The 25th Raindance Film Festival announced today, August 15th, the programme for the 2017 edition of the festival taking place in London’s West End from September 20th to October 1st 2017.

Oh Lucy! (USA) by Atsuko Hirayanagi starring Pearl Harbor’s heartthrob Josh Hartnett has been announced as Opening Night Movie for its International Premiere. The film is a drama-comedy and tells the story of Setsuko Kawashima, a lonely, chain-smoking office lady in Tokyo who is past her prime and adopts an American alter ego.

200 projects from 120 countries will screened during the Festival and judged by this year jury members that includes: Jamie Campbell Bower (Will, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 & 2), Jack O’Connell (’71, Private Peaceful, Unbroken), Sean Bean (Medici: Masters of Florence season 2, Game of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Thor, Dr Who), Ewen Bremmer (Wonder Woman), Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones series), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (A United Kingdom), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Pirates of The Caribbean: At World’s End), Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Neil Marshall (Westworld, Game of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (One Day, Chocolat).

On screen also Jason Priestley in River Blue, Alessandro Nivola in Broken Night, Ed Westwick, Luke Pasqualino and Rupert Grint in Snatch, Ewan McGregor in You Are There. On The Road to Ending Polio.

Among the movies also Children Of The Night (Italy/Belgium) by Andrea De Sica, grandson of four times Academy Award winner Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of Giulio (Vincenzo Crea) a seventeen-year old from a well-to-do family, who is sent to a remote boarding school the Alpes, where iron-clad rules limit all contact with the outside. He makes friends with Edoardo (Ludovico Succio), an oddball, and their friendship is sealed by frequent escapes at night, to a nightclub hidden in the forest. The movie is already Gallio Film Festival, Ischia Global Film & Music Festival, Ortigia Film Festival and Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists winner.

The Raindance speaks Italian also with the short Viola, Franca by Marta Savina. In 1965 in Sicily, a 17-year-old girl (Claudia Gusmano), single-handedly alters the course of Italian history with an unexpected act of defiance that causes a short circuit in her traditionalist community. Starring: Carlo Calderone, Maurizio Puglisi and Ninni Bruschetta.

During the 25th Raindance Film Festival there will be a Co-Production Panel that will focus on the relationship between the UK and Italian film industries. Raindance, ICE (Italian Trade Agency), ANICA (Italian National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry) and MiBACT (Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism) are hosting this forum in partnership with Variety.

Raindance Founder Elliot Grove said: “This year’s 25th anniversary Festival has been made possible by a dynamic relationship with Lexus, who like Raindance, champion pioneering technology, innovation and craftsmanship.[…] I am thrilled with the calibre of films submitted for this year’s Festival. Our programmers to select an excellent line-up. For 25 years, Raindance has continued to grow and support the independent film industry in the UK and abroad. I’m looking forward to showcasing this year’s great line-up and new strands to our audience”.