Our favorite cryptic troubadour Tom Waits has been turning quite a bit of attention to film of late, including taking on a starring role as Mr. Nick (aka Satan) in Heath Ledger’s final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, playing an engineer in an upcoming Denzel Washington-starring action flick, and now by judging an indie film festival.
The Raindance Film Festival, which begins its run in London later this month, is famous for screening independent films by Quentin Tarantin, Christopher Nolan, and Waits’ friend/collaborator Anton Corbijn. What makes this festival even more different, however, is that it has hosted some of our favorite musicians in the past, including Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Marky Ramone, The Clash’s Mick Jones, and more.
Press Association reports that this year’s judges panel will include Waits, Riz Ahmed, Kerry Fox, Armando Iannucci, and British musician, poet, and jack-of-all-trades Billy Childish. If they have as good taste in films as they do in musicians, this year’s roster should be a real treat.
Meanwhile, the trailer for The Book of Eli, starring Waits, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldham, and Mila Kunis dropped recently. Check it out here.