Now in its 32nd year, Raindance Film Festival is Europe’s leading independent Film Festival showcasing feature films, shorts and docs, virtual reality and music videos from around the world and specialising in independent films and directorial debuts. The festival has a strong legacy of showing alternative, edgy films. Since 1993 Raindance Film Festival has uncovered the hottest new filmmakers to hit the cinematic scene.

Raindance-premiered hits include Pulp Fiction, Memento and the Blair Witch Project, to name a few. Listed by Variety as one of the world’s top 50 ‘unmissable film festivals’, Raindance aims to nurture, support and promote independent films and filmmakers from the UK and around the world.

Raindance is dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film in the UK and around the world. Based in the heart of London, Raindance’s ecosystem includes Raindance Film Festival, Raindance Open Courses, the higher education institute Raindance Film School, and the prestigious British Independent Film Awards. 

At Raindance, we believe in championing independents in every way. As such, our new script competition is designed to develop upon Raindance’s network and community, and offer greater opportunities to emerging screenwriters. 

Similarly, Raindance Film Festival has always been proud to offer a fantastic opportunity to network amongst both established and emerging talent, for those looking to develop their network of collaborators and peers. 

Raindance is proud to have supported an array of successful artists in their pursuit of creative goals. Much of this stems from the success of Raindance Film courses, available to independent artists. Such success stories include, but are not limited to: Christopher Nolan, Guy Ritchie,  Andrea Arnold, Matthew Vaughn, David Yates, Gavin Hood, Tom Hooper, Edgar Wright, Sacha Baron Cohen, Julian Fellowes and Nick Hornby.

For further enquiries, please email scriptcompetition@raindance.co.uk

Our goal through the Raindance Film Festival Script Competition is to grant new opportunities and champion emerging screenwriters. Offering a culmination of support and prizes, Raindance hopes to champion true independence - a core principal of the film festival itself. 

The path to a career in writing is a long and arduous task, which is why we have chosen to partner with some fantastic brands which have helped us in championing new, emerging screenwriters.

Our worth is in your success, which is why it is crucial to us that we support, nurture and help to develop true talent.  As a result, we have put together what we believe is a great lineup of prizes, aimed at achieving this task.

The winner of our feature competition will receive the award for 'Best Un-produced Screenplay' at the official Raindance Film Festival Award Ceremony, hosted each year at the end of the festival in London, UK.

Each contest winner (Feature, Short, Episodic 30-min, Episodic 60-min) will additionally receive:

• A place on our 10-week Raindance Script Fellowship Programme 

The Raindance Script Fellowship Programme is a 10-week, online programme designed to afford writers the opportunity to further develop their craft and receive constructive criticism from an experienced industry tutor.

All finalists will receive a year of Raindance membership and a complimentary accreditation to Raindance Film Festival.

All quarterfinalists will be invited to connect & network with fellow screenwriters at the exclusive Raindance Script Competition Networking Reception during Raindance Film Festival in London

For a more detailed breakdown, please visit our competition page at www.raindance.org/script-competition/

For any more information, please email our team at scriptcompetition@raindance.co.uk.