Raindance Film Festival has announced its awards winners for 2026 – with Dan Poole taking Best UK Cinematography for Section 1591–Sex Trafficking of Children in the USA.
Raindance’s awards system honours features in 11 categories: Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Discovery Award for Debut Feature, Best Debut Director, Best Performance in a Debut Feature, Best UK Feature, Best UK Director, Best Performance in a UK Feature, Best UK Cinematography, the Spirit of Raindance Award and, new for 2026, Best Horror Feature.
It is BIFA-qualifying for British features.
Raindance also honours the work of short filmmakers with four awards.
An Oscar-qualifying festival, the recipients of the Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Animation Short awards are eligible for consideration in the three Short Film categories of the Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run (provided the films otherwise comply with Academy rules).
Honouring homegrown talent, Raindance also presents an award for Best UK Short.
Raindance is BAFTA-qualifying and BIFA-qualifying for British Shorts in the official selection.
Information on the winners – provided by Raindance – is available below.
BEST UK CINEMATOGRAPHY: DAN POOLE, Section 1591–Sex Trafficking of Children in the USA (dir: Cort Kristensen, Dan Poole, UK/USA) World Premiere. A gripping and poignant documentary that juxtaposes the hidden world of sex trafficking in America, with the story of former US Special Forces operative Jeff Tiegs, who now fights to free the oppressed as he once did in combat.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE: Silent Rebellion (dir: Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, Belgium/France/Switzerland) UK Premiere. First Feature. Nominated at Venice film festival, this WW2 drama follows a virtuous teen in 1943 Switzerland who questions her village’s morality when they turn away French refugees.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Gaslit (dir: Katie Camosy, USA) UK Premiere. First Feature. Executive produced by Jane Fonda, this powerful fracking doc follows the multi-award-winning actress and activist as she travels across the oil fields of West Texas’ Permian Basin and through the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, visiting the communities impacted by oil and gas production.
DISCOVERY AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT FEATURE (the Elisar Cabrera Award): Thanks for Nothing (dir: Stella Marie Markert, Germany) UK Premiere. First Feature. Four teenagers have created their own little anarchic utopia in the group home where they live. But one of them, sick of the world and its expectations, is determined not to survive past 18. Her friends try to keep her suicide attempts hidden, terrified of losing the only semblance of ‘home’ they’ve ever known.
BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR: NINA PANINNGUAQ SKYDSBJERG, SOFIE RØRDAM, Walls – Akinni Inuk (dir: Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg, Sofie Rørdam, Greenland) UK Premiere. First Feature. Two Greenlandic women are united by a shared traumatic past and a chaotic present – one behind bars, the other behind a cool facade. A moving journey for a second chance at life.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A DEBUT FEATURE: LILA GUENEAU, Silent Rebellion (dir: Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, Belgium/France/Switzerland) UK Premiere. First Feature. Nominated at Venice film festival, this WW2 drama follows a virtuous teen in 1943 Switzerland who questions her village’s morality when they turn away French refugees.
BEST HORROR FEATURE (the Roger Corman Award) Serena (dir Rob Alicea, USA) International Premiere. A down-on-his-luck former rock star becomes a beta tester for a revolutionary new chat bot named Serena – but who is testing who? Starring Andi Matichak (Halloween), Steven Strait (The Expanse), Ashleigh Murray (The Other Black Girl).
BEST UK FEATURE: Macbeth (dir: Daryl Chase, UK) World Premiere. When a malevolent force offers Macbeth a future as king, encouraged by Lady Macbeth, they seize their fate, with grave consequences. The story is brought to life via a social enterprise production, tackling barriers to filmmaking.
BEST DIRECTOR OF A UK FEATURE: KIRSTY BELL, Eddie Cochran – Don’t Forget Me (dir: Kirsty Bell, UK) UK Premiere. The first official biography of rock & roll icon Eddie Cochran. Despite his brief 21 years, Cochran’s musical legacy resonates across generations and genres, influencing icons from David Bowie to The Sex Pistols.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A UK FEATURE: IZABELLA MALEWSKA, Tramp (dir: Philip James McGoldrick, UK) UK Premiere. First Feature. When an MMA fighter discovers she’s unexpectedly pregnant, she grapples with the repercussions on her fighting career.
SPIRIT OF RAINDANCE AWARD (the Philip Gambrill Award): So What (dir: Blake Inniss, UK) World Premiere. First Feature.After a stroke threatens his ability to speak, pioneering videographer John Bentham fights to reclaim his voice while confronting his legacy at the heart of Britain’s punk revolution. Through rare archive and present-day reflection, the film explores ambition, survival, and the cost of living defiantly.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Pankaja (dir: Anooya Swamy, USA/India) The story follows Pankaja, a woman who, along with her daughter Lalli, desperately navigates the city slums and bureaucracy of Bangalore in a quest to locate her missing husband. Oscar-qualifying award.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: The Oath (dir: Liane Aviram, Louis Hollis, UK) In the Israeli healthcare sector, a quarter of doctors are Palestinian citizens of Israel. While the medical oath calls for equal care for all patients, Palestinian physician Dr Lina Qasem Hassan witnesses the system veering away from that promise. Oscar-qualifying award.
BEST ANIMATION SHORT: God Is Shy (dir: Jocelyn Charles, France) A train game on fears shifts when a stranger joins with darker motives. Oscar-qualifying award.
BEST UK SHORT: Wonderwall (dir: Róisín Burns, UK/France) Liverpool, 1995. The dockers are on strike. But Siobhan and her big brother Rory have other things on their mind: will their heroes Oasis beat Blur in tonight’s Battle of Britpop. When a fight breaks out, Siobhan runs off into the night. She drifts around, tired and alone.
