The 34^th Raindance Film Festival from 17-26 June 2026, at the Vue Piccadilly, London, has 85 narrative and documentary features including 48 films, most of them by emerging first-time filmmakers. The programme includes 112 short films. Raindance’s mainly sponsored by Canon Europe.

Gangsters whose demands are urgent, evil and impossible

American Muscle (2026) RSL Films and Ghost Gang 81 minutes.

Writer/Director Joel Veach Produced by David Thompson Filmed on location in Santa Clarita California.

Peppered by an unexpected diversion into the Tarot and featuring very believable characters the beauty of this film is that the lead actor David W Thompson playing Rey is very fitting to a character with known probability and vulnerability and also someone who invites sympathy and interest. I do not wish to be a total plot spoiler but we’ve got two convincing male gangsters (played by Brendon Sexton and Gbenga Akinnagebo with a well written script who talk about diamond holding by big companies to put up their price for the public and make a quote “never take pity on a scoundrel”. However as they are playing bad guys our interest is drawn to Rey and his sister Maggie played by Liana Wright-March (Oceans Eight 2018), included in the story are flashbacks to when Rey and Maggie were young played by Emmett Calborn and Georgia Breault and then there is a mysterious Larry- their father who is audible but not visible to add to the plot. Larry’s role is an important and vital part to the unravelling and denouncement of the story and is part of the charm of this very watchable saga. Maggie is a caring and supporting sister as Rey and herself have huge financial demands on them. However we are mainly and ultimately drawn to Rey’s attempts to settle the score with the gangsters whose demands are urgent, evil and impossible. Prepare yourselves for a movie where a relatively low budget is proof that it is how the story is told which can grip us without special effects or expensive props or car chases. See it for yourselves to draw the ultimate reward! Enjoy!

Perils of buying Secondhand laptop…

My Daughter’s Hair (Raha) Iranian Drama 34^th Raindance Festival Vue Cinema Piccadilly, Lower Regent Streeet until and including 26 June 2026.

Director Hesam, Farahmand starring Shahab Hosseini.

Selected six times for festivals this is an engrossing piece of work with a storyline which is in many ways more enticing as some of the turn of events could happen to anyone and almost anywhere. The characters are likeable in their everyday qualities and several scenes are set in the family home where mother, father, brother and sister live in Persia.

What’s clever and engrossing about the drama is the relationships between the characters and also the now commonplace role of the laptop which takes centre stage and revolves around stolen laptops and the resale of them. A Red light in the story flags the audience up with the perils of buying secondhand when photographs and files may still be on there and in some cases have it content that lead to crime diagnosis. This error in possessing a secondhand laptop which has not had its files removed clearly can incriminate an innocent person in a saga involving arrest and false accusations. As some of them are also stolen goods the plot develops.

A woman or girl’s pride in her head of hair can also be the pride of the father, mother, brother and other family. As the daughter cuts her long flowing locks off and sells them needing the money for something else ( I’m trying not to put a spoiler in here) her father is grief stricken through admitting that her long hair used to even find the way into meals which lends an element of soft but loving mockery into the new situation.

Suffice it to say the writer has chosen for the plot to be very dark, sad and sinister with a remorseless descent into a tragic finale. It is somehow the father we feel most sorry for but this reaction and emotion could be different for different viewers. However we take away the memory of a meaningful and powerful account which is very thought provoking in that the culprits who started the drama are those who steal laptops and sell them on as bona fide reconditioned products.

The Trek Through Kalahari desert…

THE TREK 105 min, South Africa 2026, Raindance Film Festival, The Vue, Lower Regent Street, until and including 26 June 2026. UK Premiere. Check website for screenings. English subtitles.

Cast includes Rob Van Vuuren, Morne Visser, Trix Vivier, Kamilla Borgezani Maurice Carpede, Leach Lindique.

Director and Cinematographer Meekaaeel Adam.

Set in 1846, in the parched Kalahari under the eyes of two desert spirits this is a horror Western. Suspicion and madness as well as starvation plague the family as they cross the desert with only one horse to pull their carriage. A Dutch-Afrikaans family along with a British travel companion are played by the case. They are on their way to claim a plot of land.

Throughout the film the family are stalked by desert spirits- old and merciless as the landscapes and settings unfold in the harsh desert day and night. One of the family is heavily pregnant and they have lost one of their horses due to accidental discharge of a rifle which caused it to bolt.

The cast and costumes together  with mesmerizing cinematography combine to produce a truly wonderful watch experience which takes its audience to forbidding and testing territory as the saga follows the challenged travellers on their Kalahari trek.

A memorable quote from the film goes like this- “ We must become the hunters or my goog man we will surely be hunted”. That is the tone and timbre of the saga but a most enthralling experience not to be missed.

Check the Raindance website for screenings. Enjoy!Reviews by Penny Nair-Price