The Organization:
Founded in 2010, Dance Film SF is a nonprofit organization bringing dance to new audiences through the presentation and development of dance-based media. Along with the annual presentation of its award-winning San Francisco Dance Film Festival, DFSF’s year-round activities include special screenings, panels, and filmmaking workshops. DFSF also produces original dance films through its Co-Laboratory program, matching top choreographers with professional filmmakers and creating the time, space, and budget for them to collaborate.

The Festival:
Celebrating its 17th season in 2026, Dance Film SF will present its annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival fall 2026 at multiple venues in San Francisco. From in-depth feature documentaries to engaging shorts programs, the festival offers something for diehard dance fans and newcomers alike. Over the last fourteen years the event has secured a solid place on the international scene, drawing a vibrant and diverse range of participants from all over the world. The Festival offers a rare place where independent artists can celebrate their achievements and inspire each other as a unified community. It also serves to introduce dance to those who don’t typically attend live performances, and showcases new international talent before it reaches the Bay Area through traditional venues.

What is Dance Film?
Dancers and filmmakers have worked together since the invention of the motion picture, but the dance film genre has exploded in recent years as digital technologies have become more accessible to independent artists. Today’s dance films encompass a wide range of interpretations and include contributions from visual artists, animators, composers and live performers. DFSF’s programming covers this broad spectrum by highlighting everything from “screendance”, short experimental dance pieces created specifically for the camera, to live performance captures from the world’s great international stages. Feature documentaries focus on the process of creating dance—from historical profiles to behind-the-scenes views of today’s most innovative choreographers, and narrative works find innovative ways to tell stories through movement. In our thorough curation process, we consider dance-based films of all lengths, genres, dance forms, and budgets, made by artists of all backgrounds and levels of experience. We aim to represent a diverse cross-section of the dance community while highlighting work that stands out as risk-taking and innovative.

Read the San Francisco Chronicle article about our first festival.

Contact the host of Spotlight Shorts | 2024 SFDFF