potential
FDFF recognizes the vast potential where choreography and the screen reside together. Dance at Illinois supports and presents this medium because the moving image reflects the very nature of motion itself, the meeting point of filmmaking and dance. Dance Cinema provides greater access for audiences and provides more opportunities for visual/movement artists to utilize technology from a choreographic perspective. We deeply appreciate the folks who brought the Flatlands Dance Film Festival to life—Mark Rhodes brought the initial idea to the Dance Partners Advancement Committee (Fran Ansel, Diane Baker, Kathleen Conlin, Mary Perlstein). In 2019, we welcomed Laura Chiaramonte as our new FDFF director.
Mission
- Showcase a variety of films and shorts dedicated to dance performance, dance for camera, influential artists in the field, and the social impact of dance across the world.
- Host a film competition for aspiring dance/film makers.
- Encourage dialogue –
- Generate programming that promotes diverse perspectives: Each year, the festival will focus on specific themes and subject matter and showcase international and national artists in dance, performance, visual art, cinema, and media arts.
Eleventh Annual Flatlands Dance Film Festival
Flatlands Dance Film Festival 2024
Director: Laura Chiaramonte
Feature Film:
BAD LIKE BROOKLYN DANCEHALL
Thursday, September 5, 2024
7pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St.
Urbana, IL 61801
$10 general admission
$5 students and seniors
Seating is limited
Bio
BAD LIKE BROOKLYN DANCEHALL is a documentary film directed and produced by Ben Diagiacomo, co-directed by Dutty Vannier, screenwritten by Amy DiGiacomo, and executive produced by Shaggy. The film features an entrancing cast of Jamaican and New York luminaries who share their community story of building a cultural bridge between Jamaica and New York through dancehall. As young Jamaican immigrants across Brooklyn came of age during the 80s and 90s, they were drawn to dancehall music to keep connected to life back home. Their preservation of key elements of culture through deejays, sound systems, and energetic dancing in New York’s seedy underground provides the unique atmosphere for an influential movement that was bubbling up in the shadow of hip-hop.