Oregon Artist Retrospective
October 2nd @ 7:00PM | Tomorrow Theater | Run Time: 75 Mins & Q&A
For ten years, Portland Dance Film Fest has been lucky enough to grow alongside an extraordinary community of Oregon artists. This program is a love letter to that community and the artists who have helped create this festival.
Oregon Artist Retrospective looks back at where we’ve come from, bringing together films made throughout this past decade of PDFF. Woven throughout are the Live Dance Film Creations made during the festivals, works born in just a few hours, with artists making, filming, editing, and sharing something together in real time.
Opening Night Live Dance Film Creation, Year 1
2017
Directed by Tomás Alfredo Valladares
Danced by Katie Scherman
Edited by Ikaika “Tiki” Cofer
During the opening night party for the 1st Annual Portland Dance Film Fest in 2017, three artists created, shot, and edited a 1 minute screendance in 5 hours to have its World Premiere at the end of the party!
Where We're Going
2020
Directed by Heidi Duckler
Filmed on the rooftop of Los Angeles’ historic Bendix Building, this short dance film explores belonging, family, and the ways communities define themselves through movement.
Diedre
2020
Directed by Amy Leona Havin & Tomás Alfredo Valladares
An abstract dance film about restlessness amid repetition and material value, suspended between nostalgia, stagnation, and reverie.
Harbor
2020, Oregon Dance Film Commission
Directed by Ivana Horvat
Choreography by Alexander Dones
Three friends take a scenic Pacific Northwest trip while confronting the private heaviness they hide from the world. As their burdens surface, the journey becomes an exploration of empathy, connection, and brief moments of lightness.
Opening Night Live Dance Film Creation, Year 2
2018
Filmed by Conrad Kaczor
Choreography by Jessica Zoller
Edited by Zsuzsanna Mangu
Created in approximately three and a half hours during PDFF’s 2018 opening night party, this live dance film combines Jessica Zoller’s movement, Conrad Kaczor’s cinematography, and Zsuzsanna Mangu’s editing.
SANKAKU
2021
Directed by Mako Barmon, Jenelle Gaerlan & Skye Stouber
Choreography by Jenelle Gaerlan
Lost and disoriented, San wakes in a dark void and moves through shifting landscapes in search of light, confronting the power of the land around her in a Taiko-inspired movement narrative.
Signal
2023
Directed and Choreographed by Heather Hindes
Isolated in the desert, something is created out of nothing. This visually striking dance film becomes a meditation on fire, creative renewal, and breaking free from self-limiting bonds.
Alice in Nite Hawk
2019, Oregon Dance Film Commission
Directed by Devin Tau
Choreographic Director: Heidi Duckler
Friends are forced to navigate a new world after their tradition is disrupted, leaving them to question their own existence.
Unfolding
2019
Directed by Dylan Wilbur
Choreography by Suzanne Chi, Kailee McMurran, Rachel Slater, and Lena Traenkenschuh
An anonymous woman moves through surreal imagery and dream logic as the world blurs around her, caught between determination and anxiety, surrender and endurance.
A Ball & A Bash: Live Dance Film Creation for the Closing Night Party at PDFF, Year 3
2019
Directed by Steven Cady
Choreographed by
Created for Portland Dance Film Fest’s 2019 closing-night celebration, this live dance film features performers Heather Hindes and Briley Joswiak.
untitled
Directed by Conrad Kaczor
Choreographed by Jordie Campbell
Movement is light, shining on the soul to create a path.
Catherine
2020
A film by Kailee McMurran
Catherine is stuck inside.
FEEDBACK: Live Dance Film Creation, Year 8
Directed by Matthew Tomac
Choreography by Franco Nieto
Created in real time during PDFF’s eighth annual festival, FEEDBACK is a collaborative dance film shaped by director Matthew Tomac, choreographer and performer Franco Nieto, and the festival audience.
House of Joy
2018, Oregon Dance Film Commission
Directed by Robert Uehlin
Choreography by Raven Jones
This Super 8mm screendance chronicles one person’s struggle to let go of expectations about what life would be.