The family-friendly independent film The Terrible Adventure written, directed and produced by Florida father Kel Thompson, and starring his two kids Olivia Thompson (9) and Jackson Thompson (12), will premiere at Dances With Films.
Dances With Films
Since 1998 Dances With Films has grown from presenting a handful of films to nearly a hundred each year…from only narrative features and shorts to include the top documentaries and music videos on the circuit today. In 2007 DWF brought new commitment to the indie world with the advent of the 2 Minute, 2 Step Short Film Challenge where we actually shoot 8 films during the festival and present them to enthusiastic audiences.
Dances With Films started in 1998 and takes place in Los Angeles, California, USA
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Kel Thompson’s THE TERRIBLE ADVENTURE Starring His Kids to Premiere at Dances With Films
The Terrible Adventure
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Watch Frighteningly Funny HAWK AND REV : VAMPIRE SLAYERS Trailer
Hawk and Rev: Vampire Slayers The new trailer debuted for Ryan Barton Grimley’s frighteningly funny Hawk and Rev: Vampire Slayers set to play at the Dances with Films film festival in Los Angeles later this month.
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Dances With Films 2019 Winners – GUTTERBUG Wins Grand Jury Award
GUTTERBUG directed By Andrew Gibson The 22nd edition of the fiercely independent film festival, Dances With Films (DWF) concluded with the awards ceremony at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters and awarded the Grand Jury Award to Gutterbug directed by Andrew Gibson. The Audience Awards went to Wade In The Water directed by Mark Wilson for feature film and to The Earthing Movie directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell for feature documentary film.
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Emmy-winning Director Carlos Puga’s FULL DRESS will World Premiere at Dances With Films Film Festival
FULL DRESS directed by Carlos Puga Emmy-winning director Carlos Puga “Full-Dress,” an experimental feature film that keeps its audience guessing at every turn, will World Premiere as an Official Selection at 2019 Dances With Films film festival.
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Joe Zanetti’s Conspiracy Thriller KILLBIRD to Premiere at Dances With Films
Killbird The high-intensity conspiracy thriller Killbird, the debut film from director Joe Zanetti, has being officially selected for competition at the Dances With Films Festival, and will screen on June 23rd, at 12:30pm at the iconic Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
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Gavin Michael Booth’s Split-Screen Drama LAST CALL to Premiere at Dances With Films
LAST CALL directed by Gavin Michael Booth Last Call, a real-time split-screen feature film shot in two true single takes with an original musical score also recorded live to picture, will have its West Coast premiere at Dances with Films at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday, June 18th at 7:15pm. The film is directed by Gavin Michael Booth (The Scarehouse), written by Gavin Michael Booth and Daved Wilkins (“The Mindy Project”), and starring Sarah Booth (“Law & Order: SVU”) and Daved Wilkins.
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APPLE SEED Kicks Off Lineup for 2019 Dances With Films Festival
Rance Howard and Jennifer Kamstock in Apple Seed The “vibrantly” independent film festival Dances With Films announced its 2019 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films for its 22nd annual edition.
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Mark Wilson’s WADE IN THE WATER to Premiere at Dances with Films + Drops Trailer
WADE IN THE WATER directed by Mark Wilson Mark Wilson released the trailer for his new film Wade in the Water, starring I Am The Night’s Danika Golombek, premiering at Dances with Films in L.A. Wade in the Water, a semi-finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships in 2018, will premiere at the prestigious Dances with Films Film Festival on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019 at 7:15 PM.
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NATHAN’S KINGDOM, Coming-of-Age Film on Autism, Premieres at Dances With Films Festival [Trailer]
Nathan’s Kingdom, a dramatic motion picture about one young man’s battle with autism and the fantasy world to which he and his sister escape, premieres on the West Coast at this year’s acclaimed Dances With Films Festival on Wednesday, June 13, 7:15 PM at TCL Chinese Theatres, Auditorium 1, 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028. Actors from the film, including writer-director Olicer Muñoz, will be in attendance.
Jacob Lince, 24, takes away any preconceived notion of what an actor on the spectrum should “act” like, as his character, Nathan, leads the audience into a dark fantasy while he struggles with his teenage opiate-addict sister, Laura, (played by Madison Ford), his sole and loving caregiver.
Rather than surrender to social services, Nathan and Laura risk it all to find “Nathan’s Kingdom” — as they battle monsters, endure mythical wars, and confront an underground civilization of ghouls — in hope of finding a fictitious kingdom with the potential to transform their lives forever.
”I was adamant that the title role of Nathan be played by an actor on the autism spectrum,” says the film’s writer-director-producer Olicer J. Muñoz, 38, who contacted the Performing Arts Studio West (PASW), a one of a kind non-profit and state-funded training facility for adults with developmental disabilities. Through the organization, Muñoz auditioned dozens of actors and discovered his lead actor, Lince.
Muñoz began writing the script upon graduating with an M.F.A. from the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI). Earlier in his career, the bi-lingual (Spanish) filmmaker worked with Academy Award winner (“Scared Straight”), Emmy and Peabody Award winning producer Arnold Shapiro who instilled in Muñoz the golden rules of filmmaking. “Shapiro taught me how to master a story and allow the narrative to take on a life of its own. It was under his watch that I began writing and developing Nathan’s Kingdom,” says Muñoz, whose family hails from Mexico. Muñoz counts Oscar-winning directors Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu as his directing role models.
Nathan’s Kingdom was co-produced by Michelle Opitz who received her B.F.A. from Chapman University where she met Muñoz and later studied at the American Film Institute (AFI). Emily Beach (Brown Eyed Girls Productions) is also co-producer under Opitz’s and Beach’s banner. Visual effects, CGI animation, combined with live action and unique sound design enhance the highly stylized fantasy film sequences that reflect the inner workings of Nathan’s imagination.
Nathan’s Kingdom had its world premiere in March 2018 at the Sedona International Film Festival where it won its prestigious “Director’s Choice – Heart of The Film Festival Award.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuDbF42I5l8
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Allison Volk’s Dark Rom-Com DEANY BEAN IS DEAD to World Premiere At Dances With Films [Trailer]
Writer/Producer/Actress Allison Volk’s new dark romantic-comedy feature film, Deany Bean is Dead will make its World Premiere at the 2018 Dances With Films festival at the famed TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood on June 16th.
DEANY BEAN IN DEAD follows Deany (Volk), a 30-something hopelessly hung-up on her ex-boyfriend who accidentally ends up at his house during his engagement party. Out to sabotage everything and win him back, Deany’s plan is hampered by the fact that she has the dead body of her abusive boss hidden in her car out front. Just as her strategy starts to work, the evening unravels and forces Deany to confront her own self-worth.
The 84-minute film evolved from Volk working on a series of short film projects with Mikael Kreuzriegler, a Director/Cinematographer, current Chair of Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television and previous Dances With Films festival winner. Armed with an idea, Volk penned the script for Kreuzriegler to direct; and together they produced the picture along with Associate Producer Christiana Santos (Executive Director of Distribution at Orion Pictures at MGM). To help bring the characters to life alongside Volk, the team cast several rising actors, including Sarah Siadat (Veep, Grimm), Paul Tigue (20th Century Women) and Paulina Bugembe (Scandal).
Since starting the creative project nearly 2 years ago, Volk is excited to now share the film with audiences at Dances With Films and beyond. Volk adds, “It is such a thrill to watch a project evolve from script to screen; every individual contribution is important and makes the project better. We’re really honored to be part of Dances with Film and looking forward to celebrating the success with everyone involved.”
Originally from Boulder, Colorado, Volk has been building a solid reputation in Hollywood as an award-winning writer, film producer and actress. Most recently, Volk won ‘Best Screenplay’ at the 2018 Utah Film Awards for her dark action comedy feature script, Tiger Woman. She wrote, produced and starred in her First feature film, Innocent Sleep, earning ‘Best Lead Actress’ at the 2017 Utah Film Awards for this modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In addition, Volk has written and produced two award-winning shorts and written several plays which have enjoyed production in Los Angeles and New York, one of which took the Denise Regan Wisenmeyer Award. She co-founded The City Shakespeare Company in Santa Monica, serving as co-artistic director for three years. She proudly made her feature ?lm debut as ‘Jane’ in Disney’s 2013 western-action film, The Lone Ranger.
Currently, Volk is in pre-production on the short fantasy/drama film, What Katie Did, which is slated to shoot in Colorado this August.
https://vimeo.com/247749747
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Jeremy Guy’s Directorial Debut PURDAH (VEIL) to LA Premiere at Dances With Films
Director and cinematographer Jeremy Guy presents his feature documentary directorial debut with “Purdah” (“Veil”) – the inspiring story of a young Indian woman who trades her burka for dreams of playing on the Mumbai Senior Women’s Cricket Team and how the harsh realities for women in her country creates an unexpected outcome for her own family, ultimately shattering and fueling aspirations. The film is an Official Selection in competition at the internationally renowned Dances With Films festival, featuring its Los Angeles Premiere Screening at the world famous TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. The film recently held its World Premiere at Cinequest Film Festival where it was called a “a real life Bend It Like Beckham” by KQED-FM (NPR).
Director Jeremy Guy says, “I was working on another film in India when I met Kaikasha Mirza. Her pursuit of a career in cricket as a woman, which is frowned upon by her Muslim community, was a fascinating story in itself. And then, as I began shooting, the story took a surprising turn, and an even bigger story began to unravel about the challenges that Kaikasha, her two sisters and their mother faced amidst societal oppression.”
The three independent-minded Mirza sisters have ambitious dreams for their lives and careers. Despite their earnestness, they face an uphill battle coming from a conservative Muslim family in Mumbai, India.
Kaikasha Mirza became enamored with cricket as a young woman, yet she was forbidden to play and forced to be a spectator in her burka, but she eventually persuades her father to allow her to remove her burka to become one of only a few Muslim women cricketers in all of Mumbai. She chases her dream of playing for the prestigious Mumbai Senior Women’s Cricket Team, but her parents give her the ultimatum that she will have two years to become a professional cricketer—or they will arrange her marriage.
Kaikasha’s eldest sister, Saba, has her own dreams for her career and yearns to become a model, and Heena, the youngest sister, wants to be a fashion designer or a singer, but poverty may impede their pursuits. All three girls and their mother must contend with the wishes of their father who does not believe women should work, but rather, stay home to cook, clean and raise a family.
As the women pursue their dreams, a series of shocking and tragic circumstances befall the Mirza family, and the film continues to follow each of them as they battle through family crises, poverty, and intense societal pressures.
This cinematic journey highlights how dreaming the impossible dream and having a passionate purpose can potentially save us. This story of perseverance lands on the message that even if things don’t turn out as we had hoped or planned, it’s about how we react to overcome life’s biggest challenges that makes all the difference.
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Dances With Films Turns 21 Years With A Bigger, Badder And Bolder Lineup, Opens with William Dickerson’s NO ALTERNATIVE
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NO ALTERNATIVE[/caption]
The fiercely independent film festival Dances With Films (DWF) returns for its 21st edition from June 7 to 17 at TCL Chinese Theaters with a lineup of more than 100 world premieres and nearly 40 west coast premieres. Opening the festival on June 7 is the DWF alumni driven drama directed by William Dickerson, NO ALTERNATIVE, in its World Premiere starring Kathryn Erbe, Michaela Cavazos, Conor Proft, Chloe Levine and Harry Hamlin. THE BEST PEOPLE, a comedy written and produced by Selina Ringel and directed by Dan Levy Dagerman, closes the festival with its DWF premiere on June 17.
“We consider ourselves a true festival of discovery,” said festival co-founders Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. “We have always been progressive and have always looked to the future for our inspiration. Turning 21 is a milestone to us. In every other culture there is a ‘rites of passage’, but in the U.S., it’s turning 21. We have thrived, transitioned and evolved along the way. DWF is unique in the fact that we are not a celebrity-driven festival. Everyone in the festival has to bring their A-game.”
The final lineup will feature more than 200 titles, chosen from a record 2,200 submissions from all over the globe. The juried narrative competition section includes 16 features and more than three-dozen shorts. DWF also has a category for groundbreaking short and feature documentaries, provocative genre fare in the Midnight section, and the most exciting music videos and dance-themed films from the indie scene in the Downbeats section. The Fusion section brings together a multitude of additional features and shorts.
Notable Dances With Films alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Gina Rodriguez, Bryan Cranston, Will Scheffer, Mark V. Olsen, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike Flanagan, and John Hawkes, among many others.