Martine Dekker (Cinedans): 'The new generation does not respect the demarcation between the arts at all. That's very fun and interesting for a festival like Cinedans.'

Cinedans has been around since 2003. Back then, it was a single evening, part of Amsterdam's Julidans festival. Pretty soon, it grew into something bigger. According to Martine Dekker, involved with the festival since the 2011 edition, this was due to the overwhelming supply of dance films: 'From the second edition, filmmakers were invited to submit films, and then a competition started right away. As a result, since that first edition, we have built up an amazing archive of dance films, documentaries and shorts. That alone is extremely valuable.'

We ended up continuing separately from Julidans because it was very difficult to compete against the live performances. It clashed in a way. In 2010, Cinedans was really organised completely separately. In de Balie it was.'

Technical requirements

In 2013, the festival moved from De Balie to Eye. 'De Balie is more of a debate centre than a film festival venue anyway. Because we were working with different film formats, it was also technically inadequate. We work with a hugely diverse range, and that means there are much more technical requirements for screening one film, than for another.'

In Eye, the festival came into its own better. 'We did suddenly face very different challenges here. The technical standard here is very high. We strive for that ourselves, but here they also have the manpower and resources to set that high standard. We have also been working with a technical producer since then. Now technically 99 per cent of screenings run perfectly.'

According to Dekker, filmmakers are also happy with this location: 'They like coming to this festival because they have the best possible projection conditions here.'

Since Martine Dekker took charge of the festival, a new format has been chosen, with one year focusing mainly on Dutch makers and education, while every other year the festival goes big. One such grand edition will take place in 2018.

Virtual Reality

Besides presenting films, the programme includes lectures, presentations and 'labs', which focus on research into dance and film. These labs, in turn, stem from the cooperation Cinedans has established with all kinds of courses and institutions in the field of film and dance.

In 2018, the Lab was dedicated to Virtual Reality. it yielded some fascinating things, such as an application that actually forces you to move like a dancer, at the direction of the computer, which tells you to dodge, protect or embrace objects flying towards you in VR. That lab was visited mostly by choreographers and dancers, and the occasional fascinated spectator.

Is Cinedans a creator festival or an audience festival?

'We present the makers to the audience. Without makers no audience, and vice versa. Of course, makers also come here to look at each other's work. As in any sector, makers keep a close eye on each other. We try to facilitate that exchange, but we also want to show dance film in all its breadth to the public.'

General public

'That has also been the good thing about that move here to Eye, because there is a lot of 'general' audience, who just come to Eye because they are broadly interested in film. They are also people who dare to take a risk, and we notice that.'

How do you notice?

'The first time we were here, whole groups came in, asking what there was to do. This allowed us to highlight our whole programme. We also often have free programming so people can get an idea of what to expect from dance film.'

Are there enough dance films being made to make a dance film festival every year?

'We made a selection of 52 dance films this edition from 724 entries from all over the world. Because the international Cinedans dance film prizes, the highest in the sector, are awarded every other year, the entry call is open longer and we receive more films and can make a sharp choice. There is a whole development going on, not only in film, but in all the arts: hybrid forms are emerging. The generation coming out of the academies now does not adhere to the demarcation between the arts at all. That is very nice and interesting for a festival like Cinedans. Especially interesting is the dance film if there is a real synergy between dance and film.'

Community

'Dance performance can be very beautiful live and have very nice tension building, but it cannot always be translated to film one-to-one. There has to be a well-thought-out cinematic plan behind it to capture that well on film.'

'The viewer in the cinema has a very different expectation than someone experiencing a live performance in the theatre. Creators are much more aware of this. But otherwise, of course, the phenomenon of 'dance film' is enormously broad and elastic.'

Is it always full here?

'It is not always full. You have programmes that run very well, and programmes that run less well. You can't tell. We once did a community project here in Amsterdam Noord, with line dancers. I like the community, and that everyone can dance and everyone can film. I want to do more with that. But at that project, the whole room was full of Linedancers from Amsterdam Noord, the Blue Move Dancers. At their own film and films about line dance. So we also have films about Flamenco or Urban Dance. Last year, we had a room full of Tango dancers. On that evening, I learned a lot about what is going on in the Dutch tango world. I didn't know, for instance, that there are very big differences between Utrecht and Amsterdam. But so there are.'