Cinedans FEST '23 will take place from 24 to 26 March 2023 at Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam as well as online.

This 19e edition of the festival is the short three-day Practice & Potential edition of the Cinedans festival and puts the focus on the development of the genre dance film.

For three days, Cinedans, the state of the art of the Dutch dance film, the International Student Film Competition, special themed programmes and special documentaries.

New Dutch Shorts

Eand wide selection of dance films of its own bodem. The programme includes. the premiere of Physical culture (direction Anna Bogomolova, choreography Connor Schumacher), The Paper Ensemble #16 (Directed by Jiska Rickels & Jochem van Tol, choreography Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti), R.I.O.T. (directing Hesdy Lonwijk), Manusama Nuance: Woven Stories (direction Ottilie Maters, choreography Gil The Grid), and Waves of Burlesque (direction Colina van Bemmel, cchoreography Bustie La Tish, Mechteld Geesing and Sofia La Notte).

International Student Dance Film Competition

For the 7^e times we present the Cinedans Student Award, sponsored by Canon Netherlands.

The International Student Competition aims to bring together the best emerging young generation of dance filmmakers. We received a record number of 87 films from 28 countries from dance, film and art academies around the world, from which 13 films were selected. Among them. State University of Campinas Brazil: Aren't we going to Moscow, The Netherlands Film Academy: The Divine Flower, Goldsmiths University: Follicular Images, l'Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon: Team Spirit, Central Saint Martins: Silk Paper and Bruises.

Special: New Circus

With a short programme, a documentary, and a discussion on the development of new circus. We will also show an installation with archive material from Circus Elbow and from the Eye archive in Eye's Arena. The following films can be seen, among others:

Even When I Fall (directed by Neal & Kate McLarnon), a intimate, moving film those the visual power of the circus deployment To provide a unique perspective on the complex world of human trafficking in India.
Highlights Shorts: Origami (directing Bergé Sébastien, choreography Satchie Noro), La Galerie (directing Loup-William Théberge) ECHO (directing Yoka van Zuijlen & Circus City Festival), and The Missing Part (directing Salvador Sunyer & Baró D'Evel Cirk cie, choreography Marvin Wayne).

Special in association with TENT, the house for contemporary circus.

In addition, the following topical themes run like a thread through the programming: Heritage & Inheritance, Female empowerment and Fluid Relations.

Heritage & Inheritance. With films and lectures, we pay attention to the importance of heritage and archives for today's generation of creators and researchers. Cinedans presents young and experienced makers delving into their personal histories, ancestors and myths, and artists they admire.

In films like Manusama Nuance: Woven Stories, (New Dutch) and Mud Water (Shorts XL) put creators use their family histories and well-known legends to shape their ambitions. Also, the film experiences Romance (direction & choreography Samantha Shay, dance Tanztheater Wuppertal) its world premiere. Shay follows in the footsteps of Pina Bausch and creates a fruitful intergenerational dialogue between past, present and future.

Shay won last year's Cinedans Audience Award with her film Mother Melancholia.

There is also a focus on dance heritage in the Netherlands, including the film Stages of a Theatre (by Jiri Kylian with Rem Koolhaas), about the disappearance of NDT's iconic Lucent Dance Theatre, and for Cinedans' own dance film archive project.

Female empowerment we see in various programme sections of the festival. In the International Student Competition with the films The Divine Flower: women breaking free from patterns of guilt and shame around body image and sexuality, and in Follicular Images, where stereotypical prehistoric images of women dragged by their hair by cavemen, recovered. And in the New Dutch: Woman's Work, an allegory about an (un)avoidable fall, a catwalk and a narrow steel beam, and Waves of Burlesque, where burlesque performers relate their alter ego to their daily lives. In the documentary Even When I Fall, in the special New Circus, this theme is also the driving force.

Fluid Relationships. Fluidity is a prominent theme in this festival edition. Boundaries intertwine and blur, between sexes and between generations, between man and nature, between man and matter. In the feature Super Natural (directed by Jorge Jácome) fuses performers with and without disabilities with the flora and fauna of the island of Madeira, creating a transcendent viewing experience. In Shorts XL, the film Songs from the compost: mutating bodies, imploding stars (directed by Eglė Budvytytė) an exploration of non-human forms of consciousness.

Heavy Weight Holding Body (choreography & direction Karol Tyminski) summarises an inter-material sexual encounter. The aforementioned film Romance By Samatha Shay, On Tanztheater Wuppertal's first transgender dancer, Naomi Brito, fits into the heritage theme as well as this one.

Short XL
Some films get longer, abstraction stands alongside narrative, and dance the driving factor in the narrative. We show films made by makers from different disciplines. Among others. Pantelleria (directing Masbedo: Nicolò Massazza & Iacopo Bedogni), Anima Animae Animam (directing Julieta Gasroc & José (Putxa) Puchades Martínez), Medusa's Gaze (direction & chorechorafie Ellénore Lemattre & Benedicte Alloing).

Cinedans also presents Flemish choreographer, performer, researcher and filmmaker Karel Tuytschaever. In collaboration with Dansbrabant, Cinedans is organising a workshop, lecture and screening of Karel Tuytschaever's latest feature film EASY TIGER. A physical narrative about a psychologist struggling with his inner world and inability to understand and embrace his own human nature. 

Online We present the Student Competition, the New Dutch selection, some feature films, we stream the talks and bring additional films that provide depth or context to the venue programme. The online programme will run for five more days than the festival at Eye: 24 to 31 March On the Cinedans WEB.

The programme is complemented by an extensive peripheral programme with lectures, workshops including from Canon, Student Pitch, Q&As and free screenings.

Cinedans is the central venue in Amsterdam, and the only organisation in the Netherlands, that has focused entirely on dance film since 2003, bringing together presentation, development and international distribution of the genre. The organisation rests on four pillars: Cinedans FEST, Cinedans LAB, Cinedans TOUR and Cinedans WEB. Every year, Cinedans FEST presents an exclusive dance film programme at Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam. Here, we show dance film in all its manifestations, providing insight into the latest cinematographic developments in the genre. Education and talent development activities take place from Cinedans LAB, with the core values of learning, skills and excellence. Cinedans TOUR distributes the dance film in cooperation with numerous national and international partners. The youngest branch of Cinedans is Cinedans WEB: the online platform for knowledge sharing, special programming and access to the archive.

FEST '23 from 24 to 26 March at Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, and from 24 to 31 March online on Cinedans WEB.