Dances With Films is once again proving why it remains one of the country’s most important launchpads for independent cinema.
The 29th annual edition of the Los Angeles-based festival will return June 18 through June 28 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Ovation Hollywood with a massive lineup of 279 films spanning narrative features, documentaries, midnight horror, pilots, music programming, shorts, and family fare.
This year’s festival opens with the world premiere of Yale from director Jay Silverman and closes with the world premiere of Tender from director Adam Hoelzel.
In total, the festival will screen 41 narrative features, 17 documentary features, four midnight features, 33 television and streaming pilots, and 184 short films.
Festival founders Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent said this year’s lineup continues the festival’s mission of championing filmmakers operating outside the traditional studio system. “For close to three decades, Dances With Films has exhibited ‘The Power of Indie Film’ and this year’s lineup is filled with unique and diverse voices from filmmakers working outside of the studio system and without the benefit of bigger budgets,” the founders said. “As always, we couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce them all and connect our filmmakers with audiences, film distributors, and other industry veterans in the best way imaginable.”
Among the additional narrative features making world premieres are American Flake, Angeleno, Bandit, Coin, Coaled Blood, Dave vs. Hollywood, Directors’ Commentary, Face Love, Fractured, Good Thoughts, The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, Hamilton House, Jane’s Not Here, Loves Company, Mind Games, Muffled, Queen of Shock, Rescued, Solidarity, Souvenir, Sync, Tales From the Crypto, Tempest, Wilma, Wu, and a Stripper Named Lorraine and Yellow Broken Road.
North American premieres include Deathkeeper, Life at Sandy’s, Littermates, and U A P.
The documentary lineup includes world premieres for Autumn Gold, Beneath the Ashes: The Past Reimagined, Better Call Babs, The Last Place on Earth, My Name is Gitta, Peaking: Psychedelics and the Pursuit of Happiness, Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, Tell Me About Tomorrow, and To Kill a Nazi.
Additional festival highlights include Lone Rider starring Jack Alcott, How to Date Again featuring Haley Joel Osment and Kevin Nealon, and Out of Order starring Brandon Routh, Brooke Shields, Sandra Bernhard, and Luis Guzmán.
The festival’s television and streaming pilot section includes projects like Mort by Larry and Terry Zeigelman, Fixation, People of the West, Knighted, Pain in the Neck, and You Are Here.
Short film standouts include Going Home starring Patton Oswalt, Macbeth in Compton, Conflicting Reports, American Boy, This Little Piggy Went to Market, Captain Milo, and Breakfast at Berghain.
More information about the full lineup, tickets, and passes is available at here.
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