The Sarah Lawrence College Dance Program presents the 2nd annual Dancefilm Festival.
Schedule
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
Morning Feature Documentary
Bouncing Cats
This is the story of a man's attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdance. Abraham "Abramz" Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy and an AIDS orphan, creates a free workshop teaching youth b-boy culture to 300 disenfranchised kids living in precarious conditions in Kampala in 2006, and in Gulu in North Uganda.
2 - 3 p.m.
Student Shorts
A program of short dancefilms by Sarah Lawrence student filmmakers, including Ronan Hagarty, Messiah Hagood-Barnes, Severine Reisp, Xueni Yang, and Rourou Ye, with a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers.
3 - 4:15 p.m.
Afternoon Feature Documentary
Paris Is Burning
This documentary by Jennie Livingston focuses on drag queens, African American and Hispanic gay men, and transgender women living in New York City and their "house" culture, which provides a sense of community and support for the flamboyant and often socially shunned performers. Groups from each house compete in elaborate balls that take cues from the world of fashion. Also touching on issues of racism and poverty, the film features interviews with a number of renowned drag queens, including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, and Dorian Corey.
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Profile Feature
The OH Files
Milk chugging, mylar, slow motion resonance, filling, and being filled; these are just a few of the images that flood AORTA films’ first feature, The Oh Files, starring Parts Authority, Ginny Woolf, Erykah Ohms, Xposed Brick, and Toxic Shock. Interspersed with bodies gleefully cutting through space in suspended time, the film explores queer sexuality from the vantage point of a queer/feminist cyborg time travel performance epic. Contains adult content. Post-screening discussion with filmmaker Mahx Capacity and Kathy Westwater, dance faculty member.
5:45 - 6:45 p.m.
Evening Shorts
A program of short dancefilms by nationally and internationally recognized filmmakers, including Laurel Atwell, Hollye Bynum, Courtney Krantz, Peter Kyle, Victoria Marks, and Alexa Meade, with a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers.
7 - 9:20 p.m.
Evening Feature
Dancer in the Dark
Selma is a Czech immigrant, a single mother working in a factory in rural America. Her salvation is passion for music, specifically, the all-singing, all-dancing numbers found in classic Hollywood musicals. Selma harbors a sad secret: she is losing her eyesight and her son Gene stands to suffer the same fate if she can't put away enough money to secure him an operation. When a desperate neighbor falsely accuses Selma of stealing his savings, the drama of her life escalates to a tragic finale in director Lars Von Trier’s genre-bending film.