Event
Lights Dance Fest 2024 Opening Night [In-Person Only]
Fri Nov 15: 7.00pm PST
$18 General
$15 Student/Child/Senior
$10 NWFF Member
About
(~ 2 hours TRT)
Lights Dance is a Seattle-based dance film festival that celebrates the vibrance and endless possibilities of dance storytelling. With a vision of making dance more accessible to all, we strive to provide excellent programming of international and local screendance and live dance each year. As a not-for-profit that values and promotes independent art and interdisciplinary collaborations, Lights Dance is committed to building sustainable relationships and infrastructures through which we can support artists of all backgrounds.
The 8th annual Lights Dance will be hosted in Seattle, WA, and Toronto, ON, from November 15-22, 2024. This year, we are excited to present a new category for student film competition called, SPARK, which will showcase the rising, global talents in screendance. Please join us for this years in-person events:
Opening Night, 11/15: NWFF @ 7P
Saturday, 11/16: South Seattle The Beacon Cinema @ 7PM
Toronto, Canada Youthful Vengeance @ 7PM
Opening Night Program: TRUCE and REVERIE with Vanishing Seattle: The Beacon
Truce is a collection of dance films that expresses sentiments of restlessness through movement and restraint, fluidity and tension. The films wrestle with ever-growing isolation in the cacophony of modern society.
Reverie explores themes of escapism and the process of mental freedom while infusing surreal and dreamlike imagery to get a deeper look at the individual psyche.
Films in This Program:
Monday
(Andreas Guzman, Hong Kong, 5 min)
Nobody loves Mondays. The return to the grind haunts every office worker worldwide. Paperwork piles up, conference calls overload, and the suits and ties bind us to the monotony of the workday. But even within the overbearing nature of Monday, the everyday working person can find their escape from the corporate work culture and discover their inner peace.
Play/Repeat
(Carlos E. Lesmes, Estonia, 2023, 7 min)
There is a couple. Two bodies. Two beings. 1+1. Sometimes it feels like only one. This film piece wants to explore aspects of a relationship through movement, through the bodies of the performers. The unfathomable distance between two people. Broke but never broken.
liminal
(Elias Djemil, Canada, 4 min)
Between oscillation and cohabitation, the exploration of a body on the borders of shadow and light. LIMINAL. Intermediate space between two states, transitional, intentional, indeterminate and dichotomous.
Perfect Storm
(RJ Muna, United States, 2024, 3 min)
A dancer struggles with her confinement.
Burn from the Inside
(Mthuthuzeli November, United Kingdom, 2024, 10 min)
The profound question arises: why do certain things compel us to jump up and dance, while others make us want to sit back and do the opposite? The most significant realisation in this exploration is that from the very beginning, we were destined to be moved by sounds. Consider the musicality present in the way we speak. Every language has its own unique cadence and rhythm. For instance, the Khoi people of South Africa employ clicking sounds in their speech, creating a rhythmic quality. Even before externalising it, our own bodies possess inherent musicality. We can observe this in the heartbeat and even in the rhythm of our walking. These natural rhythms can transform into music, affirming that our inclination to move has been woven into the fabric of our existence since the dawn of creation. Reflecting on personal experiences, a childhood memory emerges from the Eastern Cape. Gathered inside a hut, family members would chant while a fire crackled in the sand. The ambiance created by this ritualistic chanting became a favourite lullaby, transporting the young narrator to a state of pure tranquility. In that space, devoid of pain, sadness, or happiness, they found a place of profound stillness. The intention was to preserve the sense of communal togetherness experienced around the fire, a shared moment of deep connection. In creating Burn from the Inside Mthuthuzeli sought to capture this communal feeling through the films unique approach. By immersing oneself in the collective experience, viewers have the opportunity to delve into individual journeys and explore the expansiveness of the depicted space. The film aims to evoke a trance-like state, reminiscent of the personal experiences of the creator. The focus shifts from visual imagery to capturing the essence of being in a trance. It becomes an exploration of what it feels like to exist in a space where time and space lose their boundaries, and the driving beat becomes the guiding force. In this boundless expanse, one may question the vastness or confinement of their surroundings and the proximity of others. Solos are portrayed with individuals appearing distant yet close, creating an otherworldly sensation of unity while simultaneously keeping a distance. The concept of being grounded on Earth while simultaneously transcending it becomes a central theme. It mirrors the imagined realm of an ancestral plane or a space between reality and the afterlife. If one were to encounter their ancestors, it is envisioned as a place that is unfamiliar, yet still connected to Earth. This in-between world, neither fully alive nor dead, allows communication with ones ancestors. Such a trance-like state embodies a similar feelinga sense of being aware of ones earthly existence while simultaneously occupying a realm that defies explanation. Despite feeling the ground beneath their feet, the soil and dust, and hearing their breathing, there exists a profound sense of existing in an entirely different dimension.
Vanishing Seattle: The Beacon
(Will Lemke, United States, 2024, 15 min)
In 2013, members of the Massive Monkees, Seattles acclaimed breaking crew, opened The Beacon Studio in Seattles Chinatown-International District. After many successful years of growth and development in the dance community, the studio closed in 2020 with uncertainty of whether it would ever reopen. This is the story of The Beacons comeback in a city of vanishing mainstays.
Stage
(Milad Pahlavani and Mehdi Pahlavani, Iran, 2024, 3 min)
In a world where dance for girls is forbidden, a group of courageous young dancers from Iran dare to dream of gracing the worlds grandest stages, though only within the sanctuary of their imaginations. As they face the harsh reality of societal restrictions, their passion for dance fuels their collective dream. In their dreams, they imagine themselves performing on these prestigious stages, but the harsh truth remainsthey can only dream. Through their artistry, they silently protest the ban, shedding light on the power of dreams to transcend boundaries, even when reality denies them the chance to make it a reality.
Awakening
(Sze Ting HUANG, Taiwan, 2023, 4 min)
The body serves as a vessel that stores self-awareness. This film initially develops through the sense of touch, picking up traces of various emotions left along the journey. It constantly moves, pauses, and intersects, driven by the power generated through shifting of balance, prompting a dialogue between the body and memory, re-experiencing the mutual influence of internal and external, thus reflecting on ones own state of floating unease. As the final note of music fades away, the consciousness of constraints is awakened. After experiencing all of this, is it ultimately gaining the drive to move forward? Or is it discovering oneself endlessly trapped in a cycle like Sisyphus?
Ruins Within Ruins
(Lefteris Parasyris, Greece, 2024, 9 min)
A group of dancers positions themselves between the ancient and modern ruins of the island of Crete, Greece. Drawing inspiration from its rich heritage, they craft a series of kinetic forms and patterns influenced by folk dances. These installations, whether harmonising with or contrasting against the islands culture, offer reflections on historical memory and the Cretan identity.
Ethereal
(Gustavo Ramirez, United States, 2024, 6 min)
Living in a world where distractions are at an all-time high, sometimes our only escape are those intimate moments where we can let our imagination fly freely. In moments of relaxation, we often reminisce about what could be or ask ourselves, who am I? Suddenly, we find ourselves living that dream experiencing that ethereal moment where our mind and soul are in complete harmony. We feel at peace within ourselves, only to realize it was just a dream or perhaps not. Ethereal is a film inspired by Jorge Issacs poem Ve, Pensamiento (Go, Thoughts), in which he discusses the importance of freeing oneself and fostering creativity, allowing continuous dreaming and unrestrained freedom, as death eventually comes for us all.
By A Thread
(Alysia Fae Klein, South Korea, 2024, 7 min)
Visual allegory of societal restrictions on autonomy in South Korea against the outbreak of COVID.
When The Lights Are On
(Paul Flé, France, 2024, 3 min)
Immortals
(Mark Durand, Canada, 2023, 5 min)
Immortals is an experimental documentary short film shot in 8mm that explores the introspection of an artist, Bettina Szabo. The film delves into her relationship with her sense of belonging, her body, her imagination, and nature. Sometimes one must lose oneself to find oneself better, and burn everything down to start anew on a solid foundation.
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LocationNorthwest Film Forum (View)
1515 12th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
United States
Categories
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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Contact
Accessibility
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum's ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at maria@nwfilmforum.org
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