The Blue Tower tops Raindance as Frost settles over London

The Blue Tower - the first feature by award-winning Indian British writer/director Smita Bhide, set in Southall, West London's colourful and bustling Indian community - picked up the best British Film at Raindance 2008 , which came to a close as the 52nd London Film Festival kicked off with the world premiere of Frost/Nixon.

Mohan dreams of escape: from his unhappy marriage, his overbearing family, his unexciting prospects. He finds it by falling into an affair with the pretty young nurse looking after his cantankerous bed-ridden Auntie Kamla. At first the relationships feels like the answer to his prayers, but there are secrets to come out and before long he's on a road to disaster, his every step dogged by the looming menace of the Blue Tower waiting for him round every corner.

Featuring a cast of Asian actors and shot on HD, The Blue Tower plays like something by James M. Cain with touches of Great Expectations thrown in. It's not a 'corner-shop comedy' or a Bollywood pastiche but something new in British-Asian cinema, a full-blooded story of illicit passion and desperate hope which presents a unique and cinematic portrait of multicultural Britain.

Among the stars at festival were Faye Dunaway, the Arctic Monkeys, Martin Freeman, Adam Yauch, Bill Nighy, Sir George Martin and Giles Martin, Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron, Corey Feldman and Les Claypool. 

Best UK Feature: The Blue Tower
Best UK Short (sponsored by Delta Airlines): Red Sands
Best International Feature: Estomago
Best International Short: A Juicy Turkey
Best Debut Feature: Production Office
Best Documentary: Indestructible
Film of the Festival (short): Red Sands