Film - The Odds

The Raindance Film Festival has announced that psychological horror film The Odds will be the Closing Night film...

A woman enters an underground endurance competition, hoping to win the million dollar prize and turn her life around. As the increasingly punishing rounds progress, she finds herself entangled in a sadistic, manipulative game with no way out.

The debut feature from writer/director Bob Giordano, THE ODDS is a tense, close psychological body horror. Featuring a principal cast of only two, it serves as a powerful allegory for domestic abuse and delivers an agonising viewing experience, culminating in a thrilling final sequence. Keeping the action up-close and personal with a minimal set, Giordano holds the audience rapt with gripping performances and claustrophobic cinematography.

The film has received several awards on the festival circuit including Best Horror Feature Film at New York City International Film Festival, Best Actor in a Feature Film at North Hollywood Cinefest, and the Graveyard Shift Audience Choice Award at Nashville Film Festival.

Other announcements yesterday included:

● Carlos Gallardo, producer and actor, will attend the festival to participate in a screening Q&A of Robert Rodriguez’ 1992 classic, El Mariachi. Gallardo played El Mariachi himself, a part which won him the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature in 1993. Following the film’s great success, Gallardo went on to be co-producer of the Robert Rodriguez-directed Mexico Trilogy sequels, Desparado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).

● Academy Award nominated director, Connie Field’s The Whistleblower of My Lai is a fusion of opera and documentary, telling a story that captures both the best and worst of humanity through the examination of one incident in one man’s life - army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson’s discovery and exposure of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

● Prophecy, directed by Charlie Paul, in competition for the Best Documentary award, is a rare, intimate exploration of a single oil painting by celebrated artist, Peter Howson, and the first major film to reveal the motive and techniques behind each stroke of paint as the artist creates;

● Blackbird, festival juror Michael Flatley’s directorial debut of a feature length film, will have a special screening, out of competition, during the festival;

● Styled as a mockumentary, Michael Boccalini and Che Grant’s Love Possibly follows a rom-com obsessed virgin who finds a fiancee on a Russian bride site;

● A.T. White’s debut feature Starfish - a unique, intimate and honest portrayal of a girl grieving for her best friend.

Celebrating its 26th year, Raindance Film Festival will take place in London’s West End from Wednesday 26 September until Sunday 7 October, 2018. A champion of independent filmmaking, Raindance is the largest independent film festival in Europe and has consistently been a great supporter of the UK film industry.

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