Dances With Films’ third edition in New York City is set to take place from December 5 to December 8. This bicoastal film festival will feature nearly 150 films, including feature-length narratives, documentaries, pilots, and shorts, all making their world, North American, and U.S. premieres. DWF is uniquely positioned as the only indie film-focused festival with a presence in both Los Angeles and New York. Evan Oppenheimer’s *Peas and Carrots* will have its world premiere on Opening Night, while Christina Elioupolos’ ‘Here’s Yianni!’ will be the Closing Night selection.
Among DWF NYC’s lineup of 146 films, including 22 narrative and midnight features, 9 documentary features, 18 television and streaming pilots, and 92 short films (76 combined narrative and midnight, with 16 documentaries). More than half of those films will be making their world, North American or US premieres during the four-day film event with all of the screenings taking place at Regal Union Square (850 Broadway).
In addition to Oppenheimer’s Peas and Carrots, additional feature-length films making their world premieres are Liam Le Guillou’s A Cursed Man, Victoria Kupchinetsky’s Calico Rebellion, Jason Mendoza’s Good Friday, Bari King’s Itch!, Mikaela Shwer’s The Kids Are Not Alright, Dom Cutrupi’s Lola Dust, William Tyler Wiseman’s Moonwater, Paul Bickel’s One Happy Place, Jarrett Jung’s Sergeant Pickle Breath And The Rooftop Warriors, and Kristen Hansen’s Sonny Boy. Andrew Bell’s Bleeding, and Howard Goldberg’s Double Exposure will make their North American Premieres, and Nicola Rose’s Magnetosphere will make its US Premiere at DWF NYC.
DWF is part of the current wave of film festivals that promote and support pilots with ambitions for television and streaming. Plenty of those will be making their debuts, including Sergio Camacho’s United Crafts Of America, Victoria Myers’ A Legend Is Hatched: I Become Famous… In My Own Mind, Lucy Hirschfeld’s Dropped, Christine Lakin’s The Fun In Funny, Christopher Gerson and Julie Kramer’s Gasbag, Dan Jones’ Hive, Olivia Lambert’s Like Comment Subscribe, Serena Schuler’s Makeshift Society, Karl Janisse’s Passage, Ana Breton’s Rat Czar, and Ruthie Marantz’s Raging Doll.
Thursday, December 5 will feature the World Premiere Opening Night presentation of DWF alumni Evan Oppenheimer’s Peas and Carrots (pictured above) . Oppenheimer’s film The Auteur Theory screened at DWF in 1999 with an early appearance by Natasha Lyonne. Peas and Carrots follows a teenage girl in New York who is the child of a couple that were one-hit wonders in the 90s. She also travels in a bizarre alternate reality, where everybody only says three words: “Peas and Carrots”. Naturally, her family forms a new band and start rocking out together. The film stars Kirrilee Berger, Jordan Bridges, and Amy Carlson, and the local NYC-based production also includes the involvement of numerous legendary New York musicians. Members of the Ramones, Sonic Youth, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and Guster all contributed to this movie, both with new music in the score and (in some cases) with appearances on screen.
Closing Night on Sunday, December 8, will feature Christina Eliapolous’ Here’s Yianni! The whimsical and heartwarming comedy drama stars Joe Cortese, as the title character, and Julia Ormond as a longtime couple who run a beachside family diner. Yianni develops dementia and slips into a parallel realm, believing he is the host of a late-night talk show with the diner’s staff and customers as guest stars. Meanwhile, his wife tries to hide his illness from their coworkers and best friends (Kevin Pollak and Rosanna Arquette). When a woman and her seven-year-old son move in across the street, Yianni becomes convinced that the young boy is the son they lost 30 years ago and after he escapes home and runs into the boy, Yianni must find a moment of clarity so he can navigate them both back to the diner and their worried families. The film also stars Eric Roberts and Sofia Vassileva.
For more information about the Dances With Films NYC film lineup, events, passes, and tickets, go to: https://danceswithfilms.com/.
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