Dir:Nuri Cihan Özdoğan | Turkish Drama 2026

Turkish crime caper Dead Dogs Don’t Bite (Ölü Köpekler Isırmaz) arrives like a punch in the teeth in the middle of a refuse site—crass, chaotic, noisy and impossible to ignore echoing the breakdown of modern society

In a squalid port city two where mountains of imported waste have become a lucrative criminal commodity, the film transforms the illegal refuse trade into the backdrop for a rough-edged gangster drama about friendship, desperation, and moral collapse.

At the centre is İsmet, a timid young man scrambling to pay for his mother’s medication. What begins as a quest for quick cash drags him into a brutal struggle over waste shipments controlled by criminal syndicates.

Alongside his lifelong friend and neighbourhood legend Dogo, Ismet is drawn into a shadow economy where imported waste is reborn as valuable “raw material” and sold onward for profit, while the people caught in its orbit are treated as expendable.

Shot with a restless, kinetic energy, the film’s handheld camerawork, gritty textures and sun-bleached industrial landscapes mirror a world poisoned from the ground up. As toxic heaps of rubbish rise on the city’s outskirts, corruption seeps through every layer of society, testing loyalties and exposing the fragile bonds of friendship under the pressures of survival, ambition and easy money.

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 | IFFR PREMIERE

Dir: Tõnis Pill | Estonia Drama 2025

There’s a raw pulse running through Frank, the striking Estonian coming-of-age drama that emerged as one of the more emotionally bruising discoveries on the 2025 festival circuit.

Directed by Tõnis Pill, the film combines social realism with a deeply human story about loneliness, masculinity, and redemption, delivering a debut feature that feels both intimate and uncomfortably authentic.

Set in a small Estonian town in the early 2000s, the story follows 13-year-old Paul, a troubled teenager escaping a violent home environment. Forced to live with his uncle after another explosive conflict with his father, Paul desperately seeks belonging and falls in with a local gang of boys whose days revolve around drinking, glue-sniffing, intimidation, and casual cruelty.

Everything changes when he forms an unlikely friendship with Frank, a disabled outsider ridiculed by the town and the gang alike – he’s a set of village idiot. As Paul is pulled between acceptance and conscience, Frank becomes a powerful examination of how empathy can survive even in hostile environments due to his innate kindness despite ill-treatment by others.

Pill shoots Frank with a gritty, observational realism that recalls the best European youth dramas. The camera often stays close to its characters, capturing awkward silences, nervous glances, and moments of violence without sensationalism.

The visual language is intentionally harsh and unvarnished, immersing viewers in a world shaped by domestic abuse, peer pressure, and social neglect. Yet amid the bleakness, there are moments of unexpected tenderness, allowing the film’s emotional heart to beat. And despite the harshness of the subject matter and its troubled characters the film captures the vibrant colours of the spring/summer setting with some stylish camerawork. This visual approach and the director’s ability to transform difficult subject matter into a compelling cinematic experience. its notable achievements

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026

The 31st Raindance Film Festival, the UK’s leading indie film festival returns to the heart of London’s West End frrom 25 October– 4 November 2023.

OPENING GALA: DAY OF THE FIGHT (dir: Jack Huston, Canada)

UK Premiere. Debut feature. Award-winning British actor Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire, American Hustle, House of Gucci) makes his directorial debut with this story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present, on the day of his first fight since he left prison. This formidable drama stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi. Director Jack Huston will take part in a post-screening Q&A, followed by a gala opening party at the Waldorf Hilton.

CLOSING GALA: UN AMOR (dir Isabel Coixet, Spain/Catalonia)

Coixet’s cinema is an acquired taste and her latest Un Amor is based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel. Award-winning actress Laia Costa plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion. Nominated for the Golden Seashell at San Sebastián Film Festival, it’s a striking account of existential doubt and the transformative power of carnal desire.

SPECIAL GUEST FOCUS: CATALONIA

Raindance is honoured to welcome Catalonia as the special guest this year. Closing gala Un Amor is presented as part of this special focus in partnership with Catalan Films and Institut Ramon Llull, along with the UK Premieres of Upon Entry, Tender Metalheads and La Singla (more details below). A dedicated Shorts Programme Catalan Collection will further showcase the vision, ambition, and vibrancy of Catalan filmmakers. Special sessions during Raindance’s Industry Programme will also champion Catalonia’s film industry.

IN COMPETITION: FILM STRANDS

PARACHUTE (dir: Brittany Snow, USA). UK Premiere. Debut feature. The directorial debut by actress Brittany Snow (Hairspray, Pitch Perfect) won her the “Thunderbird Rising” award at SXSW. Lead actress Courtney Eaton (Yellowjackets) also picked up a prize at SXSW for her powerful performance as a young woman with an eating disorder and addiction issues.

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WORLD ARE BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE (dir: Babatunde Apalowo, Nigeria). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Winner of the “Best Feature” Teddy at Berlin, it portrays two men who develop a deep affection for each other when they first meet in Lagos – but in a society which considers homosexuality taboo, they feel the pressure of social norms.

UPON ENTRY (dir: Alejandro Rojas, Sebastián Vasquez, Spain/Catalonia). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Acclaimed at festivals including Málaga and Tallinn, it follows a young couple as they move from Spain to the United States, only to face an unpleasant inspection and gruelling interrogation when they enter New York airport’s immigration area.

ONLY THE GOOD SURVIVE (dir: Dutch Southern, USA). International Premiere. Debut feature. Multi-award-winning actress Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) plays a young woman who, after a heist gone wrong results in the deaths of three of her friends, finds herself in the custody of the smalltown sheriff in this impressive genre-bending horror/thriller.

MOUNTAIN ONION (dir: Eldar Shibanov, Kazakhstan). UK Premiere. Debut feature. This Venice Film Festival prize-winner follows an 11-year-old boy who finds his mother in the arms of a truck driver, and so he travels from Kazakhstan to China to find what he believes is the only thing that can help his father save the situation and become a strong man: Gold Viagra.

LOST SOULZ (dir: Katherine Propper, USA). International Premiere. Debut feature. A young rapper leaves everything behind and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery, music, and friendship in this slow-burning Texas-bound roadtrip movie.

STORM (dir: Erika Calmeyer, Norway). UK Premiere. Debut feature. After her son drowns in an accident, a mother tries to restart her and her daughter’s life in this tough and powerful drama – only for rumours to surface that the daughter pushed her brother into the water.

THE LAND WITHIN (dir: Fisnik Maxville, Kosovo/Switzerland). UK Premiere. Debut feature. The “Best First Feature” winner at Tallinn, it follows an adopted boy living in Switzerland who returns to his native Kosovo at the request of his cousin, to help identify the exhumed bodies from a mass grave in their childhood village. Lead actress Luàna Bajrami won the Raindance 2021 “Best Director” award for her directorial debut The Hill Where Lionesses Roar.

ALL THE SILENCE (dir: Diego del Rio, Mexico). UK Premiere. Debut feature. An actress and sign language teacher learns that she is soon to become deaf. Despite having deaf parents, deaf friends, and a deaf girlfriend, she refuses to accept a world without sound.

BLOOD FOR DUST (dir: Rod Balckurst, USA). UK Premiere. With a cast including Kit Harington, Josh Lucas and Stephen Dorff, it tells of a struggling travelling salesman who finds himself on a dangerous path after a chance encounter with a former colleague.

CLASHING DIFFERENCES (dir: Merle Grimme, Germany). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Winner of the “Young German Cinema” award at Munich Film Festival, the all-female cast tell the story of a white feminist organisation who, in a clumsy attempt at diversity, invite a group of queer and BIPOC women to participate in their conference.

HEAVIS TENDRES/TENDER METALHEADS (dir: Joan Tomas, Spain/Catalonia). UK Premiere. Debut feature. An animated tale of two teenage boys in 1990s Barcelona who take refuge in their friendship and heavy music, escaping the grey world in which they live.

PALIMPSEST (dir: Hanna Västinsalo, Finland). UK Premiere. Debut feature. From the Venice Film Fest Biennale Cinema College, this Benjamin Button-esque sci-fi drama follows two elderly roommates who are selected for a medical trial that makes them younger, giving them a second chance at life while retaining the memories of their past life.

PETT KATA SHAW (dir: Nuhash Humayun, Bangladesh). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Having directed the multi-Oscar® qualifying horror short Moshari, this self-taught filmmaker brings more ancient South Asian folklores to life in this supernatural anthology film – perfect viewing for Halloween.

SWEET SIXTEEN (dir: Alexa-Jeanne Dubé, Canada). World Premiere. Debut feature. Adapted from the late Suzie Bastien’s 2018 play, eight 16-year-old girls unveil themselves through eight bittersweet monologues.

WHITE PLASTIC SKY (dir: Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó, Hungary). UK Premiere. Sarolta’s debut feature/Tibor’s 2nd feature. This bold and visually striking animated film follows a young couple living in a barren, post-apocalyptic Budapest in the year 2123, struggling for food and life as they survive along with the rest of humanity beneath a huge white dome.

DOCUMENTARIES

SATAN WANTS YOU (dir: Steven J. Adams, Sean Horlor, USA). UK Premiere. 2nd feature. The provocative story of how the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s was ignited by Michelle Remembers, a bestselling memoir co-written by a psychiatrist and his patient, which made lurid claims about Satanic ritual abuse.

DUSTY & STONES (dir: Jesse Rudoy, USA). UK Premiere. Debut feature. This remarkable debut intimately chronicles the ride of Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, two struggling country music singers from Swaziland who journey to Texas hoping for their big break.

SEX WITH SUE (dir: Lisa Rideout, Canada). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Winner of “Best Documentary” at the Canadian Screen Awards 2023, it chronicles the life of nurse-turned-sex-educator Sue Johanson, whose popular radio and TV programmes offered sex education from a pleasure-driven, feminist perspective.

LA SINGLA (dir: Paloma Zapata, Spain/Catalonia). UK Premiere. 3rd feature. Romani flamenco dancer Antoñita Singla lost her hearing just days after her birth, so learned to dance by watching her mother clapping. In the 1960s she was considered “the best flamenco dancer in the world” – but ironically, she was more famous internationally than in Spain. This is her fascinating life story.

WE ARE GUARDIANS (dir: Chelsea Green, Rob Grobman, Edivan Guajajara, Brazil/USA). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, this is a poignant portrayal of a group of native people who endeavour to save what is left of the Brazilian Amazon.

ANOTHER BODY (dir: Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, USA). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Winner of the “Special Jury Award” at SXSW, it documents a college student’s search for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.

AURORA’S SUNRISE (dir: Inna Sahakyan, Armenia). London Premiere. 3rd feature. Combining archive footage with animation to tell the true story of a teenage refugee turned Hollywood star: 14-year-old Aurora lost everything during the Armenian Genocide, but after fleeing to New York her story became a media sensation, leading to a starring role as herself in the 1919 film Auction of Souls.

OMAR AND CEDRIC: IF THIS EVER GETS WEIRD (dir: Nicolas Jack Davies, Germany/UK). World Premiere. 2nd feature. Having worked with the likes of Coldplay, Elbow, PJ Harvey and Mumford & Sons, this Grammy-nominated director charts the intimate, artistic and personal relationship between Omar Rodriguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of American progressive rock band The Mars Volta.

THE BOOKS HE DIDN’T BURN (dir: Claus Bredenbrock & Jascha Hannover, Germany). World Premiere. Debut feature. Narrated by Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons, this documentary takes an eye-opening look at history by examining the remains of Adolf Hitler’s private library.

LONG DISTANCE SWIMMER: SARA MARDINI (dir: Charly Wai Feldman, UK). UK Premiere. Debut feature. When former pro swimmers Sara Mardini and her sister Yusra arrived in Germany from war-torn Syria, they were Europe’s most celebrated refugees. Now Sara is facing a 20-year prison sentence for volunteering with a Greek NGO, helping other refugees. Screening in association with Migration Matters Festival.

SISTERS INTERRUPTED (dir: Caroline Sharp, UK). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Highlighting the medical injustices that people face, this documentary follows two sisters as they both battle forms of epilepsy and together fight for access to a treatment that could save both their lives.

RED HERRING (dir: Kit Vincent, UK). London Premiere. Debut feature. Tackling themes of mental health, love and society, a filmmaker enlists his family on an intimate and darkly humorous journey to help them come to terms with his terminal illness.

EMBERS (dir: Christian Cooke, UK). World Premiere. Debut feature. The first feature by British actor Christian Cooke, he also stars alongside a cast including Ruth Bradley (Humans, Ted Lasso) in this story of a sexual surrogate who is employed to help a high-security psychiatric patient overcome his intimacy issues so he can make parole.

SILENT ROAR (dir: Johnny Barrington, UK). London Premiere. Debut feature. Chosen to open this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, this charming coming-of-age drama follows a young surfer on the Isle of Lewis as he deals with unresolved grief following his father’s death.

THE PORTRAIT (dir: Simon Ross, UK). European Premiere. Debut feature. After her husband is devastated by a tragic accident, a devoted wife becomes obsessed with a mysterious portrait that resembles how he once was. This eerie thriller stars Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen (Sideways).

CATCHING DUST (dir: Stuart Gatt, UK). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Erin Moriaty (The Boys) and Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad, Terminal List) play a repressed wife and her criminal husband hiding out in the Texas desert, when a couple from New York suddenly arrives with dangerous consequences for them all.

WARHOL (dir: Adam Ethan Crow, UK). World Premiere. Debut feature. The lives of a controversial America shock jock, a desperate deaf girl, a homeless ex-soldier, and a scared young gang member intertwine in this tale of choice, consequence, and redemption.

RESTORE POINT (dir: Robert Hloz, Czech Republic/Slovakia). UK Premiere. Debut feature. Raindance asked top critics to select and champion a film, and this special “Critics Pick” is selected by Variety’s Guy Lodge. Set in 2038, a female detective investigates the case of a murdered couple when a restoration team is able to bring one of them back to life.

TYPIST ARTIST PIRATE KING (dir: Carol Morley, UK). Special pre-release London Premiere. Kelly Macdonald (No Country For Old Men, Operation Mincemeat) and Monica Dolan (Appropriate Adult) play two women whose friendship grows as they hit the road in an electric car looking for endings and reconciliation. Co-starring Gina McKee (Our Friends In The North, My Policeman).

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 24 OCTOBER-4 NOVEMBER 2023

Dir.: Jasmine Trinca; Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Maavane Conti, Giovanna Ralli, Umberto Orsini, Valentina Cervi, Valeria Golino; Italy 202, 93 min.

Cruelty to animals and their tragic deaths features in many indie and arthouse films underlining our important bond with these vulnerable creatures. This year dogs and donkeys bare the brunt of man’s callous behaviour and MARCEL! is not exception.

Actress turned director Jasmine Trinca;s debut feature is an absurd, surrealistic comedy in the style of Fellini, but with, literally, much more bite. The titular Marcel is a canine, obsessively loved by street performer Alba Rorwacher, much to the chagrin of her daughter Maavante Conti, who just wants to be loved by her mum, and not always parked with grandparents Giovanna Ralli and Umberto Orsini.

Told in ten chapters, the story of this dysfunctional family is grim as well as fascinating. As far as mothers go, Rohrwacher is a nightmare: not only does she neglect her daughter, but she lets her pet dog Marcel sit at the dinner table, feeding him carrots. She is also a fan of divination, throwing coins around with great gusto – and to add to her talents she acts as a medium. An elderly admirer brings her flowers, and attends all her performances in the town square. Her daughter is forced to watch, but not allowed to play her saxophone, which would certainly enhance her mother’s amateurish performance.

Marcel soon goes missing, And no prizes for guessing the outcome or culprit involved in his disappearance. Later, mother and daughter drive to a county fair, were the child has to act Marcel’s part, before discovering the the macabre reality. Not having had much success with their act, the two then travel to visit family; a cousin (Cervi) is well aware of Rohrwacher’s shortcoming as a performer. Proceedings are livened with one family member fancying themselves as a hunter with the whole living room full of stuffed animals, a wild boar being next prey on the agenda.

Rohrwacher is a wonderful eccentric, Trinca calling her a “Buster Keaton disguised as a panther”. But the main reason why this often unstructured script comes together is Maavane Conti, who can be wonderfully expressionless and unfazed by the most turbulent of circumstances. Her limpid blue eyes seem to be cast out of marble, and she manages to remain obdurate in deflecting the guilt her mother accusingly projects on her with grandfather claiming:”it was your father’s dog”. Said father is absent, presumed dead, having left some dark drawings which make the flat even more gloomy.

DoP Daria d’Antonia creates the right ambience for this madcap trip, the colours being as crass as the action. Director Trinca is already planning ahead, hoping that Conti will be her “Antoine Doinel”. At least she rely on the actors baling her out, because MARCEL! has even at just 93 minutes offers too little substance. Quirky it certainly is, but if only the episodically nature could be replaced by more cohesion. Still, a stunning ending shows that Trinca is not short of of ideas. AS

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2022

 

Dir: Cody Sheehy | US Doc 83’

If you enjoy a good nature documentary especially one with a positive outcome then The Last Dive will appeal.  Directed by Cody Sheehy, the film follows veteran diver Terry Kennedy on a deeply personal mission: a final journey to reconnect with Willy, a giant manta ray whose extraordinary relationship with him transformed the course of his life.

What begins as an adventure story gradually reveals itself as a meditation on ageing, redemption, friendship, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

The film’s greatest strength is its central character. He may not be Richard Attenborough but Terry is far from a conventional environmental hero. A man with a complicated past, he carries the scars of previous lives and choices, making his evolution into a passionate advocate for marine conservation all the more compelling. The documentary never sanitises him; instead, it accepts his contradictions. This honesty gives the story its emotional weight and allows audiences to connect with him as a person rather than a symbol.

Sheehy’s film has a well-developed dramatic arc and the emotional highs are considerable. Moments recalling Terry’s encounters with Willy are filled with wonder, showing how transformative a connection with wildlife can be. There is a real buzz in seeing the man rediscover purpose through an unlikely friendship. The film also captures the exhilaration of exploration, with sequences that evoke the thrill of venturing into an immense and mysterious ocean world and living life immersed in the natural world

Yet the documentary’s most affecting moments emerge from its lows. Terry’s advancing age hangs over the story, creating a sense of urgency and vulnerability. The possibility that some reunions may never happen gives a bittersweet quality. The film confronts loss—not only the potential loss of a beloved animal companion, but also the inevitability of time itself. These quieter passages elevate the documentary beyond environmental advocacy into something universally human.

What ultimately makes The Last Dive resonate is its hopeful message. The film suggests that transformation remains possible at any stage of life. It argues that compassion can emerge from unexpected places and that meaningful connections—whether with people or animals—can reshape our understanding of ourselves. Rather than preaching conservation, it invites empathy, allowing concern for the natural world to arise organically through Terry’s experience.

The human angle is the documentary’s secret weapon. Beneath the marine adventure lies a story about seeking closure, confronting mortality, and searching for purpose. Terry’s journey becomes a reflection of our own desire to reconnect with the things that have given our lives meaning. By the final act, the film feels less like a documentary about a manta ray and more like a portrait of a man trying to make peace with his past and future.

The film’s visual achievement explains why it received major recognition for cinematography. Its underwater photography is consistently breathtaking, capturing manta rays, open-ocean landscapes, and shafts of light with a painterly elegance. The cinematographers, Johnny Friday and Chance Falkner, worked in remote marine environments and transformed the ocean into a cinematic character in its own right. Their images balance scale and intimacy, making viewers feel both the grandeur of nature and the emotional significance of Terry’s quest. The award-winning cinematography never feels ornamental; it serves the story, immersing the audience in the same sense of awe that changed Terry’s life.

The Last Dive succeeds because it understands that the most powerful environmental stories are ultimately human stories. Beautifully photographed, emotionally generous, and quietly profound, it leaves audiences with a renewed appreciation for connection, second chances, and the enduring mystery of the natural world.

SCREENING DURING RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026