28/05/2024 - The perennial UK festival will this year run in June instead of autumn and has announced a number of premieres for its 32nd edition

The 32nd edition of the Raindance Film Festival, which has become a mainstay of the UK festival circuit with its championing of new independent cinema, will this year run from 19-28 June, marking a move from the festival’s traditional autumn positioning. Promising that 90% of the programme will consist of debut features, the Central London-based event has discovery at the heart of its ethos.

The festival will open with the UK premiere of Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo [+see also:
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Discovery, the festival’s section for “debut features by maverick directors”, will include the world premiere of Josh Trigg’s Satu - Year of the Rabbit (UK). The debut feature is set in Laos and features local actors as it follows an orphaned child labourer on a journey in search of his long-lost mother.

From the international titles selected, there will be a world premiere for Kathleen Is Here [+see also:
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The festival’s documentary selection will include the world bow of From My Cold Dead Hands by Javier Horcajada Fontecha (Spain), an exploration of gun culture in the United States, as told from the perspective of the most extreme, wild and crazy advocates for gun ownership via a precisely curated selection of YouTube videos.

Germany will be the Raindance Guest of Honour, as German Films celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2024. Aside from some key festival titles being German (including the opener), special sessions during Raindance’s industry programme will champion the country’s film industry. There will also be a special screening of the Palme d’Or-winning classic The White Ribbon [+see also:
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interview: Michael Haneke
film profile] by Michael Haneke (Germany/Austria/France/Italy/Canada), which will be preceded by a master class with German actor Christian Friedel, who will discuss his role in this and other films, including the recent Oscar winner The Zone of Interest [+see also:
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This year's Raindance Industry Sessions will comprise a collection of workshops, panels and master classes all aimed at emerging filmmakers. The “A Sustainable Production” panel incorporates BAFTA Albert, Film London and sustainability consultants Green Eyes Production. There’ll also be panels with case studies on funding of first and second films, across fiction and documentary as well as shorts, with participants including the BFI Network, Doc Society and The Whickers, plus panels with leading sales and distribution companies demystifying their processes for emerging filmmakers. For the ninth consecutive year, Raindance will also celebrate independent XR creators, game designers, virtual-world builders and performers with the innovative Raindance Immersive programme.