The 34th Raindance Film Festival has officially unveiled the full programme, promising ten days packed with independent cinema, emerging voices and immersive storytelling experiences across London from 17 to 26 June.
This year’s festival boasts an impressive line-up of 85 narrative and documentary features alongside 112 short films, with a striking 56% of the feature programme directed by first-time filmmakers. The festival’s ever-expanding XR strand, the 11th Raindance Immersive, will also showcase 27 projects both in person and online through VRChat.
Festival screenings will once again take place exclusively at Vue Piccadilly, while the opening gala unfolds at Vue West End in Leicester Square. The Waldorf Hilton’s Palm Court will host the festival’s opening celebration, and One Ninetyfour beneath the BAFTA building returns as the Canon Lounge, serving as Raindance’s industry hub thanks to returning sponsor Canon Europe.
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Opening Gala to Premiere APRIL X
The festival opens on 17 June with the UK premiere of APRIL X, the debut feature from filmmaker Michel K. Parandi.
The Opening Gala will also include the exclusive festival screening of The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God, an animated short connected to the latest album from Gorillaz and directed by Jamie Hewlett, Timothy McCourt and Jonathan Djob Nkondo.
Closing Gala Celebrates Eddie Cochran
Closing the festival on 26 June is the UK premiere of Eddie Cochran: Don’t Forget Me from director Kirsty Bell.
Competition Categories and Jury
This year’s competition expands to eleven feature categories, including the newly introduced Best Horror Feature award. Other categories include Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best UK Feature and the Spirit of Raindance Award.
Short films will compete across Best UK Short, Best Live Action Short, Best Animation Short and Best Documentary Short categories.
The 2026 jury includes acclaimed names such as Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Charlotte Hope, David Ajala, Jacob Anderson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Sope Dirisu, alongside producers, critics and filmmakers including Ashanti Omkar and Fiona Lamptey.
Feature Highlights Include World and UK Premieres
The 2026 programme spotlights a broad spectrum of international independent filmmaking, including world, European and UK premieres.
Narrative competition highlights include:
- Born to Lose directed by Joseph Zentil
- Fränk directed by Tõnis Pill
- Jardines del Bosque directed by Álex Barragán and Diego Barragán
- Lost Land directed by Akio Fujimoto
- No Lastname directed by Mohammed Reza Sattari
- Paro: The Untold Story of Bride Slavery directed by Gajendra Vitthal Ahire
- Pescador directed by Harry Domenico Rossi
- Rooted Out: Chapter 1 directed by F. Hutton-Mills
- Silent Rebellion directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
- Summer School, 2001 directed by Dužan Duong
- Thanks for Nothing directed by Stella Marie Markert
- The Janitor directed by Mauro Mueller and David Figueroa García
- Tramp directed by Philip James McGoldrick
For the complete line-up and ticket information, visit Raindance Film Festival Official Website
