Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK, currently rated top 10 international film festival for filmmakers to consider, according to studiobinder. It is based in the heart of London’s buzzing West End film district.

Raindance Film Festival is officially recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the British Independent Film Awards. Selected shorts will qualify for Oscar® and BAFTA considerations.
Festival Sections:

- World-renowned programme of the best UK and international independent films
- Masterclasses with special guests
- Raindance Industry Forum – talks and panels
- Raindance Virtual and Augmented Reality Strand
- Networking events

Each year, Raindance attracts dozens of thousands of visitors including hundreds of industry professionals into London. The 29th Raindance will take place between October 27th and November 6th in central London.

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Amongst others, Raindance has hosted the UK premieres of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Blair Witch Project, Dead Man’s Shoes, Memento, Humpday, Love Exposure, Ghost World, Capturing the Friedmans, Down Terrace, I Origins and Old Boy. Our programming receives plaudits from press and public alike.

Over the years, the festival has hosted such guests and filmmakers as Christopher Nolan, Terry Gilliam, Shane Meadows, Ken Loach, Marky Ramone, Iggy Pop, Anton Corbijn, Quentin Tarantino, Faye Dunaway and Lou Reed. Over the last few years our international Jury has included Sean Bean, Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie, Martin Freeman, Gareth Edwards, Ewen Bremner, Jason Flemyng, Andrew Scott, Tom Waits, Vicky McClure and Sheridan Smith among top UK industry guest jurors.

Raindance members get a discount on their first submission each year. If you are a member email festival@raindance.co.uk to receive your unique waiver code relevant to the membership you have purchased. Please include your membership number and expiry date. To join Raindance please go to: https://www.raindance.org/membership/

Awards & Prizes

Raindance Jury Awards:
- Best Director
- Best Screenplay
- Best Cinematography
- Best Performance
- Best International Feature
- Best UK Feature
- Best Documentary Feature
- Discovery Award
- Best Short of the Festival
- Best UK Short
- Best Documentary Short
- Best Animation Short
- Best Music Video

Raindance Special Awards:
- Film of the Festival
- Spirit of the Festival

Raindance Immersive Stories Awards:
- Best Immersive Game
- Best Interactive NarrativeExperience
- Best Cinematic Experience
- Best Animated Experience
- Best Documentary Experience
- Outstanding Achievement in Art
- Outstanding Achievement in Audio
- British Award: Best UK Experience
- Discovery Award: Best Debut Experience
- Grand Jury Prize: Best Immersive Experience of the Festival

Rules & Terms

The 29th Raindance will take place between October 27th and November 6th 2021 in central London.

1. Submission Deadlines
Submissions will be accepted from 1 August 2020. The early deadline is Monday 26 April 2021; the regular deadline is Monday 24 May 2021; the late deadline is Monday 5 July 2021. Early entry is encouraged but in no way guarantees acceptance.

2. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via online screener ONLY. We do not accept films sent over by DVD. We do not accept subsequent cuts or more complete versions of submitted films, therefore changing or updating the originally submitted link is not accepted. Only one version of the film will be reviewed by programmers.

3. Submission Eligibility
- All submissions must have been completed after 1 January 2019.
- Raindance requires at least a UK premiere for any feature film.
- There is no premiere policy for short films and music videos.
- Work-in-progress and films with distribution are accepted.

4. Premiere Status
- Feature Films must be at least UK Premieres: they must not have been released in the UK on any format, nor screened publicly online.
If, after you submit, the premiere status of your feature film changes rendering it no longer available for at least UK premiere, please let us know immediately and withdraw your film from submissions.
- There is no premiere policy for short films and music videos, they may have screened at other Festivals and/or online.

5. Film Classification
All films screened during the Raindance Film Festival receive a blank 18 certificate from Westminster Council (London). This means we cannot accept anyone underage during any screening of the Festival. Please take this into account when submitting to Raindance.

6. Submission Fee
All submissions for Raindance are to be paid through FilmFreeway platform. The submission fee is non-refundable.

7. Shipping - for selected films ONLY
If selected your DCP should be sent to:

Raindance Film Festival
10a Craven Street
London WC2N 5PE
United Kingdom

If the film is selected for the Festival all shipping and postage costs for DCPs and additional materials sent to and returned from Raindance must be borne by the submitting party. Raindance will not accept Cash On Delivery shipments. Raindance will not absorb any fees incurred in British customs. All charges must be pre-paid.

8. Selection of Films
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
- Quality of narrative and production values.
- Independent nature of the production.

9. Notification
Raindance endeavours to complete all selection procedures by 15 September 2021 and inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been successful or not after that time. Successful submissions will receive a Filmmaker Festival Pack that will include important information on shipping the DCP to the Festival, press and publicity, guest accreditation, contact information and how to make the most of participating in the Festival.

10. Festival Screenings - for selected films ONLY
Selected films MUST provide a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) in order to be screened at the Raindance Film Festival, as well as a backup Blu-ray. The film title MUST be clearly labelled on the DCP and Blu-ray. All foreign language films MUST contain English subtitles files.
Blu-ray will be used as backup only. Please clearly label whether your film is PAL or NTSC. Our facilities do NOT support DVD, tape, 35mm, Super 16mm, 8mm or double-head formats.
A selected DCP must be received at Raindance no later than TWENTY days prior to its scheduled screening date.
Our partner cinema uses pin sharp Sony 4K Digital Cinema projection, making DCP screenings look incredible. Raindance aspires to provide the best quality projection possible but will not be held liable for any failure in the technical quality of the projection, nor will fees be refunded in any such case. Raindance assumes that the submitting party or filmmaker(s) or entrant(s) or print source company has insured for damage and loss of the festival DCP.

11. Scheduling - for selected films ONLY
Screenings are scheduled at the discretion of Raindance. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Raindance reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Raindance will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.
No film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its selection.

12. Promotion - for selected films ONLY
Selected films must acknowledge that Raindance reserves the right to promote the films on Raindance website and social media using both images and video that you provide.

13. Festival Awards
Jury prizes for Feature Films: Film of the Festival, Best UK Feature, Best International Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Performance, Best Cinematography, Best Documentary and the Discovery Award.

Jury prizes for Short Films: Best Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation Short, Best UK Short.

Jury prizes for Music Videos: Best Music Video.

If shortlisted for a Jury prize the online screeners of the film must be made available for the duration of the festival for all the jury members.
22 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Victor Luengo del Ama

    It was just great... and a real surprise. From the very beginning your feel your film is in a prestigious place. They take very seriously the campaign of your film and encourage you and lead you to do it by providing tools, strategies and staff to help you at any time. On the other hand, in spite of the Pandemic and consequently the online edition, I could feel the hospitality of all the team. Definitely It was a great experience.

    November 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Hola Victor! It has been our pleasure to show a strong environmental doc that has been able to teach something new and important to our audience. What else could we want. We hope our paths will cross again soon! Best of luck

  • Dean Marriott

    Our whole team was thrilled to be selected and able to share the world premiere of Next of Kin at Raindance. All communication was clear, super friendly and the film listing in the programme looked great. Even though, as a result of Covid, the Queer Shorts programme was screened online, being part of Raindance was a dream come true for this Londoner and our London-based lead actors. Hopefully, next year we can all meet in person! Thank you again

    November 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Dear Dean, Thanks so much for your precious feedback. Your film is a gem that deserves a spotlight, so thank you for submitting and hopefully we will be able to promote your next project with you at the cinema! All the best until then from the Riandance Team

  • Asaf Yecheskel

    While we didn’t get the chance to attend the festival (obviously, due to the COVID19) communication was great and we were well informed. Thank you for selecting "Hanna Mash Hu Al Yaman" and I look forward to collaborating with you again in the future.

    November 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Hi Asaf, thanks to your for submitting the beautiful Hanna Mash Hu Al Yaman! We wish you and the film a great and well deserved festival run and we hope our paths will cross again very soon. Please do keep in touch!

  • Arthur Cauty

    A top class festival, even with the move to an online platform due to Covid. The whole experience just oozed quality and passion. 100% recommended!

    November 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank Arthur for your words! Your support is precious for us. We hope to see you at a physical edition of the festival very soon!

  • Nay Tabbara

    Despite a global pandemic, the Raindance team was able to pull off an incredibly well put together festival online - which in my opinion has even allowed a broader audience to the festival and to the films! They were also incredibly professional, caring, easily accessible, always answering as fast as possible and keeping the communication going with the filmmakers. They put so much effort into making this a great experience and it definitely was.

    November 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Nay thanks for your words. We were so pleased with the success of Frayed Roots. Shorts like yours are one of the fundamental basis of our festival. We wish you and the film all the best and we hope to see you again soon!