Judging from the deluge that hit parts of the capital Monday morning, a rain dance is the last thing soaked Londoners need this week. Lucky, then, that we're actually talking about the Raindance Film Festival, which opens on Tuesday night.
Now in its fifteenth year, Raindance has matured from a youthful dalliance as the edgy alternative to the LFF to become one of Europe's most highly respected film festivals, and a proving ground for both young Turks and established auteurs. Now-classic films such as Memento, Coffee and Cigarettes and Capturing The Friedmans have been championed at Raindance in previous years, making it the perfect place to catch a future cult flick before the hipster crowd have gotten wind of it.
Londonist likes the look of the following:
- Being Michael Madsen - Madsen plays himself as the victim of a paparazzo who decides to make a documentary on his telephoto-wielding tormentor. Sounds like Abbas Kiarostami's Close-Up re-imagined by Christopher Guest, and judging by Madsen's general brilliance in almost everything he appears in, this should be a good'un. The eponymous star will be in attendance to discuss the film.
- LiveAmmunition – Raindance is a promoter of emerging talent, and to that end, LiveAmmunition invites filmmakers to pitch their ideas against a panel comprised of the muscle and the money in the Brit film landscape, including Ewan McGregor. Despite the reality show-like format, it has worked in the past, with Meet The Parents and 51st State emerging through this unorthodox method.
- Paranoid Park – Gus Van Sant's latest was feted in Cannes, where it won the 60th Anniversary Award. The film, which tells the story of a teenage skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard, is in keeping with Van Sant's preoccupation with adolescent trauma ( My Own Private Idaho and Elephant), and is showing as part of the festival's closing night gala on October 7th.
Raindance Film Festival, 25th September – 7th October, various central London locations. For more information visit the website.
By Dean Nicholas
Image of Raindance poster created by Gee Vaucher and used courtesy of the Festival.
