New York, NY – November 10, 2023: Dances With Films, renowned for championing true indie cinema, announces its film selection for the second annual event in New York City, running from November 30 to December 3. With an expanded lineup nearly three times the size of last year’s debut, the festival will showcase 136 films, featuring 64 world premieres.
The Opening Night on November 30 will present Dylan K. Narang’s “Tapawingo,” a lighthearted coming-of-age comedy starring Jon Heder, followed by Nicholas Gyeney’s psychological thriller “The Activated Man” as the Closing Night selection on December 3.
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Dances With Films NYC boasts an eclectic array of films, including 20 narrative features, 9 documentary features, 19 television and streaming pilots, and 88 short films. Notable world premieres include works such as Etana Jacobson’s “Advanced Chemistry,” Kevin Interdonato’s “The Bastard Sons,” and Michael Groom’s British romantic drama “Between The Lights.”
The festival’s commitment to diverse storytelling extends to documentary features, with Wynette Yao’s “District Of Second Chances” making its world premiere, highlighting the potential for life reform through sentencing changes.
Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent, Founders and Directors of Dances With Films, express their excitement about the event’s return to New York City, emphasizing this year’s theme, “the color of imagination.” They aim to spotlight indie filmmakers and their imaginative projects, showcasing them in the vibrant backdrop of the city.
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In addition to film screenings, Dances With Films NYC will feature filmmaker panels at The Stand (116 E. 16th Street), addressing pressing issues faced by indie filmmakers today. Topics include “Distribution: Navigating the Marketplace as Well as Forecasting the Future,” “Making the Sale: The Producer/Sales Agent Dynamic,” and “The Casting Director/Producer Dynamic.”
2023 Dances With Films NYC official selections:
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
- Tapawingo
Director: Dylan K. Narang
Country: USA; Running Time: 109 min
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
- The Activated Man (World Premiere)
Director: Nicholas Gyeney
Country: USA; Running Time: 115 min
ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES
- Advanced Chemistry (World Premiere)
Director: Etana Jacobson
Country: USA; Running Time: 96 min - The Bastard Sons (World Premiere)
Director: Kevin Interdonato
Country: USA; Running Time: 90 min - Between The Lights (World Premiere)
Director: Michael Groom
Country: UK; Running Time: 104 min - Bound (World Premiere)
Director: Isaac Hirotsu Woofter
Country: USA; Running Time: 101 min - Can’t Seem to Make You Mine (World Premiere)
Directors: Sara Katarina Burke, Aaron Andrew Keene
Country: USA; Running Time: 102 min - Daruma
Director: Alexander Yellen
Country: USA; Running Time: 104 min - Grounded
Director: Justin Chan
Country: USA; Running Time: 84 min - Home Free
Director: Aaron Brown
Country: USA; Running Time: 98 min - Influence (World Premiere)
Director: Ryan Moore
Country: USA; Running Time: 83 min - Katie’s Mom
Director: Tyrrell Shaffner
Country: USA; Running Time: 111 min - M (North American Premiere)
Director: Vardan Tozija
Countries: Macedonia/Croatia/Kosovo/France/Luxembourg, Running Time: 99 min - Nobody’s Home (World Premiere)
Director: Michelle Bossy
Country: USA; Running Time: 83 min - Palimpsest (North American Premiere)
Director: Hanna Vastinsalo
Country: Finland; Running Time: 109 min - Space Baby
Director: Rex Dean
Country: USA; Running Time: 99 min - Tallywacker (World Premiere)
Director: Brendan Boogie
Country: USA; Running Time: 90 min - The Zombie Wedding (World Premiere)
Director: Micah Khan
Country: USA; Running Time: 99 min
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
- 44 Lights: Music from Ground Zero
Director: Barbara Blackburn Tuttle
Country: USA; Running Time: 68 min - American Pot Story: Oaksterdam
Directors: Dan Katzir and Ravit Markus
Country: USA; Running Time: 97 min - Brothers Broken
Directors: Geoff Levin, Lily Richards
Country: USA; Running Time: 86 min - Denim Hunter (U.S. Premiere)
Director: Emilio Di Stefano
Country: Sweden; Running Time: 87 min - The Depths of My Despair
Director: Elizabeth Lawrence
Country: USA; Running Time: 68 min - District Of Second Chances (World Premiere)
Director: Wynette Yao
Country: USA; Running Time: 76 min - Meet Me Where I Am
Director: Grant Garry
Country: USA; Running Time: 86 min - Studio One Forever
Director: Marc Saltarelli
Country: USA; Running Time: 86 min - Torched – The Story of Austin Torch
Director: Hoag Kepner
Country: USA; Running Time: 66 min
MIDNIGHT FEATURES
- Sheryl (World Premiere)
Director: Justin Best
Country: USA; Running Time: 72 min - Wild Eyed and Wicked
Director: G.S. Foxwood
Country: USA; Running Time: 99 min
TELEVISION AND WEB SERIES PILOTS
- A Killer Service
Director: Gio Randazzo
Country: USA; Running Time: 25 min - Awesome
Director: Paul Munger
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 min - The Blind Zone (World Premiere)
Directors: Federica Marchese, Vinushu Sundaresan
Country: China; Running Time: 32 min - East
Director: Dana Marisa Schoenfeld
Country: USA; Running Time: 32 min - Events At Hemlock Manor
Director: Katie North
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - For Years to Come
Director: Micah Stuart
Country: USA; Running Time: 27 min - Hit Man: Secrets Of Lies
Director: Elias Plagianos
Country: UK; Running Time: 19 min - Hot Angry Mom
Director: Clarissa De Los Reyes
Country: USA; Running Time: 34 min - I Could Eat
Director: Rick Bedrosian
Country: USA; Running Time: 28 min - L.I.F.E.: It’s Wonderful
Director: Dathan Smith
Country: USA; Running Time: 22 min - Moments (North American Premiere)
Director: Aaron Lewis
Country: USA; Running Time: 23 min - Morse Code
Director: Travis Nicholson
Country: USA; Running Time: 37 min - Off The Menu
Director: Daniele Sestito
Country: USA; Running Time: 37 min - Q Train
Directors: Dionne Van Den Berg, Samantha Tran
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min - Roboto
Directors: Mari Madrid, Keone Madrid
Country: USA; Running Time: 18 min - The Selectman (World Premiere)
Director: David Antonio Martin
Country: USA; Running Time: 26 min - Travel Fox (World Premiere)
Director: Henk Pretorius
Country: UK; Running Time: 5 min - Ülom: The Primary Experiment (World Premiere)
Director: Jon Da
Country: USA; Running Time: 25 min - Xander (World Premiere)
Director: Jonathan Chao
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min
NARRATIVE SHORTS
- (In)Convenience
Director: Alexandra Greenspan
Country: USA; Running Time: 12 min - #Pizzagate (World Premiere)
Director: Danny Piñeros
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min - The 1971 Kitchen Grand Brie
Director: Ian Beckman
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - Bisected (World Premiere)
Director: Danny Piñeros
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min - Black Silk (World Premiere)
Director: Patrick Michael
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 min - Blight (World Premiere)
Director: Markus Hoeckner
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Bloodworm (World Premiere)
Director: Kai Wen
Country: USA; Running Time: 13 min - Bounce House
Directors: Callie Bloem, Christopher Ewing
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 min - Burraco (World Premiere)
Director: Isabella Tagliati
Country: Italy; Running Time: 14 min - Candice
Director: Tyler Martin
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Career Day
Directors: Jason Robinson, Chris Hooper
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min - Chauncey (World Premiere)
Director: Reilly Anspaugh & Daniel Rashid
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - Cheol (World Premiere)
Director: Yeajoon Cho
Country: USA; Running Time: 19 min - Church Camp
Director: Andrew Bourne
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min - The Chat (World Premiere)
Writer/Dir/Prod: Artie Brennan
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min - Clownfish
Director: Clayton Henderson
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - Dear Owner
Director: Jing Ai Ng
Country: USA; Running Time: 17 min - Delta (World Premiere)
Director: Jonathan Coleman
Country: USA; Running Time: 9 min - Detox
Director: Alex Hanno
Country: USA; Running Time: 19 min - Dropping
Director: Rj Collins
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min - Echoes Of My Father (World Premiere)
Directors: Junko Kajino, Ed M Koziarski
Country: USA, Japan; Running Time: 18 min - The Electro-Rocker
Director: Chris Edgar
Country: USA; Running Time: 17 min - Entrainment
Director: Bill Prokopow
Country: USA; Running Time: 12 min - Esperance To Fremantle (World Premiere)
Director: William Sebastian Turner
Country: Australia; Running Time: 18 min - Everything Goes Dark (International Premiere)
Director: Alex Casimir
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Fate Vs. Elena (World Premiere)
Director: Laura Sedlak
Country: USA; Running Time: 23 min - From The Dark (North American Premiere)
Director: Erika Sanz
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min - Hot Soda
Director: Nello Digiandomenico
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - How To Disappear (World Premiere)
Director: Milton Woods
Country: USA; Running Time: 20 min - I Keep Bumping into Candy Maldonado (World Premiere)
Director: Luke Black
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - In The Quiet (World Premiere)
Director: Merle Dandridge
Country: USA; Running Time: 5 min - Interracial Couple In A Cheerios Ad
Director: Christine Lakin
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min - The Invaders
Director: Erin Doyle Cooper
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min - Itch (World Premiere)
Director: Mohammad Anwerzada
Countries: Pakistan/Canada; Running Time: 9 min - Letters To the Wind (World Premiere)
Director: Terrence Shu
Country: USA; Running Time: 13 min - Lux Freer
Director: Cynthia Gibb
Country: USA; Running Time: 21 min - Man Baby (World Premiere)
Director: Aaron Murtagh
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min - Music For A While (World Premiere)
Director: Kelvin Z. Phillips
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min - Nearly Never (North American Premiere)
Director: Peter Franklyn Banks
Country: UK; Running Time: 15 min - Newbie
Director: James Skinner
Country: UK; Running Time: 8 min - Portrait Of a Cowboy
Director: Devon Wycoff
Country: USA; Running Time: 17 min - Pretty As a Picture (World Premiere)
Director: Ryan Nielsen
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min - The Pros And Cons Of Killing Yourself (World Premiere)
Director: Ravi Steve Khajuria
Country: Canada; Running Time: 21 min - Piano Man
Director: Jay Zaretsky
Country: USA; Running Time: 20 min - Purgy’s
Director: Robbie Bryan
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 min - Rattled (World Premiere)
Director: Adam Linkenhelt
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min - Red, White And Blue
Director: Nazrin Choudhury
Country: USA; Running Time: 23 min - Revelation (World Premiere)
Director: Libe Barer
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 min - Room 107 (World Premiere)
Directors: Steve Anderson, Leandro Imaz
Country: USA; Running Time: 17 min - Sane Men
Director: Jess Fritz
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Skateboard (World Premiere)
Director: Peyton Michelle Edwards
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min - Sonshine (International Premiere)
Director: Corey Podell
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Speak Up Brotha!
Director: Wes Andre Goodrich
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min - Sugar (World Premiere)
Director: Alyssa Brayboy
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min - Three Ways Out (World Premiere)
Director: Lizzie Morgan
Country: USA; Running Time: 13 min - Tips Up! (World Premiere)
Director: Leah Claire Borrie
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min - Tossou (World Premiere)
Directors: Melisande Mclaughlin, Sika Stanton
Country: USA; Running Time: 3 min - Used Chairs For Sale (World Premiere)
Director: Dylan Paffe
Countries: USA/Canada; Running Time: 14 min - We Love You Ray (World Premiere)
Director: John Hays
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min - You Need To Process This
Director: Eleanor Morrison
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
- 13 Driver’s Licenses
Director: Ryoya Terao
Countries: USA/Germany; Running Time: 27 min - Brothers For Life (World Premiere)
Director: Alon Juwal
Country: Israel; Running Time: 17 min - The Dancer: The Beautiful and Tragic Life Of Gerard Alexander
Directors: Ryon Horne, Tyson Horne
Country: USA; Running Time: 35 min - Family Trip (World Premiere)
Director: Sean Dunne
Country: USA; Running Time: 26 min - Finding Fate
Director: Beth Toni Kruvant
Country: USA; Running Time: 28 min - How I Roll (World Premiere)
Directors: Brianne Berkson, Miguel Gluckstern, BriGuel
Country: USA; Running Time: 13 min - I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (World Premiere)
Director: Susan Morgan Cooper
Country: USA; Running Time: 34 min - Kristin Dan Kuching Kuchingnya
Director: Michael Kam
Country: Singapore; Running Time: 6 min - Living Loud (World Premiere)
Directors: Carin van der Donk, Isabella Vega, Sarah Teale
Country: USA; Running Time: 40 min - Paper Boats
Director: Jessica Pons
Country: USA; Running Time: 5 min - Rebirth (World Premiere)
Director: Olivia Burgess
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - Revealing The Impossible (World Premiere)
Directors: Tony Chong and Marlene Millar
Country: Canada; Running Time: 29 min - This Is Why We Train: The Sea Girt Beach Patrol (World Premiere)
Director: Kevin Nulty
Country: USA; Running Time: 20 min - Tracing Imperfection (World Premiere)
Director: Chehade Boulos
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min - Where Is America the Beautiful?
Director: Fr3der1ck
Country: USA; Running Time: 30 min
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
- Bastard (World Premiere)
Directors: Haley Elise Pehrson, Gretta Wilson
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min - The Custodian
Director: Colin J. Mason
Country: USA; Running Time: 9 min - D.O.D.
Director: Paul Davis
Country: USA; Running Time: 18 min - Dedly Wagons (World Premiere)
Director: Martin Balaguer
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min - Good Girls Get Fed
Director: Kelly Lou Dennis
Country: USA; Running Time: 21 min - Hevel (World Premiere)
Director: David Grace
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min - Inner Demons (World Premiere)
Director: Jasmine J, Johnson
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - The Mantis
Director: Wylie Rush
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min - Mattress Express
Director: Noah Morse
Country: USA; Running Time: 18 min - Night Shift
Director: Karlee Boon
Country: USA; Running Time: 28 min - Pee Pee Platter
Director: Jon Conklin
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 min - The Spirit Became Flesh (World Premiere)
Writer/Director: Jesse Aultman
Country: USA; Running Time: 18 min - The Worm (World Premiere)
Director: Cameron A. Tubbs
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min
Dances With Films NYC promises a captivating cinematic experience, celebrating the creativity and resilience of independent filmmakers.
