To celebrate the outstanding films screening at the 33rd Raindance Film Festival (18 – 27 June), jury awards are being presented to features and shorts. Raindance’s awards system honours features in 10 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 Director of a UK Feature, Best Performance in a UK Feature, Best UK Cinematography, and the Spirit of Raindance Award. As an Oscar® qualifying festival, Raindance also recognises the work of short filmmakers with four awards. Winners will be announced at Raindance’s Jury Awards Ceremony on Friday 27 June.
And the nominees are:
Best International Feature:
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Abducted Files (dir: Filippo Capuzzi Lapietra, Brazil) World Premiere. A mockumentary in which a crew of ufologists revisit lost UFO footage from 2016. When shocking evidence resurfaces, they uncover a government conspiracy and must decide whether to expose the truth or vanish into silence.
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Dream! (dir: Paul Spurrier, Thailand) World Premiere. One of the biggest independent films ever made in Thailand, this lavish Christmas-set musical follows a young girl fleeing her mountain home, embarking on a magical journey across Thailand to find a new family.
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Love Song from Hiroshima (dir: Hideyuki Tokigawa, Japan) European Premiere. A call to peace and togetherness as a benevolent alien wanders present-day Hiroshima.
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Nawi: Dear Future Me (dir: Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin Schmutzler, Kenya) UK Premiere. A debut feature about the plight of child brides in Africa, following a 13-year-old girl whose father is selling her to an older man for a herd of goats. She embarks on a journey to reclaim her dream of joining high school.
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No Beast. So Fierce. (dir: Burhan Qurbani, Poland/France/Germany) UK Premiere. An adaptation of Richard III set in Berlin’s underworld, starring Kenda Hmeidan as the daughter of an Arab clan plotting against her male siblings after a bloody gang war.
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Somewhere in Love (dir: Morgan Simon, France/Belgium) UK Premiere. The story of Nicole, a single mother, and her teenage son whose fusional love is tested by financial pressure and new relationships.
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Tape (dir: Bizhan Tong, UK/Hong Kong) UK Premiere. A bold reimagining of Richard Linklater’s cult classic where three high school friends reunite to confront a harrowing secret from their past.
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The Academy (dir: Camilla Guttner, Germany) International Premiere. A student experiences a baptism of fire when accepted by a prestigious art school, only to discover the ruthless nature of the art world.
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The Party’s Over (dir: Elena Manrique, Spain/Belgium) UK Premiere. Beatriz Arjona stars as a wealthy divorcée in southern Spain whose life is disrupted when a young Senegalese immigrant seeks shelter in her toolshed.
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Wet Monday (dir: Justyna Mytnik, Poland) UK Premiere. A debut feature about a teenage girl confronting repressed trauma from a sexual assault, developing a strange fear of water and finding help from a new friend.
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Zhaza (dir: Darkhan Tulegenov, Kazakhstan) UK Premiere. An action thriller in which a corrupt mayor fights to save his daughter after she is raped by the chief-of-police.
Best Documentary Feature:
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Children in the Fire (dir: Evgeny Afineevsky, Ukraine) World Premiere. A debut feature telling the stories of war-wounded Ukrainian children through live footage and animation.
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Emma: One Last Dance (dir: Maya Amin-Smith, UK) World Premiere. A debut feature about Emma Hayes, the most successful manager in WSL history, covering her final six months at Chelsea Football Club.
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Flamingo Camp (dir: Chris Coats, USA) European Premiere. The story of a queer and trans anarchist community in an off-grid squatter town in California, fractured by tragedy.
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God as My Witness (dir: Lindsay Q. Pitre, USA) World Premiere. A debut feature exposing decades-long cover-ups of abuse and corruption within the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
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Immortals (dir: Maja Tschumi, Switzerland/Iraq) UK Premiere. Following Iraqi youth fighting for a better future after years of war and revolution.
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Poised (dir: Toby Robson, UK) European Premiere. A debut feature about a man using mixed martial arts to help disadvantaged youth in post-industrial north-east England.
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The Last of the Whale Shark (dir: Ramtin Balef, Iran) UK Premiere. The story of the last surviving whale shark in the Persian Gulf seeking its mate.
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The Social Trap: 5 Women vs the Big 5 (dir: Elisa Jadot, France) UK Premiere. Five women take action against tech giants due to adolescent mental health impacts linked to heavy smartphone use.
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The Two of Us (dir: Owen Ward, UK) World Premiere. A debut feature following Tim Edwards on an epic UK walk after the loss of his daughter to gun crime.
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Turtle Walker (dir: Taira Malaney, India/USA) UK Premiere. A debut feature about Satish Bhaskar’s 1970s journey along India’s coast to protect sea turtle nesting sites.
Discovery Award for Best Debut Feature:
Nominees include A Cell Phone Movie (dir: Will Sterling, USA), Dali (dir: Mickey Angelov, UK), God Teeth (dir: Robbie C Williamson, Costa Rica), Granny Must Die (dir: Yi Jung Chen, Taiwan), Regina (dir: Ashley De Grandy, USA), Saba(dir: Maksud Hossain, Bangladesh), Shakespeare’s The Tempest (dir: Garret Replogle, USA), Snatchers (dir: Craig Alexander & Shelly Higgs, Australia), and Srishti (dir: Paul Antar, India).
Best UK Feature:
Nominations include Breakwater (dir: Max Morgan), Dali (dir: Mickey Angelov), Dirty Boy (dir: Doug Rao), Heavyweight (dir: Christopher M. Anthony), Loner (dir: Charlie Robb & Douglas Tawn), Row (dir: Matthew Losasso), The Lonely Musketeer (dir: Nicolai Schümann), and White Guilt (dir: Marcus Flemmings).
Further categories include Best Debut Director, Best Performance in a Debut Feature, Best Director of a UK Feature, Best Performance in a UK Feature, Best UK Cinematography, and the Spirit of Raindance Award.
Raindance also features its Academy Award® qualifying Shorts programme, with awards for Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation Short, and Best UK Short.
The full list of nominees showcases a diverse and dynamic range of international and UK cinema, highlighting debut works alongside seasoned talents. The ceremony on 27 June will reveal which films and filmmakers receive the festival’s top honours.
