Dance film festival is here

DANCE cinema from around the world will screen in Port of Spain this weekend, when the San Souci Festival of Dance Cinema from Colorado, teams up with the Coco Dance Festival and the filmmakers’ collaborative – FilmCo, for an interesting programme of short films that feature dance in its myriad forms and expressions.

FilmCo is a non-profit organisation which was founded by industry professionals who share a deep commitment to developing the local film industry and are dedicated to creating a sustainable ecosystem for film and television producers and directors in TT and the wider Caribbean.

Dance cinema, also called dance video and screendance, is an emerging art form that combines the aesthetics of dance and cinema, with filmmakers pushing creative boundaries and producing films that speak through the universal language of movement.

Drawing on its name Sans Souci – which means “without concern”, the Festival of Dance Cinema specialises in highly-experimental, interdisciplinary cinema, with an expansive definition of dance, that exposes audiences to a variety of film, video, and performance possibilities.

The screening of nine international and five Caribbean films begins on Sunday at 4 pm and continues Monday at 5.30 pm, at Grundlos Kollektiv, Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain. The Monday screening will be followed by a master class: Capturing Movement for the Camera, facilitated by Anne Wharton of Texas Tech University, from 7.30 pm.

The screening programme includes:

Chimera, 2016, France, 2 min

Director: Steven Briand;

Choreography: Cathy Ematchoua

Dancers: Aliaska Hilsum, Leonore Zurfluh, Hajiba Fahmy, Dalila Cortes.

Inspired by Greek mythology, Chimera features acrobatic dance performances and highly aesthetic kaleidoscopic movements.

Silent places, 2013, Romania, 12 min

Director: Simona Deaconescu

Choreography: Simona Deaconescu / featuring Tangaj Dance

Dancers: Dragos Istvan Rosu, Razvan Stoian, Irina Stefan, Alexandra Balasoiu, Simona Deaconescu

The camera bursts into the heart of the dance whilst the music copes with the cruelty and the fever of everyday’s warfare.

Separate Sentence, 2016, United States, 15 min

Director: Amie Dowling, Austin Forbord

Choreography: Amy Dowling

Music composed and performed by Albert Mathias

Separate Sentence is a short dance/film that explores the generational impact of incarceration and the toll on families and communities. Cast members include some who have been incarcerated or have family who are. The film has won Audience and Best Film awards internationally.

Women in Cities, 2017,

United States, 2 min

Choreography: Rosie Trump / featuring Rosie Trump | With or Without Dance

Dancers: Christina Carter, Abrie Parrish, Shelby Wilburn

Three women navigate internal and external pressures in this short-stop, motion dance film which assembles over 2,000 still images. Kinetic snapshots of twisting, hinging, and flinging are interrupted by micro-arrests generating a passive tension between the women.

TT films include:

Costa del Alma by Makeda Thomas with

Panu Kari (TT/ USA)

Ophelia by Greta Mendez (TT/ UK)

Untamed Space by Andre Zachery (Haiti/

USA)

A Thin Line by Sonja Dumas (TT).

For the full list of international films:

http://sanssoucifest.org/programPages/programTrinidad2018.php#show180

http://sanssoucifest.org/sampleReel/