"We are delighted that Germany will be the Guest of Honour at Raindance," Simone Baumann, Managing Director of German Films explains. "This is particularly a double honour for us in 2024 when German Films is celebrating its 70th anniversary. There aren't that many German films in British cinemas. So this is a great opportunity to put a spotlight on German cinema and showcase German filmmakers for a British audience. German Films also holds the Raindance Festival in great esteem because it gives first-time filmmakers a chance and provides a forum for emerging independent and arthouse talent to present their projects."

The film CUCKOO (Fiction Park Entertainment) by Tilman Singer will open the Raindance Film Festival at the Curzon Mayfair cinema. The horror film centres on 17-year-old Gretchen (starring Hunter Schafer) who has to move from her American home to join her father and the new family at a resort in the German Alps. But something doesn't seem quite right here as Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and disturbing visions. Director Tilman Singer will present his film in person in London.

The rest of the festival's line-up includes the German productions and co-productions ETERNAL YOU (Beetz Filmproduktion) by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, FALLING INTO PLACE by Aylin Tezel (Weydemann Bros.), IT’S BURNING by Erol Afsin (Stereo Films Medienproduktion) and WHAT YOU SEE OF ME by Isabelle Caps-Kuhn (Narrative Way). Directors Hans Block, Aylin Tezel, Erol Afsin and Isabelle Caps-Kuhn will also be travelling to the UK to present their films at the festival. 

The German focus will also feature the short film programme Next Generation Short Tiger 2024 as well as the 2009 film THE WHITE RIBBON (X Filme Creative Pool GmbH) by Michael Haneke from the ‘70 Years Of German Cinema - A Success Story’ retrospective. The German actor and the lead actor in the film, Christian Friedel, who is now also known for his performance in the recent Oscar® winner THE ZONE OF INTEREST, will be coming to the film festival and holding a masterclass in conversation with the film curator Sandra Hebron, currently Head of Screen Arts at NFTS and former Artistic Director of the London Film Festival, before the film’s screening.

"We are privileged to be welcoming Germany as our special Guest of Honour this year - especially since this is a significant year for the 70th anniversary of German Films," Elliot Grove, the founder of Raindance Festival, says. "All of us at Raindance are looking forward to the future of German cinema and supporting future generations of filmmakers from Germany because we can hardly wait to see what the next 70 years will bring."

As part of the supporting programme, German Films Managing Director Simone Baumann and a BFI representative will give a talk on the subject of ‘German film funding models for international co-productions’. Mona Cathleen Otterbach, a production designer and ambassador of this year's FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS campaign, will take a closer look at her work in the field of production design and also present the Face To Face programme at an industry event.

The festival, including the German focus, is being organised with the support of the Goethe-Institut London and the German Embassy in London where a festive reception will also be held in honour of the German filmmakers during the film festival. 

More information about this year's Raindance Festival here.