RAINDANCE are delighted to announce that the Raindance Film Festival will return to London and take place from 28th October to 7th November 2020 for its twenty-eighth edition of the ever-popular celebration of independent cinema. The Raindance Film Festival attracts 16,000 visitors into London’s buzzing West End film district and is officially recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA (AMPAS), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
Winners for the Best Short, Best Animation Short and Best Documentary Short will qualify for Oscar®; British films accepted at Raindance may qualify for BAFTA consideration. In addition, British features and shorts in the official selection will be eligible for entry for the 2020 BIFA.
Throughout the 11-day festival, visitors can expect a wide-range of events, workshops, screenings and panels designed to bring insight to independent filmmakers, along with a Guest Country/Territory in Focus and a special retrospective on the Raindance Icon Award recipient for 2020.
Raindance competitive sections are open for feature films (narrative and documentary), short films (narrative, animation, documentary, music videos), and immersive experiences (VR).
For the competitive feature films strand at Raindance, films will compete for: Best International Feature, Best UK Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Performance, Best Documentary Feature and The Discovery Award for debut films. Raindance Special Awards also include Film of the Festival and Spirit of the Festival Award.
For the competitive shorts strand films compete for: Best Short of the Festival, Best UK Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation Short and Best Music Video.
For the competitive immersive (VR) strand, experiences will compete for: Best Immersive Game, Best Interactive Narrative Experience, Best Cinematic Experience, Best Animated Experience, Best Documentary Experience, Outstanding Achievement in Art, Outstanding Achievement in Audio, British Award: Best UK Experience, Discovery Award: Best Debut Experience and the Grand Jury Prize: Best Immersive Experience of the Festival.
Raindance also welcomes back its well-known strands and announces new strands in its programme. Strands this year will include: Raindance Immersive (XR), Raindance Queer, Raindance Sonic (Music Docs and Live Music), A Dirty World (Environmental films), Homegrown (UK Films), Viva Voce: Stories of Women, Female Gaze (Films by women behind the camera), Absurdities (Edgy films), and Politico, with more strands to be announced later.
This year will also be the first year that Raindance will be working alongside London based public relations company Premier. Jonathan Rutter of Premier had the following to say about the new partnership, “Independent filmmaking has always been at the heart of what we do, so we are very happy to be collaborating with an institution that celebrates this and gives a platform to some of the best independent titles from across the globe”
Founder of the Raindance Film Festival, Elliot Grove, has spoken of his excitement for this year’s festival: "Raindance returns to London and is happening from 28 October - no ifs no buts. And who better to amplify the voices of indie filmmakers than UK’s leading film publicity agency Premier. We are thrilled about this new exciting collaboration and look forward to welcoming you all this autumn".
