Editor

Raindance Film Festival has just announced the juried awards at this years, 17th edition.

The Jury has spoken, and offered their congratulations to all the filmmakers for outstanding work. Cosing winners was extremely difficult.

To recognise the outstanding achievements of the filmmakers showcased at the 17th Raindance Film Festival in 2009, a number of jury prizes will be awarded.

The winners have been announced before the screening of the Closing Night Film on Sunday 11 October.

BEST UK FEATURE
***DOWN TERRACE, Ben Wheatley, UK, European Premiere
- Ken Loach meets The Sopranos in this darkly comic and disturbing slice of social surrealism.

DESIRE, Gareth Jones, UK
- Steamy and sexual psychodrama, between a writer, his wife and his muse.

EXAM, Stuart Hazeldine, UK
– 80 minutes, 8 candidates, 1 answer, no question. How far would you go to win the ultimate job?

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER, Justin Molotnikov, UK
- Let Joey Frisk tell you about the worst week of his life.

RESURRECTING THE STREETWALKER, Ozgur Uyanik, UK, World Premiere
- An ambitious young filmmaker discovers an abandoned horror movie from the 1980s and decides to finish it - big mistake!

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
***25 KILATES, Patxi Amézcua, Spain, UK Premiere
- A tense thriller set in Barlenona's criminal underworld.

***MY SUICIDE, David Lee Miller, USA, UK Premiere
– Comedy in which a young man documents the lead up to his suicide.

YOU WON’T MISS ME, Ry Russo-Young, USA, UK Premiere
- A kaleidoscopic film portrait, set in Manhattan, of Shelly Brown, a 23 year-old alienated urban misfit recently released from a psychiatric hospital.

NO ONE’S SON, Arsen, Anton Ostojic, Croatia's Academy Award entry, UK Premiere
– Ivan, an ex-rock singer and war veteran who has lost both legs, discovers dark family secrets which change the life he now wants to end.

VACATION (KYUKA), Hajime Kadoi, Japan, UK Premiere
- A middle-aged prison guard on death row volunteers to act as a ‘supporter’ during the execution of a condemned prisoner.

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
MIME-MIME (MAIMU MAIMU), Yuikko Sode, Japan, UK Premiere
– An eccentric portrait of a woman who lives alone, whose relationships border on hostility, and who plays dangerous sexual games with her married former teacher.

***REDLAND, Asiel Norton, USA, UK Premiere
– Debut director Asiel Norton chose 35mm for this gorgeously filmed morality tale of sex and incest set during the 1930’s recession in Redland County California.

THE LONGEST NIGHT, Till Kleinert, Germany, World Premiere
– Nostalgia turns into swansong as five childhood friends on a summer trip home have to face the monsters of their past – both figurative and literal.

THE DINNER PARTY, Scott Murden, Australia, UK Premiere
– What would you do if you found yourself at a dinner party where people were planning on killing themselves afterwards?

A NECESSARY DEATH, Daniel Stamm, USA, UK Premiere
– A documentary filmmaker looks for a suicidal individual to follow from first preparations to the final act.

DOCUMENTARY
*** A NORMAL LIFE PLEASE (FUTSU NO SHIGOTO GA SHITAI), Tokachi Tsuchiya, Japan
– This eye-popping doc blows the lid on Japan’s easing of labour regulations, as an overworked truck driver is menaced after he joins a workers union

SPECIAL WHEN LIT, Brett Sullivan, UK
- World premiere of a documentary about the dying art of pimball and some of its'' fanatical players.

THE PHILOSOPHER KINGS, Patrick Shen, USA
- A journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians.

IT CAME FROM KUCHAR, Jennifer M. Kroot, USA
- Documentary on the zany underground filmmaking twins.

MY BIG BREAK, Tony Zierra, USA
– Featuring struggling wannabe housemates West Bentley, Brad Rowe and Chad Lindberg amongst others before fame hits for some of them

BEST MICROBUDGET FEATURE – DOCUMENTARY OR FICTION
*** COLIN, Marc Price, UK
– UK zombie horror shot for only £45, Colin has become an international sensation.

SON OF THE SUNSHINE, Ryan Ward, Canada, UK Premiere
– A young man with Tourette’s Syndrome undergoes surgery to correct his disorder. As his symptoms fade, so does his ability to heal the sick and dying.

BOMBER, Paul Cotter, UK, UK Premiere
– Paul Cotter pumps new life into the time worn road movie genre in a feature full of energy and surprise.

ALL THE YEARS OF TRYING, Dom Shaw, UK, World Premiere
– Music documentary about cult ‘punk poet’ Patrik Fitzgerald.

MEMORY AND DESIRE: 30 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS WITH STEPHEN DUFFY AND THE LILAC TIME, Douglas Arrowsmith, Canada, UK, World Premiere
– Documentarian Douglas Arrowsmith answers the question ‘Whatever happened to Stephen Duffy’.

LOCKED OUT, Yasunobu Takahashi, Japan, UK Premiere
– Hiroshi, a man wandering in rural Japan aimlessly, encounters 6 year-old Keita, who triggers a conflict between conscience and a dark violent nature.

UK SHORT
*** INFIDEL George Milton
SCREAMING SKULL Ashley Thorpe
THE RULES OF THE GAME Tom Daley
THE TAXIDERMIST Bert and Bertie
CRAZY HANDS Charlie Graley

INTERNATIONAL SHORT
THE SLOW GAME Paolo Sorrentino Italy
*** OF BEST INTENTIONS Brian O'Malley, Brian Durnin Ireland
TEN FOR GRANDPA Doug Krr Canada
HOLLYWOOD JEROME Frey Hoffman USA
THE MOUSE THAT SOARED Kyle T Bell USA

DISTRIBUTION AWARD
New this year, 3 features and 3 short films will be selected for theatrical distribution in the UK in March 2010. Winning films will be announced in December and will receive a 5 city UK theatrical release courtesy of the Apollo Cinema chain.

UK SHORT sponsored by Delta Airlines
Delta Air Lines supports the Best UK Short Film Award with a prize of 2 return tickets to anywhere in the US. The prize was designed to give UK filmmakers the opportunity to attend screenings of their film in US festivals.

FILM OF THE FESTIVAL [SHORT]
For the fifth year running we are very excited to announce the Film of the Festival Award. This year’s award is supported by the Independent Film Trust and the winner will make next year's cinema advert.

*** The Slow Game

Quoted
"This independent film festival is the gift that just keeps on giving. There are the usual, vital, masterclasses and talks, and, of course, plenty to watch: music-themed docs on everything from the Brit house explosion to Tiffany's stalkers, and plenty of films-about-film-making in the selection, both real and fictional (like A Necessary Death). And no indie festival would be complete without a film starring Paddy Considine (The Cry Of The Owl) or one directed by Steven Soderbergh (The Girlfriend Experience)."
- The Guardian

"Great films. Sold out screenings. Furious networking. Loud raucous parties. Everything you would expect from an independent film festival. Like Sundance was 15 years ago"

- LA Biz

"What they are calling Raindance in America: The SWSX of Europe"

- Gabriel Sunday, My Suicide