Celebrating the vibrant art of dance, Dance Camera West (DCW) presents the 14^th Annual Dance Media Festival, a public event incorporating dance explored through film and live performance.

Taking place at various venues in Beverly Hills (UTA Screening Room), Downtown Los Angeles (MOCA, historic Palace Theatre, REDCAT), Hollywood (historic Egyptian Theatre), Santa Monica (Aero Theatre), and Westwood (Crest Theater, UCLA) from April 30 – May 5, 2015, this multi-disciplinary festival promises to offer something for everyone and will showcase many forms of dance including modern, post modern, world, tap, dance theater, ballet, hip-hop and practically all dance that has been captured on film in a way that is of quality andessential value.

Over 30 films will be screened over the course of the Festival connecting diverse cultures and environments through the exploration of dance.

DCW aspires to awaken and infuse the public mainstream with a desire for critical creative programming. The vision of DCW is to present the visual language of dance on screen in a way that stretches the imagination and changes the way we think about dance.

Dance Media Festival Schedule:

Thursday, April 30
Festival Kickoff, UTA Screening Room, Beverly Hills, Screenings, Cocktails and appetizers, 6:30pm, $75

• Live dance performance from JacobJonas The Company: a project based creative company specializing in dance, content production, and arts education.
• Escualo – USA, 2014, 4:00, Martin & Facundo Lombard (filmmakers); A powerful new piece from the Lombard Twins.
• Dancing is Living: Benjamin Millepied – France, 2014, 57:00, Louis Wallecan (filmmaker) – West Coast Premiere; This engaging documentary chronicles Benjamin Millepied (choreographer of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan), the newly appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet and founder of L.A. Dance Project, as a globe-trotting ambassador for dance: in rehearsal with his company in L.A., hanging out with Lil Buck, and sharing his ideas about life and dance. Q&A with Louis Wallecan, Filmmaker and James Fayette, Managing Director, LA Dance Project.

Friday, May 1 
Opening Night Shorts, The Palace Theatre, Downtown LA, 7pm, $15

A selection of top international short films and a live dance performance from Jacob Jonas The Company:

• ME – A Story of a Performance – Finland, 2014, 7:30, Jopsu Ramu (filmmaker), Johanna Nuutinen (choreographer); We follow the performance from different perspectives: how it is perceived by the dancer, the audience and how it can be seen from an objective point of view as a mere code. U.S. Premiere
• Cracks – Spain, 2013, 4:45; Alex Pachon (filmmaker/choreographer); Every sound generates a movement and every movement produces a sound. U.S. Premiere
• Pas – Canada, 2014, 15:00, Frédérique Cournoyer-Lessard (filmmaker); The dance and the acrobatics deeply move between narrative plots and visual poetry. West Coast Premiere
• Fuel for Thought – India/UK, 2014, 4:04, Michael Joseph (filmmaker); Choreographer Hemabharathy Palani’s response to Hip Hop artist Mikey J Asante’s track, creating striking imagery against large-scale outdoor scenery and intimate spaces in India.
• AM/FM – USA, 2014, 4:45, Morgan Wise (filmmaker), Robert Moses (choreographer); A romantic afternoon car ride turns into a surprising physical contest when a young couple has to choose between two competing radio stations.
• Gone – Iceland, 2014, 16:00; Helena Jonsdottir/Vera Solvadóttir (filmmakers); Who is living your life at the moment? Your guest is not always your guest… U.S. Premiere
• Martiality, Not Fighting – China, 2012, 10:00, Marianne M. Kim/Cheng-Chieh Yu (filmmakers); A young Chinese dancer performs the role of conscientious objector.
• Amandi – Spain, 2014, 7:00; Francesc SitgesSardà/Elisabet Prandi (filmmakers), Claudi Bombardó Oriol (choreographer); A full blend made of nature, woods and weird landscapes with two characters whom travel through that space in constant transformation trying to fit in, to blend in. US Premiere

.Saturday, May 2 (day) 
The Crest Theatre, Westwood

Program 1:  2:30pm; $15

• I Was Within – USA, 2014, 9:46, Jenny Stulberg (filmmaker), Jenny Stulberg/Sebastian Grubb (choreographer); Examines the course of a relationship through the multi-faceted elements of love, loss, time, and identity.
• Fall to Rise – USA, 2014, 92:00, Jayce Bartok (filmmaker), Catherine Cabeen (choreographer); Who Will Catch You When You Fall? A famous principal dancer injures her knee and attempts to settle into motherhood only to realize she has no identity without dance, and struggles to return with the help of an equally troubled former company dancer.

Program 2: Celebrating Technicolor 100th Anniversary; 4:30pm; $15

• The Unfinished Dance – USA, 1947, 101:00, Henry Koster (filmmaker)
  Meg, a young ballet student played with penetrating passion by Margaret O’Brien, grows distressed to learn that visiting prima ballerina Darina rather than the school’s top ballerina Bouchet (Cyd Charisse) will play the lead in “Swan Lake.” As a result of Meg’s actions, Bouchet remains a star unfettered by competition and Meg copes with guilt. Dance critic Debra Levine of arts•meme will lead a conversation with Technicolor senior executive Robert Hoffman highlighting the film’s majestic use of color cinematography on the occasion of 100 years of Technicolor films.

Saturday, May 2 (evening) 
The Aero Theatre, Santa Monica, 7:30pm, $11

• I Hate Dancing – Canada, 2014, 2:17, Jo Roy (filmmaker/choreographer); The repulsive nature of dance as told through dance.
• American Cheerleader – USA, 2014, 89:00, David Barba/James Pellerito (filmmakers), Hank Light/Jason Keogh (choreographers); Set in the competitive world of cheerleading, the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted National High School Cheerleading Championship Title.

Sunday, May 3 (day) 
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Downtown LA

Israel Past and Future – 1pm; $15 (includes Museum admission)

• Ze’eva Cohen: Creating a Life in Dance – USA, 2014, 32:00, Sharon Kaufman (filmmaker); Spanning 70 years, how an artist can survive in the dance world by carving out an independent path for herself. Featured artist: Ze’eva Cohen. West Coast Premiere
• Glove Story – Israel, 2013, 38:00, Oren Shkedy (filmmaker), Dana Ruttenberg (choreographer); Explores the notion of personal space and the all-too-often invasion into it. It asks the question: what are the psychological, physical and social repercussions of treating borders as mere suggestions?
• Renewal – USA/Israel, 2014, 40:00, Stacey Menchel Kussell (filmmaker); In their pioneering Eco-Arts village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the Vertigo Dance Company in performance and rehearsals, and their ecological pursuits including gray water recycling and permaculture. West Coast Premiere

Animate Life: Dance! – 3pm; $15 (includes Museum admission)

Choreography and Animation Technology Panel Discussion

Frank Gladstone, Gladstone Film; Peggy Holmes, Disney Toon Studios; and others tba

Illumination, education and examination, both contemporarily and historically, of the relationship between Animation and Dance through discussion and screenings.

Sunday, May 3 (evening)
REDCAT, Downtown LA

Program 1 – 5:30pm; $15

CalArts Emerging Artists Competition

Jiri Kylian: Forgotten Memories – France, 2011, 52:00, Don Kent/Christian Dumais-Lvowski (filmmaker) – West Coast Premiere; World-renowned Czech choreographer Jiri Kylian, a singular artist whose vision has inspired dancers and choreographers around the globe. West Coast Premiere

Program 2 – 7:30pm; $15

• Continuum – France, 2014, 9:15, Natalianne Boucher (filmmaker); Explores time and space through dance and animation techniques.
• Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity – USA, 2014, 82:00, Catherine Gund (filmmaker); Motley troupe of flyers and crashers, propelled by Elizabeth Streb’s edict that “anything too safe is not action,” these daredevils challenge the assumptions of art, aging, injury, gender, and human possibility. Breathtaking tale about the necessity of art, inspiring audiences hungry for a more tactile and fierce existence in the world.

Monday, May 4 

• UCLA Moore Lecture Hall, Special Campus Screening, 6:30pm, Free
  Migration – Canada, 2015, 5:44, Marlene Millar (filmmaker), Sandy Silva (choreographer); Migratory journey of percussive dancers who rely on their hands, feet and sonic bodies to create a unique soundtrack as they move through water, wind and sand interpreting the preparation, departure, and flight of their collective journey. West Coast Premiere
• Let’s Get the Rhythm: Life and Times of Miss Mary Mack – USA, 2014, 55:00; Irene Chagall (filmmaker); Celebrates the wondrous world of hand clapping games, a traditional genre that thrives on the playgrounds of large cities and in remote corners of the world. West Coast Premiere

Tuesday, May 5 (evening)

• Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood
• 4th Annual Dance-A- Long, 6:30pm, Free
  Bring your dancing shoes, friends and family for a fun dance lesson prior to the screening from LA Dance Fit
• Final Festival Screening – 7:30pm; $11
• Dancing for my Havana – Italy/Cuba, 2015, 112:00, Claudio Del Punta (filmmaker), Yordan Mayedo Perez (choreographer), Q&A with lead dancer/actress/choreographer Nayara Nunez Oliva; Young Cuban dancers struggling to achieve fame and fortune on the world stage, while honoring their intense love for the people and creative energy they find only in their homeland. U.S. Premiere