From March 20 to 24, Cinedans FEST celebrates 20 years of daring, beautiful and fascinating dance films. Join Cinedans in Eye to experience films in which artists playfully reframe existing meanings, uplifting and reminding us of the power of dance!
In this celebratory edition, we take you on a captivating journey through lively perspectives of our ever-changing world, with more than 100 films that are bold, inspiring, striking and hit home with their humor, vulnerability and urgency. The central themes in this 20th International Edition are Resistance, Resilience & Freedom, Grief & Reconciling the Past and Rituals & Healing.
Cinedans FEST ’24 hosts the International Competition, presents the best dance films from 44 countries and hands out the prestigious Cinedans Awards! Dive into the New Dutch and discover the most recent developments and premieres of the blooming home-grown scene, and don’t miss exciting subjects and in-depth perspectives in our Specials, Features & Documentaries.
Cinedans FEST '24 is a hybrid festival.
Cinedans FEST '24 in Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, 20 -24 March.
Cinedans FEST '24 is a hybrid festival. You can watch dance films worldwide on www.cinedans.nl
The online festival program will be available from 20 – 31 March.
special Breaking the Chains
Saturday March 23
5 pm, Eye Filmmuseum, Cinema 1
A special collection of films addressing post-colonial issues from different countries and (historical) perspectives.
In the special Breaking the Chains we present films with postcolonial themes from different countries and (historical) perspectives. They portray ancestral rituals, struggles for independence, spirituality and how the effects of slavery persist into the present. Dance, song and music are traditionally deeply rooted and vital aspects of African culture, uniting the mind, body and soul. They form an essential part of cultural life and identity and migrate through time and space. They carry symbolic meaning and are catalysts for spiritual transformation and provide access to sacred spaces. Today in the diaspora, dance and ritual still play a crucial role in the process of healing, reconciliation and liberation. The screening includes a short break and is accompanied by a talk led by Cinedans programmer Iris Roblès and performance of José Tojo, artistic leader of dance school Kula Skoro, theatermaker and apinti drummer /percussionist.
Breaking the Chains is also a thematic line running through our program, which includes documentaries Kite Zo A: Leave the Bones (HT), Kumina Queen (JM) and Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance. (US)
SHORT FILMS
La Ultima Ascensión
regie Kevin Osepa
choreografie Clint Gosepa
NL I 2022 I 24’
A young fisherman in Curaçao dares to open up to the fate of his brother and learns to embrace his future.
Being a young fisherman on Curaçao, Rowin has trouble keeping his head above water. Until one day he has a miraculous encounter with a mysterious figure. It gradually dawns on Rowin that he catches more fish owing to this man’s presence at the fishing spot. As the two get to know each other better, Rowin dares to open himself up to his past and learns to embrace his future. With this film, director Kevin Osepa sheds a new light on themes like post-colonialism and the Afro-Caribbean identity.
Kankantri the silk cotton tree
Choreografie & regie: Gabri Christa
SU/USA/NL 2024 I 25’ worldpremiere
Inspired by a visit to Neve Shalom, director Gabri Christa researches her Surinamese father’s ancestry.
A woman enters a Synagogue and is transported to the parallel universe of all her ancestors who do not let her leave until she participates in their dances and rituals. The film is inspired by Gabri Christa’s first time visiting the Neve Shalom in 2000 where she was overwhelmed by the building and the emotions it brought to her. It spurred her into researching her Surinamese father’s lineage, which revealed that she had indeed also Jewish ancestors. As the famous Surinamese writer Cynthia McCleod says “when you shake your family trees, a few Jews fall out”.
Never Look at the Sun
Regie Baloji
FR/ BE I 2019 I 5,16’
Using his trademark assemblage of esoteric costume and visual metaphors, Congolese-Belgian hitmaker and filmmaker Baloji explores the practice of skin lightening in black communities. The film’s poem, narrated by decolonial thinker and race relations speaker Dorrie Wilson, is a declaration on the beauty of dark skin, with her words acting as a counterweight to the character’s chemical love affair with bleaching. "Thandi Loewenson—the writer of the poem—made Baloji discover some words of Christina Sharp that resonate deeply in me: "'Beauty is not luxury, rather it is a way of creating possibility in the space of enclosure.
CRNI TITO - Blaq Tito addressing the Parliament of Ghosts
Regie & choreografie: Christian Guerematchi
GH/NL/SL I 2023 I 15’
A figure of a Black Tito appears in the big and empty underground structure of a former silo in Tamale, Ghana.
An artistic interaction between NAM – Non Aligned Movement by Christian Guerematchi and the Parliament of Ghosts by Ibrahim Mahama. Both works speak about forgotten histories and the contemporary echoes of the cultural connections from the time of the Non-Aligned Movement between Ghana and Yugoslavia – Nkrumah and Tito.
TERRA MATTER
regie: Kantarama Gahigiri
RW/CH I 2023 I 9'51
Technology and waste, in our lands, in our systems, in our bones.
An angry appeal to the world to take responsibility for the consequences of capitalism, colonialism and environmental destruction in Africa.
Under the Sky of Fetishes
regie: Caroline Déodat
MA/ FR I 2023 I 16’
Under the Sky of Fetishes responds to the complexity of colonial archives.
It reinvents the specters of a haunting gaze to tell the story of Mauritian sega – a cultural practice born during colonization and slavery, now mainly seen in tourism.
Tajabone
regie: Raphael Chatelain
Choreografie: Nicolas Huchard
FR I 2021 I 3,30’
A transcendental parade of black french queer empowerment.
This is what freedom feels like, baby.” The uncompromising words of musician and writer Mykki Blanco echo in this short film. Tajabone takes its name from a unique tradition in Senegal, where in addition to singing and dancing through the streets everyone practices cross dressing through the night.
We Need Prayers: This One Went to the Market
regie: Jim Chuchu, The Nest Collective
KE I 2018 I 4,52’
How far are you willing to go for your hustle?
A young Kenyan visual artist comes up with a sly plan to take over the art world abroad. Will it work?
A Revolution of Love
Director Weyni Mengesha and Lucius Dechausay
CA I 2020 I ‘5
A young black woman grapples with the histories of her ancestors and the present-day violence ravaging her community.
She begins to imagine what her future looks like through dance.
Atopias: The Homeless Wanderer
Regie: Daniela Yohannes & Julien Beramis
Guadeloupe I 2023 I ‘27
A black woman embarks on a meditative journey through the wild Caribbean landscapes and ventures into ancestral realms.
This exploration of migration, transgenerational memory and trauma reshapes her voyage. A mesmerising journey.
DOCUMENTARIES
Kumina Queen
regie: Nyasha Laing
JA/US I 2022 I 57’
In the wake of the loss of her mother, documentary filmmaker Nyasha Laing travels into the heart of the Jamaican countryside to research the ancestral ritual of Kumina.
“Once you beat that drum, you have called the ancestors” says Imogene “Queenie”, she was a contemporary priestess in post-colonial Jamaica, that catapulted her African spiritual practice into renown.
Saturday 23 march, Cinema 2
15.45 - 16.45
Kite Zo A : laisse les os (Leave the bones)
regie: Kaveh Nabatian HT/CA I 2022 I 68’
In 1791, a Vodou ritual took place in Bois-Caïman that became the precursor to a mass uprising against slavery and led to the birth of Haiti, the world’s first Black independent republic.
Since then, ceremonies of artistic and religious expression have been a mainstay of Haitian culture and its resistance to external oppression, poverty and natural disaster. An intoxicating creative and spiritual experience.
Friday 22 March, Cinema 2
20.15 -21.45
Uprooted
regie: Khadifa Wong US I 2022 I 94’
The evolution of Jazz in movement and music, revealing the historic African roots from enslaved people till its dance form today.
Follow the fascinating evolution of jazz dance from its origins in Africa, through to its modern-day interpretations which reveal the political and social influences affecting the dance form today.
Saturday 23 March, Cinema 2
22.00 - 23.35
In SHORT DOCS: Returning to Play
Friday 22 March
22.15 Eye Cinema 2
Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl
Director: Claudia Owusu & Ife Oluwamuyide
GH, US I 2022 I ‘18
A documentary film by Ghanaian/Nigerian artists Claudia Owusu and Ife Oluwamuyide. Set in Accra, Ghana, the film is a rhythmic love letter to Black girlhood through the lens of the Ghanaian jumping and clapping game, ampe. Ampe is a high-energy game played by girls in Ghana. It includes jumping, clapping, and an all-around cheer as two teams select a stepping pattern and face off. The innate joy and competitive edge of ampe discloses the desire of girls to be set free unconditionally and feel a range of emotions without judgment.
Q5: THE QUINTESSENTIALS A Waacking Movie
Director: Sarada Sarita
Choreography: Sarada Sarita i.c.w. Performers
NL I 2021 I ‘70
Q5 is inspired by the energy, feeling and expressiveness of Waacking; also known as Whacking or Punking. A dance form that was created as an expression out of oppression in the Latin and Afro-American LGBTQI+ underground clubs of Los Angeles in the seventies. Celebrating all! Through the sounds & movement language of Waacking, the 5 performers dive into the 5th dimension. Traveling through and exploring different colors, portals, perspectives, and worlds within worlds. All in search of the essence of the essence: The Quintessentials!
The film is made icw Korzo.
