​​Daniel Craig, Raindance & Becoming a Tree

Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:

Daniel Craig is a dead man, Idris Elba goes doc, the myth of Raindance, The Lincoln Lawyer's new ride, and Matt turns into a tree.

Let’s go!

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THE MYTH OF RAINDANCE

Next week the Raindance Film Festival launches its 32nd edition.

The founder of the Raindance Film Festival, Elliot Grove, didn’t see a film until he was sixteen.

Growing up in a Mennonite home, he was told movies were evil. But one hot summer day, he discovered a new church: a movie theater playing Lassie Come Home (1943).

He explained:

“I cried like a baby. When it finished, I went down the front and felt the screen, wanting to know where the magic had gone to.”

That film fueled his love of cinema, and later in life, when he found there was no outlet for independent British cinema, he created the Raindance Film Festival (1992), which served as a launching pad for emerging filmmakers, such as:

• Edgar Wright (dir: Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)

  • First film debuts at Raindance (1995)

• Christopher Nolan

  • Used Raindance’s space as a production office for Memento

• Ben Wheatley (dir: High Rise, Meg 2)

  • First film, debuts at Raindance

Grove explained the ethos behind the festival:

“I’m exploding the talent myth. Sure, people have a natural aptitude for different things, but I don’t think one person is more talented than another. Skills are acquirable. What we call talent really comes from hard work and practice, practice, practice. So if you want to be a filmmaker, find your story and make it.”

This year, Raindance has a great line-up of filmmakers who have found their story:

• Cuckoo (2024)

  • Opening Night Gala

  • Starring Hunter Schafer (Euphoria)

  • Director, Tilman Singer, Q&A

• The White Ribbon

  • Special Screening

  • Winner, Palme d’Or

  • Starring Christian Fridel (The Zone of Interest)

  • Masterclass with Fridel

What stands out about the festivals’ offerings is that they don’t have the patina of the Hollywood marketing machine.

As Grove put it: