Dance Digital A dance film festival from Digital Stage
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Dance Digital, the first dance film festival from Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage & Studio. For dance fans, film lovers and the dance-curious.
A weekend celebrating dance on screen: feature films, curated shorts and documentaries from across the globe. Scroll down to see the full festival programme.
For everyone: screenings, installations, artist Q&As and expert talks.
For practitioners: mentoring and networking sessions for dance artists and filmmakers.
Festival passes cover all events within your chosen timeframe. Purchase day and evening slots together and save 15%.
Header photo credit: Hannah Ekholm in Nepenthe by Jordan Chandler and Ekleido
Friday, 5pm – 5:45pm
Special Opening Event – free with any festival ticket
Exploring AI in Dance and Film
What will the effect of AI be on dance and film, two art forms grounded in the human body and lived experience? Join us for a talk which explores how artists work with emerging technologies and what it means for our creative industries in the future. Separate booking required.
Friday, 6pm – 10pm
Feature Film: DuEls, Norway
6:30pm – 7:30pm
Set in the Vigeland Museum, DuEls unfolds as a series of short and visceral pieces created in response to Vigeland’s iconic sculptures. Choreographed by Damien Jalet and Erna Ómarsdóttir, and directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film is produced and performed by Nagelhus Schia Productions.
Shorts Programme: Our Open Call Commissioned Films
8pm – 9pm
HOLD, UK
Premiere: Two strangers, who must navigate a submerged landscape, share a remnant from a world lost. A film by Emma Critchley, Maya Carroll and Liam Francis.
Aṁṁonia, UK
Aṁṁonia draws inspiration from Pina Bausch’s work, exploring the hidden power dynamics within society. The film follows two hotel cleaners who begin to imagine and embody the lives of the guests. A film by Emma Farnell-Watson, Kieran Lai and Joe Connor.
Más Glow, Colombia
Premiere: Acrylic nails, pink glow and shifting gestures unleash four women breaking beauty’s rules together. A film by Laura Steiner.
The Lions Are Coming, UK
Set in a decaying nightclub, The Lions are Coming follows three individuals trapped in the aftermath of an invasion by a group of land-hungry dogs. A film by Folu Odimayo.
Mollika, India/USA
Mollika reflects on the ephemeral nature of time through the dancing body and the power of intergenerational relationships. A film by Mythili Prakash and Pratyusha Gupta.
Nepenthe, UK
Premiere: Dancers revisit childhood memories, exploring domestic spaces and intimate movement to reflect on their personal journeys into dance. A film by Jordan Chandler and Ekleido.
Q&A
Opening night networking drinks
9pm – 10pm
Celebrate the first night of Dance Digital and meet peers in the industry at our networking drinks.
Saturday, 12pm – 6pm
Festival events
Collective Body – VR installation
Once per hour
An interactive and shared experience designed for four or more participants, Collective Body encourages us to explore and discover our movement identity. By Sarah Silverblatt-Buser.
Hinterlands – VR installation
3pm – 5pm
A mixed-reality dance work with headsets for three participants on the speculative future of evolution. By Pell Ensemble.
Social first films
Watch films made for social media throughout the day.
Shorts Programme: Land, Light and Lineage
12pm – 1pm
The Circadian Cycle, Australia
Set in South Australia, the films depicts a day from dawn until sunset as the stage for the body-as-creature. A film by Garry Stewart.
Motherhood, USA
In the light of dawn she awakens in her nest, one baby under her wing, the other two in search of food. A film by Nicole Spring and Stephanie Kim.
You are also Us, UK
A powerful exploration of the complex and multifaceted experience of invisibility, which explores the themes of pain, joy, power, connection and resignation. A film by Cathy Waller.
Vestiges, Canada
The dancers of Ballet BC star in a striking exploration of memory, connection and what remains. A film by Marcus Eriksson, Medhi Walerski and Ballet BC.
Quiet Revolutions - New Adventures
Special Screening: Premiere – in partnership with New Adventures. In a landscape where the arts are often sidelined, Quiet Revolutions captures the radical, unseen labour of the community dance artist.
Q&A
Documentary Triple Bill
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Dance to the End, Australia
Celebrating the truly creative spirit of Eileen Kramer and her legacy to dance in Australia, who was making art until her death at the age of 110. A film by Sue Healey and Eileen Kramer.
Grappling Grace, UK
A jazz-dancing Iranian-British wrestler opens a healing dojo armed with a belief that wrestling might just save the world. A film about grief disguised as comedy and therapy disguised as combat. A film by Alexander Kiehl and Misha Novak.
AFROBUCK, Nigeria
A story of how a dance style was invented and introduced to the dance community in Africa and is now practised all around the world. A film by Adeleye Joseph Adeniyi.
Shorts Programme: Bold by Design
3pm – 4pm
Carmen, Spain
A young woman, dressed in a tracksuit, walks through the backstreets of Seville into a housing project. This is Carmen Aviles – the young street superstar of flamenco. A film by Andrew Margetson.
KIELO, Finland
Kielo finds it hard to sit still in class. She takes a break venturing into the corridors of her imagination. A film by Janina Rajakangas and Sinem Kayacan.
Metamorphosis, UK
A daughter watches her father lose his grip on life. His body twists, fractures, and crumbles, each movement tracing the erosion of strength, purpose and identity. A film by Harriet Waghorn.
UNTIL IT RAN INTO ME, India
The repetitive rhythm of everyday life is disrupted with a new energy creating a meditation on breaking patterns and the delicate process of transformation. A film by Melitta Dsouza.
The Joy and Sorrow of Time, Denmark
A delicate dance of possibilities, which explores the fragility of the future and reminds us to believe in the limitless potential of tomorrow. A film by Sara Jordan.
An Elevator, Brazil
Stuck inside a malfunctioning elevator, a woman overcomes boredom by dancing with her own reflection. A film by Paulinho Caruso.
Q&A
Feature Film: The Euphoria of Being, Hungary
4:30pm – 6pm
Éva Fahidi was 20 years old when she returned all alone home to Hungary from Auschwitz Birkenau. Now, aged 90, Éva is asked to participate in a dance-theatre performance about her life. A film by Réka Szabó.
Saturday, 6pm – 10pm
Shorts Programme: The Wild and The Sacred
6:30pm – 7:30pm
SOMA, UK
A contemporary myth on the genesis of the human body that uses movement and dance as its primary medium for storytelling. A film by Arturo Bandinelli.
Interruption, UK
In a world where identity is distorted by the gaze of others, a surreal tribe explores who we become when we’re watched. A film by dkfash.
Effetá, Spain
Effetá (which means open yourself), a religious rite of passage is transformed into a danced liturgy where presence and tenderness drive each movement. A film by Roger Bayerri and Jocob Gómez.
IN VIADI, Switzerland
IN VIADI is an intimate yet profound act of reconnection, a visceral journey that invites the audience not just to watch, but to pause, listen and feel. A film by Alun Meyerhans and Ellen Wolf.
Q&A
Feature Film: Drenched, Australia
7:45pm – 8:45pm
A fast‑paced, spiritually charged dance film where a psychedelic house party cracks open shifting realities. A film by Douglas Reddan and Caetlyn Watson.
Award winners
9pm – 10pm
Best dance on screen film
Best documentary / behind-the-scenes film
Best film by young artists (21 and under)
Best social first film
Best cinematography
Best dance (choreography, performance)
Sunday, 12pm – 6pm
Festival events
Mentoring sessions
Slots available 1pm – 5pm
Book one-to-one 15-minute sessions with industry experts, from academics to filmmakers.
Booking will open in May.
Collective Body – VR installation
Every hour on the hour
An interactive and shared experience designed for four or more participants, Collective Body encourages us to explore and discover our movement identity. By Sarah Silverblatt-Buser.
Hinterlands – VR installation
3pm – 5pm
A mixed-reality dance work with headsets for three participants on the speculative future of evolution. By Pell Ensemble.
Social first films
Watch films made for social media throughout the day.
Feature Film: BREAKING, UK
12pm – 1:30pm
Four elite female breakdancers battle each other and the beasts within in a two year journey culminating on the biggest stage of all at Paris 2024. A film by Dan Faber.
Sunday Social
1pm – 2pm
Take some time on the final day of the festival for a social and networking chat, giving you an opportunity to learn from your contemporaries.
Shorts Programme: Films by young people
2pm – 3pm
Return, Belgium
Follow two riders as they wind through the country lanes in a balletic bicycle duet. A film by Saraï Martens and Maira Renee.
ECHO:SUBCONSCIOUS, Mexico
The subconscious reflects our experiences and accompanies us daily. Is it possible to be at peace with it? A film by Paulina Bejines Ruvalcaba.
Infra, UK
Two souls struggle to make something whole, yet cannot find the missing piece in their quiet, fragile puzzle. A film by Omar Toussaint and Adhya Shastry.
We are mirrors, Mexico
A film about self reflection where the only thing that dominates the shadow is you. A film by Ana Victoria Rugerio.
Robert, UK
This film captures Robert in his current stage of life, slowly revealing his character and how vital dance is to our existence. A film by Isabel Farrelly.
Cool About It (A Dance Film), USA
A short film shot in one day on an iPhone where conversation gives way to expression through movement. A film by Ava Carpinello.
the colour of her movement, UK
Through intimate solos and shared moments, the film portrays dance as both a private refuge and a quiet act of resistance, exploring women’s relationship with their bodies. A film by Flore Camille Seytre.
Memories of a Dance, USA
A performer’s last dance with someone who’s no longer here shot in black and white simplicity. A film by Caleb Van Epps.
ROUTE [not every day, but almost], Brazil
Filmed in one take, young dancers take you on a journey through the streets of a Brazilian town, noticing a life less ordinary. A film by Juá Leindecker and Flora Leles.
Shorts Programme: Stories in black and white
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Spiral, UK
Amid a crushing panic attack, a teacher discovers an unexpected escape through air drumming, bringing her from chaos to calm. A film by Will Liney.
Moving Barcelona, UK
A magical realist dance story about the Catalonian capital, contending with an identity crisis, haunted by the ghosts of its past. A film by Jevan Chowdhury.
Unspun Flesh, Unburned Shell, China
A work exploring the unfinished self, where identity shifts, perception revises, and meaning remains unresolved. A film by Nailong Song.
Counterpoise, Australia
A stirring dance video made in collaboration with artists with and without disability. Counterpoise highlights the noise of life outside, and the quiet place within. A film by Matt Byrne and Larissa McGowan.
BUMP, UK
A celebration of pregnant bodies and acrobatic movement, challenging social expectations around people’s bodies during pregnancy. A film by Arthur Le FOL and Mimbre.
Boys a Bug, Czechia
Inspired by The Metamorphosis, this film explores the grotesque transformation of a man into an insect as he confronts and ultimately loses, his sense of self. A film by Laurie Lynch and Fraser Roach.
Q&A
Feature Film: Rojo clavel (Red carnation), Spain
5pm – 6:30pm
Through emotion and flesh, Manuel Liñan challenges the boundaries of flamenco, merging tradition with the freedom to be oneself. A film by Roser Corella.
Performances
Film screenings
VR installation
Networking
Film screenings with Q&A
VR installation
Networking
Film screenings with Q&A
VR Installation
Film screenings with Q&A
VR installation
Bookable mentoring sessions
Networking