Spotlight Shorts | 2026 SF Dance Film Festival

Name: Spotlight Shorts | 2026 SF Dance Film Festival
Start: 2026-11-07T20:30:00-0800
End: 2026-11-07T22:00:00-0800
Location: Brava Theater Center

Sat, Nov 7, 8:30pm - 10pm PST

Brava Theater Center

San Francisco CA, United States

San Francisco Dance Film Festival

307 followers · Contact host

Description

Spotlight Shorts

A dazzling showcase of dance films at the cutting edge of creativity and cinematic craft.

Representing the very best of the festival’s creative range, Spotlight Shorts promises fresh ideas and cinematic daring. This curated collection features an eclectic blend of whimsy, longing, and quiet comedy, while spanning hand-drawn ink animation, immersive lighting design, and full-scale collaborations with world-class dance companies. From a dancer’s reflection coming to life inside a stuck elevator to a solo warm-up that blossoms into a flight of fantasy on one of the world’s grandest opera house stages, these films surprise and delight in equal measure.

With choreography from world-renowned artists Christopher Stowell (Royal Winnipeg Ballet), Jacob Jonas (Jacob Jonas The Company), Medhi Walerski (Ballet BC), and more, this vibrant mix of standout dance films is a program not to be missed.

Followed by a reception in the lobby, open to all ticketholders.

Tickets purchased at the door will cost $1 additional per ticket.

8:00p | House Opens

8:30p | Program begins

Runtime: 51 minutes

Venue Accessibility: Brava Theater is located at 2781 24th Street. Curb cuts for the sidewalk to the Brava Theater Center are located on the corner of York and 24th Street. The entrance of the theater is on the ground floor and there is an elevator to seating in the upper level of the theater.

About the 2026 San Francisco Dance Film Festival:

The San Francisco Dance Film Festival marks its seventeenth year this fall with over 80 films celebrating dance in all its forms, from world-class ballet to endangered folkloric traditions. Eighteen in-person screenings run October 23 through November 8 at venues across San Francisco, complete with artist Q&As, panels, and community gatherings, followed by an Online Festival from November 9 through 30 featuring short film programs and online-only features. Join SFDFF 2026 for intimate documentaries, dazzling screendance, and thrilling live performance captures that celebrate the ever-evolving intersection of dance and film.

For more info please visit our website.

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Hostinformation

San Francisco Dance Film Festival

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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.