Raising Voices

A celebration of underrepresented voices using dance to speak truth and reclaim space.

Engaging and deeply emotive storytelling centers the fem perspective for the 7th Annual Raising Voices program. These nine films blend movement with poetry, testimony, and activism to spotlight a spectrum of lived experiences from trans joy and queer identity to carceral systems and cultural reclamation. Curated by laura elaine ellis and followed by a filmmaker panel, this screening is more than a program – it’s a gathering place for reflection on universal themes of resilience, courage, and self-discovery. Come experience stories that move the body and speak from the heart.

This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the artists, hosted by laura elaine ellis.

Click here for event photos!

This program contains mature content. Parental discretion is advised.
This program will be captioned.

Venue Accessibility: Brava Theater is located at 2781 24th Street. Curb cuts for the sidewalk to the Brava Theater Center are located on the corner of York and 24th Street. The entrance of the theater is on the ground floor and there is an elevator to seating in the upper level of the theater.

Program Info

Sunday, November 9 at 5:00PM

Venue: Brava Theater

Runtime: 70 minutes

GA $20 / Arts Patron $40

This program contains mature content. Parental discretion is advised.

This program will be captioned.

Program Films

A dancer with long, curly hair performs a dramatic tilt on stage, both arms extended and one leg raised high behind her, highlighted against a dark background.
A dancer reclaims her body and story in this intimate portrait of trans identity and motion.
Jonathan Watkins
Naia Bautista, Jonathan Watkins
(United Kingdom, 2024) 3:53 minutes

This is How I Move: Naia

Black and white close-up of a person’s face looking through metal bars, with one hand gripping a bar. Her eyebrows are furrowed, face focused. A glimmer of light is reflected in her eye.
A woman on the edge of release from prison reckons with her past through movement, memory, and resistance.
Antwan Williams
Sky Palacios, Antwan Williams, Amie Dowling
(United States, 2024) 14:50 minutes

Processing

A dancer with long braided hair and outstretched arms leans forward on a dark stage, reflected on the shiny floor, with a dramatic spotlight highlighting her against a black background.
A choreographic collage gives form to the many lives women lead, and the power they carry through them all.
Deborah LaVine; Dance Filmmaker: Adam Witmer
Endalyn Taylor-Outlaw
(United States, 2025) 4:02 minutes

I Am a Woman

A blurred picture of a person in moody red lighting. They face away from the camera, curling forward with a bare back to show their spine which has vertebrae bones running down it.
A Pasifika femme dancer becomes a vessel of ancestral memory, moving between land and inner landscape in this poetic meditation on identity, intimacy, and Indigenous resistance.
Brigitte Leilani Axelrode
Brigitte Leilani Axelrode
(United States, 2024) 4:15 minutes

Memory as Missionary Position

In a dim hospital room, a woman in an orange shirt tenderly holds the face of a young girl in a yellow shirt seated in a wheelchair.
Confined to a hospital bed, Sophie meets a mischievous visitor who reveals the truth her body has always known.
Daphne Lucker
Jori Meijer, Alessio Reedijk
(Netherlands, 2024) 14:09 minutes

Her Body

Two women face each other in dramatic lighting, one gently pressing her forearm across the other's collarbone.
An Iranian woman dances in solitude, honoring a collective dream of freedom.
Daniella Raphaël
Ella Melideo
(United States, 2025) 6:33 minutes

Baraye

A woman with long brown hair wearing a black sleeveless top and black pants stands against a dark, textured background, looking slightly upward with a serious expression.
A personal journey through loss and reclamation, told through movement and unflinching emotion.
Seth Thompson, Hannah Sullivan
Hannah Sullivan with Amy Wilson (movement coach)
(United States, 2024) 6:14 minutes

Breasts Not Included

Choreographer Camille A. Brown stands outside on a sidewalk looking upwards. She wears light-colored sunglasses, large hoop earrings, a black turtleneck top, and a bright orange blazer.
A portrait of Camille A. Brown’s boundless artistry, where everyday movement and African Diasporic dance redefine the stage.
Shellée M. Haynesworth, Michelle Parkerson
Camille A. Brown
(United States, 2024) 15:26 minutes

Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps