I could say something poetic, but to be honest, my interests as a programmer are pretty straightforward and they are based on the question that I am the most passionate about – why has a film maker chosen dance (corporal expression) as one (and hopefully as the main) form of storytelling? Therefore, more than the themes of the movie, I care about how organic the world they’ve created is. Do I believe that characters communicate through body language and not speech? Is there a message in the movement, in addition to pure aesthetics, or does the movement act as an amplifier for something else? I have been strict and left out all choreographies filmed at dance studios that gave off the impression of documenting a film, and also all the live-action films where the character went to one ballet class. This year’s selection counts with five dance films where dancing is a natural form of expression for the characters. Whether it is escapism, conditional poetry or fantastical fiction – the essence is in the movement. To finish off the selection, we will show you the only exceptional documentary where the main character is a man who emerged as an answer to a question that has been bothering me for a long time – why do we need dance as an art form? What will become of dance when it is free from being intellectualised, when it is free from clichés, and trends? When it is free from choreography, style, form, and schools of thought? Well, then something that can be called the pure, true nature of dance emerges.

Arolin Raudva