The cheers and claps were deafening when the end-credits of 'Paranoid Park' began to roll, signifying the end of a heckuva a couple of weeks and the end of the 15th annual Raindance Film Festival.

“Paranoid Park” is the latest outing of, the king of indie film, Gus Van Sant. Alex is a skateboarding teenager; he is ambivalent towards his immature girlfriend, he is silently tormented over the messy divorce his parents are going through and is suffering a massive amount of guilt and anxiety over his involvement in a freak accident which resulted in the death of a train security guy. Van Sant doesn't want the audience to be comfortable while watching 'Paranoid'; the time jumping script, haunting guitar rock soundtrack and the direct camera work are all used to force Alex's anxiety onto the audience. You may fidget in your seat, but that's just a testament to how effective the film really is. Fantastic.

Despite the encouraging reception from the full house, “Paranoid Park” played second fiddle to Raindance’s official farewell. “Frank and Cindy” walked away with the best documentary award [and deservedly so], “Exhibit A” won the prize of best British feature [a decision a endorse wholeheartedly] and “Once” beat out “La Antena”, “In Search of a Midnight Kiss” and “The Goodtimes kid” to snatch best international film [Damn! I regret not seeing “Once”]. I’m impressed with the results, who thought Iggy pop would be a film buff?

Read the complete details here

Something very special on the night was the movie about the festival. The director behind last year’s “Tarnation” took it upon himself to film and edit a film in two weeks; it was very good. The movie is a testament to how renown the festival has become, globally accepted as one of the top indie film festivals in the world, and is basically a good laugh as well.

I’m actually quite bummed about the end of the fest. I had a brilliant time.

Bring on Raindance 2008.



Until next year [or something]



Zach

Thanks to Elliot, Jesse, James, Will, Joe, Suzanne, Dominic and  Raindance as a whole, the audience, the filmmakers, Cineworld, the sponsors and anyone who read my blog.

After a thirty year hiatus, Masoa Adachi - the renown Japanese filmmaker - returned to the profession he had shunned in favor of political activism. 'Prisoner/ Terrorist' follows the incarceration of a Japanese revolutionary and is loosely based on the life of Adachi Okamoto, who's attack on an Israeli airport in 1972 failed. The film does not concern itself so much with the politics behind M's [the terrorist] attack but rather takes him on a spiritual journey as his French guardian angel tries to rehabilitate the broken man. With some fantastic cinematography and a remarkable script, Adachi’s return was anything but anti-climactic. Perhaps what the film does best is blur the lines between sanity and insanity, humanity and inhumanity and somehow easing the audience into sympathizing with a terrorist without him ever repenting.

Earlier in the night, I watched “Frank and Cindy”. Brilliantly funny, the documentary follows the lives of Frank Garcia, an alcoholic egomaniac, and his wife, a former alcoholic and egomaniac; laughs and pathos ensue. The filming lasted just under a year and as GJ Echternkamp - the director and child of Cindy - states, “was a great excuse to continue living with my parents”. The film focuses on Frank’s continuous attempts and failures at sobriety and Cindy’s efforts to apologize, through actions, for being a poor mother. The comedic elements of the film come equally from Echternkamp, whose dry wit in the post-screening interview had me in fits. It was sort of a straight man/ funny man split, perfectly executed. Great film.

Also airing last night was a repeat of the ever-so-popular “In search of a Midnight Kiss”. This film was the real success story of the festival.



Until tomorrow,



Zach

Even as the festival heads towards its final couple of days, Raindance continues to go from strength to strength. Opening the night, for me, was 'Day Zero', a film that comments on the ever-escalating drama in the middle-east and its direct effect on the American public. Aaron, Dixon and George are New York city residing best friends who are simultaneously called into action in the middle-east following the re-instatement of the Draft. With an all-star cast, all of whose performances are incredible, 'Day Zero' manages to avoid political bias and rather produces a character drama where, like in real life, fear overrides common sense. I was particularly impressed by the polarizing political views and approach to the draft of Dixon and George: both characters begin on opposite sides of the political spectrum [which I felt a clever, subtle take on the working class/middle class dynamic] but in the month leading up to their military service, their view's believably and movingly evolve.

The second film which was graced with my presence was a film that Elliot [Grove] had declared the best of the festival. 'Ex Drummer' is dark and gritty but powerful and interesting. The opening credits are incredible [a weird statement but certainly true]. The Belgian film follows a band's recruitment of a renown, pretentious but brilliant writer/drummer. Joining the group as a sort of social experiment, Dries finds himself getting involved in his band-mates lives, arguing with the bald and tyrannical mother of guitarist, comforting the crack-addicted bassist after his daughter died and constantly beating the hell out of their supremely sadistic lead singer. With a remarkable soundtrack, some outstanding cinematography and some witty dialogue, 'Ex Drummer' is one of the best films I've seen for a long time and I recommend that you see it, if only for the spectacular finale/climax.

And on another note, 'In Search Of A Midnight Kiss' is replaying due to popular demand at 7:15 later today [this Saturday]. After seeing that film last week, I'm just gonna say that this popularity is certainly justified.



Until tomorrow,



Zach.

When the credits to 'Exhibit A' began to roll at eight thirty in the evening, nobody was quite sure how to react. The applause from the audience slipped from a few weakened slaps to virtual silence in only a few moments, so shaken were the audience by the last scene of the film.

The director and producer, in the post-screening interview, made it clear that it was realism rather than entertainment that was most important for the film to embody; The product, however, contained both. This realism which was integral to the film was emphasized by the cinematography which, using a hand-held digital camera from a few years back, resembled a home movie of sorts. The story follows Judith King's camera which captures the pivotal moments in her father's mental breakdown . Fights, drugs, lies, questions of sexuality, aggression, deception, betrayal, all lead up to a tremendous, chilling and startlingly real climax: you won't leave the cinema as the same person. It was incredible.

The night continued on that high-note as I left for 'the Rex' to catch some great shorts: politics, technology and war the main subjects on show.

As the short extravaganza ended [actually, it was just two shorts but yeah] I watched on as Hugh Metcalfe and Penny Rimbaud took to the stage for a bizarre but fascinating performance art thing. Using slides on an old-school 8mm projector, the two musicians played along to the rapidly changing slides of the gorgeous meadows. This small project, soon, grew larger with modern dancers now accompanying the musicians on stage. The intensity behind the music was phenomenal, the room was resonating with power and raw passion.

Next up: Blitzkrieg Bop and Ex-Drummer. Excited?



Until tomorrow,



Zach.

I briefly stepped into the 'Rex' to see how everything was going in the NPA sponsored Low Budget Masterclass and I was tempted to stay; The panel's insight into the opportunities had the audience mesmerized and had me ready to stick my hand up. I resisted, however, left the class and moved on to a film I was determined to watch: the fantastic ‘La Antena’.

Wonderfully bizarre, ‘La Antena’ is a French silent film about an Orwellian regime being overthrown by a small family and young blind boy with ‘the voice’. It’s very hard to deliver something so interesting and innovative but ‘La Antena’ reeked on ingenuity with its brilliant cinematography, with its ever-present, always enjoyable score and the enthralling way that the director chose to highlight the original French subtitles and a sort of sci-fi plot but without the suspension of belief... I don’t know how they did that. Smart, funny, moving, beautiful, ‘La Antena’ is what I expected; visually and audibly exceptional.

'The Book Of Revelation' aired later that night: An Australian film depicting a man’s abduction by three beautiful but sadistic women. Raw, gritty and real, this film was difficult to watch. With some solid acting and inspired direction, the film is powerful but not for the weak of heart.

Airing simultaneously to ‘The Book of Revelation’ was a special guest screening [Mick Jones] which, according to my sources, brought in the crowds and delivered a fantastic show. At both venues, the night was an undoubted success.



Until tomorrow,



Zach.

The film industry is now reliant on the Internet and Raindance, who've shown initiative with their newly formed link with Tiscali and done the whole 'First Online Film Festival', are at the forefront of helping independent filmmakers utilize the fastest growing source of promotion and content.

Both the ‘Current TV Panel’ and the ‘Stellar Network Panel Discussion’ were events focused on involving the independent film world with the world wide web. Both events were Q&A sessions with pioneers of the digital and film age and based on the turnout, audience reaction and obviously informed answers [from the panel] I’d call this venture into the web a success.

The night concluded, however, with a British thriller titled 'Summer Scars'. Clearly this had been one of the films that the Raindance faithful had been anticipating with about a dozen people being forced to reside in the aisles because of overwhelming numbers which flocked into Cineworld.

The film itself was the story of a group of young teenagers whose day in the woods was disturbed by a seemingly friendly but ultimately dangerous hobo. Some aspects of it, like the scenery and the childhood camaraderie, reminded me of Rob Reiner’s 'Stand By Me'. The unpredictability of Peter [the hobo] was highlighted with a brilliant score and some raw, believable dialogue. I can only hope that tomorrow's 'La Antena' showing has as many people 'logging in'.



Until tomorrow,



Zach.

The hallmark of Raindance Film Festival took place last night: "Live! Ammunition".

Dozens of attendees of the festival were given a minute to pitch a screenplay to panel of high profile executives. I’m not allowed to go into real depth, however, due to copyright restrictions and such. It was fun, there were laughs, there were tears, some dreams were made and some hearts were broken and, clearly, one too many clichés were used.

The cinematic ventures of the night, though, are not to be overlooked. "We Are The Strange" was brilliantly animated but utterly confusing - if you asked me what it was about, I couldn’t, for the life of me, tell you. It was sort of like watching a Tim Burton movie - like "The Corpse Bride" or "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - while listening to one of David Bowie’s more eccentric tunes; weird but satisfying.

"Tovarisch: I am not dead" made its UK debut last night, also, and is, in my opinion, the best documentary of the last few years. Detailing the fantastically eventful life of Garri Urban, we are taken with him on his return to the Soviet Union to retrieve his records and prove to western critics that he had not exaggerated or fabricated any events in his life. Stuart Urban, the director, takes us through the final years of his father’s life; the fight to get a hold of his record, the reunion with his war-time lover and emergence of suggestions that Garri Urban had kept some aspects of his life a secret. This is what happens when you try and reveal the truths that nobody wants told. I wish this film all the success it deserves and I recommend it as the best documentary of the Festival.



Until Tomorrow,



Zach.

and a note from one of the punters:

Hey Elliot,

A quick note to say last night was fantastic. What a buzz!

I spoke to Nik Powell at the end to ask if I could spend a little longer to take him through my pitch. He gave me his email address and I'm going to send him my synopsis. Plus he did remember my underachieving traffic warden idea which I guess is a good start.

I'm also chuffed with my Raindance 14th DVD.

Joining Raindance is the best 50 quid I've spent in a long time. You guys give so much value and who would of thought that I gave a pitch last night when my confidence was on it's ass earlier in the year. Thanks for your help Elliot, really appreciated. You're a gent.

Sean

p.s. my non-movie friend came last night and thought the event was brilliant too.

After more than a year on the film festival circuit, 'The Killing of John Lennon''s journey has ended here at Raindance. Critical reception for the film has always been encouraging, Variety magazine said of it: 'it is a harrowing, impressionistic, widescreen tour-de-force that unfolds with the propulsive urgency of a scrapbook thrown into a howling wind'.

'With such a solid script and concept...' I was told by Roger Eaton, the cinematographer, '... you can't walk away. I stuck around despite the budgetary problems because I knew this was great'. After four years filming, editing, transferring from HD to 35mm on an ever-changing budget [due to it being reliant on private investment] the film will be released commercially on the eve of the anniversary of John Lennon's death - December 7th.

Andrew Piddington [Director] and Jonas Ball [Mark Chapman/the killer] took this truly innovative concept - the murder of John Lennon and the months preceding and following it, from the perspective of the warped mind of the murderer.

Leading up to Piddington’s masterpiece were some fantastic short films of the thriller genre. My personal favourites were ‘Anniversary Present’ and ‘The Collectors’ but, really, all of them were great.

I recommed 'The Killing of John Lennon' - it is some of the most chilling cinema you’ll ever see.



Until tomorrow,



Zach.

On the second [and last] night of the Michael Madsen show we weren't given laughs, but rather insight into the man himself [and another guy who I'll mention in minute].

A far cry from the jokey atmosphere of Madsen and co.'s post screening interview, the former 'Mr. Blonde' answered both the questions from the audience and from the interviewer with a raw genuineness you wouldn't associate with him on-screen persona. From anecdotes about Al Pacino to warning the audience about the pressures and frustrations of the film industry, Madsen's interview was surprisingly real and, thanks to his illustrious career, constantly interesting.

So, after seeing a guy promoting his 'mockumentary' I went to see a man, someone very different, promoting his 'documentary'. John Sinclair, the inspiration behind the John Lennon song entitled "John Sinclair" [Subtle...] was given a twenty year prison sentence for possession of two joints of marijuana back in the 1970's. While the film’s content was interesting, I was particularly impressed by the continuous integration of Sinclair's music and poetry with the narrative. With the stellar soundtrack, some brilliant cinematography [this documentary was sixteen years in the making] and a lead guy who’s motto is "I just wanna have a good time and get high", the film had to be great.

The Q&A that followed the screening seemed based around activism, the evolution of political thought and classic jazz - a pretty good combination and a good closing to a great night.

I feel lucky to have the spent the night with two renown figures, people considered to be ‘enigmas’ and who opened up a bit; I look forward to whatever they do next.



Until Tomorrow,



Zach.

Only once every few years do you come across a film that satirizes a topic so well, is so funny and enthralling and, just, so damn clever. 'Being Michael Madsen' may be that film. We're talking about the World Premiere here, so the pre-screening buzz was a bit different to the nights preceding it. Everyone was there. You got the cast, the crew, you have a an audience so eager to see the film that they'll park themselves in the aisles... In these kind of situations you could be disappointed. I wasn't.

Only really comparable to the work of Christopher Guest [This Is Spinal Tap, Best In Show] this mockumentary hit all the right notes. Basically, it pretty effectively took the piss outta the whole 'celebrity' thing, the whole 'paparazzi' thing and the whole 'documentary' thing... like all at once. It was great. Following the screening, the guys behind the film made their way up to the stage for an uproariously hilarious Q&A session - Particularly funny if you love jokes about Steven Segal.

However, 'Being Michael Madsen' wasn't the only winner of the night; 'In Search of A Midnight Kiss' was a charming American film about New Year's and its frustrating tradition. With a great cast, some witty writing and virtually untouched satirical topic, this film had me laughing and had me thinking.

Blaaaaah - I've just waxed lyrical. Great movies add up to a great night though, right?

Right.

Until Tomorrow,

Zach.

You hear that? That was me being blown away.

The third night of Raindance Film Festival cleverly brought something new to the table. Whereas the first night concentrated on having a few laughs and the second night seemed to embody that whole reflective type thing, last night had no one theme, no one tone, but was rather mixed bag of clever comedy, powerful cinema and some interesting miscellaneous features.

"Drink Up!" may sound like a party-hardy college "I wanna get boned by the end of the night" kinda movie but its title betrays its content. Behind the misleading title is a complex, moving and wonderfully directed character piece; real and a bit bizarre, the film's dark comedy and quirky premise - a collection of photos and the lives behind them - pretty much summed up the night.

However, it was thanks to a fascinating talk by Roger Pratt that I stayed on to see the aforementioned film. Mr. Pratt was interviewed about his prosperous career as a cinematographer and dispensed some valuable advice about cracking the film business and delivered some classic anecdotes - Terry Gilliam being the subject matter more often than not. A great interview segment.

The Festival is in full swing now.



Until Tomorrow,



Zach

"In film, we try and capture a moment" - Ken Loach

However much I am known for my frustration at inactivity, on the second night of Raindance Film Festival my eyes remained glued to the screen. The premiere of Ken Loach’s “It’s a Free World” brought in the indie crowd, nearly filling the new ‘Rex’ venue to capacity. Dealing with the exploitation of migrant workers, Loach took his directing talents to new places; Elliot quickly reassured me that I wasn’t the only one who thought the film had a ‘Hitchcockian’ - that doesn’t sound right... - vibe.

When the lights turned on and the Mr. Loach made his way down to the stage for a interesting session of Q&A, I began to realize how different the tone of this - the second night - would be. Questions varied from his approach as a director, to his successes - notably, the Palm D’Or at Cannes recently .

“The Goodtimeskid” was the next film screened. An homage to the days of silent film, this American indie flick had a profound affect on the crowd; “beautiful” seems the appropriate adjective, or at least the one the audience seemed to reiterate throughout the post-screening comments.

The films on show at ‘the Rex’ last were pieces of art, ones that got the crowd-a-thinkin’ and ones that, certainly, put me in that reflective kind of place. With some brilliant cinematic moments and a great new venue, the second night took Raindance Film Festival in a different direction. And I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.

Until tomorrow.

Zach

It may not have been the most action-packed night but opening night is always a bit special.

I don't know whether it was the simultaneous hustling and bustling of over a hundred gift bags or the nonsensical excited ramblings of the couple behind me that numbed my anticipation, but it wasn't until seconds before Elliot Grove took to the mike that I realized that this was the freakin' start of Raindance Film Festival!... So, I was like ‘yeah, cool’.

When you have someone as renown and creative and just, y’know, amazing as Mick Jones in the house, it isn’t hard to get lost in the moment. So, when Elliot announced that a signed guitar of his was up for, like, seat raffle draw thingy, I - like the rest of the people in the cinema - leapt to my gift bag and frantically searched for the ticket thingy. Didn’t get it. Rats.

"Weirdsville" was a great opening night choice as well. With lots of laughs and a whole heap of mischief, I’m sure that it helped the audience get into the partying spirit which will last for the rest of the festival. Whilst the rest of the night wasn’t full to the brim of other screenings or special events, the fans in attendance piled into the opening night party and even a lucky few had a chance to take part in an impromptu and unofficial Q&A with the Director and Screenwriter of "Weirdsville". I’m friggin’ psyched for the rest of the week.

Until tomorrow.

Zach