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Last year at the wonderful Raindance Film Festival, I saw A Thousand Kisses Deep and was rather fond of it. Why? For the same reason you should see it in UK cinemas this week: it's a bit like Dr. Who. If Dr. Who were played by David Warner.

Yes, David Warner - everyone's favourite camp Satan and former Dr. Who actor himself - plays a grumpy janitor who takes Mia (the lovely Jodie Whittaker) for a ride... THROUGH TIME. Warner takes Mia all the way back to her childhood, where she meets sexy slimeball Dougray Scott. He plays jazz trumpet.

If you can forgive Dana Lustig's overly familiar brand of psychoanalysis, there's an interesting drama unfolding here, whether you take it at face value or buy into the steamy Freudian smudgeness of it all. Why? Because the seedy locations and top performances are as easy to watch as Matt Smith wearing a fez.

So, to recap, that's David Warner as a Time Lord saving the day for Jodie Whittaker from an evil Scottish musician. Or, to put it really briefly, it's Dr. Who. But with more jazz trumpet.

All this time-travelling fun only a few days after Jenna Louise-Coleman is unveiled as The Doctor's new companion? Try not to get the two confused. The easiest way to tell them apart: David Warner's time machine is an old, rickety elevator in a rundown block of flats. Matt Smith, on the other hand, has a TARDIS.

 

 

Head this way for a full A Thousand Kisses Deep review and our Dana Lustig interview from the Raindance Film Festival - or read on for a new clip from the film.

Director: Dana Lustig
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Dougray Scott, David Warner
Certificate: TBC
UK Release Date: Friday 15th June

How well do you know yourself and those you love…?

Returning home from work, Mia (Jodie Whittaker – Good, Venus, St. Trinian’s & St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold) witnesses an aged woman leap from a window. Scattered around the old woman’s broken, lifeless body Mia discovers shredded pieces from a beloved photograph of herself and her former lover Ludwig (Dougray Scott – Hitman, Enigma, Mission Impossible II). Highly unnerved, Mia begs Max (David Warner - Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Titanic ), the buildings’ all knowing custodian, to let her into the deceased woman’s flat.

While inside this strangely familiar place, Mia recognizes the contents as her own. Confused and disturbed by what lies before her, she bolts back and forth in time to safeguard her future and confront the man she loves deeply - but dreads the most.

Do you remember Raindance? All those months ago in September? Maybe you've forgotten what films you saw at the festival, maybe you missed it entirely, but the good news is that while America gets excited about Sundance, you can catch some Raindance Film Festival movies in UK cinemas in 2012.

It's great to see theatrical releases secured for some of the festival's more interesting and challenging productions. When I spoke to Raindance filmmakers in September, some were still crossing fingers over British distribution and could only confirm a release date in israel.

But now, there are 6 Raindance films lined up for cinemas around the country this year. Here they are:

Shame, Tinker, Tailor, Tyrannosaur. It's been a brilliant year for indie films. And those are just the three with the most nominations in the British Independent Film Awards, which seem designed to make life as difficult as possible for everyone.

Each of those films has seven nominations each, including Best British Independent Film, Best Actor and Best Director. How on earth are we meant to choose which is best?

And then there are all the others. In second place, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Kill List both have six nominations, followed closely by Submarine with five. Meanwhile, The Awakening and Jane Eyre join the fray in the Best Actress categories, while The Guard sees Brendan Gleeson start to collect his inevitable haul of Best Actor nods.

Attack The Block's Joe Cornish and Ralph Fiennes for Coriolanus are up for Best Director, and Best Newcomer is surely destined to hang around the neck of Albatross's Jessica Brown Findlay. It's also great to see the Raindance Award mentioning Black Pond, A Thousand Kisses Deep and Acts of Godfrey. All three are rather lovely.

But are we really meant to be able to say who is better out of Senna and Project Nim? Tinker Tailor and Shame? Tyrannosaur and Submarine? How are us mere humans meant to pick? HOW? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. THEY'RE ALL REALLY, REALLY GOOD. I HATE YOU BIFA AWARDS. YOU SUCK.

 

The awards are handed out on Sunday 4th December - and will be broadcast live on LOVEFiLM. Which is another superb decision from BIFA. Damn them.

Read on for the full list of nominations.

Standing near the entrance of the lovely Apollo Cinema West End, people keep pushing past to get to the world premiere of A Thousand Kisses Deep. But as the foyer fills up, I'm busy talking about jazz and time travel - as you do, if you're chatting to Dana Lustig, director of tonight's intriguing romantic drama.

The interview was equally interesting, even if it was conducted amid a gaggle of visitors walking between us right near the top of a stairwell. And, to make matters more chaotic, old friends kept popping up to say hello. (Her friends, I should add - I'm not that popular.)

But Dana stayed to chat, sharing her passion for London, music and Dougray Scott. And then Dougray himself arrived and hijacked the whole thing. As you do, if you're Dougray Scott.

Here's what happened:

"And sometimes when the night is slow, the wretched and the meek, we gather up our hearts and go a thousand kisses deep."

There's nothing like a bit of Leonard Cohen to put you in the mood for some doomed romance. But Dana Lustig's drama is a bit more than that. Following the attempts of Mia (Jodie Whittaker) to untangle her relationship with Ludwig (Dougray Scott) from her troubled past, A Thousand Kisses Deep plays like a cross between psychoanalysis and Dr Who. With Dougray Scott playing the trumpet. And David Warner playing Dr Who.