Spotlight on Raindance 2011

While the London Film Festival line up was recently announced, we should not forget an equally important date on the film calendar, the Raindance Film Festival, which is taking place from the 28th of September until the 9th of October in London. Raindance started off as a training organisation for filmmakers19 years ago and a mere year into its existence, started off a film festival entirely focused on independent cinema. So do not expect any gala screening of high profile but mediocre films only added to the line-up to add some media exposure, but some truly innovative and little seen gems, showcasing the talents of tomorrow.

London Film Festival 2011: Who Likes A Surprise?

Sandra Hebron is teasing us...

The hottest ticket at the London Film Festival every year is not the opening or closing ceremony. It is not any of the gala screenings, no matter how big the stars due to attend are. Instead, hundreds of festival-goers every year will brave the maddening booking system to get their hands on a highly coveted ticket and watch a film they know nothing about and for a very good reason: it is a Surprise Screening and the title will not be revealed at all until the credits start rolling. And year after year, it has become one of the most endearing traditions of the festival.

Tomboy - One Girl's Summer Freedom

This is a brilliant film, with a simple story, and due to the impressive cast of youngsters the film has a unique raw innocence. Celine Sciamma, whose previous film 'Water Lilies', was well received in 2007, earning a slew of awards, has written and directed this touching film. As only her second feature length film, Sciamma wanted to avoid the path of bigger budget and grander film, that tempts so many successful young directors. She opted instead for a low budget summer shoot, for which she wrote the script in only three weeks. The filming took place over 20 days in the summer of August 2010. Sciamma herself states that at the heart of the film, is a philosophy of energy and spontaneity, that is not possible on films that require longer for financing and producing.

London Film Festival 2011: The Hidden Gems Part 2

The Secret Illusion 

Moving on from the previous post, a few more intriguing films I have come across while flicking through the programme. Every single year without fail ever since I started attending in 2008, the festival has brought me a wonderful surprise, a great film I knew little or nothing about, and it is part of the joy of the event to try your luck with as many films as you can, sometimes merely guided by a picture and the blurb next to it.

London Film Festival 2011: The Hidden Gems Part 1

Nobody Else But You (2011)

The London Film festival, which runs for a fortnight every October, has gone from strength to strength under the of artistic direction of Sandra Hebron over the last few years. Her knack for securing high profile screenings, coupled with her infectious enthusiasm, as well as her team's talents for unearthing a varied and satisfying line up, with a good mix up of obscure art-house and more mainstream titles, mean that the attendance has consistently gone up year after year, with a more youthful and eclectic audience.

While not quite in the same league of Cannes, Venise and Toronto, the festival is nevertheless a great way of catching up with films shown at all the festivals mentioned, as well as discovering some new gems. Many ask what is the point of seeing films there that sometimes get a release date a mere few days after their festival's screening, but the atmosphere is so informal yet electric and the buzz so exhilarating that I recommend watching as many films as you can there, especially since, more often than not, the cast and crew follow the screening with a Q&A. I will certainly be speaking a lot about the festival in the few weeks before it is due to start, and obviously during the festivities, with the target of 20 to 25 films to watch (but most certainly more!).

My Friend From Faro Review

Life is pretty dull for Mel aka Melanie, with her job at the aeroplane food factory, until along comes Nuno. Is he the friend from Faro? Well kind of, but the film starts off a little confusingly and I was starting to think that Mel was into guys, but it turns out she wants to be a guy. Or more specifically a Portuguese guy named Miguel. Sounds interesting doesn't it? My Friend from Faro, came out in 2008, from German director Nana Neul, who also wrote the screenplay.

London FrightFest 2011: The Woman Review

Plot: Under a facade of suburban normality, a family lives under the abusive reign of the father, with his twisted view of what a perfect family should be, and who dispenses mental and physical abuse. While on a hunting trip, he comes across a feral woman and captures her and brings her back home in a bid to civilise and "educate" her, with disastrous consequences.

Review: I have a confession to make. I nearly skipped The Woman at FrightFest. Watching three films back to back before its screening had taken its toll and I knew nothing about it apart from its reputation of ultraviolence. Yet what a fantastic surprise this turned out to be, an electrifying experience from start to finish, that instantly became my favourite film of the year so far.