The 28th Raindance Film Festival, which starts on Oct. 29th and runs through Nov. 7th, will bring the best of independent films and immersive experiences online and in London. The festival program is packed with features, shorts, immersive content, talks, panels and Q&As, which also comprise the following LGBT+ films:
A Dim Valley (dir: Brandon Colvin, USA). International Premiere. In this hallucinogenic fairytale, a biologist and his two pot-smoking assistants working deep in the Appalachian woods encounter a trio of mystical backpackers.
Born to Be (dir: Tania Cypriano, USA). UK Premiere. An intimate look at how the work of Dr Jess Ting at New York’s groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery impacts the lives of his patients, as well as his own life.
Drag Kids (dir: Megan Wennberg, Canada) UK Premiere. Touching documentary chronicling four drag performers under the age of 12. Having faced enormous scrutiny over their brief drag careers, the young stars prepare for the biggest performance of their lives at Montreal Pride.
Madame (dir: Stéphane Riethauser, Switzerland). UK premiere. Using private archive footage, this family saga challenges the taboos of gender and sexuality as a flamboyant 90-year old and her gay grandson explore the development and transmission of gender identity in a patriarchal environment.
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo (dir: Javier Polo Gandia, Spain). With contributors including John Walters and Eduardo Casanova, this eccentric documentary follows a man obsessed with flamingos on his quest to unravel the real story behind this pink socio-cultural phenomenon. This film is nominated for Raindance’s “Best Cinematography” Award.
Under My Skin (dir: David O’Donnell, Australia/USA). Liv Hewson and Alex Russell star as a free-spirited artist and a straight-laced lawyer respectively, whose love is tested by questions of gender. Liv Hewson is nominated for Raindance’s “Best Performance” Award for their role in this film.
In addition to these films from the feature programme, within the Raindance Immersive VR strand is the following VR documentary:
Another Dream (creator: Tamara Shogoalu/Ado Ato Pictures).A hybrid animated documentary and VR game which brings the gripping, true love story of an Egyptian lesbian couple to life. Faced with a post-revolution backlash against the LGBT+ community, they escape Cairo to seek asylum and find acceptance in the Netherlands.
Raindance Film Festival runs 28 October – 7 November, and Raindance Immersive runs 28 October – 15 November.
For tickets and more information, please go to:
https://cinema.raindance.org
