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2015 Film Selections

Below is the list of official film selections for the 2015 San Francisco Dance Film Festival, listed in alphabetical order. For film times, screening dates, and to buy tickets, click on film still. To learn more about each film, click on More Info.

For complete festival schedule, VIEW SCHEDULE.


SFDFF, 1915 Meran Vor Aprink (USA, 2015, Director, Abraham Heisler1915 Meran Vor Aprink

(USA, 2015) 11:02
Director: Abraham Heisler
Choreographer: Davit Karapetyan
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A memorial tribute to the Armenian spirit channeling universal feelings of loss, remembrance, and a desire to bring peace to the world.

San Francisco Dance Film, The Acid — Fame, Director: Dugan O'Neal & RY X, Choreographer: WIFE WrennThe Acid — Fame

(USA, 2014) 3:48
Director: Dugan O’Neal & RY X
Choreographer: WIFE Wrenn
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Poetically choreographed music video for the sensuous, downtempo “Fame,” by The Acid.

SFDFF, Aeterna XXI, Director, Walter Yamazaki, Diablo BalletAeterna XXI

(USA, 2015) 3:46
Director: Walter Yamazaki
Choreographer: Lauren Jonas
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Our time in this physical world is brief, and so is the stage time of dance. This short film is an attempt to grasp the presence of eternity through its temporary physical representations.

SFDFF, Afterthought, Directed by RJ MunaAfterthought

(USA, 2014) 5:57
Director: RJ Muna
Choreographer: Jodi Lomask
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Afterthought is an excerpt from the performance Synaptic Motion by Capacitor, which explores the neuroscience of creativity. In Afterthought you see a dance that was choreographed while lying in an MRI machine.

SFDFF, Amandi, Director, Francesc Sitges-Sardà & Elisabet PrandiAmandi

(Spain, 2014) 6:35
Director: Francesc Sitges-Sardà & Elisabet Prandi
Choreographer: Ferran Carvajal & Marta Filella
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A blend of nature, woods and weird landscapes with two characters who travel through that space in constant transformation trying to fit in.

SFDFF, Amoureuse, Director, Matthew TaylorAmoureuse

(USA, 2015) 2:17
Director: Matthew Taylor
Choreographer: Brian Gibbs
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Dancers entangle themselves in an unedited slow-motion duet in real time.

SFDFF, Angsters, Director, Benjamin Epps, Choreographer, Amy CainAngsters

(USA, 2014) 7:13
Director: Benjamin Epps
Choreographer: Amy Cain
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Dancers explore the anxieties of artistic life through movement amongst large-scale exterior sculpture and paintings.

SFDFF, Arrellah, Director Kate Duhamel, Choreographer, Damian SmithArrellah

(USA, 2014) 3:12
Director: Damian Smith, Kate Duhamel
Choreographer: Damian Smith
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In Arrellah, the Aboriginal word for “dancing ground,” Smith incorporates elements of his Aboriginal roots in sensual, transcendent and haunting work captured on film and on four large canvases for the 45th anniversary of the San Jose Museum of Art.

SFDFF, As Is, Director: Kate Duhamel, Choreographer: Erik WagnerAs Is

(USA, 2015) 3:57
Director: Kate Duhamel
Choreographer: Erik Wagner
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As Damian Smith ends his long and celebrated stage career, As Is brings us up close to the raw beauty and artistry of this master dancer.

SFDFF, Ballet Meets Robotics: The Making of Francesca Da Rimini, Director: Tarik Abdel-GawadBallet Meets Robotics: The Making of Francesca Da Rimini

(USA, 2015) 5:13
Director: Ashley Rodholm
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An in-depth look at the process and making of Francesca Da Rimini,” where a robotically controlled camera is used to capture a performance starring San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancers Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada.

San Francisco Dance Film, The Birch Grove, Director: Gabrielle LansnerThe Birch Grove

(USA, 2015) 20:12
Director: Gabrielle Lansner
Choreographer: Lansner Company
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Caught between love and death, two brothers wrestle with their past in a dance towards reconciliation.

SFDFF, Director: Nikita DmitrievskyBridge

(Russia, 2015) 5:12
Director: Nikita Dmitrievsky
Choreographer: Nikita Dmitrievsky
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On a constantly flowing walkway, a couple searches for a lasting connection as they are moved by the richly layered music of Philip Glass.

SFDFFContinuum *

(France, 2014) 9:15
Director: Natalianne Boucher
Choreographer: Stéphane Fratti
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A choreographic film mixing dance and animation. Our perception of time and its connection with space is explored in movement through the symbolic depiction of sand’s matter.

San Francisco Dance Film, Crushing Weight Director: Vinícius Cardoso, Choreographer: Irupé SarmientoCrushing Weight

(Brazil, 2015) 3:38
Director: Vinícius Cardoso
Choreographer: Irupé Sarmiento
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A soul lives in an abandoned hospital where it journeys secretly. The body as the unconscious, the dissolution of the self in the breakdown of inside/outside, pain as beauty are explored.

San Francisco Dance Film Fest, Det Skal Danses Væk (Danced Off the Ground), Director: Maia Elisabeth Sørensen, Choreographer: Sigurd Johan HeideDanced Off the Ground (Det Skal Danses Væk)

(Denmark, 2014) 4:32
Director: Maia Elisabeth Sørensen
Choreographer: Sigurd Johan Heide
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A boy walks through his school seeing visions of his classmates dancing in hallways, staircases, and restrooms.

San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Descent, Director: Antoine Marc & DrewCox Choreographer: Antoine MarcDescent

(UK, 2015) 4:56
Director: Antoine Marc & DrewCox
Choreographer: Antoine Marc
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A man crawls to his death. Spilling out the essence of life, he envisions vivid memories to accompany his decline.

San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Eclipse, Director: Linda Arkelian & David Cooper, Choreographer: Linda ArkelianEclipse

(Canada, 2013) 4:00
Director: Linda Arkelian & David Cooper
Choreographer: Linda Arkelian
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A short dance film experimenting with light and movement using the theme of light eclipsing a dancer’s body.

San Francisco Dance Film, Edifice, Director: Irmak Karasu, Choreographer: Hazal KiziltoprakEdifice

(Turkey, 2014) 12:30
Director: Irmak Karasu
Choreographer: Hazal Kiziltoprak
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The story of a woman’s revolt against the moral values which are imposed by society. The characters question the social trauma inflicted upon their bodily memories.

San Francisco Dance Film, Escualo, Director/Choreographer: Martin & Facundo LombardEscualo

(USA, 2014) 3:57
Director: Martin & Facundo Lombard
Choreographer: Martin & Facundo Lombard
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A powerfully rhythmic new piece from the acclaimed Lombard twins, set to music by Astor Piazzolla.

San Francisco Dance Film, Feelings Are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer, Director: Jack Walsh, Choreographer: Yvonne RainerFeelings Are Facts:
The Life of Yvonne Rainer

(USA, 2015) 82:00
Director: Jack Walsh
Choreographer: Yvonne Rainer
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Yvonne Rainer has been overthrowing genres and radically altering the way we experience dance, film, and performance art for 50 years. This film examines the contradictions and creativity of this remarkable provocateur.

San Francisco Dance Film, Francesca Da Rimini, Director: Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Choreographer: Yuri PossokhovFrancesca Da Rimini

(USA, 2014) 2:59
Director: Tarik Abdel-Gawad
Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov
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Featuring San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancers Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada, “Francesca Da Rimini” is an experiment using a robotically controlled camera to capture their passionate pas de deux.

San Francisco Dance Film, Genêt, Director: Valery Carnoy, Choreographer: David Noblet Genêt

(Belgium, 2014-2015) 6:51
Director: Valery Carnoy
Choreographer: David Noblet
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A male and female dancer move independently in multiple universes with several similarities. They are united through similar impulses, beyond space and time.

San Francisco Dance Film, Inheritor Recordings, Director: Brian Johnson & Lisa Gelley, Choreographer: Josh MartinInheritor Recordings

(Canada, 2014) 6:20
Director: Brian Johnson & Lisa Gelley
Choreographer: Josh Martin
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Inheritor Recordings is a reimagined adaptation of an excerpt from 605’s original stage work, and warps time and place to augment and expand 605’s raw physicality. A quiet uprising of a new generation.

San Francisco Dance Film, Instar, Director: Mathieu Gremillet, Choreographer: Juanjo ArquesInstar

(Netherlands, 2015) 6:48
Director: Mathieu Gremillet
Choreographer: Juanjo Arques
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A film inspired by insects, their environment, behavior, movement and life cycles.

San Francisco Dance Film, Keeping Time, Director: Steve Woods, Choreographer: Fernando Anuang'aKeeping Time

(Ireland, 2014) 10:42
Director: Steve Woods
Choreographer: Fernando Anuang’a
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A modern power-station worker leaves his place of work and finds an ancient warrior waiting for him. Keeping Time is a statement that the past is part of the present. Our modernity is really a veneer.

San Francisco Dance Film, Lay Me Low, Director: Marlene Millar, Choreographer: Sandy SilvaLay Me Low

(Canada, 2015) 7:50
Director: Marlene Millar
Choreographer: Sandy Silva
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Performed by ten dancers, musicians and singers Lay Me Low cuts right to the heart to communicate a universal feeling of loss while evoking a paradoxical sense of intimacy.

San Francisco Dance Film, Lei, Director: Gabriele Rizzi, Choreographer: Cris UrsuLei

(Italy, 2014) 2:43
Director: Gabriele Rizzi
Choreographer: Cris Ursu
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An endless flight of body and soul in which anything could happen… even what looks impossible is made possible through Lei.

San Francisco Dance Film, Let's Get The Rhythm: The Life and Times of Mary Mack, Director: Irene Chagall & Steve ZeitlinLet’s Get The Rhythm: The Life and Times of Mary Mack

(USA, 2014) 53:00
Director: Irene Chagall & Steve Zeitlin
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Chronicles the history of hand-clapping games on playgrounds around the world. Through wars and migrations, across language barriers and oceans, young girls connect with each other through thousands of variants—ancient as they are global.

San Francisco Dance Film, Let's Say, Director: Fuk Pak Jim, Choreographer: Li DeLet’s Say

(Hong Kong, 2014) 8:00
Director: Fuk Pak Jim
Choreographer: Li De
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Modern communication issues between people, three scenes, three dances, one message: Stop Phubbing (the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention).

San Francisco Dance Film, Director: Wilkie BransonLittle Dreams

(Belgium, 2015) 6:04
Director: Wilkie Branson
Choreographer: Wilkie Branson
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A dance animation about dreams, fears, and aspirations.

San Francisco Dance Film, Lost in Motion II, Ben Shirinian, Choreographer: Guillaume CôtéLost in Motion II

(Canada, 2013) 4:34
Director: Ben Shirinian
Choreographer: Guillaume Côté
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Featuring National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancer Heather Ogden, the film combines original choreography, stylized art direction and seamless VFX to visually interpret the experience of an artist baring her soul on stage.

San Francisco Dance Film, Memory House, Director: Loughlan Prior & Ryan Fielding, Choreographer: Loughlan PriorMemory House

(New Zealand, 2013) 17:02
Director: Loughlan Prior & Ryan Fielding
Choreographer: Loughlan Prior
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Set against a decaying old house, Royal New Zealand Ballet’s leading dancers create dramatic solos and duets that evoke memories of the past.

San Francisco Dance Film, Mia: A Dancer's Journey, Director: Maria Ramas & Kate JohnsonMia: A Dancer’s Journey

(USA, 2014) 57:13
Director: Maria Ramas & Kate Johnson
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This is the story of Mia Slavenska, one of the most celebrated ballerinas of her time. It is also a story about historical memory, national identity, and the power of art.

San Francisco Dance Film, Ma Mère Adorait La Danse (My mother loved dance), Director: Thierry Teston, Choreographer: Brigitte LefèvreMy Mother Loved Dance (Ma Mère Adorait La Danse)

(France, 2014) 65:00
Director: Thierry Teston
Choreographer: Brigitte Lefèvre
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Follow retiring Paris Opera Ballet director Brigitte Lefèvre through the scenes of a lifetime in this intimate peek behind the scenes of one of the world’s finest and oldest companies.

San Francisco Dance Film, Néants, Director: Nellie Carrier, Choreographer: Nellie CarrierNéants

(Canada, 2014) 9:02
Director: Nellie Carrier
Choreographer: Nellie Carrier

Four characters see their destiny falling apart. As they pause in the current moment they experience sensations of mourning, absence, and loss.

San Francisco Dance Film, One Fine Day, Director: Sima Gonsai Choreographer: Lee FisherOne Fine Day

(UK, 2014) 7:00
Director: Sima Gonsai
Choreographer: Lee Fisher
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Travel through an imagined world through the eyes of Freefall Dance Company.

San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Open, Open, Director: Lindsay Gauthier, Choreographer: Dana GenshaftOpen

(USA,2015) 1:55
Director: Lindsay Gauthier
Choreographer: Dana Genshaft
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An intricate duet bathed in light.

San Francisco Dance Film, Parables of War, Director: Nina Gilden Seavey, Choreographer: Liz LermanParables of War

(USA, 2014) 31:59
Director: Nina Gilden Seavey
Choreographer: Liz Lerman
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Dance, documentary, and drama—all coalesce in Parables of War in search of a multi-textured answer to the timeless question of the human condition: how can civilization bind the wounds of war?

San Francisco Dance Film, Pas, Director: Frédérique Cournoyer-Lessard, Choreographer: Stéphanie ThellenPas

(Canada, 2015) 14:40
Director: Frédérique Cournoyer-Lessard
Choreographer: Stéphanie Thellen
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Through her life, Rose has followed her passion for dance by using it as a singular method of communication essential to connecting with her surroundings.

SFDFF, Portrait of Marc Brew, Director: Lewis Landini, Jamiel LaurenceA Portrait of Marc Brew

(UK, 2015) 5:31
Director: Lewis Landini, Jamiel Laurence
Choreographer: Jamiel Laurence
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An intimate and highly personal dance film depicting the acclaimed dancer and choreographer in the studio.

San Francisco Dance Film, Private Life, Director: Deborah Slater, Choreographer: Deborah SlaterPrivate Life

(USA, 2015) 4:37
Director: Deborah Slater
Choreographer: Deborah Slater
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Private Life is a meditation on loss from many points of view. A soldier, his comrades and his companion are mixed in emotionally charged flashbacks.

San Francisco Dance Film, Queen of Distance, Director: Zoie HarmonQueen of Distance *

(USA, 2013) 3:12
Director: Zoie Harmon
Choreographer: Zoie Harmon
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One dancer breaks herself like she breaks in her shoes.

San Francisco Dance Film, Rare Birds, Director: T.M. Rives, Choreographer: Alexander EkmanRare Birds

(USA/Norway, 2014) 59:01
Director: T.M. Rives
Choreographer: Alexander Ekman
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A making-of documentary following every aspect of production of Alexander Ekman’s technically challenging A Swan Lake (nominated for 2014 Prix Benois de la Danse) at the Norwegian National Ballet.

San Francisco Dance Film, Renewal, Director: Stacey Menchel Kussell, Choreographer: Noa WertheimRenewal

(USA/Israel, 2014) 39:54
Director: Stacey Menchel Kussell
Choreographer: Noa Wertheim
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The whole world is searching for ways to live greener. Renewal profiles one group of dancers in Jerusalem finding a solution.

San Francisco Dance Film, Rhizophora, Director: Julia Metzger-Traber & Davide De Lillis, Choreographer: Davide De Lillis & Julia Metzger-TraberRhizophora

(Germany/USA, 2015) 16:23
Director: Julia Metzger-Traber & Davide De Lillis
Choreographer: Davide De Lillis & Julia Metzger-Traber
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Dancing between waking and dreaming, eleven Vietnamese youth, with disabilities caused by Agent Orange, take us on a whimsical and intimate journey through their day. It is a reminder of the toxic effects of war and an ode to life.

San Francisco Dance Film, Une courte histoire de la folie (A short History of Madness, Director: Isabelle Hayeur, Choreographer: Virginie BrunelleA Short History of Madness (Une courte histoire de la folie)

(Canada, 2014) 27:00
Director: Isabelle Hayeur
Choreographer: Virginie Brunelle
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Bringing together contemporary dance and architecture in a series of six pieces, A Short History of Madness evokes the history of treatment of mental illness.

San Francisco Dance Film, Silent Disco, Director: John Haptas & Kristine Samuelson, Choreographer: Kristine Samuelson & Amy SeiwertSilent Disco

(USA, 2015) 4:00
Director: John Haptas, Kristine Samuelson, Amy Seiwert
Choreographer: Amy Seiwert

In a silent disco, dancers move to the different music in their heads.

San Francisco Dance Film, Slääp, Director: Lucas Carlsson & Jonathan Morell, Choreographer: Lucas CarlssonSlääp

(Sweden, 2014) 4:28
Director: Lucas Carlsson & Jonathan Morell
Choreographer: Lucas Carlsson
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A dance video inspired by the original Pharcyde music video Drop, where each dancer’s movement was painstakingly choreographed in reverse, creating unusual visual effects, and set to a parody of the original rap in Swedish.

San Francisco Dance Film, Snap Into It, Director: Devin Jamieson & Jillian Meyers, Choreographer: Jillian MeyersSnap Into It

(USA, 2014) 3:57
Director: Devin Jamieson & Jillian Meyers
Choreographer: Jillian Meyers
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A gleeful digression from anticipated outcome, in favor of savoring the pursuit of whim // Following a renegade train of thought with dimension, texture, and amplitude // A staccato attempt to trace the digressions from an iconic Langston Hughes poem.

San Francisco Dance Film, Symmetry, Director: Ruben van Leer, Choreographer: Lukas TimulakSymmetry

(The Netherlands, 2015) 53:24
Director: Ruben van Leer
Choreographer: Lukas Timulak
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While Cern researcher Lukas is working on the theory of everything and the smallest particle, he is thrown off balance. Through Claron’s singing he rediscovers love, in an endless landscape, when time didn’t exist; a love with no end…

San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Tap, Tap, Tap, Director: Theo Taplitz, Choreographer: Theo Taplitz & Denise SheererTap, Tap, Tap *

(USA, 2014/2015) 4:30
Director: Theo Taplitz
Choreographer: Theo Taplitz & Denise Sheerer
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A boy suffering from hearing loss finds a pair of magic tap shoes hanging from a telephone wire.

SFDFF, A Tap Dance on the Pier, Director, Geoffrey GoldbergA Tap Dance on the Pier

(USA, 2014) 2:23
Director: Geoffrey Goldberg
Choreographer: Geoffrey Goldberg
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When a young man takes a break on a bench on the pier, an unexpected visitor turns his break into a full-out musical number.

San Francisco Dance Film, Territoire, Director: Josiane Bernier & Ariane Voineau, Choreographer: Ariane VoineauTerritoire

(Canada, 2014) 12:22
Director: Josiane Bernier & Ariane Voineau
Choreographer: Ariane Voineau & Josiane Bernier

A poetic essay on feminine identity and perception; it is the other’s reflection upon us, the act of dissolving one’s self to the surrounding world.

San Francisco Dance Film, Type Dynamics, Director: Ruben van Leer, Choreographer: Lukas TimulakType/Dynamics

(The Netherlands, 2014) 4:49
Director: Ruben van Leer
Choreographer: Lukas Timulak

A duet set against a real-time data installation shows the emotional urgency contained within our bodies.

San Francisco Dance Film, Uath Lochans, Director: Simon Fildes & Katrina McPherson, Choreographer: Marc BrewUath Lochans

(UK, 2015) 6:30
Director: Simon Fildes & Katrina McPherson
Choreographer: Marc Brew
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A physical response to place by choreographer Marc Brew.

San Francisco Dance Film, What Is Life, Director: Brandon Moore, Choreographer: Dana GenshaftWhat is Life

(USA, 2014) 4:25
Director: Brandon Moore
Choreographer: Dana Genshaft
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Winner of the Genero TV competition, choreographer/former San Francisco Ballet Soloist Dana Genshaft’s film was selected as the Official Music video for George Harrison’s ‘What is Life.’

* Student Film

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