Slipping down into the basement of a back street Soho record store doesn’t feel like your average entrance for a film festival preview. But then, this is not your average film festival. Hosting this year’s intimate launch party for the 2009 Raindance Film Festival are the Vinyl Factory and Phonica Records, who have lent their deceptively spacious underground gallery to this year’s bash.
The whitewashed walls may be bare, but handed a detailed floor plan for the newly christened Raindance Film Café, you soon realise this is the perfect hub for what promises to be another unique celebration of independent cinema. It’s the perfect setting: understated, unshowy and above all pretty damn cool.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Raindance Film Festival may be the UK’s largest independent film festival, but it is as unassuming as ever. Still, the festival directors are itching to point out this year is set to be as edgy as ever, as they introduce the festival trailer. Banned by the BBFC for ‘bringing advertising into disrepute’, the provocative promo approriately sets the tone for the feast of cutting edge talent showcasing at this year’s festival.
Announcing the programme schedule – which kicks off September 30 with American indie breakout, Humpday, the line-up so far is pretty tantalising. Highlights include a host of home growns: from a first look at Ben Wheatley’s Down Terrace, which stars Spaced and Shaun of the Dead actress Julia Deakin, to the world premiere of Jamie Thraves’ The Cry of the Owl; starring Julia Stiles and Paddy Considine.
As well as celebrating the best of British, the festival will showcase an array of American and European independent features and shorts, and as a special focus will take a close look at Japanese female directors – welcoming Sachi Hamano, director of the award winning Lily Festival, and Momoko Ando with her debut film Kakera.
Ando is set to take a seat on the festival jury, which this year boasts an eclectic mix of writers, directors and actors. Shifty star Riz Ahmed represents the cream of British up-and-comings, while acclaimed satirical wordsmith Armando Iannucci , documentary filmmaker and writer Jon Ronson (whose The Men Who Stare at Goats is out soon), and actor/musician Tom Waits will all be arbitrating the hopeful entrants.
Aside from film screenings, the festival programme is choc-full of special events, including exclusive Q&A sessions, masterclasses and live performances from the likes of Billy Bragg and Wayne Kramer (MC5) on Sunday October 1 at the Proud Galleries, Chalk Farm Road.
Screenings will take place at the Apollo Cinema, Lower Regent Street. The closing night on October 11 will bring one of the festival’s most anticipated first looks in the form of Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, which has already been praised Stateside as the director’s most accomplished indie flick in years.
Tickets can be booked directly from the Raindance site from mid-September. Check it out for more info including the full line-up and exact dates and times of events.
