14 m l i f AHEAD OF BEING THE HOST HOTEL FOR THE GLITZY, HIGH-PROFILE BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL, THE MAY FAIR IS SUPPORTING UP- AND-COMING TALENT WITH THE EDGY, INDIE RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. LUCY BROWN TALKS TO RAINDANCE FOUNDER ELLIOT GROVE AND FINDS OUT HOW THE HOTEL IS BUILDING ON ITS CINEMATIC HISTORY Supporting role Raindance founder Elliot Grove is an interesting guy. Born to an Amish family outside Toronto, he ran off to art college and graduated with a degree in cire perdue (lost-wax bronze casting), worked with Henry Moore in the early 1970s, got into film through painting sets at the BBC and eventually set up “We’re really all about discovering.” Other Raindance festival ABOVE: ELLIOT GROVE film-training centre Raindance in 1992. films have included Oldboy, Memento, The Blair Witch Project “In the early Nineties, I was back in London, and I had and Pulp Fiction. fancied myself a property entrepreneur, buying and selling There’s a story behind the Raindance name – which bears houses in Mayfair,” says Grove. “I went spectacularly bust in a certain similarity to the high-profile Sundance Film Festival 1991 and spent an entire year feeling sorry for myself. I went in Utah. “I chose the name Raindance because of the dance back into film, but I had lost all my contacts. So I started you do to get your film made and, of course, because in training courses hoping to meet people, which I did.” London it usually rains,” says Grove. “And that first year after He launched the Raindance Film Festival in 1993 to I made the announcement, the phone went in my office and it showcase the work of some of the people who had come to was Robert Redford himself, saying, ‘Why are you stealing my Raindance. Alumni include Christopher Nolan, David Yates, name?’ I tried to explain the dance bit and the rain bit, and Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn, while Edgar Wright was pleaded with him to allow me to leave him to the plethora of Grove’s first intern. Raindance also launched the British talented film-makers in Britain and Europe – and the line went Independent Film Awards in 1998. dead.” “Raindance is a great place to come and see the stars of The Raindance Film Festival 2010 had 3,000 submissions. tomorrow,” says Grove. In the festival’s first year, it screened “We sit and watch every single one and the ones that we think What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, starring a teenage actor called are extreme films – extreme storytelling, extreme film-making Leonardo DiCaprio. “That’s the kind of person you’ll find at or extremely good – we pick,” says Grove. “By extreme, I Raindance, before they become a household name,” he says. don’t mean extremely violent. I mean film-makers that are very 16 m l i f good storytellers – that’s the number one criteria, the storytelling ability – but they’re doing something extreme, usually with topic or sometimes with film-making technique or sometimes with both.” This year, “of the 77 feature films and feature documentaries we are showing, a staggering 69 are British premieres,” says Grove, “and many are world premieres – I’ve lost track of those.” The programme includes a number of controversial movies, including A Serbian Film, which is being shown at ABOVE: THE MAY FAIR HOTEL’S Raindance as a private screening, and Bruce LaBruce’s LA CINEMA Zombie. Grove explains: “We’re under pressure from various people not to show these different films for different reasons, ABOVE LEFT: A SCENE FROM DO but we figured that, this year, given that the festival’s 18 years “Hence our partnership with the British Film Institute, and then ELEPHANTS PRAY? SHOWING AT old and the people that come to the festival are at least 18 taking that further and saying, you know, we don’t really just THE FESTIVAL years old, we figured that you should be able to decide want to be connected with these institutions, we want to PHOTO: STEVE NORRIS whether or not you want to see them.” support institutions that nurture up-and-coming talent, and There are also strong musical connections. This year, Los the Raindance festival is very much about that.” Angeles band The Airbourne Toxic Event are performing at the The May Fair has its own screening room, which seats opening night after-party, and Motorhead’s Lemmy is on the more than 200 people, and runs the May Fair Family Film festival jury. Other jury members include Charles Saatchi, Club: a two-course lunch followed by a film. There will soon Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh and film critic and be a film club for grown-ups too, launching on November 21 historian Derek Malcolm. with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Screenings and events are running at the Apollo Piccadilly And the hotel even makes its own movies. Plant explains: Circus and The May Fair hotel. Grove says: “The May Fair “Through Raindance, we have what we call our film-maker in hotel has this rock’n’roll tradition, and it seemed like a good residence, so that’s an opportunity for new and upcoming fit.” Hollywood impresarios the Danziger brothers owned the talent to showcase their material – they’re going to make little hotel in the 1950s and, since its 2006 relaunch, The May Fair movies and skits of London and the hotel, and sometimes do has been drawing on its cinematic history, now working with interviews.” These can then be uploaded to The May Fair’s both Raindance and the BFI London Film Festival. It is the YouTube channel. 54th BFI London Film Festival Official Hotel, following a “It’s really exciting,” says Plant. “There’s a real vibrancy successful inaugural event last year, and is also a Gala going on in the hotel.” Sponsor for West is West, the sequel to East is East. “It was always about going back to our roots of being connected with everything sort of film and fashion and music The Raindance Film Festival runs until October 10. The 54th and so on,” explains global marketing manager Linda Plant. BFI London Film Festival runs from October 13-28..