Dances With Films: LA, Los Angeles’ largest indie film-focused festival (June 18-28), opens Thursday at the Chinese Theatre and Ovation Complex on Hollywood and Highland for its 29th edition, platforming films not produced by studios or with big budgets.
The festival’s lineup includes its critically acclaimed Midnight Horror and Genre and Pilots sections, as well as the Downbeat and Kidz sections celebrating music, dance and family-friendly programming.
This year’s schedule will be bookended by the world premieres of Jay Silverman’s drama “Yale,” starring Caitlin McGee, Kevin Dunn and Rachael Harris, as the Opening Night selection, and Adam Hoelzel’s thriller “Tender,” starring Jesse Garcia, Jess Weixler, David Koechner and Robert Longstreet, on Closing Night.
In an environment where multiplexes can struggle to consistently fill houses, DWF: LA expects to again draw record-breaking audiences to its screenings and events. The festival has already sold out screenings for a dozen films prior to opening.
This year’s DWF: LA lineup includes 279 films: 41 narrative features, 17 documentary features, four midnight features, 33 television and streaming pilots, and 184 short films — 99 narrative, 21 documentary, 32 midnight, 15 in the Kidz section and 17 in the Downbeat/Music section — with an impressive number making world, North American or U.S. premieres.
Dances With Films founders Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent said: “For close to three decades Dances With Films has exhibited ‘The Power of Indie Film’ and this year’s lineup is filled with unique and diverse voices from filmmakers working outside of the studio system and without the benefit of bigger budgets, will entertain and surprise film lovers with the cinematic magic DWF is well-known for. As always, we couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce them all and connect our filmmakers with audiences, film distributors, and other industry veterans in the best way imaginable: at the TCL Chinese Theatres right in the heart of Hollywood.”
This year’s trailer was edited by Jeffrey Williams.