Theater / Film
ScreenDance Miami is a film festival that shows ‘what dance is and what dance can be’

Dancer and mountain climber Yelda del Carmen strives to make history in the film “Mataperra,” showing Friday, Jan. 24 as part of “Films You Gotta See Big!” at New World Center’s Soundscape Park as part of ScreenDance Miami 2025. (Photo courtesy of Miami Light Project)
Dance on film can mean many things, says ScreenDance Miami festival director Pioneer Winter. In this year’s ScreenDance, he elaborates on one documentary that is part of the festival about a dancer and mountain climber. In the 21-minute “Mataperra,” directed by Rachel Trudeau, Yelda del Carmen strives to make history by becoming the first Cuban woman to conquer three legendary ascents in Viñales, Cuba..
“Audiences can expect to see a wide variety of things,” promises the festival director. Represented in the programming is definitely my own expansive view of what dance is and what dance can be,” says Winter.

In an 8-minute film, “The Rooster,” filmmakers Rolly Dib and Chadi Younes bring to life Nizar Qabbani’s poem “AL Deek” on Program 1 of the Official Selections and Invited Short Films at PAMM at noon on Saturday, Jan. 25. (Photo courtesy of Miami Light Project)
The international dance on film festival, presented by Miami Light Project, has been bringing audiences a carefully curated selection of dance on film since 2014.
The five-day festival returns Friday, Jan. 17 through Saturday, Jan. 25 at different venues throughout the city. ScreenDance Miami kicks off with “Films You Gotta See Big!” on the 7,000-square-foot projection wall at the New World Center’s Soundscape Park at 7:30 p.m. with additional “Big” films on the lawn at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. On Wednesday, Jan. 22. short and feature film selections play at the Miami Beach Bandshell and also Thursday, Jan. 23 at The Light Box Studio at Miami Theater Center, Miami Shores. ScreenDance Miami’s “2024 Official Selections” take center stage at the closing event at noon on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Winter, a dancer and choreographer, describes his idea of what it means to capture movement on camera. “I love dance on film because I feel like it is this perfect marriage between movement and recorded image”.
When viewing a live performance, dancers are not in control as to what the audience’s attention may be drawn to, Winter says, but when choreographing for film, the director is able to focus the lens on what the audience sees and when.
“There’s a specificity to choreographing for the camera,” says Winter. “They call it the dancing camera, where the camera is just as an active participant as the dancer. Those are my favorite ones to program . . . they give you an experience that you wouldn’t have otherwise had if you were seeing this live.”

Making its world premiere is a 2-minute flamenco film titled “Silencio” by Cristina Candela showing at noon on Saturday, Jan. 25 at PAMM. (Photo courtesy of Miami Light Project)
Winter promises an eclectic selection of films in this year’s edition. “There are a mix of different films that we have programmed into the festival,” he says. “We have a few films that are kind of very frontal and are more documentation of a performance.”
Highlights include 12 Florida premieres, two U.S. premieres, six world premiere films, and six different countries represented in the lineup. Winter adds how he’s proud of how far the festival has come over the last 11 years. For the first time, three of the festival’s main features were submitted via the annual open call for submissions.
The dancer explains how in previous years, the features were “invited” films rather than submissions. “This is our first time having some really wonderful feature length films that have come to us,” he says.
Winter is particularly excited about the screening of Gabri Christa’s film, “Kankantri.” The 25-minute feature is having its Florida premiere during the Official Selection closing night event on Saturday, Jan. 25.
“She’s been a mentor of mine for years,” says Winter. “Gabri has been involved with ScreenDance since the beginning so I’m incredibly excited to be screening her film at PAMM.”
“KANKANTRI: The Silk Cotton Tree,” follows a woman’s journey of spiritual discovery as she connects with her ancestors through dance and rituals until she feels whole.
Christa says she the film has won several awards in Caribbean and Latin American festivals and in the Philippines.

Gabri Christa’s “Kankantri” is having its Florida premiere and tells the story of a woman who is transported to a parallel universe full of her ancestors. (Photo courtesy of Miami Light Project)
“I’m grateful and honored to have my new film included in ScreenDance Miami,” she says via email. “I hope the Miami audience will also relate to the experimental and magical realism nature of the film that was shot in Suriname, South America.”
Another film screening included in as an Official Selections is the two-minute short “Batientes” by filmmakers Roxana Barba and Claudio Marcotulli. The film is the Spanish word for “hinge” and features dancer Barba flowing between a unique space filled with openings and potential.
The pair filmed the short back in 2019 while they were in Cuba for the “305 & Havana International Improv Festival.” They entered an interesting old home that had many doors and vibrant colors and were instantly inspired.
“I knew at the moment (of filming), as we were improvising, that the doors were going to be an important aspect of it. The film speaks to space and portals,” says Marcotulli.
Describing his process, the director adds, “Sometimes I produce a film, and I don’t even know what I’m doing. Eventually, the film tells me more or less the logic of it because I’m very abstract in my way of working.”

Roxana Barba and Claudio Marcotulli’s “Batientes” is featured in Program 1 of the Official Selections screening at PAMM beginning at noon on Saturday, Jan. 25. (Photo courtesy of Miami Light Project)
The two have been collaborating for over a decade. Whereas Marcotulli films and directs, Barba uses her rhythm to ebb and flow in all sorts of spaces. The dancer explains the nature of their partnership, saying, “We work very organically. When we start a film, we just film and see what comes out of that… We knew that while in Cuba we wanted to shoot something at that house, and it all happened so organically. I personally enjoy works like that.”
Dancer and performer Carla Forte, a part of the selection committee for this year’s festival, explains how the process includes focusing on a certain criteria, which includes choreography, performance, cinematography, and editing techniques.
“ScreenDance focuses on dance for the camera and experimental works, many of which are connected to our nature and the essence of who we are as human beings,” says Forte.
WHAT: ScreenDance Miami
WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; The Light Box Studio at Miami Theater Center, 9816 NE 2nd Ave., Miami Shores; New World Center’s Projection Wall at Soundscape Park, 400 17th St., Miami Beach; and Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, Wednesday, Jan. 22, Thursday, Jan. 23, Friday, Jan. 24, and noon, Saturday, Jan. 25.
COST: Free with RSVP via miamilightproject.com. At PAMM, free with museum admission. Admission is $18 for adults and free for museum members.
For the complete schedule, go to miamilightproject.com/program/screendance-miami-2025
INFORMATION: (305) 576-4350 or miamilightproject.com
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