The 24th annual Raindance Film Festival announced its programme, jury members, and special events this morning in an event hosted by festival founder, Elliot Grove, accompanied by, among others, Snow Patrol‘s Johnny McDaid. The festival sees more submissions than ever this year, with entries from over 98 countries, and a screening list of 90 feature films and 85 shorts making the cut.
The jury thus far announced includes Joanna Lumley, Imelda Staunton, Stephen Fry, Jodie Whittaker, Anna Friel, Jack Davenport, Nicholas Pinnock, and David Datuna, with further members to be detailed on 6th September.
The festival will for the first time see a VR Arcade as part of its programme, with the immersive projects being produced by the BBC, Guardian, and the Economist, among many others.
On today’s programme announcement, Elliot Grove commented;
“I am thrilled with the calibre of films submitted for this year’s Festival, enabling our programmers to select and excellent line-up. For 24 years, Raindance has continued to grow and support the independent film industry in the UK and abroad. I’m looking forward to showcasing this year’s great line-up and new strands to our audience.”
The festival runs from 21st September – 2nd October, and The Panoptic will be in attendance throughout, so be sure to keep a watch for our Raindance Festival page which will be launching shortly, where you’ll be able to find all our reviews, interviews, and features across the 12 days.
Festival passes are currently on sale, with individual tickets available online and at the box office from noon 1st September.
Below you can find a full list of the programme thus far announced:
In Competition Feature Films
A Double Life – dir. Yoshiyuki Kishi – Japan
After Adderall – dir. Stephen Elliott – USA
Between Us – dir. Rafael Palacio Illingworth – USA
El Pastor (The Shepherd) – dir. Jonathan Cenzual Burley – Spain
Hortensia – dir. Diego Lublinsky & Álvaro Urtizberea – Argentina
Hotel Dallas – dir. Livia Ungur & Sherng-Lee Huang – Romania/USA
Jules and Dolores – dir. Caito Ortiz – Brazil
Panamerican Machinery – dir. Joaquin Del Paso – Mexico
The Violin Player – dir. Bauddhayan Mukherji – India
Train Driver’s Diary – dir. Lazar Ristovski – Serbia/Croatia
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Best Documentary Feature
A Brilliant Genocide – dir. Ebony Butler – Australia
A Plastic Ocean – dir. Craig Leeson – UK/Hong Kong/USA
Death by a Thousand Cuts – dir. Juan Mejia Botero & Jake Kheel – USA/Dominican Republic
Growing Up Coy – dir. Eric Juhola – USA
Off the Rails – dir. Adam Irving – USA/Canada
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Best Feature Debut
Dusky Paradise – dir. Gregory Kirchhoff – Germany
Her Composition – dir. Stephan Littger – USA/Germany
Kamper – dir. Łukasz Grzegorzek – Poland
The Farm – dir. Angel Manuel Soto – Puerto Rico
The Habit of Beauty – dir. Mirko Pincelli – UK/Italy
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Best UK Feature
AmStarDam – dir. The Lennox brothers
Five Days on Lesvos – dir. Richard Wyllie
For Grace – dir. Sebastian Armesto
Gozo – dir. Miranda Bowen
Long Forgotten Fields – dir. Jon Stanford
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Best Short Film
A l’Arraché (Snatched) – dir. Emmanuelle Nicot – Belgium
Furiant (Peacock) – dir. Ondřej Hudeček – Czech Republic
Moloch – dir. Szymon Kapeniak – Poland/Ukraine
Seide – dir. Elnura Osmonalieva – Kyrgyzstan
What a Beautiful World This Will Be – dir. Tyler Walker – USA
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Best UK Short Film
Balcony – dir. Toby Fell-Holden
Dunroamin – dir. Oliver S. Milburn
Healey’s House – dir. Rob Savage
Pauline – dir. Fred Rowson
You Are Awake – dir. Pedro Martin
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Best UK Web Series
Blood, Sweat & Chokes – dir. Sol Rikweda
Ren: The Girl with the Mark – dir. Kate Madison
Rich Keeble Vanity Project – dir. Rich Keeble & Sam LeGassick & Edd Wright
Shield 5 – dir. Anthony Wilcox
S- Band – Hannah George
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Best International Web Series
20 Seconds to Live – dir. Ben Rock – USA
Discocalypse – dir. Dirk Rosenloecher – Germany
Il Sonnambulo – dir. Hannah & Douglas Rath – UK/USA
The Fourth Door – dir. Tony E. Valenzuela – USA
Young Graduate – dir. Shannon Renaudeau & Florent Sabatier – France
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VR Arcade
6×9 – A Virtual Experience of Solitary Confinement – dir. Francesca Panetta & Lindsay Poulton – UK (Guardian)
Across the Line – dir. Nonny de la Peña – USA
Ctrl – dir. Nigel Townsend – UK
Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel – dir. Oscar Raby – UK (BBC)
Home – An Immersive Spacewalk Experience – dir. Kate Bartlett & Tom Burton – UK (BBC)
In My Shoes: Dancing with Myself – dir. Jane Gauntlett – UK
Inside the Box of Kurios – dir. Paul Raphael & Féliz Lajeunesse – Canada
Invisible – dir. Darren Emerson – UK
Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness – dir. Arnaud Colinart & Amaury La Burthe & Peter Middleton & James Spinney – UK/France
RecoVR: Mosul – dir. Visualise Films – UK (The Economist)
The Rose & I – dir. Eugene Chang – France
Tomorrow – dir. Carolina Avedano – Spain
The Turning Forest – dir. Oscar Raby – UK (BBC)
Witness 360: 7/7 – dir. Darren Emerson – UK
