PREVIEW: Raindance Film Festival

The 23rd Annual Raindance Film Festival opened this week with the world premiere of American spy thriller Newcomer, starring BIFA winner James Floyd (My Brother The Devil) and Anthony LaPaglia, winner of a Golden Globe for his role in Without a Trace.

The festival will feature a host of international and UK premiere feature films, shorts and documentaries from 48 countries. Raindance, which takes place in London at Vue Piccadilly between 23rd September – 4th October, is Europe’s largest independent film festival and will this year play host to 90 feature length films, almost 200 shorts and 30 industry events.

The influence of the digital era is a prominent theme at the festival this year; highlights of which include: Digital Dissisents, a documentary looking at the soldiers of the digital age including Julian Assange and Edward Snowden; Deep Web, directed by Alex Winter (Bill and Ted); and Social Suicide a look into the obsessive nature of teenagers on social media and the length they will go to gain fame online.

The theme of fragility is also key throughout, with Raindance’s Shorts Programme including films such as Absence, a short directed by BIFA winning Rob Savage (Strings) and starring Paul McGann (Withnail and I) as a man going through the grieving process, and I Exist, about the plight of displaced Syrians and their children after their homes and schools have been destroyed.

The festival will culminate in the annual Raindance Awards Ceremony on 2nd October with a jury made up of influential industry figures including Col Needham, Founder and CEO of IMDb, actress Sheridan Smith (Cilla) and actor Martin Freeman (The Hobbit).

Raindance Film Festival will celebrate 50 years of Super 8, which is the theme of this year’s festival. The Raindance 2015 trailer, which has been directed by Douglas Hart, has been shot entirely on Super 8.

Full details on the programme and tickets to the festival can be found at www.raindancefestival.org

Niki Alexandrou

@nikialexandrou