “The Fugitive” to countless baddies in the James Bond franchise. The BFI is the first to support a new awareness campaign called #IAmNotYourVillain which was launched by charity Changing Faces.

The BFI recently funded the drama “Dirty God” which takes the opposite approach, one following a woman who rebuilds her life after an acid attack and starring real-life burns survivor Vicky Knight.