At a festive ceremony, the following international awards for best dance film 2024 were presented at the closing night of Cinedans FEST '24 (Sunday evening 24 March) at Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam:
Cinedans JURY AWARDS
Best Short Dance Film up to 25' €5,000
Until
Director & Choreographer |Tanin Torabi |Iran| 2023|13′
From the jury report:
Until portrays dance as a form of resistance and pushes the boundaries of dance film as a genre by using everyday technology such as mobile phones. The collective way of filming, where the mobile phone is passed from hand to hand, blurs the traditional roles of performer and cameraman and emphasises the power of solidarity and cooperation. The jury believes that the impact of this film will continue beyond the festival and inspire audiences.
Until was made in 2023 in Tehran, where dancing is banned and where wearing a headscarf is compulsory for women.
Incentive prize € 2,000
Two To Tango
Director |Dimitri Sterkens |Choreographer Anibal Lautaro|Belgium |2021 | 18′
From the jury report:
A film that creates a powerful synergy between dance and pure cinema, and is as suspenseful as a Hitchcock film. A film that speaks directly to the warring times we live in, while capturing the beauty and passion of tango.
Screener for the press: https://vimeo.com/926843629/33b6749cf7?share=copy
The jury '24 consisted of:
- Claudia Rosiny (CH) academic in dance and media studies.
- Zeynep Gündüz (NL/TU) is a lecturer and researcher in dance, media and performance.
- Kaveh Nabatian (IR/CA) director and musician.
PUBLIC AWARDS 2024
Audience award for best short dance film:
Lucid Dreaming
Direction & choreography Emma Evelein I Netherlands, Belgium I 13'
At Lucid Dreaming during a train journey, a young woman becomes intrigued by the unknown traveller. During this non-verbal encounter, she experiences how imagination and empathy can be both powerful and vulnerable.
The film also won a Golden Calf for best short film at the Netherlands Film Festival 2023.
Audience award best documentary:
Q5: THE QUINTESSENTIALS
Director & choreographer |Sarada Sarita |Netherlands I 2024 | 70'
A 5-part Waacking film series inspired by the energy, feeling and expressiveness of Waacking, a dance form that emerged in Los Angeles underground clubs in the 1970s as an expression of oppression in the Latin and African-American LGBTQI+ community.
Trailer: https://cinedans.nl/movies/423
Cinedans Pitch Prize € 1.000
Film project: Booty Therapy from Sabrina Argoub & Lucca Fordham (FR)
Since 2022, Cinedans has been awarding an annual prize to promote the dance film genre and support makers in the development of their projects.
All winning films will be included in the international tour programme of Cinedans TOUR '24
Cinedans FEST '24 presented an interdisciplinary programme over five days in which the two movement arts par excellence: dance and film, unite to form their own genre: the dance film.
In the 20e anniversary edition 104 films from 44 countries were shown at Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam and at Cinedans WEB.