Tag Archives: elliott grove

21st Raindance Film Festival Opening Gala & How To Make Money Selling Drugs Premiere

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The 21st Raindance Film Festival started with a richter scale bang. The great and the good of the International Film Industry congregated at the Vue West End in the iconic film centre of Leicester Square.

Elliott Grove, Raindance founder and champion of independent cinema, was in his element and shiny with success. Elliot looked incredibly happy and rightly so; his achievement is vast.

After the red carpet we were greeted with champagne and mingled.

Deatheater and prominent British Actor Jon Campling

Deatheater and prominent British Actor Jon Campling

 

Raindance founder Eliott Grove.

Raindance founder Eliott Grove.

 

Catherine Balavage, editor of Frost, and James Yardley, Frost Writer.

Catherine Balavage, editor of Frost, and James Yardley, Frost Writer.

We then headed into the cinema, grabbed our goody bags filled with popcorn and Pop Chips and waited to watch Michael Cooke’s documentary How to Make Money Selling Drug. 

The controversial titled documentary, supported by  addiction services is a brilliant satire on how to sell drugs, but don’t worry, it is an anti-drug film. With an excellent format of going from street dealer to kingpin, it highlights the injustice of law enforcement and social economics. I cannot rave about this documentary enough. It completely changed my thinking and is now my favourite documentary. This is a very important documentary and everyone should see it. It starts off in a light-hearted way but it carries a very serious message. It does not shy away from difficult issues. Definitely go and see it.

 

The Opening Night After Party Gala at Café de Paris from 9pm with a performance from the wonderfully unique and talented band, Pepe Deluxé. was also great. Raindance is now part of the London fabric, a film festival deeply in the very fabric of the British Film Industry itself. Don’t miss it.

Raindance Raw Talent ties with Mulholland Pictures in new feature film

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Not happy with a film festival and film courses, Raindance are now making their own film, Love.Honour.Obey., a bondage-themed psychological thriller, Premiering September 2013

E & A
The Raindance Film Festival’s production arm, Raindance Raw Talent, has teamed up with multi-award winning Dutch production company Mulholland Pictures to produce an independent thriller titled Love.Honour.Obey., which will premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London in September 2013.

Having curated one of the world’s leading film festivals and taught filmmaking classes for over two decades, Raindance has a mission to discover, foster and promote independent filmmaking around the world, always from an active, creative and energetic angle. Raindance Raw Talent aims to produce truly independent films that are entertaining, thought-provoking and commercially viable.

Mulholland Pictures won 4 awards at the Berlin Film Festival with their film Left Luggage. Other credits include Enigma starring Kate Winslet, directed by Michael Apted, Fogbound with Luke Perry and The Discovery of Heaven with Stephen Fry.

Love.Honour.Obey. is the story of Alison, who with her husband Tom is late one night assaulted and bound by an intruder in their home. A dark kidnapping story takes an intriguing twist, as it transpires that the intruder has a mysterious vision for the married couple. A gritty psychological thriller with a haunting moral, Love.Honour.Obey. also features the use of ‘Kinbaku’ – a form of Japanese bondage which literally translates as ‘the beauty of tight binding’.

To raise the money for this feature without having to rely on studios, professional film financiers or the government, Raindance Raw Talent has decided to use an alternative form of film financing which incorporates traditional elements such as pre-sales with the new model of crowdfunding. Using the Indiegogo website, in just over 2 weeks the campaign has raised an incredible 102% its goal and is still going strong, ranking among the top 5 film campaigns on the site!

To learn more about the Indiegogo campaign, donate or share, click here

The unique and exciting perks on the Indiegogo campaign are designed to give an insight into the process of making the film, from script to shoot, edit to premiere. They feature fly-on-the-wall viewpoints such as the full script notes between writer, director and producer, as well as the opportunity to spend a day with the cast and crew on set – and there will be even more one-of-a-kind perks added to the campaign soon!

Cult director Ate de Jong has made films in English, German and Dutch. He lived and worked in Hollywood for 8 years, and his credits include Drop Dead Fred and Highway to Hell. Ate has also directed the Miami Vice episode Missing Hours, which guest-starred James Brown and was a hallmark discovery moment for a young unknown comedian – Chris Rock. He currently resides in Amsterdam where he is a household name, equally controversial and successful.

Screenwriter Mark Rogers was discouraged from his craft by his university experience, where he was told he should not go into filmmaking due to his Cerebral Palsy. He got in contact with Raindance seeking some inspiration and a different opinion, and after reading one of his scripts Raindance founder and film producer Elliot Grove decided the opportunity was too good to miss. Funnily enough, Mark’s all-time favourite film is Drop Dead Fred. He is currently busy re-drafting Love.Honour.Obey. with Ate.

Director of Photography Zoran Veljkovic was classically trained in Yugoslavia, and has since shot 10 award-winning features, including Peter Howitt’s Dangerous Parking. Zoran has also lensed many more shorts, promos and commercials, and has been picked up awards in America, Italy, Spain, Japan, Holland and Yugoslavia.

Love.Honour.Obey. will premiere at the 21st Raindance Film Festival in September 2013.

The Fringe Report Awards 2012

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John Park has run the Fringe Report for ten years, and I am as unhappy as the other 400 odd people who turned up to the Fringe Report Awards that The Fringe Report is ending this year. John has run the Fringe Report without profit and has connected everything and everyone on the fringe of London, and indeed, the UK.

James Aylett, James Yardley and Lynn Howes.

The Fringe Report Awards took place at Monday 6 February 2012 at The Leicester Square Theatre. The Leicester Square Theatre was packed with the great and good of Britain’s theatre and acting talent. [Disclaimer: I am an editor, writer and photographer for the Fringe Report].

Jack Bowman and Catherine Balavage

The awards were as fun as ever and the list of winners is below. Goodbye to the Fringe Report. The fringe now weeps at your loss.

Elliot Grove – Outstanding Achievement Award – Film
Steve Forster – Best PR – Theatre
Flavia Fraser-Cannon – Best Creative – Producer, Photographer, Publicist
Paul L Martin – Best Producer – Cabaret
Sibyl Madrigal – Best Music Curator (for Boat-Ting)
Performers Without Borders – Best Encouragers of Talent
Steve Henwood & Wendy Matthews – Best Festival Directors
Guy Chapman – Outstanding Achievement Award – PR
Kiki Kendrick – Best Creative – Actor and Writer
Becky Talbot – Best Presenter – Radio
Kevin Sampson – Outstanding Achievement Award – Literature & Film
Vocal Motions Elastic Theatre – Best Theatre Company
Sasha Regan – Best Venue Director
Adam Morley – Best Director – Theatre & Film
Ricky Dukes – Best Artistic Director (Lazarus Theatre Company)
James Hyland – Best Performer – Solo Show (for A Christmas Carol / Jacob Marley)
Paul Sayers & Simon Bolton – Best Shakespeare Producers (Rooftop Theatre)
Paul Levy – Best Publisher
Tactful Cactus – Best Short Film (for Starcrossed)
Alison Wright – Best PR – Arts
Stuart Price – Best Creative – Director & Writer
Laura Pitt-Pulford – Best Performer – Musical (for Parade at Southwark Playhouse)
Alexander Parsonage – Best Artistic Director (Finger In The Pie)
Andy McQuade – Best Director – Theatre
Catherine Brogan – Best Poet

Raindance announces Jury for Festival Awards

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Raindance announces Jury for Festival Awards for 19th Raindance Film Festival

28 Sep – 9 Oct

Raindance is delighted to announce the jury for this year’s Festival Awards. The panel, which includes
actors, directors, presenters, journalists and members of the film and photograph industry, will judge
the films nominated in each of the eight categories, with the winners to be announced on Saturday 8th
October, 8pm at the Festival venue, the Apollo Cinema in Piccadilly Circus.

The eight categories are:

Best International Feature, Best UK Feature, Best Debut Feature, Best Documentary, Best Microbudget
Feature, Best UK Short, Best International Short and the Film of the Festival.

“Our jury represents the spectrum of the film industry – from actors to directors and critics to
programmers – they bring an in-depth knowledge of film to the judging panel and will have the
difficult job of choosing winners from the outstanding titles nominated this year,” said Elliot Grove,
Festival Director.

The jury is as follows:

Sally Bibawy
Sally Bibawy joined analogue photography company, Lomography, in 1995 and took over the art direction
and product development in 2000. She is a board member, together with Matthias Fiegl and Wolfgang
Stranzinger, since 2004 and is based in Vienna.

Dexter Fletcher
Best known for his role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Dexter Fletcher has grown up on screen,
beginning with his role as Baby Face in Bugsy Malone and on the British TV series Press Gang. His many
credits include The Elephant Man, Layer Cake and Kick Ass. Dexter also appeared in the 2009 Raindance Film Festival Trailer.

Gillies MacKinnon

Scottish Director Gillies MacKinnon has assembled one of the most impressive bodies of work in
recent British cinema with directing credits including Small Faces, Trojan Eddie starring Richard Harris
and Stephen Rea, A Simple Twist of Fate with Steve Martin, Regeneration starring Jonathan Pryce,
James Wilby and Jonny Lee Miller, Hideous Kinky with Kate Winslet, and the Golden Globe-winning
television Film, Last of the Blond Bombshells starring Judi Dench. His other work includes The Escapist,
Pure, historical drama Gunpowder Treason and Plot with Robert Carlyle, Tara Road , and The Snow
Goose starring Billy Connolly.

Céline Masset
Céline Masset is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Brussels Short Film Festival, which will
celebrate its 15th anniversary next year. Her company, Un Soir Un Grain, also distributes and produces short films.

Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory is a multi award-winning actress on stage, television and the silver screen. She played
Cherie Blair in The Queen and The Special Relationship and played Narcissa Malfoy in the last three Harry
Potter movies. She will appear in Martin Scorsese’s soon-to-be-released film, Hugo and We’ll take
Manhattan for the BBC.

Wendy Mitchell

Wendy Mitchell is head of news at Screen International and ScreenDaily.com. Before moving to London,
she worked on staff in New York for Entertainment Weekly, indieWIRE, Rolling Stone and CMJ, as well as
freelancing for the New York Daily News, Playboy, Variety, Billboard, Time Out New York and The Wall
Street Journal. She is also the author of New York City’s Best Dive Bars (published in 2003).

Alex Zane
Alex began his career hosting the film review show Screenplay and fronting MTV’s flagship show, TRL.
A talented radio broadcaster, Alex began working at Xfm in 2002, and hosted the station’s Breakfast
Show for two years. His TV credits include Popworld, Balls of Steel, 8 out of 10 Cats and he hosted this
year’s Red Carpet Live for the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Alex currently hosts Channel 4’s Rude
Tube, Alex Zane’s Guest List and is the lead film reviewer for The Sun.

Festival Awards – nominated films

Best International Feature

Just Between Us / Rajko Grlic – Croatia
No Return / Miguel Cohan – Spain / Argentina
After Fall, Winter/ Eric Schaeffer – USA
Youth H2 “Come As You Are” / Kota Yoshida – Japan
War Games / Cosimo Alemà – Italy

Best UK
Acts Of Godfrey / Johnny Daukes – UK
A Thousand Kisses Deep / Dana Lustig – UK
Flutter / Giles Borg – UK
Hollow/ Michael Axelgaard – UK
Seamonsters / Julian Kerridge – UK
Stranger Things / Eleanor Burke – UK

Best Debut
Tilt / Viktor Chouchkov Jr. – Bulgaria
Synchronicity / Joe Tanaka – Japan
Exteriors / Marie Kristiansen – Norway
Restive/ Jeremiah Jones – USA

Best Microbudget Feature

MONK3YS / Drew Cullingham – UK
Julius Caesar / Adam Lee Hamilton & John Montegrande – UK
Uspomene 677 / Mirko Pincelli – Bosnia Herzegovina / UK
Meso Cafe / Ja’far ‘Abd al-Hamid – UK
Black Pond / Tom Kingsley – UK

Best Documentary

White Button / Igor Stoimenov – Serbia
The Echo Of Astro Boy’s Footsteps / Masanori Tominaga – Japan
Where My Heart Beats / Khazar Fatemi – Sweden
How to Start A Revolution / Ruaridh Arrow – UK
Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis / Peter Sasowsky – USA

Best International Short

The Lady Paranorma / Vincent Marcone – Canada
Martyr Friday / Abu Bakr Shawky – Egypt
Words / Sven Vinge – Denmark
Zoltan- The Hungarian Gangster of Love / Justin Reardon – USA
Hemingway’s Pen / Renzo Carbonera – Italy

Best UK Short

This Side of the Afterlife / Adam Horton – England
God View / Billy Lumby – UK
The Girl Is Mime / Tim Bunn – UK
Love At First Sight / Michael Davies – UK
Rough Skin / Cathy Brady – UK

About Raindance Film Festival

Raindance Film Festival will run from 28 Sept – 9 Oct at the Apollo Cinema in London’s Piccadilly Circus, with the
Opening Night premiere of Another Earth at Cineworld Haymarket on 28 Sept.
For press accreditation visit: www.raindance.co.uk
Tickets and passes to the festival will be on sale from 6th September on www.raindance.co.uk

Now in its 19th year, Raindance Film Festival is Europe’s leading Independent Film Festival showcasing feature films, shorts and docs from around the world and specialising in independent films and directorial debuts. The
festival has a strong legacy of showing alternative, edgy films. Since 1993 Raindance Film Festival has uncovered
the hottest new filmmakers to hit the cinematic scene. Raindance-premiered hits include Pulp Fiction, Memento,
the Blair Witch Project, Ghost World and Love Exposure.
Raindance – The Voice of Independent Film

Raindance is dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film in the UK and around the world. Based in the heart of London, Raindance combines Raindance Film Festival, Training Courses, the prestigious British Independent Film Awards and Raindance.tv

Frost will be covering the Raindance Film Festival.