Britains biggest independent film festival – Raindance Film Festival – returns to London from October 27th to November 6th for its 29th edition.
Michael Caine to receive Icon Award
The festival will bring this year’s programme of ground-breaking indie features and shorts to a range of new venues as Raindance partners for the first time with local cinemas across London: Curzon Hoxton, Curzon Soho, Curzon Mayfair, Genesis Cinema, Regent Street Cinema, Bertha DocHouse. Expanding on the experience of hosting a hybrid festival in 2020, when around 70% of the online audience was located outside of London, this year Raindance endeavours to cultivate its digital reach. The in-cinema premieres will be supplemented by a full online programme of films via new digital partner Curzon Home Cinema. Festival titles from the Official Selection will have a digital repeat screening, available UK-wide via the Curzon Home Cinema platform. Films will be available on a ‘pay per watch’ basis via Curzon Home Cinema’s iOS app, Android app and on Smart TVs.
Academy Award, BAFTA and BIFA winning actor Michael Caine will receive this year’s Raindance Icon Award as part of the Festival. It’s a double cause for celebration, as the festival is set to open 27 October with the gala UK theatrical premiere of Michael Caine’s latest film, BEST SELLERS (dir: Lina Roessler, Canada), in which he stars alongside Aubrey Plaza as a cranky retired author who reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help out a young publisher. Best Sellers will have a Raindance gala screening at Curzon Mayfair, followed by a party at The Dorchester.
Closing night gala will be Medusa (directed by Anita Rocha da Silveira, Brazil)
Following its debut at Cannes Directors Fortnight, Medusa the film is inspired by mythical and real-life violence by women against women and set against a backdrop of toxic masculinity and right-wing politics, the second feature by Brazilian filmmaker Anita Rocha da Silveira sees a group of Christian women gang up to attack women who they judge to be too liberal or too promiscuous.
Strands of the festival include:
ABSURDITIES: unconventional & fantastical titles fresh from the European festival circuit
BOOMERANG: a new strand that embraces the joy of indie film
DISCOVERY: the place to find maverick works by first-time filmmakers
FEMALE GAZE: a viewpoint covering everything from motherhood to race to abuse
>> GENERATION: from Millennials to Gen Z to the newbies of Gen A, Raindance visualises our world from the unique perspective of these three young generations
HOMEGROWN: The best new indies born and raised right here
ICONS: a strand of biopics honouring some of cinema’s biggest icons
POLITICO: astute stories of social and political significance
QUEER: the full rainbow spectrum of LGBTQ+ cinema
SCREAMDANCE: the festival’s new signature horror strand
SONICA SPONSORED BY SPOTIFY: resonating with music docs and live concert films
There will also be film awards, parties, a Raindance hub, and lots lots more.
For more information on the festival, and to buy tickets: raindance.org/festival/
