It’s just under a week to go until Raindance and already people are talking about the London Film Festival. The capital’s flagship film event is very much Raindance’s bigger brother – this year, in more ways than one. Because while Alfonso Cuaron and George Clooney show Gravity to crowds in Leicester Square, just a few hundred metres away, his younger brother Carlos is premiering his own film, Sugar Kisses.
Top 20 films to see at 2013 Raindance Film Festival:
That’s just one of many surprises at this year’s festival. If you ‘ve been following the media coverage, the biggest of all is the appointment of Julian Assange to the Raindance jury. But whether you applaud that decision or think it’s a dreadful mistake, put that aside: this is a film festival. It’s not about jurors. It’s about films. And there are loads of them here in what has grown to become Europe’s largest showcase for indie filmmakers. Directors, writers and actors who tell their tales with the minimum of money outside of the studio system. This year, that includes people such as Danny Huston, Bernard Rose, Bernard Hill, Sienna Miller and Billy Zane. Yes, The Phantom himself. How’s that for a surprise?
Some of these people will have mortgaged their homes to get their story on the big screen – and whether you’re Alfonso Cuaron’s brother or not, that ambition and creativity is worth celebrating.
A few of these films will be lucky enough to get a distribution deal in the UK. For many, the next couple of weeks will be the only chance you get to see them in your life.So, rather than get caught up in the Wikileaks furore, let’s focus on the films. After scouring through the 2013 Raindance lineup, here are out top 20 recommendations for things to see:
Two Jacks: “Bernard Rose and Danny Huston continue their run of modern day Tolstoy adaptations with this comedy. If it’s anywhere near as good as their last effort, Boxing Day, this will be fantastic. Plus, Billy Zane.”
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