We need your support to expose under-25’s to independent film
We live in very troubled times. I don’t know, but I hate watching the news. Knife crime. Troubles in the East. Ecological disaster. Brexit brohaha. Political firestorms in America and Europe. There’s so much hatred!
Here’s where cinema comes in: Is not the world’s hatred caused by basic misunderstanding? What better way to break down the barriers of hatred than through the power of film?
Did you know that less than 5% of under 25’s have seen an independent film? Raindance is going to do something about it.
And we need your help!
We’ve launched the Emerging Filmmakers Day – to bring under-25’s to the cinema – for free. So they can see the types of films that are NOT sanitised by Hollywood. So they can experience films that can change lives. So they can learn how to make movies themselves. So they can leave crime and drugs behind. so they can contribute positively to our world.
Independent films matter more than ever. The stories and the pictures they paint matter more than ever before. Creativity matters more than ever. Culture matters more than ever. And that’s why Raindance matters: today, and for our future.
Make no mistake about it: Raindance is in fighting mode. Independent film can change these horrible times for the good. Please donate to our crowdfunding campaign.
Why is independent film so important?
Independent films are the dances of protest; their poems are the poems of insurrection; their buildings edify dissent. Independent film celebrates those who challenge society, the musicians who sing for freedom, and the artists who revolt against the forces that validate oppression.
Independent films stand up for the vulnerable, the marginalised, the outsiders, the rebels, the dreamers, the poets, the imaginative. Independent film exposes the evils of the world and offers solutions. Independent film changes people’s lives. Forever.
Raindance is a platform for those who love and question and include. We are used to being called maverick and outsider. We’ve been truly independent for a quarter century. We believe the films we screen will change people’s lives. and we want to expand our reach to the Under-25s who we know are dazzled by the bright lights of Hollywood movies.
If you feel the same way, you can’t be passive or silent. Neither can we. Raindance needs to step it up in 2019, and so do you. Be bigger, bolder, louder, stronger, more open, more productive, more engaged, more organised, more public, more creative.
Support our Emerging Filmmmakers Days
Raindance is non-profit. We’ve never had a penny of public funding since we started in 1992 – and that’s a good thing too – we can respond instantly to issues . Like we are doing here: to bring Under-25’s to independent film – in a cinema! Our Emerging Filmmaker Days needs your support. We need your support to make this happen.
Support our work at Raindance. Help us bring Under-25’s to Raindance.
Thank you.
Now, Let’s Make Movies. The power of film.
Elliot Grove, Founder, Raindance | British Independent Film Awards
Did you know?
- Raindance members save 20% on filmmaking courses?
You can join online >HERE< and access freebies and discounts immediately - This course is FREE for our HND, top-up BA and postgraduate/MA/ students
- You can book a free 1-1 consultation about our full-time filmmaking degree courses HERE
- The Raindance Guarantee: If any filmmaking course fails to meet your expectations, let us know at the break and we will make a full, 100% no-questions-asked refund
- We don’t teach ‘filmmaking’ at Raindance. At Raindance we make filmmakers.
Photo Credit: Bertie Watson
I founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993 because the British film industry was closed, polite, and congratulating itself while shutting new filmmakers out.
I co-founded the British Independent Film Awards in 1998 because British indie film deserved more than a shrug, a pat on the head, and a Tuesday night screening.
Raindance didn’t start as a brand. It started as a rebellion: film training without gatekeepers, a festival without permission, and a community built by filmmakers who weren’t waiting to be invited in.
Later, we took it global: Toronto, Vancouver, New York, LA, Berlin, and Brussels, because independent film doesn’t belong to one city, one class, or one accent.
I’ve produced 700+ short films and seven features, including Deadly Virtues (2014) and ALICE, which won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize (2019) not because someone “discovered” us, but because the work earned its place.
I’ve written three books used by filmmakers worldwide because too many courses taught compliance instead of survival.
In 2009, I was awarded a PhD for services to film education, ironic, given that most of my career has been about tearing down the rules that education insisted you follow.
I don’t believe in waiting for permission.I believe in making work, building systems, and forcing the industry to catch up.
Specialties: Independent Film (the real kind) · Producing · Writing · Film Education · Festivals · Breaking Broken Systems
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