SHORTS PLAYING BEFORE FEATURES - Raindance Film Festival

SHORTS PLAYING BEFORE FEATURES 

BEING MICKEY 

playing with TOVARISCH, I AM NOT… p88 

Croatia 6 mins DV Director/Producer/DoP 

Ksenija Orel P/S vesnaorel@yahoo.co.uk 

Mickey arrives in Croatia from the USA unable 

to cope with George Bush’s politics. 

HOW I PRODUCED A CHERRY BOY 

playing with UNCLE’S PARADISE p73 

Japan 32 mins DV-Cam Director Tetsuaki 

Matsue Producer Kunihiko Tomioka P/S 

planetstudyoplusone-tom@r6.dion.ne.jp 

The director’s lovesick friend is still a virgin at 

23. Matsue devises a plan to deflower him, with 

cameras rolling. 

NEW YORK STORY 

playing with THIS FILTHY WORLD p64 

USA 7 mins DV Dir/Prod/S’play Nicolas 

Jenkins With Genesis P-Orridge P/S Sterile 

Cowboys E info@sterilecowboys.org 

Two people hope to create a new gender, the 

pandrogyne, a hermaphroditic entity called 

Breyer P-Orridge. 

THE BRIDGE 

playing with THE INHERITANCE p58 

UK 29 mins Mini-DV Dir/Prod/S’play Greg 

Kam DoP W Barnard Cast S Glover, Hannah- 

Jane Pawsey P/S gregsie74@yahoo.com 

A man with schizophrenia and a young woman 

leave their homes, to seek a better life only to 

find loneliness and desperation. 

LAND OF THE PINES 

playing with SHELTER p69 

Canada 5 mins 16mm Dir/Prod/S’play Dan 

Sokolowski Print Source dan@sokcinema.ca 

Through photographic evidence, we take a 

journey through real and imagined images of 

that quintessential Canadian tree: the Pine. 

Courtesy of Rural Route Film Festival. 

ODESSA GIRLS 

playing with FLAMES IN THE…p86 

UK 35 mins HDV Director/Producer Antony 

Butts Print Source antonybutts@hotmail.com 

An exposé of the mail-order bride business, following 

a group of middle-aged Americans on 

a romance tour to Odessa in Ukraine and the 

stories and motivations of the girls they meet. 

DEAR MS OGI 

playing with UNCLE’S PARADISE p73 

Japan 32 mins DV-Cam Director Kenji 

Murakami Producer Kunihiko Tomioka P/S 

planetstudyoplusone-tom@r6.dion.ne.jp 

Kenji Murakami seeks out legendary wild-man 

director Kenji Onishi and arranges a meeting 

with director Yoko Oguchi. 

MANHATTAN RENDEZ-VOUS 

playing with SILVER JEW p63 

Finland 40 mins HDV Super-8mm Dirs/Prods 

John Hakalax, Kim Finn DoP Jussi Arhinmäki 

P/S hakalax@hakalaxproductions.com 

Underground porcelain sculptor Kim Simonsson 

meets NYC’s top Art execs to a score by Simon 

Bartholomew from the Brand New Heavies. 

SO 

playing with OFF THE GRID: LIFE ON…p63 

USA 32mins 16mm Dir/Prod/S’play/DoP 

Aimee Jennings P/S ajenn13@gmail.com 

A personal look into a young woman’s long 

awaited journey through Australia, alone. 

FARMER BROWN 

playing with KENEDI IS GETTING… p68 

USA 4 mins Super-8mm Dir/Prod/S’play 

Charlie Cline P/S netherheck@hotmail.com 

Follow this pillar of the American work ethic 

as he feeds the chickens, digs up the garden, 

and deals with incursions from other realms. 


MIMES OF THE PRAIRIE 

playing with CONGORAMA p80 

USA 5 mins Mini-DV Dir/Prod/S’play John 

Hansen Print Source jhansen1@mdp.com 

A Ken Burns style mockumentary telling the 

struggle of a proud people overcoming adversity. 


TIME PATROL 

playing with LIFE IN LOOPS p87 

UK 3 mins 30 secs HDV Director/Producer/ 

Screenplay/DoP Tobia Sempi Print Source 

jasmin@sophisticatedmadness.com 

Grey men walk around a metropolis stealing 

time from everyday people. They are vampires 

of time. 

FIFTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 

49

52 FIFTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 

FESTIVAL LAUNCH PARTY 

TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER AT 9PM / SOUND, 1 LEICESTER SQUARE, WC2 

Following our opening night film, Weirdsville (see page 83) at the Cineworld Haymarket, all ticket-holders are 

invited along to the exclusive party at Sound. The party will feature live music from Diesel-U-Music Rock winners 

Get Shakes and will include a DJ set from Chris Houghton [Plan B Magazine]. Tickets are £25. Festival passholders 

get free admission if they have confirmed and collected their tickets in advance. 

SPECIAL GUEST SCREENING: KEN LOACH 

WEDNESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER AT 6:30PM / THE REX 

Ken Loach will be present to screen a surprise film for a small audience at The Rex. Following the screening, Ken 

will speak about his career and take questions from the audience. This is truly a rare opportunity to speak with 

one the greats of British filmmaking. 

KODAK CINEMATOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS 

THURSDAY 27 SEPTEMBER AT 6:30PM / CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVENUE SCREEN 4 

A surprise cinematographer will show examples of their work and talk about their career in the film industry. The 

event will include an interview and Q&A. Past Kodak masterclasses have included Phil Meheux (Scum, Casino 

Royale) and Brian Tufano (Trainspotting, Billy Elliot). 

ADOBE FILMMAKERS’ PARTY 

FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER AT 8PM / THE REX 

For all their hard work and dedication, Adobe is throwing a party for every filmmaker with a film in the festival. If 

you were one of the select few who managed to bag a slot in the festival this year, you’re invited. So come along, 

meet your festival peers, and have a good ol’ time courtesy of Adobe. 

ADOBE MASTERCLASS: IN PERFECT PITCH – AUDIO MASTERING AND MIXDOWN 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 2:30PM / THE REX 

Whether recording ADR from a script or capturing your audio directly to disc, this session will look at the basics 

of analyzing the sound you have, cleaning it up and mixing it down as either stereo or multi-channel surround files 

in sync with your final film cut. 

CANON HD MASTERCLASS 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 4:30PM / CINEWORLD SCREEN 4 

An insider’s look at getting the most out of your HD moviemaking – from initial planning through to post-production 

and final cut. Award-winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and HD-expert Stefan Ciupek will be 

your hosts for this insightful masterclass. During this session they will discuss the benefits of shooting in HD. 

SPECIAL GUEST: MICHAEL MADSEN 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 7:15PM / CINEWORLD SCREEN 7 

Iconic indie actor Michael Madsen will be present to discuss his career in the film industry and to take questions 

from the audience. For full details please visit www.raindance.co.uk 

SPECIAL GUEST SCREENING: JOHN SINCLAIR & STEVE GEBHARDT 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 9:15PM / THE REX 

John Sinclair and director Steve Gebhardt will be present to introduce Twenty To Life: The Life and Times of 

John Sinclair (see page 64). In 1969, the former manager of the MC5 was sentenced to 10 years in jail for giving 

two joints to an undercover police officer. Three days after a ‘Free John Now’ Rally led by John Lennon and Yoko 

Ono, Sinclair was released. There will be a Q&A after the screening hosted by Everett True (www.planbmag.com) 

ADOBE MASTERCLASS: HD FOR INDIE FILM PRODUCTION 

SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 4:45PM / THE REX 

Put more budget on screen by using HD vs film. We will address production techniques used in recent Academy 

Award winning film and commercial projects. Topics will include: digital dailies, HD acquisition, codecs vs formats, 

improving shot ratios, rough cuts, proxy editing, craft editing, final conform and finishing. 

QUICKFLICK WORLD 

SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 7:30PM / THE REX 

As a special addition to Raindance, Quickflick World transplants one of its screening parties into our festival. 

Hosted in a bar, QfW mixes shorts with VJ and DJ sets. They will be screening their special 4th Birthday selection, 

a review of Brazilian filmmaker Sylvain Barre’s work as well as the showcase on the theme Kiss. QfW is a global 

network of filmmakers who share their bimonthly creations based on one theme. QfW throws screening parties in 

Sao Paulo, London, Berlin, Barcelona, NYC, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Beijing and Tokyo.

HDFEST 

MONDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 4:30PM / CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVENUE SCREEN 4 

We are pleased to welcome back for the fourth year HDFest, a travelling festival that showcases work entirely 

shot in HD. On Monday they will present a 2-hour shorts programme followed by the bizarre animated feature We 

Are the Strange at 6:30pm. All films will be projected via HD so there will be plenty of eye candy to go around. 

LIVE!AMMUNITION! 

MONDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 7:30PM / BAFTA, 195 PICCADILLY W1 / THE CLUB, 21 WARWICK STREET W1 

Have you got a great idea for a movie? This is your chance to pitch your idea directly to a panel of top film executives. 

These are the people who matter. They are the people who buy scripts, who decide what will be made and 

what won’t. Live!Ammunition! is one of the Raindance’s most popular events and has a strong record of projects 

being picked up on the night, such as Meet the Parents (1994), 51st State (1995), Siamese Cop (1996), and White 

Bhaji (2001). To pitch, drop £5 in the hat. The winner takes home all the money. The fun will continue with a networking 

party from 9pm at The Club, Warwick Street. 

STELLAR NETWORK 

TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM / CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVENUE SCREEN 4 

With online opportunities proliferating rapidly, where do film professionals turn to best showcase and promote 

their product? Stellar Network is pleased to welcome a panel of IP TV and digital pioneers to the Raindance 

stage, to discuss, and answer questions, on how filmmakers can maximise the potential of their work through the 

internet and beyond. Join us after the discussion to network with fellow filmmakers, courtesy of Cobra Beer. 

WHAT TV CAN DO FOR YOU: CURRENT TV FOR INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING 

TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM / THE REX 

Since its launch in 2005, Current TV, the channel set up by Al Gore, has opened plenty of new doors for filmmakers 

globally. Today’s event grants an interactive and enlightening presentation on Current TV and the opportunities it 

offers for independent factual film. We’ll also have a chance to hear from the filmmakers themselves, their experiences 

and tips in distributing their films. Current TV commissioners will be on hand to answer any questions. 

NPA PRODUCERS MASTERCLASS: TIM BEVAN 

WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM / THE REX 

The New Producers’ Alliance presents a producer’s masterclass with one of the great producers working in the 

industry today. David Pope will hold an in-depth interview with Tim Bevan revealing his extraordinary career as a 

producer in the film industry. The interview will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. 

HMV SPECIAL GUEST SCREENING: MICK JONES 

WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 9PM / THE REX 

Mick Jones of The Clash has chosen one of his all time favourite films to screen at Raindance. Nic Roeg and 

Donald Cammell’s ’70s rock and roll gem, Performance (see page 63) will make its way onto the big screen at 

The Rex. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Mick Jones. 

FOURDOCS DOCUMENTARY MASTERCLASS: PENNY WOOLCOCK 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM / THE REX 

Writer/director Penny Woolcock, whose films include the recent Exodus, Mischief, The Principle of Lust and The 

Death of Klinghoffer will speak about her career as a documentary filmmaker. The talk will include clips of her 

work followed by a Q&A session with the audience. 

STRAIGHT8 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 7PM / CINEWORLD SHAFTESBURY AVENUE SCREEN 7 

Straight8 present the films that played best at their Cannes Film Festival and Leicester Square screenings last 

summer. Each film is 3 and a half minutes, shot on a single cartridge of super-8mm film with no editing or postproduction 

allowed. Raw filmmaking – amazing films. Now in its 8th year, Straight8 attracts entries from all over the 

world resulting in fun and off the wall filmmaking. For more info visit www.straight8.net 

AN EVENING OF SUPER 8MM + LIVE PERFORMANCE 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 9PM / THE REX 

A screening of Mick Duffield’s super-8mm films Tea Piece (7 mins), made over four decades, and Choosing 

Death (25 mins), a humorous savaging of consumerism and the Thatcher government’s laughable plans for 

nuclear emergency (originally part of Crass’ Christ – The Movie, and hailed at the time by Rose Rouse in Sounds 

as a ‘brutal, abrupt, unnerving account of Western Society’s barbarism’) followed by Hugh Metcalfe’s new film 

about the River Roding (50 mins), projected from the super-8mm original with live performance during the 

screening from Hugh Metcalfe (guitar/violin/drum/voice) and Penny Rimbaud (hi-hat/cowbell). 


53

SHOOTING PEOPLE FAMOUS PUB QUIZ 

FRIDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 7:30PM / THE REX 

Shooting People brings its famous pub quiz to Raindance. It goes a little something like this: divide into teams, 

there are six rounds of eight questions across four categories, a few audiovisual challenges, prizes to be won, and 

lots of laughs. Meet a few filmmakers, make some new friends and test your wits against the Quizmaster. 

ADOBE MASTERCLASS: PERFECTING THE SCENE – VISUAL EFFECTS AND DI WORKFLOWS 

SATURDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 4:45PM / THE REX 

We’ll be looking at visual effects methodology and digital intermediate workflow considerations for films like The 

Aviator and The Departed as well as feature length animation projects. Topics include: animatics, storyboarding, 

colour grading, masking, background plates, on screen graphics, title sequences and animation techniques. 

SAE MASTERCLASS 

SATURDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 7PM / THE REX 

SAE are hosting a guest lecture by Mitch Mitchell, Head of Imaging at Cinesite, author of Visual Effects for Film 

and Television. He has worked on many movies including Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, and Troy. 

ADOBE MASTERCLASS: GETTING IT OUT THERE – ON ANY SCREEN 

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 4:45PM / THE REX 

How to reach your audience through the myriad of devices and formats available. Topics include: encoding your 

projects for any device, IPod formats, 3G, web, DVD and mobile content. We’ll also cover how to create an impactful 

marketing story for your project; creating electronic press kits, marketing elements, movie posters and more. 

CLOSING NIGHT PARTY 

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 9PM / SOUND, 1 LEICESTER SQUARE, WC2 

Following the jury prize-giving and the festival’s final screening of Paranoid Park (see page 82), join us for one 

last hoorah to share memories of the festival, with DJ sets from Chris Houghton [Plan B Magazine] and Euan 

McLean. Be sure to retain your cinema ticket for admission. Tickets to the screening and party are £25. Festival 

pass-holders and filmmakers get free admission if they have confirmed and collected their tickets in advance.

ÉLOGE DE L’AMOUR 

SATURDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 2:30PM [THE REX] 

Country France/Switzerland Running Time 97 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay 

Jean-Luc Godard Producers Alain Sarde, Ruth Waldburger DoP Julien Hirsch, Christophe 

Pollock Cast Bruno Putzulu, Cecile Camp, Jean Davy Print Source Optimum Releasing 

Email ben@optimumreleasing.com W www.optimumreleasing.com 

NOTRE MUSIQUE 

SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 2:30PM [THE REX] 


Jean-Luc Godard Producers Alain Sarde, Ruth Waldburger DoP Julien Hirsch Cast Sarah Adler, 

Nade Dieu, Rony Kramer, Simon Eine P/S Optimum Releasing E ben@optimumreleasing.com 

W www.optimumreleasing.com 

Playing with The Old Place 49 mins 

THE OLD PLACE 

SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 2:30PM [THE REX] 


Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville Producers Mary Lea Bandy, Colin MacCabe 

Cast Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville Print Source Museum of Modern Art, NYC 

Email mary_keene@moma.org W www.moma.org 

Playing with Notre Musique 80 mins 


Godard’s Cannes hit from 2001 focuses on Edgar (Bruno Putzulu), an 

author who develops a novel project exploring the four key moments of 

love. When a beautiful girl is considered for the project he is convinced 

they have met before, at which point the film jumps back two years in time 

to investigate his curiosity. 

Filmed partly in black and white, with the latter segment shot in vibrant 

digital video, the film demonstrates Godard’s interest in melding old and 

new cinematic techniques, once again questioning the very nature of cinema 

itself. The earlier half showcases the director’s use of shadows to 

evoke mood and shape character, while the second presents an almost 

dream-like world, where deep blue crashing waves and orange skies are 

used to suggest the protagonist’s state of mind. 

As one would expect from a Godard film, Éloge de L’Amour is filled with 

stylised conversations that explore humanity in great detail, dealing with 

society, world politics and above all beauty. In a particularly striking scene, 

shot from the inside of a car during rainfall, the protagonist muses on the 

end of a relationship: ‘It’s strange how things take on meaning when the 

story ends’. This line defines the film perfectly; it may not make complete 

narrative sense, but there will be much to reflect upon. JM 

Using the kingdoms of Dante’s Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, 

Godard embarks on a complex exploration of war in Notre Musique. The 

Heaven and Hell segments are presented as ten-minute archive footagebased 

bookends, whilst Purgatory is represented by a writers conference 

in Sarajevo. Here, fictitious characters meet with real-life figures, including 

Godard himself, who gives a fascinating lecture on text and image. Central 

topics include violence, philosophy, history, the Israel-Palestine conflict and 

the relationship between victors and victims. 

While this unconventional set-up will undoubtedly dissuade some viewers, 

those who embrace it will be generously rewarded by its rich content 

and startling imagery. The Hell and Heaven segments showcase Godard’s 

gift for dynamic editing, demonstrating the horrors of war with an immediacy 

often robbed from most daily TV news bulletins. Purgatory presents 

a variety of captivating philosophical ideas, a meditation on the emergence 

of war through the hypocritical nature of human perception. He blends fact 

and fiction seamlessly, incorporating the musings of real-life characters 

into the central storyline while maintaining narrative flow. 

Clearly offering Godard’s response to the post-9/11 war torn world, this 

stands as one of the director’s most ambitious yet rewarding works. JM 

A rare opportunity to see Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville’s documentary, 

originally commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Taking the 

form of a cinematic essay, the filmmakers embark on a deep exploration 

into the history of art. Their brief stated: ‘The producers must examine any 

object or subject, ordinary or extraordinary, in any field, according to their 

actions or ideas, making sure to identify any existing trace of what we have 

agreed to call art, to finally discover if art is a legend or a reality.’ 

Among the numerous topics explored is the ethical question of art arising 

from periods of war. Godard discusses how photographers during 

the war in Yugoslavia were accused by newspapers of making art out of 

images of horror, through the way in which their photos were exhibited as 

paintings. Elsewhere, the very purpose of art is discussed, from its nature 

as a commodity through to its ability to preserve, as Miéville claims: ‘art 

wasn’t protected from time. It was what protected time’. 

With Godard’s signature use of frequent title-cards and featuring 

detailed voice-overs from both directors, The Old Place displays a montage 

of startling imagery. JM 

Provided by the Museum of Modern Art, New York City

EXHIBIT A 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM 

Running Time 85 mins Format Mini-DV Director/Screenplay Dom Rotheroe Producer 

Darren Bender DoP Rob Hardy Cast Angela Forrest, Bradley Cole, Brittany Ashworth Print 

Source Bigger Pictures Email darren@biggerpictures.co.uk 

THE INHERITANCE 

SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 4:30PM 

RT 57 mins Ft Mini-DV Dir Charlie Henry Belleville Prods Tim 

Barrow S’play Tim Barrow DoP Chris Beck Cast Tim Barrow, 

Fraser Sivewright, Imogen Toner P/S tjbarrow@hotmail.com 

Playing with The Bridge 29 mins 

THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON 

SUNDAY 30 SEPEMBER AT 7:15PM 

Running Time 114 mins Format 35mm, Super-8mm 

Director/Screenplay Andrew Piddington Producers Rakha 

Singh, Sabrina Tubio-Cid DoP Roger Eaton Cast Jonas Ball, 

Thomas A McMahon, Joe Abbate, Robert C Kirk Print Source 

mervyn.andrews@theworksmediagroup.com 


IN COMPETITION 


WATCH IT ON 


SCREENING SPONSOR 

Exhibit A is the videotape of evidence captured on a young girl’s new camcorder, 

which reveals snippets of the family’s last few weeks leading up to 

‘the incident’. We are first introduced to this suburban family as the girl is 

offered her camcorder. From here on we accompany this seemingly normal 

family through a series of birthdays, barbecues and gatherings that 

gradually point us in the direction of the family’s demise. 

Director Rotheroe puts the family unit on trial. The family’s inability to 

communicate, listen or even care for each other’s individual desires and 

ambitions is played up against the family’s financial and circumstantial 

problems that effect each and every family member. As the tension 

increases and relationships crumble it becomes increasingly difficult not to 

symapthise with all involved, for how on earth will things be resolved? 

Told through the seemingly objective lens of a little girl’s camera this film 

succeeds in guiding us through a disconcerting sequence of events that 

will force you to think twice about getting involved with anyone. RJ 

The Inheritance is an interesting twist on the classic road movie. It follows 

two brothers as they journey across Scotland to collect the inheritance left 

to them by their father. Much like the dogma movies of the ’90s this film 

is concerned with story and character as opposed to dazzling effects, the 

Scottish countryside providing much aesthetic wonder. With minimal use 

of artificial lighting and intimate shots this succeeds in creating scenes of 

heightened tension and drama by drawing the viewer right inside the car. 

Originally designed as an improvised piece, director Charlie Henry 

Belleville carefully selected his cast, and although the production shifted 

to a scripted format, the intimacy and synergy between the characters 

is fantastic, often giving the feeling that you are watching documentary 

footage, as opposed to a scripted scene. It’s this focus on character that 

gives The Inheritance its charm. Tim Barrow’s withdrawn and volatile David 

plays wonderfully opposite Fraser Sivewright’s inquisitive more antagonistic 

Fraser. Their relationship explores the often unspoken emotional power 

struggle that underlies that of many siblings. 

Written in 2 months, and filmed over 11 days on a budget of £5000, The 

Inheritance is a dark, touching look at brotherhood, identity and the stereotype 

of the Scotsman’s inability to express his feelings. JR 

Newcomer Jonas Ball stars as the mentally disturbed obsessive responsible 

for the murder that shocked the world and ended an era on 8 December 

1980. Using only Chapman’s on-the-record testimonies and entries from his 

journal, writer/director Andrew Piddington recreates Chapman’s deranged 

plot to assassinate the most famous man in the world. 

In this exhibition of the mind of a killer, Piddington reveals Chapman as 

a man living an average and dull life. A crap day job and disconnected relationships 

with everyone around him including his wife and mother, send 

Chapman searching for a deeper meaning to his existence. While browsing 

through his local library, he comes across JD Salinger’s The Catcher 

in the Rye, and immediately forms an unhealthy obsession with the book’s 

central character, Holden Caulfield and his scorn for phonies. Falling upon 

a picture book of John Lennon, Chapman starts to view him as the world’s 

biggest phoney and travels thousands of miles to New York City, where his 

deluded fantasy becomes reality. 

Brilliantly shot, with an intense mix of drama and historical facts, 

Piddington’s choice to make a whole film recreating John Lennon’s murder 

gives us an insight into the mind of the most famous of all celebrity killers 

and puts a unique spin on the darkest elements of the Lennon saga. JV

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE QUEEN 

SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 2:15PM 

Running Time 83 mins Format Super-16 mm Director/Screenplay JK Amalou Producers 

JK Amalou, Michael Riley, Nico Rilla DoP Nick Sawyer Cast James Doherty, Stuart Laing, Isabel 

Brook Print Source jksc@msn.com 

SUMMER SCARS 

TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 8:45PM 

Running Time 73 mins Format HD Dir Julian Richards 

Producers Julian Richards, Sabina Sattar S’play Julian 

Richards, Al Wilson DoP Bob Williams Cast Kevin Howarth, 

Ciaran Joyce, Amy Harvey Print Source Prolific Films 

E jr@jingafilms.com Wwww.jingafilms.com 

WAZ 

FRIDAY 28 SEPTMBER AT 9PM 

Running Time 85 mins Format DV Director Tom Shankland 

Screenplay Clive Bradley DoP Morten Søborg Producers 

Allan Niblo, James Richardson, Michael Casey Cast Stellan 

Skarsgärd, Melissa George, Selma Blair, Ashley Walters P/S 

Vertigo Films E hubi@vertigofilms.com W www.vertigofilms.com 


RECOMMENDED BY 


Having recently retired from the city, thirty-something Hugo has wrapped 

himself and his beautiful wife Anna in a cocoon of a country house. But 

now that they’ve mastered living the aspiring middle-class lifestyle to perfection, 

there is really no place for them to go but down. 

To celebrate Hugo’s birthday they invite their smug friends, lawyer Steve 

and wife Wendy for a tranquil weekend in the country. Cracks begin to 

show however when Hugo’s nemesis and Anna’s not so secret admirer, 

Ben, arrives unannounced. Before long the weekend descends into a wild 

orgy of gypsies, thieves, strippers and murder. 

Confidently directed by writer/director JK Amalou and featuring some 

of the most talented actors from across the UK, time spent watching this 

smart British comedy will deliver more than a few guilty pleasures. SB 

When six 14-year-old kids skip school to play in the woods, their day’s 

antics culminate in a motorcycle crash where they fear having killed a drifter. 

Relieved that he is still alive and well, they feel obliged to befriend him 

– an obligation they come to deeply regret. 

The drifter’s behaviour increasingly oscillates between kindness and 

abuse and the truants eventually find themselves being held hostage in 

their own den. They are soon forced to embrace the darker side of human 

nature if they are going to survive this ordeal. 

Summer Scars sheds serious light on the choices we are forced to 

make under extreme circumstances, where our impulsive reactions can 

sometimes take us beyond what we thought possible. With an unsettlingly 

natural Jekyll and Hyde like performance from Kevin Howarth, writer/ 

director Julian Richards superbly captures the essesnce of life-changing 

experiences, the resonance of a single event is beautifully explored. RS 

‘Excellent coming-of-age movie, simply and superbly told. Imagine Stand 

By Me, with some horror thrown in: really fine’ – Everett True, Plan B 

When scorched bodies start turning up on the seedy streets of New York, 

the police assume it’s the work of a serial killer. As each body is closely 

observed, it transpires that a cryptic message has been etched into the 

skin, thus confirming all suspicions. This message comprises of three 

symbols. Bitter detective Eddie Argo (Stellan Skarsgärd) and his newly 

appointed partner Helen (Melissa George) must prevent any more killings 

while attempting to decipher the significance of the mysterious marks. 

A British-made thriller set in New York, Tom Shankland’s film takes its 

cue from staple chillers such as Seven and Saw, while adding twisted elements 

to this popular genre. Clive Bradley’s menacing script sets up some 

devastating set pieces while focusing equally on the inevitable effects this 

sort of police work has on the human psyche. 

Skarsgärd and George give compelling performances as the officers 

who pushed to their limits and are forced into an unimaginable nightmare, 

while the supporting cast shows off familiar British actors. Ashley Walters 

once again proves his stunning abilities as an actor in the challenging role 

of Daniel, and the usually comic Paul Kaye gives a truly memorable performance 

as a crazed scientist. This is a frightening piece of raw cinema, 

dark, gritty and compulsive viewing. JM 


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BAKUSHI: THE INCREDIBLE LIVES OF ROPE… 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 9:15PM 

Country Japan Running Time 94 mins Format 35mm 

Director Ryuichi Hiroki Producer Naoya Narita DoP Kazuhiro 

Suzuki, Tatsumi Watanabe Featuring Chimuo Nureki, Haruki 

Yukimura, Go Arisue Print Source Gold View Company 

Email ikeuchi@goldview.co.jp W www.goldview.co.jp 

BLITZKRIEG BOP 

FRIDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 10PM [THE REX] 


Director/Screenplay/DoP Kakuei Shimada Producers 

Kimihiro Yukisada, Mikihasa Suzuki Cast Masaki Nakai, Akiko 

Onishi, Mary Dekaruko, Naomi Iguro Print Source Kakuei 

Shimada Email punkfilm666@m4.dion.ne.jp 

FRANK & CINDY 


Country USA Running Time 73 mins Format Mini DV 

Director/Screenplay/Producer/DoP GJ Echternkamp 

Featuring Frank Garcia, Cindy Brown Print Source Bionic 

Films Email gj@bionicfilms.com W www.frankandcindy.com 





WATCH IT ON 

Ryuichi Hiroki began his filmmaking career in the ’80s directing pink films, 

including several SM-heavy titles made under the pseudonym Go Ijuin. He 

later revisited this world with a comedy drama about an impotent fetish 

writer and his dissatisfied wife in I Am An SM Writer (2000). 

With Bakushi, a term meaning ‘rope master’, he returns to throw light on 

this shadowy subject once more. A documentary focusing on a strain of 

this erotic art form peculiar to Japan known as kinbaku; it features three 

of the country’s leading practitioners of this erotic art form in action, as 

they elaborately bind their models’ bodies using multiple pieces of rope for 

S&M specialist stage shows, magazine photo shoots and videos specialising 

in S&M. 

Both the models and the rope artists are interviewed, helping to give 

an insight into the history of S&M practises in Japan, where after the War 

pulp magazines like Kitan Club and Fuzoku Kitan began to emerge, and 

rope-play spectacles were soon introduced into more mainstream erotic 

journals and a variety of other media such as film (Pink Films, Roman 

Porno, Adult Videos), novels, illustrations and erotic Manga. The results are 

strikingly stylised, painstakingly realised and oddly elucidating. Needless to 

say, for adult viewers only. JS 

Trouble follows cool punk Okajima wherever he roams. Having fought off 

a group of pesky yakuza hunters, he is visited by his troublesome, feisty 

ex-girlfriend Tomoko. She blackmails him into rescuing her Lego-obsessed 

boyfriend who is being held captive by yakuza boss Fujikita. As it happens, 

the boss is also after Okajima for stolen yakuza money. 

While on his deadly rescue mission, Okajima saves oddball Haruka 

from a sadistic kidnapper. She becomes his stalker and ally. Meanwhile, 

Torakichi, the militant leader of the yakuza hunters, is hot on Okajima’s trail 

after mistaking him for a yakuza thug. 

Ramones fanatic Kakuei Shimada’s (Kazoku Rock, Raindance 2002) 

madcap Japanese gangster flick is a concoction of outrageous and surreal 

humour blended with a twisted, unpredictable plotline. Shimada’s quirkiness 

excels through his slapstick style dotted with philosophical moments 

amongst the mayhem. With the odd cult culture references to bands, films 

and comics popping up on the way, it’s obvious where his influences stem 

from. Just like wasabe, it’s a hot kick on the palate, but you like it. SD 

Whoever said not to wash your dirty linen in public? GJ Echternkamp 

makes his cinematic debut with a fascinating exposé of homebound delusions. 

23 years ago Cindy Brown married pop star Frank Garcia, then lead 

vocalist and guitarist of the short lived pop band Oxo. Today Cindy maintains 

her has-been husband in far less glamourous attire. Unable to keep 

a job, or even to leave the basement that Cindy converted into a studio for 

him, she has had to put food on the table and beers in the fridge as Frank 

sank. When Cindy’s son, turns his camera onto the daily life and quarrels 

of the couple, it’s hard not to think that Jessica Simpson might have had 

to compete for airtime with this nightmare version of what could be called 

‘Not so newly wed’. 

However after a year of filming, director GJ takes us on an introspective 

journey into the life of two failed characters desperately striving for 

happiness. Finding out as much about himself as his parents this film is 

something of a comic tragedy; and yet neither Frank nor Cindy seem to 

lose hope, so why should we? With a score by Frank Garcia, this is an 

entirely home-made movie: harshly honest despite the lies and deceit that 

riddle the house. And whether this film inspires you to laugh or cry it will 

certainly move you. YG

OFF THE GRID: LIFE ON THE MESA 


Country USA Running Time 64 mins Format 16mm Director Jeremy Stulberg, Randy Stulberg 

Producers Eric Juhola, Randy Stulberg DoP Ari Issler Print Source Stillpoint Pictures Email 

offthegrid@stillpointpictures.com W www.stillpointpictures.com 

Playing with So 32 mins 

PERFORMANCE 

WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 9PM [THE REX] 

Country UK Running Time 105 mins Format 35mm 

Directors Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg Producer Sanford 

Lieberson Screenplay Donald Cammell DoP Nicolas Roeg 

Cast James Fox, Mick Jagger Print Source BFI 

SILVER JEW 

THURSDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 5PM 

Country USA Running Time 51 mins Format DV Director/DoP Michael Tully Producer 

Matthew Robinson Featuring David Berman, Cassie Berman Brian Kotzur Print Source Michael 

Tully Email mynameismichaeltully@yahoo.com W www.silverjewmovie.com 

Playing with Manhattan Rendez-vous 40 mins 



The Mesa is an area of fifteen square miles in New Mexico which is home 

to an alternative community nearly four hundred strong. They are a mixture 

of war veterans, hippies and the plain crazy, living far from the forces of 

law and government. One such inhabitant describes the Mesa as being an 

‘outdoor insane asylum.’ 

This is no paradise as we quickly learn in this excellent and moving doc. 

Conditions are harsh with no electricity or running water. Survival depends 

on trading what little valuables are available, be it a can of oil or an ounce 

of pot. Directors Jeremy and Randy Stulberg have managed to unearth 

some unforgettable characters from the Mesa wasteland. There is Robbie 

the banjo playing elder and Stan who is both a pig farmer and guardian to 

the teenage runaways who arrive in the Mesa on a regular basis. 

This is flipside America representing, perhaps, the last vestiges of the 

hippie dream, a dream that lives in constant danger of being shattered. 

When a series of break-ins occur on the Mesa shotguns are toted in an 

outburst of frontier mentality. Despite this, the sense of community here 

appears to be stronger than in many so called civilised areas. This film 

shows you a world that you probably never knew existed and leaves you 

feeling happier in the knowledge that it does. AD 

Presented by The Clash’s Mick Jones in an exclusive event at The Rex 

Cinema, Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg’s modern masterpiece from 

1970 comes to Raindance. 

Noted upon its release primarily for its shocking sexual content and 

stark portrayal of casual drug taking, Performance goes far beyond these 

attributed features to deliver a sublime and allegedly accurate view of the 

darker side of swinging sixties London. Narrative-wise it focuses on the 

exploits of Chas, a hard East London gangster who is forced into hiding 

following a brutal massacre that should never have taken place. He finds 

the perfect cover in a house owned by Turner, an eccentric rock star who 

lives a bohemian existence fuelled by excess and wild creativity. As their 

two worlds collide, barriers of reality and sanity are broken down in a frenzy 

of sexual, spiritual and narcotic experimentation. 

Despite the inspired set-up, the film’s true greatness lies in its striking 

blend of imagery and sound, presenting a simultaneously unsettling 

yet inviting world of decadence and mayhem. James Fox, startlingly cast 

against type, excels as the vicious gangster, while it’s Mick Jagger (in his 

first acting role) who takes the limelight as the enigmatic Turner. JM 

In 1989 David Berman formed the indie band Silver Jews with the intention 

of making simplistic rock music with low production values – and never 

playing live shows. The name choice was strictly aesthetic, none of the 

band considering themselves Jewish. They recorded five albums and one 

EP and Berman himself had success as a published poet. Emotionally, 

things were not going so well. Depression and drug use saw him institutionalised, 

where he found Judaism, and a new meaning to his band name. 

They began to tour for the first time. The band played two shows in Israel, 

visiting Jerusalem, which Michael Tully’s film Silver Jew follows. 

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this film is the combination of 

live music and religious discussion – Berman and others talking about personal 

philosophies and visiting Jewish monuments. Some sequences are 

particularly moving, including the band’s visit to the Western Wall where 

Berman tearfully recites the Sherma Yisrael, as well as Berman’s interaction 

with his fans. Some sequences demonstrate great wit, including a 

sequence featuring brooms, and Berman’s taking off his baseball cap to 

reveal a skullcap. The music itself is haunting – an eerie backing reminding 

us of darker times, offering a sense of counterpoint to the new positive 

outlook that Berman shares. JG 


63

SOUTH COAST 

WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 8:45PM 

Country UK Running Time 85 mins Format DV-Cam 

Director Will Jewell Producers Kevin DaCosta, Charlie 

Bowden DoP Dominic Jones, Callum Rex Reid Featuring 

Norman Cook, Buzz, Dirty Diggers P/S Fractured Films 

E will@fracturedfilms.com W www.southcoastthemovie.com 

THIS FILTHY WORLD 

THURSDAY 27 SEPTEMBER AT 9:30PM 

Country USA Running Time 86 mins Format Digibeta 

Director Jeff Garlin Producers Michele Armour, Jeff Garlin, 

Eric Besner DoP Dan Shulman Featuring John Waters 

Print Source Revelation Films Email simon@revfilm.net 

Playing with New York Story 7 mins 

TWENTY TO LIFE: THE LIFE & TIMES OF… 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 9:15PM [REX EXCLUSIVE] 

Country USA RT 86 mins Ft Super-16mm, Mini-DV Dir Steve 

Gebhardt Prods Steve Gebhardt, John Sinclair DoP Tom 

Hayes With John Sinclair, Leni Sinclair, John Lennon, Yoko 

Ono, Allen Ginsberg, Wayne Kramer, Charles Neville P/S MVD 

E clint@musicvideodistributors.com W www.twentytolifefilm.com 


WATCH IT ON 




Historically, the world of popular Hip Hop has been divided into the East 

and West coasts of America. Some fans may be surprised to learn of the 

South Coast scene in Brighton, England. After watching this film however, 

they will soon come to understand that these groups are just as dedicated, 

hard working and innovative as their American counterparts. We 

first encounter the eccentric characters who make up this community, and 

learn of their philosophies. The film then informs us of the history of the 

genre, how it came to Brighton, and how it developed its own culture there. 

We learn of the individuals’ history and the development of their interest 

in Hip Hop, and this combined with the global and local trends described 

gives us the full picture of the scene. Other aspects of the culture are 

explored, including the development of graffiti as an art form, and that of 

break-dancing. We come full circle to encounter the next generation, giving 

us a small glimpse into what the future may hold for the scene. 

This film emphasizes the difference between American commercial Hip 

Hop and the South Coast artistry, when considering the message that artistry 

is marginalised by financial realities, it becomes clear that this is not 

just a documentary for the Hip Hop enthusiast. JG 

This Filthy World is John Waters’ one man show. It’s a celebration of everything 

trashy, filthy, dirty and just plain wrong that entertains us. Part lecture, 

part stand-up performance, Waters talks about his early artistic influences: 

his obsession with true crime, exploitation films, fashion lunacy, not to 

mention Michael Jackson, popper addiction, and tea-bagging. 

Waters is a charismatic speaker, and his call to arms for filmmakers 

everywhere to do what they want is incredibly powerful. Little could be 

more fitting for this festival, than a lecture on filmmaking from a man who 

shot his version of the JFK assassination 2 weeks after the event, with 

Jackie Kennedy played by a transvestite. Waters epitomises his subject 

matter with an irreverent performance and despite the fact that you’ll 

laugh so hard you’ll wish you wore a colostomy bag, you never lose the 

sense that he knows what he’s talking about. As a lecturer he talks easily 

about his influences and techniques, and as a comic he glides smoothly 

between topics. You may be deterred by the idea of listening to a director 

talk about their influences for an hour an a half, but in the words of William 

Burroughs, Waters is truly the ‘Pope of Trash’. JR 

‘Fuck it, queen of camp, John Waters is a total gem’ – E True, Plan B 

In the USA of 1967, the minimum mandatory sentence for possession of 

marijuana was 20 years in prison with a maximum of life. Steve Gebhardt’s 

film recounts how the cultural activist, poet, MC5 manager and White 

Panthers founder, John Sinclair, found himself at the mercy of the American 

narcotics laws. It is this laughable drugs charge (Sinclair was sentenced 

to ten years for passing two joints to an undercover police officer) that 

captured the media’s attention and the wider public’s imagination including 

John Lennon, who wrote a song in solidarity with the Free John Sinclair 

campaign. This pieces together the abundant exploits of a man and a 

community who believed that ‘life without resistance wasn’t worth living’ 

and formulated a political programmme which sought cultural revolution 

through racial inclusion, rock and roll, dope and fucking in the streets. 

As Sinclair puts it: ‘the marijuana issue is a free speech issue’, not so 

much about smoking weed but about living life according to one’s beliefs, 

this essential film sings the blues of America’s recent history; interweaving 

Sinclair’s own poetry backed by the brilliant Blues Scholars, footage of 

John Lennon and Allen Ginsberg with the sounds of Charles Neville. YG 

‘The considerable highs of a life wonderfully misspent’ – E True, Plan B

BELLE ÉPOQUE [POSLEDNJI VALCER U SARAJEVU] 

SATURDAY 6 OCTOBER AT MIDDAY 

Country Serbia, Bosnia, Hercegovina Running Time 135 mins Format 35 mm Director Nikola 

Stojanovic Producers Mihailo Todorovic, Bakir Tanovic DoP Radoslav Vladic Editor Petar 

Putnikovic Cast Vita Mavric, Davor Janjic, Radmila Zivkovic Print Source 35mm Positive 

Email majafilmue@yahoo.com 

THE BOSS OF IT ALL 

FRIDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM 

Country Denmark Running Time 110 mins Director/Screenplay/DoP Lars von Trier 

Producer Meta Louise Foldager Cast Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson Print 

Source Diffusion Pictures Email info@diffusionpictures.co.uk W www.direktorenfordethele.dk 

CHILDREN [BORN] 

WEDNESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER AT 6:30PM 

Country Iceland Running Time 93 mins Format 35mm Director Ragnar Bragason 

Producers Gisili Örn Garöarsson, Vikingur Kristjánsson, E. Sigurösson, Nanna Kristin 

Magnúsdóttir Screenplay Ragnur Bragason & Cast DoP Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson Cast Gisili 

Örn Garöarsson, Nina Dogg Filippusdóttir, Olafur Darri Olafsson Print Source The Works Media 

Group Email gareth.tennant@theworksmediagroup.com W www.theworksmediagroup.com 


This film is a unique take on pre-First World War Sarajevo, seen through 

the eyes of the first Bosnian motion picture cameraman Anton Walitz. 

Walitz’s excavations on this period have become significant in the country’s 

cultural history. Here, we witness the preparation and the execution 

of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. Amongst the spies, contra-spies, prostitutes 

and swindlers appears a French man and along with him a camera. 

This camera soon becomes the young Anton’s inspiration, and offers him 

a lens through which he can record these historical events. Facts that 

become a backdrop upon which an unusual epoch, its bizarre atmosphere 

and turbulent times can be explored. With cabaret scenes that are bound 

to liven up any audience, Belle Époque brings dramatic humour and wit to 

what would otherwise be known as a distressing time at the beginning of 

the century in the Balkans. 

Seventeen years in the making, Belle Époque was originally shot in 1990 

and remained uncut during the occupation of Sarajevo, in the hands of 

Bosna Film in the private home of a man who has become little short of a 

hero, Bakir Tnovic. A truly entertaining spectacle. AK 

The boss of an IT firm, Ravn, has gone the entire history of the company 

without his status being known, using a fictional superior to hide behind. 

He intends to sell the company to an Icelandic buyer, who is unwilling to 

deal with a man who is not the ‘real’ boss. Ravn brings in out-of-work actor 

Kristoffer to play his fictional boss, Svend, to close the deal. Problems arise 

when Kristoffer discovers what his character has been communicating 

(through Ravn) over the years to the staff of the firm, and later when he 

discovers that Ravn intends to fire the entire staff and short change them 

for their contributions. Bound by contract to sell his surrogate firm, but 

sympathetic to the staff he has grown to like (despite their slight insanity) 

Kristoffer attempts to convince Ravn to confess to being the boss, and to 

forgo selling the firm, saving them both from moral damnation. 

Von Trier filmed this comedic morality play using a new technique he 

has called Automavision, in which a computer determines camera angles. 

The prospect of this ‘hands-off’ system is likely to incite similar debates to 

Von Trier’s previous Dogma 95 aesthetic. This technique is not, as one may 

expect, distracting. In fact, it opens up the possibility for interesting peculiarities 

which are fitting with this ironic deconstructionist farce. JG 

With Children, director Ragnar Bragason comes across as an Icelandic 

Ken Loach, such is his apparent affection for the misfits of modern society. 

This film, the first of a pair on the parent/child theme, is a gritty drama 

revolving around three inter-related characters. 

First we meet Gardar, a gangland enforcer who, despite outbursts of 

violence, possesses a sense of moral justice at odds with his choice of 

employment. Several years ago Gardar fathered a son with Karitas, a 

young nurse who is heavily in debt and reliant on alcoholic binges to blot 

out her problems. Karitas lives in the same building as Marino, a middleaged 

schizophrenic who is completely dependent on his mother and who 

becomes insanely jealous when it emerges that she has a secret life. When 

Gardar returns to see his son, he becomes a catalyst for a series of events 

which soon spiral out of control. 

Gardar, Karitas and Marino are the infants in this film. Marino has the 

mental capacity of a child, Karitas helplessly allows her children to run her 

household, and Gardar behaves like a school bully, believing he can solve 

any problem through either bribery or intimidation. 

This is not always an easy watch but its depth of characterisaton and 

compelling story make it hard to turn away (a very rewarding one). AD

THE CREAM [LA CRÈME] 

FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER AT 5PM 

Country France Running Time 83 mins Format HDV Director/S’play/DoP Reynald 

Bertrand Producer Isabelle Tillou Cast Laurent Legeay, Nicolas Abraham, Marie-Anne Pauly 

Print Source IT Films Email isabelle@whynotproductions.fr W www.lacremefilm.com 

DOLINA 

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 2:15PM 

Country Hungary Running Time 122 mins Format 35mm Director/Producer Zoltán Kamondi 

Screenplay Ádám Bodor, Zoltán Kamondi DoP Gábor Medvigy Cast Adriano Giannini, Piroska 

Molnár, Stefania Rivi, János Derzsi, Ioana Abur Print Source Filmunió E kati.vajda@filmuno.hu 

W www.filmunio.hu 

DRINK UP! [DE BARES] 

THURSDAY 27 SEPTEMBER AT 8:45PM 

Country Spain Running Time 93 mins Format DV Director/ 

Screenplay Mario Iglesias Producer Daniel Froiz Cast Emma 

Alvarez, Javier Albala, Nancho Novo, Jesus Cabrero Print 

Source Matriuska Producciones. E danifroiz@matriuska.com 



When you’re desperate to find work Christmas can seem pretty bleak. In 

Reynald Bertrand’s surreal drama two unemployed men come face to face 

as they are given a week to decide which one of them deserves to get the 

job they have both been selected for. This farcical recruitment technique 

pushes both men to new heights of despair as 25 December draws closer. 

The authorities’ attempt at equal opportunities is soon stunted however, 

when one of the contestants, François Magin, is offered a magic face 

cream for Christmas – perhaps there is a Santa Claus after all. 

In a Lynx effect meets The Emperor’s new clothes vein, this suburban 

French town becomes mesmerised by the sight of François when he 

wears the mysterious cream. It begins to look as though with his newfound 

celebrity status François won’t need to work at all. Lost in the reverie 

of his own illusion, it isn’t long before narcissism gets the better of him, 

leaving him to answer to the police, his wife, and his potential employer. 

Bertrand succeeds in engaging us in a fanciful tale about addiction, 

trust, how to pull off being a celebrity and cheap cosmetics. Always read 

the label before applying. YG 

Looking like something out of a Grimm’s fairytale, the town of Bogdanski 

Dolina nestles somewhere in a remote part of Eastern Europe. It has its 

own set of arcane rules and regulations and its borders are protected by 

unkempt thugs who double up as guards at the local internment camp 

where TB patients and other undesirables are held. 

The guards do the bidding of a pseudo religious order composed of 

military men who call themselves The Vicarage. Dressed in cassocks and 

sporting fake beards attached via cords around their ears, the men make 

good use of the town’s main source of entertainment – a whorehouse 

slash hairdresser run by eccentric Madam Colentina Dunka. Smitten by 

her beautiful employee, Natalia, she is determined to break up the woman’s 

relationship with her husband. Meanwhile the whole town waits in 

anticipation for the arrival of the Archbishop. 

Allegorical in nature, the film is based on the Ádám Bodor novel. Dolina 

took seven years from conception to completion and was shot in a kaolin 

mine in Romania’s East Transylvanian mountains – a fact which helped 

create the ghostly, ethereal appearance of the town. The real star of the 

film, however, is undoubtedly its luscious and intricately detailed production 

design which has been compared to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. SB 

There is more to any photograph than first meets the eye. Behind each still 

image there is a story waiting to be told and a life to be revealed. This is 

the premise behind director Mario Iglesias’ highly original film. 

A young man becomes a regular in a local Spanish bar. Intrigued by a 

collection of photos which cover the walls of the establishment, he gradually 

allows his curiosity along with that of other customers to instill the 

pictures with life. Over the course of ten stories, each an expertly crafted 

vignette, we encounter a range of characters including an unlikely participant 

in a drug deal, a woman with a guilty secret which she chooses to 

disclose to a total stranger and a group of inebriates involved in a rowdy 

debate over where exactly the horizon can be found. 

Lively bar culture is everywhere in Drink Up and indeed the woozy closeup 

camera work imparts a feeling of disorientation in the viewer as though 

one is watching the film whilst intoxicated. This, by no means unpleasant 

sensation, adds to the dream like nature of some of the film’s stories, 

which range from the funny to the plain disturbing. Their brevity ensures 

that none outstay their welcome and each slips down as smoothly as a 

shot of fine vodka. AD 


67

EX DRUMMER 

FRIDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 9:30PM 

Country Belgium Running Time 90 mins Format 35mm 

Director/Screenplay Koen Mortier Producers Eurydice 

Gysel, Koen Mortier CDoP Glynn Speeckaert Cast Norman 

Baert, François Beukelaers, Dolores Bouckaert P/S Tartan 

Films E cr@widemanagement.com W www.exdrummer.com 

KENNEDI IS GETTING MARRIED [KENEDI SE ZENI] 

TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 5PM 

Country Serbia Running Time 80 mins Format DV Director/Screenplay/Producer Zelimir 

Zilnik DoP Miodrag Milosevic Cast Kenedi Hasani, Beni Halitii, Max Steiner Print Source Terra 

Film Email terrafilm@sbb.co.yu W www.zelimirzilnik.net 

Playing with Farmer Brown 4 mins 

ONE TWO ANOTHER [CHACUN SA NUIT] 


Country France RT 90 mins Ft 35mm Directors/Producers Pascal Arnold, Jean-Marc Barr 

Screenplay Pascal Arnold DoP Chris Keohane, Jean-Marc Barr Cast Lizzie Brocheré, Arthur 

Dupont, Pierre Perrier Print Source Peccadillo Pictures Email kahloon@peccadillopictures.com 




Based on the offbeat novel by Hermann Brusselmans, Dries, a famous 

author is asked to play the drums for a motley group of rockers. The band 

decide that their unique selling point will be that each of them has a handicap. 

Singer Koen claims a speech impediment, bass player Jan a stiff arm 

since childhood, while guitarist Ivan is deaf. When Dries agrees to join as 

drummer, he decides his handicap will be that he can’t play the drums. 

Dries is intrigued by this trio of misfits whose low rent lives are light 

years away from his own, which comes complete with swanky penthouse 

and sexually adventurous girlfriend. He suspects the trio’s real handicaps 

are their lifestyles. One beats women up as a hobby, another literally 

spends his days upside down, while the third keeps his father permanently 

tied to his bed as his bald mother gets it on with one of his colleagues. 

From the opening credits where the film plays out in reverse and title 

cards are cleverly integrated into the production design, it’s clear that this 

is one of the most original films of the year. While it is likely to offend everyone 

and anyone with sex, violence misogyny, homophobia, you name it, 

it’s all there, in true rock ’n’ roll style Mortier powers his way through. 

Most shocking of all, however, is that this wild ride of a film is a debut for 

the stunningly talented writer/director, Koen Mortier. SB 

Kenedi is in debt to some scary gangsters after building a house for his 

family. He finds himself searching for any kind of work to support himself, 

for as little as ten euros per day. Ultimately, Kenedi decides to look for 

money in the sex business. Initially offering his services to older ladies and 

widows, he expands his business to offer sex to wealthy men. When he 

finds out about new liberal European laws on gay marriage, Kenedi sees 

prospects in looking for marriage material, to renew his search for legal 

status in the EU. The opportunity arises during the EXIT Music Festival in 

Novi Sad, where he meets Max, a guy from Munich. But will their promising 

relationship solve Kenedi’s problems? 

While this is a fictional feature, Kenedi Is Getting Married sequels two 

documentaries with the same subject meatter. The noted sociological documentary 

director Zilnik has been following Kenedi since his deportation 

to Serbia in 2002. In this third installment of the Kenedi saga (following 

Kenedi Goes Home (2003) and Kenedi Lost and Found (2005)) fiction is 

chosen over the documentary genre. Here the characters who featured 

in the previous films are given a script inspired by their own lives. Whilst 

this might seem exploitative, the warmth and understanding with which 

Kenedi’s world is treated will dissuade all judgment. DB 

For years Lucie has lived an idyllic life as the sole female in a close-knit 

group of teenage friends. Passionate, intelligent and beautiful, her tightest 

bond lies with her equally spirited brother Pierre, with whom she shares an 

unorthodox yet compelling relationship. When Pierre disappears mysteriously 

and is subsequently found dead, Lucie is dragged into psychological 

turmoil. Recommended to record her thoughts on paper, conveyed via 

voice-over, she must unearth the truth surrounding the events leading to 

his death before the police close the case. 

Cutting between events before and after Pierre’s death, Barr and Arnold 

vividly portray the connections shared between people. In spite of the film’s 

dark subject matter, the real focus is on the beauty and excitement of 

adolescence, where rock music and casual sex are met with philosophical 

musings and the cathartic nature of true friendship. The cast are superb, 

especially Lizzie Brocheré as the complex Lucie, and Arthur DuPont as 

Pierre; alternating between omnipresence and appearances within the 

frame. Their characters are both likeable and believable despite their 

heretical sexual tendencies. Working on two levels, one as a mystery thriller 

and the other an erotic coming of age story, One Two Another stands 

out as a fascinating piece of French cinema. JM

PARENTS [FORELDRAR] 


Country Iceland Running Time 89 mins Format 35mm Director Ragnar Bragason 

Producers Gisili Örn Garöarsson, Vikingur Kristjánsson, E. Sigurösson, Nanna Kristin 

Magnúsdóttir Screenplay Ragnur Bragason & Cast DoP Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson Cast Gisili 

Örn Garöarsson, Nina Dogg Filippusdóttir, Olafur Darri Olafsson Print Source The Works Media 

Group Email gareth.tennant@theworksmediagroup.com W www.theworksmediagroup.com 

RED LIKE THE SKY [ROSSO COME IL CIELO] 


Country Italy RT 95 mins Ft 35mm Dir Cristiano Bortone 

Prods C Bortone, Daniele Mazzocca S’play C Bortone, Monica 

Zapelli, PSassanelli DoP Vladan Radovic Cast Paolo Sassanelli, 

Luca Capriotti, Marco Cocci, Simone Colombari P/S Adriana 

Chiesa Enterprises E info@adrianachiesaenterprises.com 

SHELTER [RIPARO] 

SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER AT 5PM 

Country Italy RT 98 mins Ft 35mm Dir Marco S Puccioni Prod 

Mario Mazzarotto S’play M Puccioni, Monica Rametta Heirdun 

Schleef DoP Tarek Ben Abdallah Cast Maria de Medeiros, 

Antonia Liskova, Mounir Ouadi P/S cr@widemanagement.com 

Playing with Land of the Pines 5 mins 



Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason’s concept of parenthood is not a sentimental 

vision of new born babies and happy mums and dads. Whereas 

the grown-ups in his previous film, Children, were trapped within prisons 

of their own innate immaturity, here his characters are dealing with the 

complexities and pain of becoming responsible adults. 

The film centres on three main characters. Oskar, an emotionally 

repressed dentist, who after five years of marriage desperately wants a 

child. He feels his wife, who is already coping with her children from a previous 

marriage, is uninterested in further procreation. Oskar’s colleague, 

Katrin, is a single mother trying hard to earn the respect of her son whilst 

contending with an overbearing mother and an abusive partner. Finally, 

there is Einar whose obsession with his job wrecked his marriage and 

pushed his young daughter away. They all share the belief that through 

building relationships with their children they may well find some solace 

from their unhappiness and loneliness. 

If this all sounds as bleak as the Reykjavik landscape against which 

the film is beautifully photographed (in black and white) then be assured 

that there is considerable pleasure to be found from such honest, well 

observed and indeed grown-up film making. AD 

Red Like The Sky is inspired by the true story of Mirco Mencacci, one of 

the most renowned sound editors in Italian cinema. It opens in 1971, with 

Mirco’s life-changing accident as a 10-year-old that causes him to lose his 

sight. The law at the time forced his parents to send him away to a school 

for the blind. Mirco wasn’t willing to accept that his disability would limit 

him to a future of physical labour. When assigned a geography project, 

instead of handing in a finished piece in braille, Micro puts together an 

audio compilation tape. Despite being met with great admiration from his 

peers, the headmaster of his school was far less approving of his unorthodox 

presentation. 

Micro goes on to demonstrate his defiant character when he isn’t picked 

for the yearly school performance. Hardly stunted by the exclusion Micro 

decides to create his own. It isn’t until after the young Mirco is expelled 

from school that his ingenuity and initiative begin to be appreciated. 

With superb performances, this feel-good tale puts an inspiring spin on 

how rules and conventions should be perceived. RS 

When lovers Anna and Mara discover Anis, a young Moroccan, has snuck 

into the boot of their car as they return to Italy, their first instinct is to turn 

him away. Acting as a figure of compassion, Anna has second thoughts and 

chooses to smuggle him into the country and into their home. She even 

finds him a job at her family’s shoe factory, where Mara also works, on the 

assembly line. These acts of kindness cause a bitter divide between the 

two women, instigated by Mara, who feels alienated by their new guest. 

Adding to the issues raised by Anis’ presence, is Anna’s mother’s 

resentment towards her daughter’s lesbian relationship. As Anna and Mara 

slowly grow apart they individually turn to Anis for friendship and closeness. 

This three way relationship escalates into a situation that will change 

their lives forever. 

Marco Puccioni offers a new take on the immigration drama genre, 

bringing into focus other factors such as attitudes towards class and sexuality. 

Medieros, Liskova and the non-professional actor Ouadi are perfectly 

cast as the central trio, constructing believable and compelling characters 

giving as much weight to the drama as the topical subject matter. JM 


69

TESLA AND KATHARINE 

FRIDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 2PM 

Country Serbia RT 53 mins Format DV Director/Producer Ljiljana Kojic-Bogdanovic 

Screenplay Ljiljana Kojic-Bogdanovic, Katarina Bogdanovic Choreography Krunislav Simic 

DoP Rade Vladic Cast Konstantin Kostuykov, Gordana Simic, The International Dance Company 

Singidunum Print Source Ljiljana Kojic-Bogdanovic Email info@charged-films.com 

W www.charged-films.com 

URANYA 


Country Greece Running Time 95 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay Costas 

Kapakas Producers Haris Podouvas DoP Stefano Falivene Cast Aris Tsapis, Andreas Kyriakakis, 

Maria Grazia Cucinotta P/S Cinegram Email f.economopoulou@cinegram.gr W www.uranya.gr 

VALERIE 

FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER AT 6:45PM 

Country Germany Running Time 83 mins Format 35mm Director Birgit Möller Producer 

Jorg Trentmann Screenplay Ruth Rehmet, Ilja Haller, Milena Baisch, Elke Sudmann, Birgit Möller 

DoP Kolja Raschke Cast Agata Buzek, Devid Striesow, Birol Ünel, Anne Sarah Hartung Print 

Source Credofilm Email office@credofilm.de W www.valerie.zauberlandfilm.de 



The story of one of the 20th century’s most important and mysterious 

scientists is brought to life through dance. Taking place at the height of 

Nikola Tesla’s success and fame in 1900s New York, the ballet adaptation 

focuses on his intimate friendship with eminent romantic poet Robert 

Johnson and his wife Katharine. Based on their written correspondence, it 

appears that Tesla and Katharine shared a deep affection for each other. It 

has been interpreted that their ensuing romance culminated in Katharine’s 

illness and eventual death. The backdrop to this love triangle is the famous 

‘War of the Currents’, a battle waged by Thomas Edison (inventor of direct 

current electricity) on Tesla’s superior alternating current – Edison actually 

invented the electric chair simply to discredit alternating current and 

have it cast aside as too dangerous for domestic use. However after the 

building of the world’s first hydropower station in Niagara Falls, Tesla and 

his financier George Westinghouse defeated Edison’s efforts and AC now 

powers households across the world. 

This ballet features Konstantin Kostuykov and Gordana Simic and the 

International Dance Company Singidunum in a novel approach to classical 

ballet, using minimal sets and lighting, with music by Tchaikovsky. DB 

It is the summer of ’69 in a small, idyllic, Greek village. Young Achilles 

dreams of becoming a pilot but his friends are more interested in saving 

enough drachmas to experience the pleasures offered by Uranya, the local 

hooker. Events soon overtake them, however, when Achilles learns of the 

upcoming moon landings he is devastated to find out that there are no 

television sets in the village. Will the boys be able to save enough money 

to buy a TV in time to watch man set foot on the moon or will their raging 

hormones persuade them to give their savings to Uranya? 

This is a highly engaging film told with considerable charm which not 

only manages to successfully capture the confusion experienced during 

the transition from childhood to adulthood but also illustrates how the 

changing course of history can affect even the remotest of places. The 

ruling junta has little interest in Achilles’ village until a visit from the US 

vice-president is announced. Villagers who have been previously regarded 

as merely eccentric are now viewed as potential subversives by the 

authorities. AD 

Valerie, a 29 year old Polish-born model from Paris, comes to terms with 

the fact that success is a thing of her past. Just before Christmas she finds 

herself stranded and penniless in Berlin. Her credit card no longer works 

and she is forced to spend nights in the car park of the luxurious Hotel 

Hyatt in the heart of the city. Only André, the parking attendant, becomes 

a witness to her double life. 

The film sees her develop into a more considerate human being as a 

result of her few hours of hardship. Agata Busek gives a strong and touching 

performance as Valerie in Birgit Möller’s impressive directorial debut. 

Keeping the tone of this film pleasant, considering its subject matter, is 

a real achievement. Möller succeeds in injecting the drama with numerous 

light hearted moments as she peals away at the realities of losing face in 

a world where status and external appearance are the bedrock of is value 

system. There is no indication as to why she finds herself in this unfortunate 

situation; it is her present journey and her short-term endeavours that 

keep us engaged. RS

THE AMAZING LIVES OF THE FAST FOOD… 

WEDNESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER AT 9:15PM 


Director/Screenplay Mamoru Oshii Producer Mitsuhisa 

Ishikawa DoP Keiichi Sakazaki Cast Kaito Kisshoji, Mako 

Hyodo, Toshio Suzuki Print Source Production IG Email 

francesco@production-ig.co.jp W www.tachiguishi.com 

IT’S ONLY TALK [YAWARAKAI SEIKATSU] 

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 2PM 


Director Ryuichi Hiroki Producer Akira Morishige S’play 

Haruhiko Arai DoP Kazuhiro Suzuki Cast Shinobu Terajima, 

Etsushi Toyokawa, Akira Emoto P/S Gold View Company 

E ikeuchi@goldview.co.jp W www.goldview.co.jp/e013.html 

M [EMU] 

WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM 


Director Ryuichi Hiroki Producers Makoto Ishihara, Akemi 

Suyama Screenplay Hisaishi Saito DoP Kazuhiro Suzuki Cast 

Miwon, Kengo Koura, Tomorowo Taguchi Print Source Gold 

View Company E ikeuchi@goldview.co.jp W www.goldview.co.jp 




SCREENING SPONSORS 


Meet the Fast Food Grifters, eat-and-run tricksters who gorge themselves 

upon the dishes of the day at tachigui stand-and-eat stalls without passing 

so much as a single yen over the counter. These shadowy phantoms 

crop up in every era, their names say as much about the time they live in 

as their dietary habits do. Moongaze Ginji’s penchant for traditional buckwheat 

soba noodles situate him in the days of post-war hardship, while the 

affluent ’80s is the epoch of the voracious Hamburger Tetsu. Then there’s 

Foxy Croquette O-Gin, Beefbowl Ushigoro, Frankfurter Tatsu. 

The latest work by Mamoru Oshii, director of Ghost in the Shell, 

isn’t an easy project to pigeonhole. It’s essentially a plotted retelling of 

Japanese post-war history, taking us through the Korean War, the 1964 

Tokyo Olympics, the formation of the Japanese Red Army and the Bubble 

Economy years of the ’80s – ‘from MacArthur to McDonalds’, as one critic 

astutely puts it. But it’s the innovative surface that most catches the eye. 

The film uses a new process named superlivemation, developed specially 

for the task. The 21st century equivalent of a Balinese puppet show, the 

process involves rendering still photographs as flat objects in a 3D space 

and animating them like they were simple paper cut-outs in a virtual theatre. 

It’s a safe bet, you wont have seen anything like it ever before. JS 

Yuko is 35, single, out of work, and on medication to combat her manic 

depression. Living in Kamata Town (‘not an ounce of chic’, according to her 

web page) Yuko divides her time between a variety of men friends, each 

with his own peculiarities. Her university classmate, Homma, suffers from 

impotence. K, whom she meets on the net, is a self-confessed pervert. 

Then there is a young gangster, Yasuda, who is a fellow manic depressive. 

Her cousin, Shoichi, is also on the scene, having left his family to pursue 

his mistress, only to be given the cold shoulder by her, too. 

Yuko seems to create a different persona (and a different history) 

depending on to whom she is talking. Human contact is important to her, 

but sometimes her condition makes it difficult for others to endure her 

company. Following the highly acclaimed Vibrator in 2003, Hiroki’s second 

collaboration with this winning team: actress Shinobu Terajima and screenwriter 

Haruhiko Arai, has been cited by many critics as the best Japanese 

film of its year. JS 

With M, Hiroki has made a Belle de Jour for the internet age. A bored 

housewife, Satoko, lives comfortably with her husband Hideyuki and her 

son Masato. One day she receives an email from a dating site and begins 

living a double life working as a prostitute, hooking up with her prospective 

clients either by phone, texts or online. 

She soon attracts the attention of a young man named Minoru, who 

works as a paperboy, and knows Satoko through his daily round and from 

seeing her play with her son in the park. Minoru bears the psychological 

scars of a traumatic childhood living with a drunken abusive father who 

frequently assaulted his mother. When one day after work Minoru’s friend 

shows him some erotic pictures of non-professional women, he recognises 

Satoko as one of them. He sees in her eyes the same terrified look his 

mother had as his father beat her. He subsequently takes to obsessively 

trailing Satoko as she meets up with her clients. When he discovers she 

is being threatened by a young punk connected with a gangster ring, he 

finds himself unable to hold back from stepping in to intervene. 

A psychotic drama with erotic overtones adapted from a novel by Seishu 

Hase, M covers Hiroki’s familiar obsession with people who follow their 

fantasies to the outer limits. JS

SHORTS PLAYING BEFORE FEATURES - Raindance Film Festival

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