San Francisco Dance Film Festival

San Francisco Dance Film Festival Celebrating international dance film through our festival and year-round programming. “An impressive program of locally made and imported works.
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The sheer number of perspectives that these dance/film artists brought to their work was inspiring.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A wild, beautiful ride” – San Francisco Examiner

🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride!🏳️‍🌈 We invite you to celebrate q***r joy, community, and the transformative power of dance from whereve...
06/01/2026

🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride!🏳️‍🌈 We invite you to celebrate q***r joy, community, and the transformative power of dance from wherever you are in the world. Available from June 1-21, our streaming program Move with Pride pairs two extraordinary films: Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede, a feature documentary that honors a beloved chapter of LGBTQ+ history; and Intimité Révélée, a short film that dares to tenderly explore the nuances of q***r love and intimacy.

Watch now: https://sfdancefilmfest.org/2026-pride-program/

Feature Documentary: Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede
Director: Graham Clayton-Chance

Short Film: Intimité Révélée
Director: Natasha Adorlee
Choreographers: Lorris Eichinger, Hope Mohr, Olivia Evans

05/30/2026

Tracing the tangled thread from the beginning

In SFDFF 2020 award-winning hybrid documentary “Family Portrait” from Jingqiu Guan, a young woman returns to her home country to confront conflicting values and rediscover what has shaped her own beliefs by tracing different lessons bestowed to her from her grandmother, her father and her son.

Stay tuned every Friday where we throw back to other compelling stories from SFDFF’s archives.

Director/Choreographer/Editor: Jingqiu Guan
Cinematographer: Teodora Totoiu
Composer: Karam Salem
Dancers: Jingqiu Guan, Suixiong Guan and Kylan Salem

05/27/2026

Bring our audience favorites to your screens through our Touring Reel program!

SFDFF is offering the rental of one of our highlight reels of curated shorts from last years’ festival. This year’s reel spans playful surrealism, intimate portraits, and urgent social inquiry, moving from the mythic landscapes of French Polynesia to the backstreets of Sevilla, from hand-drawn animation inspired by scientific innovation to explorations of family and identity.

Check out our website for more info!

Music: “Tempest” Directed by Music by

05/23/2026

⏳The wait is over⌛️

SFDFF 2025 Award Winner “Waiting Places” directed by Or Schraiber & Bobbi Jene Smith and produced by ALL ARTS TV is now available to watch in full on Youtube. Visit the link in our comments (and get your best headphones & sound system ready) to experience the full film.

In SFDFF’s 2025 jury deliberations, “Waiting Places” received the highest rating in the score category for its excellent integration of classical and contemporary music. The independent adjudication panel - Celia Rowlson-Hall, Dazaun Soleyn, Jim Yager, Joseph Walsh & Judy Tyrus - were especially moved by the pianist Yonatan Daskal’s onscreen presence woven into the storyline and praised the score’s evocative role in shaping the film’s dramatic and emotional arc.

Dancers: Or Schraiber and Alexander Bozinoff
Pianist: Yonathan Daskal

05/22/2026

Unburying ghosts and bringing history to life…

Co directed by Brian Staufenbiel and Yayoi Kambara, “Out of the Dust” is a dance film told through ghosts who come to life through the poetry of Janice Mirikitani. The film is an homage to her poetry book “Out of the Dust” about World War II Japanese American Incarceration and was captured at Manzanar National Historic Site.

Stay tuned this month as we continue to share AAPI stories from SFDFF’s archives

05/21/2026

Can swing dance save the world?

The acclaimed documentary Alive and Kicking sheds light on issues that have faced society for the past 10+ years, and how swing dance can ease them.

We were thrilled to have director Susan Glatzer talk with us before the screening of her film about the “three minute love story” that is swing dance. Check out the full interview on our YouTube!

Cover image by

05/15/2026

In honor of AAPI heritage month, we highlight SFDFF 2024 selection “Ten Times Better” directed by Jennifer Rita Lin which details the pioneering tales of George Lee, an early AAPI dancer who confronted and broke barriers.

“Ten Times Better” blends archival footage and interviews to paint a portrait of a quintessentially invisible immigrant with an extraordinary past. Lee grew up in Shanghai studying ballet with Russian emigres and escaped the Chinese civil war as a refugee with his mother. In the U.S., he was handpicked by George Balanchine to originate the Chinese dance in the choreographer’s 1954 premiere of “The Nutcracker” and persuaded by Gene Kelly to try Broadway in the original “Flower Drum Song”.

05/13/2026

“The price to pay, when you’re passionate about dance... is worth it.”

Following our screening of the documentary film The Prix, we brought in some special guests to share their experiences at the prestigious ballet competition Prix de Lausanne. Watch the full Q&A here: https://youtu.be/zZqSiKz3By4

Q&A guests:
- 2024 Prix Winner ()dem - 2026 Prix Winner (City Ballet School - San Francisco)howard - 2026 Prix Young Creation Award choreographer (). Choreography on
- Prix de Lausanne Director

Moderated by - Prix Finalist (San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer)

05/09/2026

Register for our Virtual Filmmaking Masterclass with Adi Halfin today! Do not miss this opportunity to learn from the best in transforming choreography into cinematic experience, visit the link below to register.

https://sfdancefilmfest.org/workshops/2026-filmmaking-masterclass/

How do you develop trust with your collaborators so you can direct compelling work remotely? Through close case studies of films like “Lost Horse” featuring Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, Adi will answer this question and many others related to her unique working methods and approach to dance films.

Saturday-Sunday, May 16-17, 2026
9 AM–12:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time
(includes 15 min break between sections)
Online via Zoom

Excerpt from Music Video for Lost Horse by Asaf Avidan
Director/Editor: Adi Halfin Camera/choreography/performance: Or Schraiber & Bobbi Jene Smith

05/08/2026

LAST CHANCE: SFDFF 2026 Fall Festival submissions close TODAY (May 8th) at 11:59pm PST!

Submit your film today for the chance to join our creative community of multiform artists. The festival continues to seek groundbreaking work and welcomes submissions of all dance-based works. All forms of dance and genres of film are welcome: documentaries, narratives, screendance, art/experimental, etc.

2024 SFDFF selection “If I Were You” by Margot Gelber and Rebecah Goldstone traces the frustrations and comforts of an embattled relationship through an emotionally evocative duet.

Address

601 Van Ness Avenue, E426
San Francisco, CA
94102

Website

https://linktr.ee/sfdancefilmfest

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