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Heavyweight celebrated its World Premiere as the opening night gala of the 33rd Raindance Film Festival, where Heavyweight‘s Jason Isaacs also received the festival’s Icon Award.

Directed by Christopher M. Anthony and starring Jason Isaacs, Nicholas Pinnock, Jordan Bolger, Jamie Bamber, Sienna Guillory, Blake Harrison and Joplin Sibtain; Heavyweight follows wildcard boxing contender, ‘Diamond’ Derek Douglas (Bolger), and his support team ahead of a title fight he doubts he can win. The pressure escalates in real-time, as dirty tricks and revelations are revealed. ‘Heavyweight’ is an intense and visceral experience exploring a side of elite sport rarely seen.

Heavyweight is distributed by Blackwater Pictures.

The 33rd Raindance Film Festival is wrapping up on Friday and has unveiled its jury awards. Nawi: Dear Future Me, which tackles child marriage and was Kenya’s submission for the 2025 international feature film Oscar race, was honored as the best international feature. Its young star Michelle Lemuya Ikeny won the best performance in a debut feature award. The Kenyan-German coming-of-age drama was directors by the brothers Toby and Kevin Schmutzler, as well as Apuu Mourine and Vallentine Chelluget.

The best documentary feature award went to Immortals, directed by Maja Tschumi, about “strong-willed feminist Milo and ambitious filmmaker Khalili who, in the aftermath of the 2019 revolution, are the faces, eyes, and voices of an Iraqi youth that is relentlessly fighting for a

better future.”

Matthew Losasso‘s Row won the best U.K. feature honor, while the discovery award for best debut feature went to Srishti, directed by Paul Antar.

British stars Jason Isaacs and Celia Imrie will be presented with this year’s Raindance Icon Award.

The actors will receive the honor at the film festival’s opening gala on Jun. 18, with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s debut feature Heavyweight set to screen.

Emmy-nominated Isaacs is best known for his recent starring role as troubled financier Timothy Ratliff in the third season of The White Lotus. His comedy credits include The Death of Stalin, Friends With Money and Sex Education. He has also appeared in Peter Pan, Hotel Mumbai, The Great and The Patriot. Audiences will know him as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. Isaacs stars opposite Gillian Anderson in The Salt Path, released in U.K. theaters last month.

“Raindance has always championed people making films who believe in the power of stories, and who are telling them with few resources other than imagination and determination,...

London’s Raindance Film Festival will present its most expansive program since the pandemic, screening 70 narrative and documentary features June 18–27 at Vue Piccadilly. That marks a 90 percent increase over last year’s roster. The event opens with Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama Heavyweight and concludes with Camilla Guttner’s student-focused drama The Academy.

Festival founder Elliot Grove celebrated the broad selection: “Raindance has built a reputation for championing films that might be overlooked elsewhere. Launching with a British debut about a wildcard boxer feels entirely fitting.”

Opening Night: Heavyweight

Heavyweight follows a rising fighter (Nicholas Pinnock) whose chance in the ring coincides with personal struggles outside it. Co-starring Jason Isaacs and Jordon Bolger, the film had its world premiere at Raindance. Anthony penned the screenplay to explore ambition and sacrifice, shooting on location in UK gyms and community centres.

Closing Night: The Academy

Camilla Guttner’s The Academy tracks...

London’s Raindance Film Festival will kick off its 33rd edition with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama “Heavyweight,” starring Nicholas Pinnock, Jason Isaacs, and Jordan Bolger.

The festival will close with the international premiere of Camilla Guttner’s art school drama “The Academy,” featuring Maja Bons as a student navigating the ruthless terrain of the art world.

“Raindance is always one to punch above its weight, so it’s appropriate that the festival’s 33rd edition should open with the world premiere of a British debut feature about a wildcard boxer,” said Raindance founder Elliot Grove.

The festival, running June 18-27 at Vue Piccadilly, marks a significant comeback with 70 narrative and documentary features — a 90% increase from last year and the first time since 2019 the festival will present so many films.

International competition highlights include “Dream!”, a Christmas-set musical following a young girl’s magical journey...

The Raindance Film Festival in London has unveiled the lineup for its 33rd edition, its biggest post-covid pandemic edition. It will feature 70 fiction features and documentaries, which organizers said marks a 90 percent increase over the 2024 fest.

The festival will open on June 18 with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s boxing drama Heavyweight, starring Nicholas Pinnock, Jason Isaacs and Jordon Bolger. “Other highlights,” as called out by the organizers, include Kenya’s Oscar submission child marriage drama Nawi: Dear Future Me, which THR just featured as an “unsold gem” in Cannes, Burham Qurbani’s crime thriller No Beast. So Fierce., loosely based on William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Richard the Third, Elena Manrique’s black comedy The Party’s Over, and closing night film The Academy, directed by Camilla Guttner, about an art student who “discovers the microcosm of an art academy.”

Raindance has also teamed up with Netflix...

Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Legal Woes, Priyanka Chopra’s Support For Heeramandi, Thalapathy Vijay’s Goat Satellite Rights -Top News Of Bollywood, South & TV (Photo Credit – Instagram)

The entertainment world never rests; something is always happening somewhere, be it Bollywood, Tollywood, television, or others. From Salman Khan’s ex-girlfriend Somy Ali requesting the Bishnoi community not to hurt Salman Khan to Kareena Kapoor getting a court notice for using the Bible in the pregnancy book title and Priyanka Chopra lauding Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Netflix series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, it has been a busy day.

Besides Bollywood, the South industry is also bustling with some hot news. Allu Arjun and Chiranjeevi are not only two of the biggest stars in the Telugu film industry but are also related, as we all know. The Pushpa 2 star congratulates his uncle on being honored with Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.

Exclusive: Blackwater Pictures, the British indie production company behind the buzzy biopic about the life of veteran Snooker player Jimmy White, has set up what they describe as a “multi-million-pound” fund to support commercially-minded independent British films.

Helmed by Kevin Harvey and Antoine Dixon-Bellot, Blackwater Pictures will commit to supporting five projects as part of a slate focused on emerging directors. The fund will prioritize “commercial independent British films,” organizers said today.

The fund is being managed in collaboration with BAFTA-nominated producer Tiernan Hanby (The Karman Line, Summit Fever, Heavyweight) of Pin Sharp Pictures and Simon Marriott of development & production company Shout Loud Creative. Money for the fund was raised through private equity and personal funds.

The slate currently includes Antecedent, the directorial feature debut of Dan Bronzite. He is best known for his supernatural horror Long Time Dead produced for Working Title Films/Universal...

An NYC reading for the new musical Chasing Rainbows - The Road To Oz has been scheduled for this week in New York City, September 8-18. BroadwayWorld has learned that the reading will feature Ruby Rakos Frances Gumm, Euan Morton Frank Gumm Roger Edens, Donna Lynne Champlin Ethel Gumm, Michael Wartella Joe Yule, Karen Mason Kay Koverman, and Douglass Sills George Jessel L.B. Mayer, with Emily Rosenfeld, Beatice Tulchin, Emma Howard, Andrea Marie Laxton, Katie Wesler, Jessica Sheridan, Kevin B. McGlynn, Ben Crawford, Tommy Bracco, Sam Strassfeld, Katie Dixon, Tessa Grady, Jonalyn Saxer, Michael Milton, and Stephen Christopher Anthony.