At DMovies, we have set out to cover all 29 world premieres for you. So stay tuned!
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A room with a Vue
The Festival returns to Vue Piccadilly (at the heart of the London West End), after six years. The venue will be entirely devoted to the event throughout its duration of 10 days, allowing film lovers to mingle and watch films in one single venue. This is complemented by an opening gala at Vue Leicester Square and a sumptuous party at the Waldorf Hilton’s Palm Court. Those seeking to catch as many films and action as possible should seek to buy a Raindance Film Festival Pass, and save a significant amount of money on individual tickets. In other words, allow yourself to indulge in a film bonanza.
Taborska explains the rationale behind the changes: “this has been a ‘return to our roots’ year – to the pre-Covid years when we screened 60-80 films a year at our central location. So, fewer venues, and more focus. And trying to put all of our fantastic films into one central location. Of extra interest this year is the Indie Film Forum which is right underneath Bafta at 194 Piccadilly. So, directly underneath the bastion of British Film will be the bastion of indie film!”.
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On the edge of your seat
Raindance is a largely auteur-driven festival, with a strong focus on innovative and radical storytelling. There is at least one exception to the rule, though. The Festival contains a section entirely devoted to genre cinema: Raindance Horror rebooted & expanded horror + “New Blood” debuts. In total, 16 films are aimed at keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. British indie Loner (Charlie Robb and Douglas Tawn) is one such dirty gem, reviewed earlier and exclusively for you,. That’s in addition to countless films with very recognisable horror devices (such as Paul Antar’s Srishti, from India).
Taborska, a horror writer and expert herself, helps to elucidate the rationale behind the tactic: “Horror tends to attract a very loyal audience, so we grouped the horror films over an extended weekend to allow people from outside London to attend and hopefully see them all. We also have Raindance Queer, Docs, Shorts, Female Gaze and Immersive strands as part of the Festival”
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The sponsor with the most
This year, Raindance’s main sponsor is a company very familiar with the film industry: Canon Europe is a leading equipment manufacturer, and the EMEA strategic branch of Canon Inc., a global provider of imaging technologies and services. Canon Europe has operations in roughly 120 countries, with approximately 12,300 employees and contributes to approximately a quarter of Canon’s global revenues annually.
Taborska reveals how the partnership began, and the relevance of working with an experienced industry player: “Finding a company that believes in what Raindance is all about has been a long journey. It just so happens that the core values of Canon and Raindance have intersected this year, and hopefully will last long into the future. Canon and Raindance both support independent filmmakers. Working with their team has meant that we have enjoyed and benefitted from the creative sparks that have flown while planning this year’s Festival”.
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The images on this article are still from the following films, showing at Raindance: Filippo Capuzzi Lapietra’s Abducted Files (top) and Christopher M. Anthony’s Heavyweight.
