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Raindance Film Festival · 2008

Raindance Film Festival 2008

Features

Independent feature films from across the world. Films showing will vie for UK Feature, International Feature, Audience Feature and Debut Feature Awards.

Programme

51 films · 16 reviews

Jump to a film

Acolytes

Teenagers blackmail a serial killer.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Jon Hewitt; Writer: Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause, Jon Hewitt; Stars: Danny Baldwin, Holly Baldwin, Harley Bennick, Michael Dorman, Sue Dwyer, Joel Edgerton, Sebastian Gregory, Isabella Heathcote, Todd Levi, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Belinda McClory) , Official site

Adrift In Tokyo (Tenten, Ten-Ten)

A student pays off a debt... by taking a walk with the man he owes.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2007; Director: Satoshi Miki; Writer: Yoshinaga Fujita, Satoshi Miki; Stars: Jô Odagiri, Tomokazu Miura, Kyôko Koizumi, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Kumiko Aso, Eri Fuse, Kami Hiraiwa, Reona Hirota, Yoshizumi Ishihara, Mitsuko Ishii, Ryo Iwamatsu) , Official site

Año Uña (Year Of The Nail)

Review preview for Año Uña

Feels like one long trawl through the photo album of somebody else's holiday.

Ben Sillis · 2 out of 5
Personal photograph album becomes the basis for an unconventionally told romance.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Jonás Cuarón; Writer: Jonás Cuarón; Stars: Eireann Harper, Diego Cataño, Michele Alban, Cristina Orozco, Mariana Elizondo, Pia Elizondo, Emilia Garcia)

Full review

The Auteur

With a body of work that includes Five Easy Nieces and My Left Nut, Italian auteur Arturo Domingo is the foremost artist among pornographic filmmakers. In this hilarious spoof, Domingo hopes to revive his sagging career by reuniting with his former lead actor and making his greatest triumph yet. Based on his own 2002 short.

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: James Westby; Writer: James Westby; Stars: Melik Malkasian, Cara Seymour, Holie Barker, Scott Bellomo, John Breen, Sarah Burch, T.J. Civis, Bryan Coffee, Michael Fetters, Katherine Flynn, Loren Hoskins) , Official site

The Birthday

A soft-spoken, put-upon schmuck tries to impress his girlfriend at a lavish family function that slowly becomes more untethered from reality.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Eugenio Mira; Writer: Mikel Alvarigno, Eugenio Mira; Stars: Corey Feldman, Erica Prior, Jack Taylor)

Blackspot

Friendship turns sour after two pals are stranded when their car breaks down.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2008; Director: Ben Hawker; Writer: Ben Hawker, Luke Hawker, Simon Price; Stars: Hamish Brown, Joe Dunckley, Luke Hawker, Camille Keenan, Simon Smith) , Official site

The Blue Tower

An Indian man trapped in an unhappy marriage embarks on an affair with the woman nursing his mum.

(Country: UK; Year: 2005; Director: Smita Bhide; Writer: Smita Bhide; Stars: Abhin Galeya, Indira Joshi, Alice O'Connell, Amit Shah, Manjinder Virk)

Bonne Année

Review preview for Bonne Année

Berberich shoots the film in a series of stylised, long single takes – a restriction he turns into a virtue.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
The events leading up to a hit gone bad.

(Country: Costa Rica; Year: 2008; Director: Alexander Berberich; Writer: Alexander Berberich; Stars: Benjamin Banks, Thibaut Landier, Karen Young, Dyanna Lauren) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Choke

Review preview for Choke

Despite the busy plotwork, surprisingly little actually happens.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A sex-addicted med school dropout pays his mum's hopital bills by running a restaurant scam... but with her memory fading fast, will he ever find out the truth about his dad?

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Clark Gregg; Writer: Clark Gregg, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk; Stars: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald, Brad Henk) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Five

Clubbed

Review preview for Clubbed

Reeking with authentic period atmosphere, a rich ska based soundtrack and featuring unshowy but solid performances.

Mike Davies · 3 out of 5
A lonely factory worker drifts into the underworld after taking a job as a bouncer.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Neil Thompson; Writer: Geoff Thompson; Stars: Mel Raido, Shaun Parkes, Scot Williams, Maxine Peake, Samuel Anderson, James Cartwright, Charlie Clark, Dominic Coleman, Hayley Evetts, Paddy Fletcher, Ronnie Fox) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Crazy

Story of a guitar player, inspired by the life of Hank Garland.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Rick Bieber; Writer: Rick Bieber, Jason Ehlers, Brent Boyd; Stars: Waylon Payne, Ali Larter, Lane Garrison, Scott Michael Campbell, David Conrad, John Fleck, Timothy Omundson, Brent Briscoe, Beau Baxter, Raymond O'Connor, Eden Rountree) , Official site

Cut The Parts In Grey (Tagliare le Parti in Grigio)

Nadia, Paola and Massimo are the victims of a serious road accident: before leaving the hospital they realize the pain they shared has linked them indelibly, it will be impossible to live as they used to do before and it won’t be longer possible to love their former lives. Discovering by chance body-art, they'll look at themselves and their pain in a completely different way...

(Country: Italy; Year: 2007; Director: Vittorio Rifranti; Stars: Micol Martinez, Isabella Tabarini, Fabrizio Rizzolo)

The Daisy Chain

A grieving couple move to a remote Irish village and take in an orphan, only to find themselves subject to a strange string of occurrences.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2008; Director: Aisling Walsh; Writer: Lauren Mackenzie; Stars: Samantha Morton, Steven Mackintosh, David Bradley, Eva Birthistle, Flora Montgomery, Barry Barnes, Mhairi Anderson, Valerie O'Connor, Yvonne Scanlon, Patrick Moy, Samuel Jones) , Official site

Dummy

Review preview for Dummy

While the movie has some interesting ideas, the acting from the leads really lets it down.

George Williamson · 2 out of 5
A coming of age drama about two young brothers whose mother dies suddenly, leaving them to fend for themselves.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Matthew Thompson; Writer: Paula Barnes, Michael Müller; Stars: Aaron Johnson, Thomas Grant, Therese Bradley, Emma Catherwood) , Official site

Full review

The Ears

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Hiromu Nakamura; Stars: Tomachika Izumi,Tamaki Kaiho) , Official site

Electric Apricot: Quest For Festeroo

Mockumentary of jam bands.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Les Claypool; Writer: Les Claypool; Stars: Dian Bachar, Arj Barker, Lawrence Brooke, Les Claypool, Oz Fritz, Adam Gates, Mike Gordon, Seth Green, Warren Haynes, Fred Heim, Sirena Irwin) , Official site

Estômago

The world is made of those who eat and those who get eaten.

(Country: Brazil, Italy; Year: 2007; Director: Marcos Jorge; Writer: Cláudia da Natividade, Fabrizio Donvito, Marcos Jorge, Lusa Silvestre; Stars: João Miguel, Fabiula Nascimento, Babu Santana, Carlo Briani, Zeca Cenovicz, Paulo Miklos, Jean Pierre Noher, Andrea Fumagalli, Betina Belli, Luiz Brambila)

Fine, Totally Fine (Zenzen Daijobu)

Review preview for Fine, Totally Fine

A skillful cast and writer/director Fujiya's eye for detail and vivid imagination add up to a warm-hearted and engaging picture.

Emma Slawinski · 4 out of 5
A gentle, witty character study that takes in a panorama of small-town eccentrics.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2007; Director: Yosuke Fujita; Writer: Yosuke Fujita; Stars: Yosiyosi Arakawa, Yoshino Kimura, Yoshinori Okada, Miyuki Torii) , Official site

Full review

Flick

Review preview for Flick

There's enough style and aplomb to give this the makings of a minor cult classic and a suitable addition to the rotting canon.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
Ghoulish grindhouse flick about a Memphis cop who is called in to help solve a string of Welsh murders.

(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: David Howard; Writer: David Howard; Stars: Hugh O'Conor, Liz Smith, Faye Dunaway, Michelle Ryan, Mark Benton, Julia Foster, Terence Rigby, Hayley Angel Wardle) , Official site

Full review

The Fourth Man (Cetvrti Covek, The 4th Man)

Review preview for The Fourth Man

An intelligently wrought and visually textured thriller.

Paul Griffiths · 4 out of 5
After awaking from a coma, an amnesiac man investigates who shot him at point blank range.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2007; Director: Dejan Zecevic; Writer: Boban Jeftic, Dejan Zecevic; Stars: Nikola Kojo, Marija Karan, Dragan Petrovic, Bogdan Diklic, Dragan Nikolic, Jovana Jankovic, Miodrag Krstovic, Dijana Marojevic, Radoslav Milenkovic, Rale Milenkovic, Boris Milivojevic)

Full review

Fugitive Pieces

The life of a boy who flees Poland in the Second World War.

(Country: Canada, Greece; Year: 2007; Director: Jeremy Podeswa; Writer: Anne Michaels, Jeremy Podeswa; Stars: Stephen Dillane, Rade Serbedzija, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer, Robbie Kay, Ed Stoppard, Rachelle Lefevre, Nina Dobrev, Themis Bazaka, Diego Matamoros, Sarah Orenstein)

Gardens Of The Night

Review preview for Gardens Of The Night

A testament to harrowing real-life experiences.

Paul Griffiths · 3.5 out of 5
A harrowing account of child abduction and survival.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2007; Director: Damian Harris; Writer: Damian Harris; Stars: Gillian Jacobs, John Malkovich, Ryan Simpkins, Tom Arnold, Kevin Zegers, Jermaine Scooter Smith, Harold Perrineau, Jeremy Sisto, Raynold Gideon, Cornelia Guest, Natalie May) , Official site

Full review

Goliath

Faced with a demotion, a pending divorce, and less-than-friendly neighbours, a man pins his hopes for salvation on finding his missing cat, Goliath.

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: David Zellner; Writer: David Zellner; Stars: David Zellner, Caroline O'Connor, Nathan Zellner) , Official site

Haber

How the father of modern agriculture became the father of chemical warfare.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Ragussis; Writer: Daniel Ragussis; Stars: Christian Berkel, Juliane Köhler, Wolf Kahler, Mark Margolis, Maury Cooper, Carmen LoPorto, Ted Pejovich, Gerrit Vooren, John Summerour, Hal Smith-Reynolds)

Hush

Review preview for Hush

A taut thriller, rooted more in atmosphere, character and nail-gnawing suspense than the sort of sadistic gory excess that has otherwise typified this decade's horror.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
Cat and mouse thriller sees a young couple fall foul of a trucker on the motorway.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Mark Tonderai; Writer: Mark Tonderai; Stars: William Ash, Christine Bottomley, Guy Burnet, Clive Cope, Robbie Gee, Allan Gentleman, Claire Keelan, Stuart McQuarrie, Rupert Procter, Sheila Reid, Jon Rumney)

Full review

It's Hard To Be Nice (Tesko je biti fin)

A taxi driver tries to do the best for his family in the wake of the Balkan conflict.

(Country: UK, Slovenia, Serbia, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Year: 2007; Director: Srdjan Vuletic; Writer: Miroslav Mandic, Srdjan Vuletic; Stars: Sasa Petrovic, Daria Lorenci, Damir Savic, Danijal Savic, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Senad Basic, Jasna Zalica, Norman Mahmutovic, Aleksandar Seksan, Izudin Bajrovic, Sanja Buric)

Left Ear

A confronting drama that tells the story of a lonely Polish immigrant in Australia who videos his life in an attempt to capture his dreams.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2007; Director: Andrew Wholley; Stars: Clare Mackey, Lech Mackiewicz,) , Official site

Little Ashes

Review preview for Little Ashes

Javier Beltrán is the real standout, delivering a performance that could easily have slipped into sentimentality with heartbreaking precision.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Biopic about Salvador Dali, filmmaker Luis Bunuel and writer Federico Garcia Lorca.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Paul Morrison; Writer: Philippa Goslett; Stars: Javier Beltran, Robert Pattinson, Marina Gatell, Matthew McNulty, Arly Jover, Esther Nubiola, Simón Andreu, Sue Flack, Christian Rodrigo, Vicky Peña, Pep Sais) , Official site

Full review

L... Like Love (L... kot ljubezen)

(Country: Slovenia; Year: 2007; Director: Janja Glogovac; Writer: Janja Glogovac, Jelena Vukotic; Stars: Sebastian Cavazza, Uliks Fehmiu, Marko Glogovac, Srdjan Grahovac, Davor Janjic, Mikulás Kren, Matjaz Latin, Marko Mandic, Andrej Martincevic, Ksenija Misic, Labina Mitevska) , Official site

Mao Tse Tung (Mao Ce Dun)

Stylish, thought provoking and darkly humorous, this groundbraking feature unforlds the reality in a communist country in the 1970s through the eyes and wise ways of an ordinary gipsy.

(Country: Albania; Year: 2007; Director: Besnik Bisha; Writer: Besnik Mustafaj; Stars: Fadil Hasa, Miola Sitaj, Ola Sadiku, Marko Bitraku, Vangjel Toçe, Zehrudin Dokle)

The Milky Way (A Via Láctea)

The love of a professor and an actress set against the background of Rio.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2007; Director: Lina Chamie; Writer: Aleksei Abib, Lina Chamie; Stars: Marco Ricca, Alice Braga, Fernando Alves Pinto) , Official site

Nightwatching

Rembrandt biopic, focussing on the furore he caused with The Night Watch.

(Country: Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, UK; Year: 2007; Director: Peter Greenaway; Writer: Peter Greenaway; Stars: Martin Freeman, Emily Holmes, Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May, Toby Jones, Jonathan Holmes, Michael Teigen, Kevin McNulty, Agata Buzek, Nathalie Press, Fiona O'Shaughnessy) , Official site

Now, I... (Iman, Boku Wa)

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Yasutomo Chikuma; Stars: Yasutomo Chikuma, Yoshiharu Fujisawa, Masato Shiga)

No Through Road

Review preview for No Through Road

This grisly Australian torture horror ably shows that you don’t need all manner of fiendish contraptions to deliver on the jumps and jolts.

Paul Griffiths · 2.5 out of 5
A violent nightmare begins when a man finds a terrified woman hiding in his wardrobe.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Sam Barrett; Writer: Sam Barrett, Robbie Studsor; Stars: James Helm, Megan Palinkas, George Shevtsov, Richie Flanagan, Sam Barrett, Keagan Kang, Maynard Inkster, Tim Auty, Rae Barrett, Penelope Andrews, Eddie Stowers, Caleb Helm, Ivan Davidov, Ryan Thomson) , Official site

Full review

Obituary For Escobar (Citulja za Eskobara)

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2008; Director: Milorad Milinkovic; Writer: Milorad Milinkovic; Stars: Vojin Cetkovic, Tamara Garbajs, Zijah Sokolovic, Jelisaveta Sablic, Boris Komnenic, Marko Zivic, Nenad Jezdic, Tamara Krcunovic, Rene Bitorajac, Mladen Nelevic, Ljubinka Klaric)

One Day Removals

Six corpses. Two removal men. One bad day.

(Country: UK; Director: Mark Stirton; Stars: Patrick Wright, Scott Ironside) , Official site

Production Office

Misadventures in a film production office on an all-night shoot.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Deborah Marks, Steve Solomos; Writer: Deborah Marks, Steve Solomos; Stars: a McDonald, Brandon McGibbon, Maury Chaykin )

The Project

Review preview for The Project

Despite the important message, you're left with the feeling that it hasn't actually told us anything new or created anything fresh.

Paul Griffiths · 2.5 out of 5
Fictional tale of naïve filmmakers trying to make a documentary about inner-city New York.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Ryan Piotrowicz; Writer: Ryan Piotrowicz; Stars: ichael Stahl-David, Jamie Proctor, Nicholas Webber, TJ Allen, Bilal Bishop, Michael Ciesla) , Official site

Full review

PVC-1

Based on the true story of a human time-bomb.

(Country: Colombia; Year: 2007; Director: Spiros Stathoulopoulos; Writer: Dwight Istanbulian, Spiros Stathoulopoulos; Stars: Daniel Páez, Hugo Pereira, Alberto Sornoza, Merida Urquia)

The Rind (La Cáscara)

After an executive working on a cure for the common cold dies, his colleague tries to take up the gauntlet.

(Country: Argentina, Spain, Uruguay; Year: 2007; Director: Carlos Ameglio; Writer: Carlos Ameglio; Stars: Juan Alari, Carlos Ameglio, Filomena Gentile, Soledad Gilmet, Horacio Marassi, Augusto Mazzarelli, Virginia Ramos, Walter Reyno, Paola Venditto, Martin Voss,) , Official site

Senseless

Review preview for Senseless

Senseless is a well-crafted, relatively restrained affair, boasting rock solid performances, believable characters (in extremis), highly effective sound design, and a clinically claustrophobic Big Brother-style set.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
A businessman is abducted and deprived of his senses one by one as his torment is broadcast live over the internet.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Simon Hynd; Writer: Simon Hynd, based on the book by Stona Fitch; Stars: Jason Behr, Emma Catherwood, Joe Ferrara, Lucy Liemann, Tam Dean Burn, Toby Marlow, Sean O'Kane, Jasper Marlow, Rusekero Mhango) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Tender Throbbing Twilight (Tasogare)

Softcore porn director does an elegant story about 60something eroticism.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Shinji Imaoka; Writer: Akira Taniguchi; Stars: Masaru Taga, Yasuko Namikibashi, Kyoko Hayami, Kenji Yoshioka, Kanako Kotani, Yoshiharu Fukuda, Kunîchi Takami, Yasuko Minamibashi)

This World Of Ours

A raw and anarchic portrait of a generation sick of the world they live in, a generation without hope or future living by their own rules.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Ryo Nakajima; Stars: Yoshihiko Taniguchi, Arisa Hata, Satoshi Okutsu) , Official site

The Tour (Turneja)

A group of touring actors find themselves caught up in war.

(Country: Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Year: 2008; Director: Goran Markovic; Writer: Goran Markovic; Stars: Tihomir Stanic, Jelena Djokic, Dragan Nikolic, Mira Furlan, Josif Tatic, Gordan Kicic, Slavko Stimac, Vojislav Brajovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Svetozar Cvetkovic) , Official site

Turtles Are Suprisingly Fast Swimmers (Kame wa igai to hayaku oyogu, Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected)

Review preview for Turtles Are Suprisingly Fast Swimmers

A miscellany of characters, scenes and events that studiously avoids a plot.

Emma Slawinski · 2.5 out of 5
A young woman in small-town Japan leads a dull and solitary life, until she stumbles into a local spy ring.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2005; Director: Satoshi Miki; Writer: Satoshi Miki; Stars: Juri Ueno, Yû Aoi, Ryo Iwamatsu, Eri Fuse, Jun Kaname, Masatô Ibu, Vincent Giry, Yasuhito Hida, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Yutaka Matsushige, Kenji Mizuhashi) , Official site

Full review

Under The Snow (Nevando voy)

Following the unusual connection made between four workers at different stages of their lives, Under the Snow captures factory life in a way rarely seen: personal, flirtatious, introspective.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Candela Figueira, Maitena Muruzabal; Writer: Candela Figueira, Maitena Muruzabal; Stars: Asun Aguinaco, José María Asín, Maritxu Beasain, Maiken Beitia, Manu Belando, Patxi Beriain, Laura De Pedro, Miguel Goikoetxeandia, Ariane Irure, Uxue Jaime Fernández)

The Virgin Wildsides Vol. 2

A fanboy is brought face to face with this pop idol obssession.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Tetsuaki Matsue; Writer: Tetsuaki Matsue)

Watch Out

Story about a man who falls in love with himself, literally. He is attracted to his own body and carries out an erotic relationship with a blow-up doll that resembles him.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Steve Balderson; Writer: Steve Balderson, Joseph Suglia; Stars: Matt Riddlehoover, Amy Kelly, Peter Stickles, Jeff Dylan Graham, Jillian Lauren, Miriam Climenhaga, Starina Johnson, Lady Monster, Frank Krainz, Betti O, Cameron DeVictor) , Official site

Wellness

Thomas, a salesman more like a modern day Willy Loman stakes the last of his cash on a wonder-drug in a savage deconstruction of the American Dream.

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: Jake Mahaffy; Writer: Jake Mahaffy; Stars: Paul Mahaffy, Jeff Clark) , Official site

Who Is KK Downey?

Dark comedy about a loser who offers to pretend he is a trans-gender whore who has written a memoir in order to find fame for he and his friend.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Darren Curtis, Pat Kiely; Writer: Darren Curtis, Pat Kiely, Matt Silver; Stars: Darren Curtis, Kristin Adams, Matt Silver, Pat Kiely, Dan Haber, Abdul Ayoola, Dan Beirne, Claire Brosseau, Pilar Cazares, Jared Curtis, John Elliott) , Official site

Zebra Crossing (Zebra Crossings)

Review preview for Zebra Crossing

Holland’s directing shows a lot or flair and promise, often finding a striking image or unusual angle in his stark cityscapes.

Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
A young man growing up in south London tries to escape from a life of crime and violence.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Samuel Holland; Writer: Samuel Holland; Stars: Lee Turnbull, Greg Wakeman, Aaron White)

Full review