Dances With Films 2017 Line-Up Announced

Details

Category: Entertainment News

Published on Thursday, 11 May 2017 08:07

The fiercely independent film festival Dances With Films (DWF) announced today its 2017 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films for its 20th annual edition held June 1-11 in Los Angeles, California.

Opening the festival on June 1 are two alumni projects: filmmaker David Heinz’s modern musical, AMERICAN FOLK in its Los Angeles debut and the world premiere of Tamar Halpern’s intellectual thriller, MISSING IN EUROPE. Another DWF alumni project, AUSTIN FOUND, by director Will Raée, closes the festival with its world premiere on June 11.

Tickets and passes will be available for sale on Friday, May 12 at http://www.tclchinesetheatres.com/ or thru the festival's own site: https://danceswithfilms.com.

The festival, proving itself to be unstoppable after 20 consecutive years, is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of innovative independent cinema in the U.S., presenting amazing, undiscovered talent to an industry audience in Hollywood. DWF will run June 1-11, 2017 in Los Angeles, CA at the TCL Chinese Theaters, located at: Hollywood & Highland, 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028.

“We consider ourselves a true festival of discovery,” said festival co-founders Michael Trent and Leslee Scallon. “Our aim is to showcase films that have unique voices from the indie scene, stories that bring a touch of magic to the screen. We have discovered a great many of them over these last two decades, so we are excited to present this year's slate of knock-out talent.”

The final lineup features more than 160 titles, chosen from a record 2,100 submissions from all over the globe. The juried narrative competition section includes 16 features, 13 of which are world premieres, and nearly three-dozen shorts. DWF also has a category for groundbreaking short and feature documentaries, provocative genre fare in the Midnight section, and the most exciting music videos and dance-themed films from the indie scene in the Downbeats section. The Fusion section brings together a multitude of additional features and shorts.

Notable Dances With Films alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Gina Rodriguez, Bryan Cranston, Will Scheffer, Mark V. Olsen, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike Flanagan, and John Hawkes, among others.

About Dances With Films 
In 1998 DWF began as a film festival dedicated to finding tomorrow’s talent today and continues to carry on this mission today. With many World and West Coast Premieres, DWF provides a coveted first stop on the festival circuit. With a vast number of submissions, the selection process is based solely on merit and discoverability. DWF continues its dedication to and is a devoted champion of fresh and creative voices, mandating that all competitive films have no known actors, writers, directors, or producers.   For the past 20 years, DWF has proudly provided access and opportunity to thousands of films and filmmakers from across the globe that diligently work year after year to see their dreams realized. With more than 12,000+ festival attendees and 2.5 million impressions per month on www.danceswithfilms.com, DWF is loyal and dedicated to the indie filmmaker and is considered their champion in Hollywood.

DWF’s Advisory Board includes: Steve Tisch, Cindy Cowan, Jonathan Dana, Steve Elzer, Kevin Kasha, Eriq La Salle, Michael Lehmann, Mike Macari, Valerie McCaffrey, Mark V. Olsen, Joel Ordesky, Mark Ordesky, Melissa Orlen, Will Scheffer, Hilton Smith, David Spiegelman andSteve Wegner.

OPENING NIGHT

AMERICAN FOLK

LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 99 min.

WRITER: David Heinz

DIRECTOR: David Heinz

PRODS: Matt Miller, Fiona Walsh, Samantha Sanders, Aaron Downing

CAST: Joe Purdy, Amber Rubarth, Krisha Fairchild, David Fine, Bruce Beatty, Elizabeth Dennehy

Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music.

MISSING IN EUROPE

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 77 min.

WRITER: Jenny Paul

DIRECTOR: Tamar Halpern

PRODS: Rick Benattar, Milos Dujkalic, Michael Moran, Ivana Panic, Fernando Szew, Nigel Thomas, Kaila York

CAST: Miranda Raison, Emmett J Scanlan, Sophie Robertson

Cyber security expert Sara Woods arrives in Belgrade, Serbia to attend a conference and check on her daughter, Karissa, who is studying abroad. When Karissa and her classmate Lara go clubbing and disappear into thin air, Sara is certain they’ve been abducted. Utilizing her hacking skills and following clues Karissa leaves behind, Sara starts to uncover a major sex trafficking ring. Even worse, it seems the local police are in on it. With nobody to trust, Sara uses every tool at her disposal to locate Karissa before she’s sold to the highest bidder and disappears forever.

CLOSING NIGHT

AUSTIN FOUND

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 104 min.

WRITERS: Brenna Graziano, Will Raée

DIRECTOR: Will Raée

PRODS: Robert Ruggeri, Danny Costanzo, Mary Pat Bentel, Gary Ousdahl

CAST: Linda Cardellini, Skeet Ulrich, Craig Robinson, Kristen Schaal, Jon Daly, Patrick Warburton, Chris Parnell, Jaime Pressly, Ursula Parker

A Texas mother who is fed up with her mundane lifestyle enlists her outlaw of an ex-boyfriend and his former prison buddy to join her in a shockingly outrageous scheme that's sure to make her and her 11 year old daughter instant celebrities.