17th Edition of Raindance Film Festival Opens
The Girlfriend Experience and Humpday Premiere at British Indie Fest
Sep 30, 2009
Raindance, the UK’s leading independent film festival, opens for the 17th time on September 30. Held in Central London over 12 days, the festival will present a handful of big-name features, but is best known for showcasing low-profile and low-budget films and for launching new (British) talent.
‘Bromance’ Humpday is Raindance Opening Film
Perhaps the two highest profile films in the festival’s program are also the opening and closing films. Kicking off the festival is Lynn Shelton’s ‘bromance’ Humpday (2009). College friends Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) have taken different paths since their days on campus. Ben has a job, a wife (Alycia Delmore) and a house in the suburbs, while Andrew drifts round the globe as a rootless artist. When Andrew turns up unannounced looking for somewhere to sleep, their friendship takes on an added dimension.
At a party, the buddies are persuaded to make an ‘art film’ showing them having sex and submit it to a local porn festival, ‘Humpday’. A story of straight men considering gay sex could have easily plummeted into farce; but although it is marketed as a comedy, Humpday makes an admirable attempt to ask sometimes uncomfortable questions about straight male sexuality and how much a friendship can endure before it snaps.
Film Festival Closes with Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience
Raindance closes on October 11 with the UK premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s latest feature The Girlfriend Experience (2009). Set during the run up to the 2008 American Presidential election, The Girlfriend Experience stars adult film star Sasha Grey as a high-end New York call girl with $2,000-an-hour price tag and an understanding boyfriend, personal trainer Chris (Chris Santos). But her carefully controlled and comfortable life starts unravelling when she agrees to a weekend trip away with a new client.
The film has been variously praised as being ‘true about human nature’ and slammed as ‘a stag movie as conceived by the editors of the Financial Times.’ Either way, The Girlfriend Experience sees Soderbergh returning to his low-cost, experimental roots. It is just the kind of production that feels at home at Raindance, and has the added benefit of coming with a well-known name attached.
Other Program Highlights
This year’s program boasts a number of premieres and a healthy smattering of UK productions. Worthy of note among the local flicks is Stuart Hazeldine’s debut Exam (2009). Filmed in one room and told in 80 real-time minutes, it is best described as a brutal variation of reality-TV show The Apprentice, in which eight applicants literally fight it out for the ultimate job. Also causing a stir is Marc Price’s zombie horror Colin (2008), made for the fantastically low price of £45 (approximately $70).
Raindance Festival Jury
The Raindance film festival presents awards in several categories, including Best UK Feature, Best International Feature, Best Microbudget Feature and Best Documentary. The awards will be presented before the screening of the closing film. Among the jury members this year are New Zealand actress Kerry Fox (currently to be seen in Jane Campion’s Bright Star), musician and actor Tom Waits and Scottish writer/director/radio producer Armando Iannucci, whose first feature film, In the Loop, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The majority of the Raindance screenings will be held in the Apollo West End cinema in Central London. Check the Raindance website for complete location, price and programming details.
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