(LOS ANGELES – 10 May 2018) The fiercely independent film festival Dances With Films (DWF) announced today its 2018 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films for its 21st annual edition.
Opening the festival on June 7 is the DWF alumni driven drama directed by William Dickerson, No Alternative in its World Premiere starring Kathryn Erbe, Michaela Cavazos, Conor Proft, Chloe Levine and Harry Hamlin. The Best People, a comedy written and produced by Selina Ringel and directed by Dan Levy Dagerman, closes the festival with its DWF premiere on June 17.
The festival, proving itself to be unstoppable after 21 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 7-17, 2018 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 Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. “We have always been progressive and have always looked to the future for our inspiration. Turning 21 is a milestone to us. In every other culture there is a ‘rites of passage’, but in the U.S., it’s turning 21. We have thrived, transitioned and evolved along the way. DWF is unique in the fact that we are not a celebrity-driven festival. Everyone in the festival has to bring their A-game.”
The final lineup will feature more than 200 titles, chosen from a record 2,200 submissions from all over the globe. The juried narrative competition section includes 16 features and more than 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 many others.
Tickets and passes will be available for sale May 18 here. A complete listing of additional films and screenings are listed here.
