Overview

The 3rd Annual DancesWithFilms, billed as "the festival for the TRULY independent", will be held June 23-29 at the Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theater complex in West Hollywood, California and will screen 18 feature films, 12 of which are in competition, and 16 shorts. Twenty-three of the feature films and shorts are world premieres. There will be a sidebar of non-competition screenings. As per festival regulations, all festival films have no "known" directors, actors or producers, or as the motto says "No Politics. No Stars. No Sh*t."

The festival trophies, which feature a man reaching for the stars, will be for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Screenwriting for a Feature Film, Best Screenwriting for a Short Film, and the Audience Award. The trophies are sponsored by a new entertainment dot.com company withoutabox.com. This year's jury will be comprised of six directors and/or writer winners from previous DancesWithFilms.

Among the full-length titles being showcased this year are Attack of the Bat Monsters by Kelly Greene, Cage in Box Elder by Adam Smoot and Kevin de Lullo, Calling Bobcat by Paul Kermizian, The Cat Killers by Colin Drobnis, Final Rinse by Robert Tucker, Jacks or Better by Robert Sidney Mellette, Little Red by Clay Valenti, Pedestrian by Jack Kartalian, The Pig Farm by Michael Lee Barlin, Stuff from James and Rebecca Dunnison, True Rights by Meg Thayer, and Yup Yup Man from Glenn Klinker.

DancesWithFilms was created in January 1998 by actors turned filmmakers Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. They had entered their own films, an action adventure entitled Indemnity, into festivals without success and felt confident enough that what they had produced could find an audience even though it did not have stars. They launched the first festival with 12 feature films and 40% of them found U.S. domestic distribution. The success continued into the second year with filmmakers closing distribution deals with HBO, PBS, Showtime and Warner Bros., among others.

According to festival co-founder and organizer Leslee Scallon, films which premiered at DanceswithFilms have gone on to play at Berlin, Houston Worldfest, Montreal, Sundance and Telluride.

Scallon says in the three years of the festival they have viewed over 2,000 submissions from around the world. This year, films have been submitted from Australia, Canada and Greece, as well as the U.S. "Our festival is all about opportunities and networking for filmmakers, it is a filmmaker first festival, and filmmakers who've screened before come back to network with and support the newest group."

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Wrap-Up

DanceswithFilms, the 3rd annual film festival for "the TRULY independent" wrapped June 29, 2000 after a week long run at the Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theater complex in West Hollywood, CA with a party and awards ceremony at Dublins on the Sunset Strip.

Attack of the Bat Monsters, produced, written and directed by Kelly Green, won the Best of DancesWithFilms Feature Award. Set in 1959, the comedy film takes an affectionate look at the men and women who created low-budget science fiction movies for drive-in theaters. The Best of DancesWithFilms Short Film Award went to Delusions in Modern Primitivism, written and directed by Daniel Loflin.

The Audience Award for Best Feature Film went to True Rights, Meg Thayer's satire about the public's fascination with Shock TV and real programming. The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Stealing You Blind. The Audience Award for Best Feature Out of Competition went to Steve Kane's The Doghouse. The Audience Award for Best Short Film Out of Competition went to The Dancing Cow, written and directed by Taz Goldstein.

The Best Screenplay Feature Award went to Robert Sidney Mellette for Jacks or Better, a dark comedy about a man who kills his wife so he can play poker in their living room. Mellette also directed the film. The Best Screenplay Award for a Short Feature Film went to Guido Takes a Hike, which was written and directed by Joseph Tobin.

Nearly two dozen feature films and shorts premiered at this year's DancesWithFilms, a festival whose guidelines include screening only "unknown" films. The festival is essentially a showcase for "new" talent. The co-founders were enthusiastic about their results. A jubilent Michael Trent said "this festival just keeps growing and growing, yet its spirit, the soul of indie filmmaking, remains the same. No politics, no stars, no sh*t." Leslee Scanlon added, "this year's filmmakers truly have the indie soul… their camaraderie with festival goers and fellow filmmakers, was exciting and energizing." The number of submissions have tripled each year.

Although stars were not allowed on screen in the festival's competition films, as per the festival's rules, several were spotted watching the festival's films. Among the celebrities in attendance were Drew Barrymore, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna, Justin Henry, and Tom Green.

Contributor/festival specialist
Wendy Carrel