Britain’s biggest independent film festival, Raindance is considered a champion of maverick filmmaking on a limited budget. Raindance celebrates these bold, creative, and risk-taking filmmakers with the Raindance Maverick Award at the annual BIFAs (British Independent Film Awards C.I.C), the awards ceremony founded by Raindance in 1998. Formally the Raindance Discovery Award, changes have been made to reflect the spirit of the award –maverick filmmaking on a limited budget – and includes a rise in budget cap from £500k to £1m, and no limit on UK theatrical distribution.
This year’s BIFA Raindance Maverick Award nominees comprises 5 remarkable films.
“The Raindance Maverick Award… captures all that is radical and rebellious about independent cinema,” says Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance and BIFA. “Raindance will always be a place to discover maverick films, and we are thrilled to champion these risk-takers and rule-breakers.”
The list includes our very own RED HERRING, directed by Kit Vincent, which screened at this year’s Raindance Film Festival.
Nominees
IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE – Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? – Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
NAME ME LAWAND – Edward Lovelace
RAGING GRACE – Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
RED HERRING – Kit Vincent, Ed Owles
Previous recipients include Ben Wheatley, receiving an early accolade for his first feature Down Terrace. The BIFA Raindance Discovery Award was presented in 2022 to Hassan Nazer’s Winners, the story of two children from a small Iranian community who discover the lost Academy Award statuette of Asghar Faradi.
The winner will be announced at the BIFA awards ceremony on Sunday 3 December.
Raindance promotes and supports independent filmmaking and filmmakers.
From new and emerging to industry pros, Raindance connects, trains, supports, and promotes visual storytellers through every step of their career.
The Raindance Film Festival runs each Autumn in London’s Leicester Square.
Raindance has been delivering film training since 1992. A wide range of Open Classes to a 2 year HND Level 5 BTEC in Moving Images to a Postgraduate Film Degree are delivered to students on five continents, both in person and online.
