LA Dance Film Festival November 4th @ 7:30 pm
Thank you for attending our 7th Annual Film Festival!
We are thrilled to share a total of 14 intriguing dance films! Join us as we journey through films that explore deep human emotions through movement.
After the screening, a short filmmaker Q&A and award ceremony will follow.
Vote For Your Favorite Film: We will be counting votes from both the in-person event as well as the online event. Please, Vote for only one film per person. You must watch the entire screening to vote.
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Curatorial Team: Nadav Heyman, Olivia Mia Orozco Saper, & Nicole Manoochehri
2023 Guest Judges: Josh S. Rose, Ali Kenner Brodsky, & Andrew Margetson
PROGRAM
Beast
Poland
Directed by Iwona Pasińska
Produced & Choreographed by the Polish Dance Theatre/polskiteatrtanca
Behind seven lakes, seven hills, seven forests, there is a seemingly idyllic land. And in it, as if by magic, an unexpected meeting happens not only once but three times. The first time, as if from a flying carpet, we see an animalistic figure in the thicket. The second time, we observe a frisky animal herd colliding with otherness. For the third time and final meeting, the moment when a man enters the ordered world of nature. How does the relationship between animals differ from the relationship between humans and animals? In which interdependence can you see innocence, carefreeness, and curiosity and in which bestiality, destruction, and the burden of domination? – this is asked by the creators of the sixth choreographic film project by the Polish Dance Theatre.
CANVAS
United States
Directed by Sophia Stoller
Choreographed by Sophia Stoller & Crossroads Upper School Dance Company
A large blank canvas becomes the source of colorful imagination in a young girl's mind.
Demons
Switzerland
Directed by Humbi Entress
Choreographed by Mès Lesne
In Mès Lesne's dance film DEMONS, we witness Mès locked in a dark battle with his inner demons. Mès is haunted by a sense of futility, of being powerless to change the world around him, and the agony of knowing that the damage we've inflicted on our planet is beyond repair. Against the breathtaking backdrop of a glacier, silently melting away high in the Swiss Alps, Mès battles with his demons as they threaten to ensnare/engulf him in their dreadful embrace. As he struggles to break away, we see his body contort in anguish. We feel his pain of knowing that the world we've inherited is slipping away, perhaps already beyond our grasp. As the Book of Life burns in his hand, he calls on us to roll back the damage we’ve done. How do we break free? Can we work out a way to cut CO2? Can we reverse climate change? Or have we passed the point of no return? Are we even able to change? To make sacrifices? Or do we succumb to our demons, and take the world down with us? DEMONS captures the essence of our times, that gloomy sense of helplessness we often feel in the face of overwhelming challenges. But through the gloom, there is a glimmer of hope, a reminder that if we can find the strength to fight our inner demons, we can still make a difference and change the course of our collective destiny. It's time to confront our demons and rise up to the challenge before us.
Walks with Me
Finland
Directed & Choreographed by Kati Kallio
80-year-old Sanna lives alone with her memories and houseplants. One day Sanna sees an event from her window that makes her reminisce about her friends and notice her own loneliness.
The Whirlwind
United States
Directed by Julia Ponce Diaz
Choreographed by Samantha Shay
Written by Julia Ponce Diaz and Kate Ketcham
In three separate homes, people grapple with their isolation from each other and the outside world. Whirlwind is an abstract dance piece in which movement and editing weave together the three spaces in a way that shows their unity.
Luce
Canada
Directed & Choreographed by Valeria Galluccio
Luce is a mysterious alien creature, with both aquatic and human features. After suddenly falling next to a lake in a forested region in North America, she sets out to document her experience on Earth with a video camera. As an empathetic and tender creature, her awakened senses cause her body to make jerky movements as she explores her surroundings, completely isolated from her own species.
CORNERBOY
Germany
Directed by KAI KURVE
Choreographed by PIOTR SIMBA ABRAMOWICZ
A bad guy gets possessed by a fly (aka the devil) which confronts him with his own personality.
INTERMISSION
Entanglement
Portugal
Directed by Nuno Serrão
Choreographed by Marco Olival
Quantum entangled particles are forever linked, no matter their distance in spacetime. Some of us are connected in these mysterious ways. Like the elusive realm of physics, love often presents itself as deciphered, only to unfold a new universe when a new theory is encountered. This experimental short film tells a non-dialogue story about a relationship.
SOMA
United Kingdom
Directed by Arturo Bandinelli
Choreographed by KWAM Collective
SOMA is an experimental film that uses movement and dance as its primary medium for story-telling. A contemporary myth on the genesis of the human body, the piece unfolds in two parallel dimensions: an infinite black hole where entities exist outside linear space and time; and a labyrinthine house where an uncanny gathering is taking place. As the free-associative, dreamlike narrative unfolds, different characters go through visceral experiences of pleasure, enchantment, pain and death.
The Keeping of the Bees
United States
Directed & Choreographed by Christina Belinsky
"The Keeping of the Bees" is a short informative dance film that brings to light the many obstacles beekeepers are facing as a result of human behavior and climate change.
NEW BORN
Belarus
Directed by Alexander Devyatchenko Soldak
Choreographed by Katerina Sulimenko
NEW BORN it’s a story of a one soul, who awakens in a new world for her and a new physical body.
NEKANE
Spain
Directed by Clara Rodríguez Arasanz
Choreographed by Ainhoa Urrestilla
NEKANE is an experimental video dance project that reveals the different layers, textures and dimensions of pain during grief. This is a visual poem in which dancer Ainhoa Urrestilla dances her mother’s memory, NEKANE, a name which comes from the basque word “nekè”, which means “pain” or “sorrow”, while reciting bertsoak, a traditional form of improvised poetry from the Basque Country, about love and loss. NEKANE uses dance, cinematography, and sound as a tool to show pain’s complexity, confronting its enormity, and giving it space, without fear, without resistance.Pain takes on unpredictable forms and magnitudes, flowing arrhythmically and chaotically throughout the body. Through dance, Ainhoa manages to materialize and shape it, challenging its infinite and uncontrollable nature. Thus, movement and sound serve not only as means of expression but also as coping and survival mechanisms.
Thick Skin
Colombia
Directed by Laura Steiner
Choreographed by Ana Contreras, Daniel Corredor, Sebastián Arenales, & David Arenales
To be able to live in Bogotá, you need a skin that can adapt, that can turn reptilian when it doesn't stop raining for weeks and that can go soft when the woman in the corner shop gives you a free morning coffee. Thick Skin is a dance film that takes the viewer through the Colombian capital high above the Andes with stylized movement that speaks of life in the bustling city.
Still Life
Australia
Directed by Ryan Renshaw
Choreographed by Jack Lister
Still Life thrusts the ancient and enduring notions of the Memento Mori movement into the 21st century through a new lens of dance and film.
A triptych of three films inspired by the stage version. The films are the result of a 12-month COVID-enforced collaboration between Australasian Dance Collective and Kiosk Film.
Los Angeles Dance Film Festival 2023
Executive Director: Nicole Manoochehri
Festival Co-Director: Olivia Mia Orozco Saper
Board Members: Alyssa Thompson, Nadav Heyman, Steven Butler & Olivia Mia Orozco Saper
Festival Editor & Social Media Assist: Maddy Leitner
House Manager: Hossein Mardani
Event Assist: Mary Jane Kean
LADFF Award Presented by Josh S. Rose
StandardVision Award Presented by Mark Escribano
Performative Pop-Ups Performance: Sophie Roze & Nathaniel Alpin
Dance Filmmaking Masterclass: Nadav Heyman/Dancefilmmaking.com
Special thank you to Yasha & Max of Paper & Plastik Cafe/Mimoda Studios.
Mission: “Gathering creators and lovers of screendance in one place to celebrate dance film and inspire each other.”
Los Angeles Dance Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Donations will be used to continue the Los Angeles Dance Film Festival’s goal of “To provide more opportunities for filmmakers and dancers by organizing more screenings, commissioned works, dance film workshops, classes, and talks for the community.” Tax ID 87-3991400