Films from over 10 countries racing in the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival #9

Between September 7 and 10, viewers will have the opportunity to watch a wide selection of short films in which dance, bodies and movement play a leading role, as part of the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (BIDFF) International Short Film Competition. 25 films from countries such as Great Britain, Belgium, France, but also Romania will compete for the prizes of the festival, now in its 9th edition. The jury that will award the prizes consists of Flor Firvida Martin (choreographer, Argentina), Heike Selzer (director, Germany) and Ana Macara (co-artistic director of the International Dance Festival – Quinzena de Dança de Almada, Portugal)

Tickets are available online at https://www.bidff.ro/ .

The short films are divided into four sections – Hidden Senses / Inner Voices / Critical Gestures / Blurred Moves – and can be watched at Grădina cu Filme – Cinema & More and at Cinema Elvire Popesco. The films celebrate the power of rhythm through dance and hidden senses, reveal daring collectives that struggle to break free from the norms of unjust societies, question contexts and rules that revolve around topics such as capitalism, the oppression of human rights or the destruction of the ego, and propose powerful manifestations which reflect hidden hopes and anxieties. The selection includes titles such as And Me, I’m Dancing Too (dir: Mohammad Valizadegan, CZ), Warsha (dir: Dania Bdeir, FR/LB), Boléro (dir: Nans Laborde-Jourdàa, FR) or I Remember It Rained (dir: Connor Simpson, US).

Apart from the competition, BIDFF #9 will also screen short dance animations, presented in partnership with the Animest International Animation Film Festival, on September 10, from 4:30 p.m., at the Elvire Popesco Cinema.

Tickets are also on sale for the BIDFF VR section – which brings five immersive experiences to the /SAC gallery @ Malmaison, supported as every year by Conceptual Lab by Theo Nissim. They propose navigation through a dynamic, interactive space where connections and intersections shape the human narrative through technology. The program includes award-winning VR films at Cannes, Sundance or Venice, some of which are also suitable for children.

Winner of the New Voices Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2023, Omen (Belgium / Congo), the debut feature of rapper and director Baloji, will be screened at the opening of BIDFF #9 on September 7 at Cinema Elvire Popesco. A dizzying and extremely powerful story about four young men accused of being sorcerers in modern Africa, the film premieres at the festival. Spectators are also waiting for other feature films: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (dir. Anna Hints, Estonia, 2022), Kite Zo A (Leave the Bones) (dir. Kaveh Nabatian, Canada/Haiti, 2022) and Theater Camp (dir. Molly Gordon , Nick Lieberman, USA, 2023).

Also included in the program are films depicting innovative contemporary dance performances: Silver Veiled (by Ginevra Panzetti & Enrico Ticconi) and Political Mother: The Final Cut (by Hofesh Shechter).

The guests of the festival are the artists Sarah Vanhee, Flor Firvida Martin, Heike Salzer and Ioana Vreme Moser who will hold masterclasses and performances in Bucharest, but the Portuguese Luis Malaquias & Bruno Duarte who bring the show Amebas Traidoras and will also hold a film workshop of dance.