Raindance Unveils 34th Lineup With First Horror Prize
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- Raindance Film Festival's 34th edition runs June 17–26 in London with 85 narrative and documentary features, 112 short films, and 27 immersive projects, with 48 of the features (56%) coming from first-time directors.
- A new best horror feature jury prize has been added to the 2026 competition, with the dedicated sidebar including "Corporate Retreat" (Odeya Rush, Sasha Lane, Alan Ruck, Ashton Sanders, Rosanna Arquette), Robert Englund-led "Pinocchio: Unstrung," and Māori-inflected New Zealand chiller "Broken Beak."
- The international competition features world premieres of Mexican coming-of-age mystery "Jardines Del Bosque," Iranian pandemic drama "No Lastname," and Estonian debut "Fränk" from Tönis Pill, who served as assistant director on Christopher Nolan's "Tenet."
- Documentary competition highlights include "Gaslit," executive produced by Jane Fonda, following her across oil fields in West Texas and Louisiana; Sundance-premiered AI origins film "Ghost in the Machine"; and a world premiere portrait of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland titled "Copeland."
- The Oscar-qualifying short film program includes actor Kit Harington's directorial debut "Psychopomp" (starring Harry Melling), "Joke" — a tribute to late British comedy writer Barry Cryer featuring Judi Dench and Stephen Fry — and BAFTA-winning comedian Joe Lycett's "Dating Mark Silcox."
- This year's jury comprises actors Jacob Anderson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Sope Dirisu, Charlotte Hope, and David Ajala, alongside Fiona Lamptey, a producer and former head of U.K. features at Netflix.
- Canon Europe returns as main sponsor, with the Canon Lounge at One Ninetyfour on Piccadilly hosting a cinematography masterclass and an AI-assisted short screening; the festival opens with the U.K. premiere of Michel K. Parandi's sci-fi thriller "April X" starring Connor Storrie and closes with Eddie Cochran documentary "Don't Forget Me."
Why it matters: The 56% first-time-director share and new horror prize position Raindance as a more aggressive debut-filmmaker discovery hub, while placing Fiona Lamptey — a former Netflix U.K. features head — on the jury gives selected films a built-in bridge to streaming buyers that most indie festivals don't offer. For emerging filmmakers, that jury configuration could materially change the post-festival trajectory of a premiere.
