WikiLeaks founder to judge films at the 21st Raindance Film Festival; 2013 line-up unveiled.

Scroll down for full line-up of films

Julian Assange has joined the jury of the 21st Raindance Film Festival (Sept 25 - Oct 6), a London-based event that celebrates independent film in the UK and around the world.

The appointment is a controversial one. The Australian editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about sexual assault allegations.

It is understood that he fears Sweden would extradite him to the US, where he believes he is wanted in relation to WikiLeaks’ disclosure of a significant amount of classified US military and diplomatic documents.

Commenting on Assange’s appointment, Raindance founder Elliot Grove said: “Every year Raindance invites interesting people to join our jury. In the past we have had musicians like Mick Jones, Marky Ramone and Iggy Pop. This year we were pleased that Julian Assange accepted our invitation.

“He was asked for two reasons. Firstly he has produced a documentary, Mediastan, which we are screening. 

“Secondly, at Raindance we believe that his work with Wikileaks is a textbook example of how to use social media - relevant not just for filmmakers grappling with this new distribution channel, but for the fact that he is highlighting important social and political issues.

“Raindance has never shied from important social issues, as a glance at our festival screenings in years past will confirm.”

According to a festival spokesman, he will view films at the embassy and will not attend the Awards Ceremony, which takes place on Oct 5.

One short film will be crowned ‘Film of the Festival’, winning an Academy Award shortlist position.

Click here for Raindance nominees

Other jury members include actor Sean Brosnan, son of James Bond star Pierce Brosnan; Anthony Chen, the Chinese director behind Cannes Camera d’Or winner Ilo Ilo; British actor Jason Flemyng; and Portishead singer Beth Gibbons.

Also on the jury are producer Carlo Cresto Dina; Recorded Picture Company CEO and Hanway Films deputy chairman Peter Watson; Vue Cinemas film buyer Codie Entwistle; Pinewood Studios restoration manager Simon Hill; US actress Kathrine Narducci; filmmaker Martina Amati; singer Sequese; Games Workshop founder Ian Livingstone; fantasy author Robert Rankin; writer William C Martell; blogger Charlie McDonnell; Telegraph film critic Robbin Collin; and Filmmaker Magazine editor Scott Macaulay.

Line-up

This year’s Raindance will host more than 300 films, including an exclusive screening of Wayland’s Song, a thriller about an ex-soldier dealing with physical and mental scars on returning from Afghanistan, starring Rob James-Collier and Orla Brady and directed by Richard Jobson.

Another Afghan-linked film is The Patrol, which will receive its UK premiere at the festival. Written and directed by Tom Petch, who served in the British Army for eight years, the AFG Film production looks at the conflict in Afghanistan through the eyes of a British Army patrol fighting the Taliban.

Raindance will also screen Earthbound starring Rafe Spall (Life of Pi, Prometheus) as a man who believes he is an alien from another planet hiding from intergalactic bounty hunters.

The festival will close with The Machine, a sci-fi thriller starring Toby Stephens and written and directed by Caradog W. James.

The documentary and Raindance Symphony Orchestra strands include a look at the aftermath of the nuclear meltdown in Fukushuma; the rise and fall of 1980s rock band Skum Rocks; and the story of a six year old skateboarding prodigy and YouTube sensation.

A new Web Fest event will feature panel discussions about the future of web tv alongside world premiere screenings including Producing Juliet, the latest from Tina Cesa Ward whose previous series Anyone But Me captured over 11 million views.

Raindance will also be running its expert-hosted Events Series which will cover filmmaking, from the basics to the cutting edge advances, including tips on funding movies through crowd funding.

All screenings will be held at the Vue Cinema in London’s Piccadilly.

Full line-up

Balkan Shots

  • Ice, Jelena Bajiic Jocic (Serbia)
  • The Whirlpool, Bojan Vuk Kosovcevic (Serbia)
  • When Day Breaks, Goran Paskaljevic (Serbia, Croatia, France)
  • The Priest’s Children, Vinko Bresan (Serbia)
  • Gangster Of Love, Neboj (Croatia, Germany, Romania)
  • Balkan Spirit, Hermann Vaske  (Germany)
  • Practicing Embrace, Metod Pevec (Slovenia)

Days in Europa

  • No Burqas Behind Bars, Nima Sarvestani (Canada)
  • Sickfuckpeople, Juri Rechinsky (Austria)
  • Body Of God, Jouni Hokkanen (Finland)
  • Wild Duck, Yannis Sakaridis (Greece)
  • Monkey Dust, Karim Ouelhaj (Belgium)
  • Summer House, Marcus Werner Hed & Johan Von Reybekiel (UK/Sweden)
  • 15 Years + 1 Day, Gracia Querejeta (Spain)
  • Black Diamonds, Miguel Alcantud (Spain/Portugal)
  • The World Belongs To Us, Michael Goldberg & Boris Van Gils (France, Belgium, Holland)
  • Sex, Lies And Surgery, Artus De Penguern (France)

La Dolce Italia

  • My Destiny, Peter Marcias (Italy)
  • The Human Cargo, Daniele Vicari (Italy)
  • The Last Leaf, Leonardo Frosina (Italy)
  • Art Of Happiness, Alessandro Rak (Italy)
  • Arianna, Alessandro Scippa (Italy)
  • Repairman, Paolo Mitton Arrone (Italy/UK)
  • My Words And I, Mirko Pincelli (UK-Italy)

Mexican Revolution

  • Disrupted, Roberto Fiesco (Mexico)
  • Purgatory, Journey Into The Heart Of The Border, Rodrigo Reyes (Mexico)

North American Indies

  • The Meteor, Fran (Canada)
  • Coldwater, Vincent Grashaw (US)
  • The First Winter, Ryan Mckenna (Canada)
  • White Fox Mask, Ricky Shane Reid (US)
  • White Reindeer, Zach Clark (US)
  • I Play With The Phrase Each Other, Jay Alvarez (US)
  • Far Flung Star, Steve Balderson (US/Hong Kong)
  • 9 Full Moons, Tomer Almagor (US)
  • Shred: The Story Of Asher Bradshaw, Katherine Herndl (Canada, US)
  • Twenty Million People, Michael Ferrell (US)
  • Fall And Winter, Matt Anderson (US)
  • Mad Ship, David Mortin (Canada)
  • Carlos Spills The Beans, Brian Mcguire (US)
  • Welcome Nowhere, Kate Ryan (US/Bulgaria)
  • Tales From The Organ Trade, Ric Esther Bienstock (Canada)
  • All City, Stephen Bell (US)
  • Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp Jorge Hinojosa (US)
  • Medora, Andrew Cohn, Davy Rothbart (US)
  • Be Good, Todd Looby (US)
  • Doomsdays, Eddie Mullins (US)
  • Tru Love, Kate Johnston, Shauna Macdonald (Canada)
  • Go Down Death, Aaron Schimberg (US)
  • Heavy Hands, Sean Williamson (US)
  • Jake Squared, Howard Goldberg (US)
  • Ofir, Mark Mcdannald (US)
  • Prevertere, Brian Mcguire (US)
  • Before The Spring After The Fall, Jed Rothstein (US)
  • Get The Picture, Cathy Pearson (US)
  • Mutual Friends, Matthew Watts (US)

Polish Films

  • Loving, Sawomir Fabicki
  • The Lust Killer, Marcin Koszaka
  • Secret, Przemyslaw Wojcieszek
  • Aftermath, Wladyslaw Pasikowski
  • The Girl From The Wardrobe, Bodo Kox
  • Love, Filip Dzierżawski

Raindance

  • Toer, Barbara Makkinga (Netherlands)
  • Dance For Me, Katrine Philp (Denmark)
  • Midsummer Night’s Tango, Viviane Blumenschein (Germany, Finland, Argentina)
  • Upaj: Improvise, Hoku Uchiyama (USA)
  • The Man Behind The Throne, Kersti Grunditz (Sweden)

Raindance Symphony Orchestra

  • Crusade To A Dream, Ramir Oliveira (UK)
  • Downloaded, Alex Winter (US)
  • Every Everything: The Music, Life And Times Of Grant Hart, Gorman Bechard (US)
  • Unplugged, Mladen Kovacevic (Serbia)
  • Musicwood, Maxine Trump (US)
  • Skum Rocks!, Clay Westervelt (US)

Real Britannia

  • Titus, Charlie Cattrall (UK)
  • Aluna, Alan Ereira (UK)
  • Soho Cigarette, Jon Fairbairn (UK)
  • Convenience, Keri Collins (UK)
  • The Patrol, Tom Petch (UK)
  • Sleeping Dogs, Floris Ramaekers (UK)
  • Earthbound, Alan Brennan (Ireland)
  • Machine, Caradog W. James (UK)
  • Dirtymoney, Adam Tysoe (UK)
  • Wayland’s Song, Richard Jobson (UK)
  • Outpost 11, Anthony Woodley (UK)
  • Muse Of Fire, Dan Poole & Giles Terera (UK)
  • Whoops!, Tony Hipwell / Miles Watts (UK)

Way Out East

  • Sake-Bomb, Junya Sakino (US, Japan)
  • Shady, Ryohei Watanabe (Japan)
  • Court Of Zeus, Gen Takahashi (Japan)
  • The Kirishima Thing, Daihachi YoshidA (Japan)
  • A2-B-C, Ian Thomas Ash (Japan)
  • Greatful Dead, Eiji Uchida (Japan)
  • Ku_On, Takayuki Hatamura (Japan)
  • Soul Flower Train, Hiroshi Nishio (Japan)
  • Shindo - The Beat Knocks Her World, Asami Hirano (Japan)
  • The Black Square, Hiroshi Okuhara (China/Japan)
  • Friendship, Mikihiro Endo (Japan)
  • Remiges, Masato Ozawa (Japan)

World Cinema

  • Alumbrones, Bruce Donnelly (US, Cuba, Brazil)
  • Powerless, Deepti Kakkar, Fahad Mustafa (India)
  • The Reconstruction, Juan Taratuto (Argentina)
  • The Critic, Hern (Argentina)
  • Thesis On A Homicide, Hern (Argentina)
  • Red Princesses, Laura Astorga Carrera (Costa Rica/Venezuela)
  • I Love You All, Luciano Quilici (Argentina)
  • Propaganda, Slavko Martinov (New Zealand)
  • Philomirrophobia, Yuke (China)
  • Wish You Were Here, Kieran Darcy-Smith (Australia)

Satoko Yokohama Short Films

  • The Granny Girl
  • Jump From The Midnight
  • A Girl In The Apple Farm