DWF Curtain Raiser:
Dance with Films in Los Angeles Opens this June
at TCL Chinese Theatre
Time was, people wondered why Los Angeles, the movie capital of the world, didn’t have a flagship film festival
Some argued it had many. In other years, there has been a Los Angeles Film Festival,a Hollywood Film Festival
and many others that have fallen by the wayside; a number of smaller festivals remain.
But now, for 2022, Los Angeles has an unlikely, doughty survivor: Dances with Films,
unspooling its 25th edition starting June 9. Hiding in plain sight at the TCL Chinese Theatre,
DWF 25 has become among the country’s pre-eminent showcases of new or unusual talent across all
media. Viewers will get a first chance to see filmed entertainment that might go on to a number of
other festivals or to distributors.
The indie festival with a weird name
“was created at a time when the Park City scene—aka Sundance—had so many mini fests gathering around it—like DigiDance; SlamDunk; Slamdance; TromaDance,” says co-founder Leslee Scallon. “ We thought it would be funny to be the summer film festival in Hollywood called Dances With Films. To be honest, we were only planning on doing it for one time in 1998. Not twenty-five!”
Filmmakers Michael Trent and Leslee Scallon, after writing, filming, and finishing their own
independent film, INDEMNITY, quickly realized they didn’t have the “connections” to get their film
into the industry fests that existed in those days.
“So with a brilliant idea from Michael to bring together other filmmakers like ourselves for a week-long event in Los Angeles,” Scallon recalls, “the power of the ‘unknown’ filmmakers came together to present something other than ‘star-studded’ films to the industry and the public.”
So what about the fest’s “no stars” policy?
“In the beginning, we were very strict about it,” Scallon explains. “However, moving into year 25, we
realize that we have alumni that are doing more and more ‘name’ involved work and so we have evolved
as well. That said, we will never program a film because it has a celebrity in it. In fact, when it has a ‘name,
it really has to be that much better. However, as we have grown in size and reputation, we receive more and
|more ‘name’ films and that is why we created our ‘UNLEASHED’ section.”
DWF’s supposed to show 200 films, shorts, pilots and music videos presented this year
—all in person and too many to preview them all—but a baker’s dozen—five of them world premieres—
collectively show the range of projects on offer.
Two of the transformative documentaries in DWF took a fairly long road to the screen:
REWILDING, which makes its world premiere appropriately enough Juneteenth (Sunday, June 19), and
MY FRIEND TOMMY, which has its world premiere on June 12. Both films started pre-production as
far back as 2015
REWILDING follows Anthony Dejesus, a 27-year-old budding Black artist and former Rikers Island
inmate, as he leaves New York City for the first time with rock climbers and wilderness guides
Jesse Spiegel (the film’s director) and Vitek Linhart, determined to field test a program to take formerly incarcerated men into the wild.
Aside from its immersive story, the film captures footage of Kalief Browder,
the young Black man who took his own life following years of incarceration without charge whom Spiegel interviewed as a candidate for the program.
“The filming of REWILDING was a rich experience that bonded us, as we climbed, slept, ate, and lived in
a van together,” Spiegel says. “We each had troubled pasts and our ability to connect over both our difference
and similarities was truly special. I hope that our story gives a voice to the often-underrepresented experiences
of individuals in the criminal justice system, as well as offering a new approach to healing its negative effects
with increased access to nature through programs like ours.” Spiegel hopes to develop the successful proof of concept if REWILDING into a series.
Nem Stankovic’s MY FRIEND TOMMY is about a different kind of transformation: the romantic and
sexual education of a real-life 40-year-old virgin, Tommy Lee. Tommy has never so much as kissed or dated
a woman, lives at home with his parents, and subsists on an allowance; he doesn’t even have a bank account.
With the help of his wingman, athlete, and actor Nem Stankovic, Tommy wants to change that. The film follows
a cross-continental quest from Toronto to Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami to discover the
adulthood Tommy never had, alongside his “wolfpack” of wild, younger friends.
Initially, MY FRIEND TOMMY plays more like a buddy comedy than a documentary. But its slapstick road trip
belies the film’s other side: there are dramatic, and often hilarious, twists and turns as an actual person’s life
changes drastically in real-time. Fun fact: according to Stankovic, 3% of the US population over the age of 25
have never had sex—many not by choice, but due to the social or religious constructs, they faced when growing
up. Tommy’s story is a revealing one from this massive, yet quiet, minority
Zahida Pirani’s Dramatic Short EL CARRITO Screens at Dances With Films 25, Four Other Fests in June
“…powerful, bittersweet, well-acted, thought-provoking, realistic…”
– Wendy Schadewald, Short Redhead Reel Reviews
“…a reminder that everyone is human and at the end of the day a simple act of kindness goes a long way.”
–Marty Millman, ForReel Movie News & Reviews
“…audiences are able to immerse themselves in this story and see the world through the character’s eyes.”
–Victoria Hope, Amelie Magazine
WHAT:
EL CARRITO follows Nelly, who lives with her elderly father Rico in Queens, New York. She is determined
to improve her circumstances as she slogs through yet another unsuccessful day of street vending, a world
she views as ruthlessly competitive. After taking a risky business decision that quickly backfires, Nelly wrongly
accosts a fellow vendor for her misfortune and is stunned to discover how the community responds to her distrust.
Short film EL CARRITO will play in-person at Dances With Films 25 (June 9-19) as well as
four other festivals in New York and Southern California in June.
WHO:
Writer-director Zahida Pirani is a first-generation Indian American who was raised in a
working-class Mexican American neighborhood in Escondido, California and is now based between
Los Angeles and New York City. Before becoming a filmmaker, Pirani spent nearly two decades working
as a community organizer for social justice organizations advocating for immigrant and worker rights
in Northwest Queens. Her background in advocacy informs her passion for storytelling that authentically
voices underrepresented experiences and circumstances in a beautiful and supportive way.
Trailer
Trailer “El Carrito” from Zahida Pirani on Vimeo.
WHEN:
Dances With Films in Global Shorts Group 1: in-person Monday, June 13 at 2:30 PM PDT.
EL CARRITO tickets are available here;
Festival tickets are available here.
WHERE:
Dances With Films in-person at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres; 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028
Trailer
EL CARRITO
Genre: Live-Action Narrative Short
Running Time: 15 minutes
Rating: NR
Language: Spanish
Staff:
Director/Writer/Producer: Zahida Pirani
Co-Producers: Mauricio Piratova and Ran Yan
Executive Producer: Tanbir Haque
Director of Photography: Marcus Patterson
Production Designer: Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez
Cast:
Eli Zavala (STILL THE EARTH MOES, The Crone)
Idalia Limón (Orange Is the New Black, Narcos, New Amsterdam)
Jose Febus (Law & Order, Manifest, The Blacklist
Web and Social:
If you want to see some new and fascinating films, you need to check out the Dancing with Films schedule so that you can
buy tickets to the ones you would like to see!
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
If you have a question, you can email me at stevie.wilson@LA-Story.com
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