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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...