Raindance Film Festival, renowned as the UK’s largest independent film festival, celebrates the spirit of maverick filmmaking. Known for supporting films made on tight budgets, Raindance honours these daring creatives with the Raindance Maverick Award at the annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), founded by Raindance in 1998. This award is reserved for maverick fiction features produced with budgets less than £1 million and documentaries under £500k.
This year’s BIFA Raindance Maverick Award longlist features an impressive collection of 5 films, blending both documentaries and feature films.
Debuting with Foul Evil Deeds, the film delves into the morally ambiguous actions of seemingly ordinary people. Hakeem offers an intimate look at Hak Baker, whose life was transformed after winning a guitar in a prison raffle. Holloway, awarded Best Audience Award at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival, follows six women returning to the abandoned Holloway Prison. In Belarus, Mother Vera intricately weaves the story of a young nun in a secluded Orthodox monastery. Motherboard, shot entirely on a smartphone by BAFTA-winner Victoria Mapplebeck, captures the essence of motherhood over two decades. Lastly, Myrid Carten’s debut, A Want in Her, is a raw, honest portrayal of her relationship with her alcoholic mother.
Nominees:
FOUL EVIL DEEDS – Dir/Wri. Richard Hunter
HOLLOWAY – Dirs. Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, Wri. Stella Heath Keir, Prods. Alice Hughes, Polly Creed
MOTHER VERA – Dirs. Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, Prod. Laura Shacham
MOTHERBOARD – Dir. Victoria Mapplebeck
A WANT IN HER – Dir/Wri. Myrid Carten, Prods. Tadhg O’Sullivan, Roisín Geraghty, Kat Mansoor
In 2024, the prestigious BIFA Raindance Maverick Award was bestowed upon directors Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, and producers Rebecca Wolff and Julia Ton for their outstanding work on Grand Theft Hamlet. This acclaimed film has garnered significant recognition, winning the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW, the Frontier Competition Grand Prize at DMZ Docs in South Korea, and Best Documentary at Sitges. Additionally, it secured two British Independent Film Awards in 2024. Grand Theft Hamlet was released theatrically in both the UK and USA and is now available for streaming on Mubi.
Winners will be announced at the BIFA awards ceremony on Sunday, November 30, 2025.
See the full list of nominees here.
Raindance promotes and supports independent filmmaking and filmmakers.
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The Raindance Film Festival runs each Summer in London’s Leicester Square.
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