10 short films about rave culture and free party movement to show at ICA next month
Orbital's 1998 video for 'The Box', starring Tilda Swinton features on the London Short Film Festival's Rave Cinema programme, set for early next year
London's Institute of Contemporary Arts is hosting a night dedicated to short films about rave culture and the free party movement.
Rave Cinema is part of the 21st London Short Film Festival, taking over the ICA early next year, from 19th January through the 28th. On Friday, 26th January, LSFF will showcase ten films that focus on rave's heyday or embody the spirit of it.
Programme selections from the era include Mark Leckey's Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999), Louise Stevens' Baby Girl (1997) and Jes Benstock's 1998 video for Orbital's single 'The Box', starring Tilda Swinton. Among the contemporary picks are Arjuna Neuman's 2022 film on the illegal raves of the English countryside titled Syncopated Green and Simone Smith's 2023 Scottish psychedelic thriller The Möbius Trip.
The theatre's design will be handled by artist and filmmaker Julian Hand, who'll fit the space with analogue visuals to evoke early warehouse raves. DJs will be soundtracking the evening, with the lineup still to be announced.
See all the London Short Film Festival programming here, which includes discussions, talks and industry events in addition to the films, and find more information about Rave Cinema here.
Earlier this year, Doc'n Roll film festival debuted director Alessandro Ugo's documentary F[R]EE – Behind The Scenes of the Free Party Movement about the European and UK techno counter-culture of the '90s. Meanwhile, a recently released documentary traces techno's past and present and muses about the future of the genre and culture.
