Only When I Dance Movie

Additional ONLY WHEN I DANCE Screenings!

2010-07-12T15:38:00.035-04:00

We are sad that Only When I Dance is no longer shown in our home town New York, however there are still opportunities for you to catch this amazing film during other, upcoming screenings this summer and fall!

See if your city is hosting a Special Screening!

August 13, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

http://www.clevelandart.org/events/films.aspx

August 19-25, Latino Int. Film Institute, LA

http://www.latinofilm.org

August 20-26, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago

http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/

September 3-14, Vancity Theater, Vancouver, Canada

http://www.cinemaclock.com/theatres/bri/Vancouver/Vancity_Theatre.html

September 10, Webster University, St. Louis

http://www.webster.edu/filmseries/current.html

September 18-25, New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema, Providence

http://www.nefiac.com/

September 23-28 Milwaukee Film Festival, Milwaukee

http://www.milwaukee-film.org/

October 1-3, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint

http://www.flintarts.org/films.html

October 4, AFI Latin Film Festival, Silver Spring

http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/event/afi-latin-american-film-festival

October 24-29, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu

http://www.honoluluacademy.org/cmshaa/academy/index.aspx

Host a Screening/ Educational Inquiries

2010-07-05T11:18:00.001-04:00

Only When I Dance is available now to show on your campus, at your library or your community center, at your next fundraising event, or even at your own film festival! We will work with your group to find an affordable price to screen the film – our goal is for Only When I Dance to be seen as widely as possible by those most ready to rally around it.

Please contact Film Movement’s Non-Theatrical distribution manager Rachel Langus to arrange for the public performance rights at:
rachel@filmmovement or 212-941-7744 x205

ONLY WHEN I DANCE EXCLUSIVE NEW YORK ENGAGEMENT

2010-06-04T14:30:00.036-04:00

Film Movement presents
The NY Premiere of Beadie Finzi Brazilian feature film

Only When I Dance

“A real life Billy Elliot!”

Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Film Festival

“Inspirational!”

Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“An unforgettable experience… Only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved by this tremendously warm-hearted, yet clear-sighted documentary.”

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Official Competition Official Selection

TRIBECA EDINBURGH

Film Festival Int'l Film Festival

This feel-good documentary follows Irlan and Isabela, two teenagers from the violent favelas of Rio de Janeiro, as they pursue their dreams of becoming professional ballet dancers. This inspiring story takes us from Rio - where their communities must raise the funds to support their ambitions - to exhilarating ballet competitions in New York and Switzerland. It's a film about their determination to dance, and the price one must pay for talent, ambition and success.

Irlan Silva, the central subject of the film, is currently touring the country with ABT II (the junior company of American Ballet Theater), and is expected to advance to a prominent position in the main company in the coming years.

Join Us For Exclusive New York Engagement

Friday, July 2nd

Cinema Village
22 East 12 Street / 212.924.3363
http://www.cinemavillage.com/

Showtimes:
1:00, 2:40, 6:25, 8:05

Inspiration Through Movement

by MIKE HALE

Joining “Dancing Across Borders” and “Mao’s Last Dancer” in the category of inspirational international dance films is Beadie Finzi’s “Only When I Dance,” which tracks the progress of two students with professional aspirations at the Centro de Dança ballet school in Rio de Janeiro. Casting is the key here, and Ms. Finzi chose wisely: Irlan Santos de Silva and Isabela Coracy, teenagers when the film was made, leap off the screen as effortlessly as they fly through the air onstage. Mr. Santos de Silva is particularly mesmerizing, as a dancer and a personality; there’s not much suspense regarding whether he will land a spot with a major ballet company. The film is also more clear-eyed than this microgenre demands, with a minimum of manufactured sentiment and gauzy performance footage. In this it matches the personality of its third protagonist, Mariza Estrella, the school’s tough-minded founder.

On the other hand, the emotional deck has been stacked to some extent. The two dancers were chosen from the school’s hundreds of students not only for their promise but because they lived in the favelas, Rio’s notorious slums, and faced extra challenges of class and race.

There’s nothing wrong with that as a story line, but the lack of information about the school, or about any aspect of the two dancers’ lives that doesn’t involve training for and competing in international competitions, can be startling. When another Centro de Dança student, a petite woman, is a winner at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, we’re stunned. We didn’t even know she was there.

ONLY WHEN I DANCE

Opens on Friday in Manhattan.

Directed by Beadie Finzi; directors of photography, Ms. Finzi and Felipe Reinheimer; edited by Felipe Lacerda and Alan Levy; music by Stephen Hilton; produced by Giorgia Lo Savio and Nikki Parrott; released by Film Movement. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. In Portuguese, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 18 minutes. This film is not rated.

ONLY WHEN I DANCE Official Trailer

2010-05-17T10:31:00.000-04:00

We have a date!!

2010-04-19T10:30:00.004-04:00

Finally we have the official date for Only When I Dance exclusive premiere in US:

July 2nd, 2010

at Cinema Village in NYC

22 East 12th street

New York, NY 10003

Stay tuned for more info...

More Acclaim for Irlan Perfomances!!!

2010-04-19T10:22:00.000-04:00

Check out these two articles featuring Irlan as the new star of ABT

In The New York Post

In Dance Spirit Blog

Director Beadie Finzi talks about her film!!

2010-04-15T12:30:00.006-04:00

Press Quotes

2010-04-08T13:03:00.021-04:00

"Charming... An unforgettable experience"

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"Touching, delicate... "

Jason Solomons, Observer Review

"Remarkable"

The Times

"Inspirational"

Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"...a palpably moving experience"

Eric Kohn, The Wrap

"... a dream come true in a world full of dreams become untrue"

Gina Di Meo, Oggi7

Irlan at Gran Prix de Lausanne

2010-03-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

Iraln at YAGP 2008 in NY... Amazing!!

2010-03-10T12:37:00.001-05:00

Find a Screening

2009-07-02T13:14:00.008-04:00

July 21-22, Puerto Rico Film Society, Santurce and Old San Juan, PR
http://www.puertoricofilmsociety.org/eventos.html

July 23, Indianapolis Museum of Art
http://www.wantickets.com/affiliates/EventDetail.aspx?id=1224&e_id=117055

August 13, The Cleveland Museum of Art

http://www.clevelandart.org/events/films.aspx

August 20-26, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL
http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/

September 10, Webster University

http://www.webster.edu/filmseries/current.html

September 28, Milwaukee Film Festival

http://www.milwaukee-film.org/home.shtml

October 3, Film Institute of Arts

http://www.flintarts.org/films.html

October 4, AFI Latin Film Festival

http://www.afi.com/silver/new/default.aspx

October 29, Honolulu Academy of Arts

http://www.honoluluacademy.org/cmshaa/academy/index.aspx

Irlan dancing the Classical Variation Piece @ Prix De Lausanne 2008

2009-04-13T14:48:00.001-04:00

Watch Prix de Lausanne 2008 - Irlan Silva - Classical Variation in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Isabela dancing at YAGP - NY

2009-04-11T15:03:00.001-04:00

Synopsis

2009-04-09T16:33:00.004-04:00

Only When I Dance is a documentary following two young teenagers, Isabela and Irlan, as they strive to realize an extraordinary dream. One girl, one boy; both black and poor, and living in one of the most violent favelas on the outskirts of Rio, Irlan and Isabela both want to dance ballet, and their ambition is to leave Brazil to join one of the great companies in North America. For them, dance is the way out, an escape, and on stage, it brings them to a state of ecstasy that is rarely found in their day-to-day lives. The question is, can they make it? Only When I Dance is Mad Hot Ballroom meets Billy Elliot—a classic narrative of coming of age. It is about chasing a dream to dance the most perfect dance against all the odds of race and of circumstance. And, of course, the price you must pay for talent, for ambition and for success.

Reviews and Articles

2009-03-12T14:33:00.009-04:00

NYT review by Mike Hall

A Journey to Dance by Daniel Cappello

V.A. Musseto NY Post

Ronnie Sheib, Variety

The Guardian Review

Joe Bendel, Epoch Times

Erich Khon, The Wrap

Teri Tynes, Reframe

Festival & Awards

2009-03-10T16:19:00.002-04:00

OFFICIAL SELECTION:
Tribeca Film Festival
SilverDocs Edinburgh International Film Fest
Rio International Film Fest
Sao Paulo International Film Fest
Vancounver International Film Fest
Jacksonville Film Fest
San Francisco International Doc Fest
Southern Appalachian International Film Fest
Warsaw International Film Fest
Doha Tribeca International Film Fest
Sheffield International Doc Fest
Seville International Film Fest
Dominican Global Film Fest
Palm Springs International Film Fest
Calgary Global Fest Film

Stars

2009-03-10T16:10:00.000-04:00

Irlan Santos da Silva

Eighteen-year-old Irlan grew up in Rio de Janeiro's most violent favela, the Complexo do Alemão, where his family still live. He first discovered dance at the age of 12, when his cousin invited him to join a dance class and the teachers were quick to notice his talent; he won a scholarship to the Centro De Danca Rio and has never looked back. The elite world of classical ballet is in stark contrast with his impoverished upbringing, and Irlan often says he is caught between the two opposing worlds, that of the favela and that of ballet. While he is dark skinned, he isn’t considered to be black like Isabela, and so doesn’t experience the same racial prejudice that she has to cope with. In 2005 he won first place at New York's Grand Prix Ballet competition, as well as Brazil's prestigious Joinville competition, and although he appeared in media articles throughout Brazil, his teacher Mariza Estrella thought he wasn’t ready to take up any of the training places he was offered, and so held him back. The documentary follows what may well be his last opportunity to gain a place at an international ballet school.

Isabela Coracy

Seventeen-year-old Isabela started dancing at the age of 10 and is the only black girl at the Centro de Danca Rio, and also one of the most talented. She lives with her parents and brother in Cachambi, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rio. All she has ever wanted to do is dance, but becoming a professional ballet dancer is unheard of around there. The documentary sees Isabela preparing for her first international dance competition – the New York Grand Prix, that took place in April 2008. In order to realize her dreams of studying ballet abroad – the only option for a black ballerina in Brazil – she must win a prize in New York. Yet to get there she must negotiate the other girls' jealousy of her talent, and also the wider difficulties and added difficulties posed by her gender and her race.

Cast, Crew & Movie Info

2009-03-10T15:49:00.005-04:00

Director's Bio

Beadie Finzi has been working in documentaries since 1994. After making a number of films for UK Broadcasters, Beadie produced Unknown White Male, a feature documentary about a young amnesiac rediscovering his life, which was selected for Sundance and Oscar shortlisted in 2006. Beadie went on to direct The Hunger Season, an emotional essay examining the impact of humanitarian food aid. Filmed in Swaziland in Southern Africa over two years, the film was commissioned by Channel 4, NHK Japan, SBS Australia and YLE Finland. Beadie has just finished shooting and directing Only When I Dance, which charts the story of two young kids trying to dance their way out of the favelas of Rio. Beadie is one of the founding directors of the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, a grant giving body which invests in independent documentary filmmakers.

Country
Brazil, United Kingdom

Year
2009

Language
English and Portuguese with Subtitles

Running Time
78 min

CREDITS CREW
Directed by
Beadie Finzi
Produced by
Giorgia Lo Savio
Nikki Parrott
Original Music by
Stephen Hilton
Cinematography by
Beadie Finzi
Felipe Reinheimer
Film Editing by
Felipe Lacerda
Alan Levy
Sound Editor
Pip Norton

CAST
Irlan Santos de Silva
Himself
Isabela Coracy Alves Nascimento Santos
Herself
Mariza Estrella
Herself