DANCE FILMS
Copyright © 2024 Anabella Lenzu.
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“ Anabella Lenzu’s dance film “No more beautiful dances” centered on her changing body, and on her identity as a dancer during pregnancy and childbirth. The film employed quick cuts of close-ups on her belly and thighs, lip smacks and oral sounds, bilingualism, and narrative elements to portray maternity’s bodily and emotional transformations that are, at times, disgusting, but ultimately redemptive.”
“No More Beautiful dances”
Black & White, 3 min 37 sec, 2018
“No more beautiful dances” wrestles with the ideas of exploration, introspection and reframing a woman after becoming a mother, and being an immigrant. Lenzu’s dance-theater piece uses spoken word and drawings to tell a personal vision of femininity, and what it means to be a woman today.
Director, Choreographer and Dancer: Anabella Lenzu
Cinematographer & Editor: Angelo Vasta
Acting Director & Voice Coach: Daniel Pettrow
Technology advisor: Todd Carroll
AWARDS:
Best Dance Film “No more beautiful dances” at NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC (2018)
Honorary Mention at the 7th Edition of the International Screendance Festival
Movimiento en Movimiento, DF, Mexico (2018)
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2023: DANZFAGIA 2023/ Movimiento en Movimiento, Mexico City;
IÓN SOLO CONTEST, Portugal2022: Cine Paris Film Festival, France; Cuerpo Mediado Festival de Video Danza, Rosario, Argentina.
2021: 5th annual New Ohio Theatre NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival, NYC; Modes of Capture 2021 Symposium Dublin, Ireland; Hyderabad Dance on Camera Festival/ The State Gallery of Art, India; Poetics of Aging, NYC, USA; Motion State Dance Film Series, School for Contemporary Dance, Northampton MA & Thought & WaterFire Arts Center, Bedford, MA, USA.
2020: Multiplié Dance Film 2020! Minimalen Short Film Festival Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway; 2020 FilmFest by Rogue Dancer: Black & White Edition, NC, USA; DisDanceFilm Fest, USA.
2019: DANCE SHORTS at Plaxall Gallery in Long Island City, NY, IDACO Festival at The Sheen Center, NYC, Dance Film Showing at EnCore: Dance on Film Decatur, Atlanta, GA, Every Woman Biennial Film Festival at Chashama, NYC, EnCore: Dance on Film, Houston, TX, London International Screen Dance Festival at Laban Theatre, London, England, Festival Internacional de Videodanzaba at Centro Cultural San Martin, Buenos
Aires, Argentina, TDP’19 International Dance Festival at Tipperary, Ireland, RIFF FOURTH EDITION, at R.E.D., Vestre Toten, Norway.
2018: ScreenDance Festival Movimiento en Movimiento #7, Mexico City, The Dance Barn ScreenDANCE Festival in Battle Lake, MN, ADF’s Movies by Movers, Duke University and Appalachian State University, NC, Dance on Screen Festival, Graz, Switzerland, “Dance on Film” Sarah Lawrence College- Bronxville, NY, “Dance on Film” Austin Dance Festival – Austin, TX, 2018 Dance Film Festival at Triskelion Arts, Brooklyn, InShadow– Lisbon Screendance Festival, Lisboa, Portugal, NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC, NY
“What dominates, though, is her self-satisfied persona, which bursts out in wagging eyebrows and crazed smirks. The video seems inadvertently to be the portrait of someone who can’t stop acting. Is this a response to the times or is she always like this?”
“Even if you are eager to return to live performances, and are tired of watching dance at home on your computer, you might want to consider taking in one more virtual dance event, especially if you are a fan of Anabella Lenzu. An enthralling performer, whose autobiographical dance-theatre solos never fail to provoke, Lenzu proves just as captivating virtually as she is in person. Lenzu’s two most appealing traits as a performer are her willingness to boldly expose her inner landscape and her constant acknowledgment of the important presence of her audience. Surprisingly, in this virtual, filmed in black-and-white, text-driven work, perhaps best described as a monologue-with-movement, both of these qualities register as forcefully as they do onstage ”
“Anima & Animus”
Black & White, 9 min 7 sec, 2020
"Anima and Animus" both questions and affirms the reality of being a creator, an artist, and a spectator. What is the boundary between art and life? Is performance a way to love?
Director: Anabella Lenzu
Cinematographer & Editor: Angelo Vasta
Dancers: Anabella Lenzu and Salvatore Cataldo
Anima and Animus is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).
Anima and Animus was developed in part at CUNY Dance Initiative at Lehman College 2019-2020, and funded in part by generous grants from Edward Foundation Arts Fund, MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education and private donations.
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2021: Vesuvius International Film festival, Naples, Italy. 2020: RIFF FIFTH EDITION, at R.E.D., Vestre Toten, Norway; Judson Arts Wednesdays at Judson Church, NYC, USA; STRANGELOVE TIME-BASED MEDIA FESTIVAL, London, UK; 2020 Virtual Texas Dance Improvisation Festival at the University of Texas El Paso, US; IMMAGI]NA Film Festival, Pozzuoli/Napoli, Italy.
“The Night that you stopped acting/
La noche que dejaste de actuar”
Black & White, 26 min 15 sec, 2021
The night that you stopped acting/ La noche que dejaste de actuar, confronts the absurdity and irony of life, while being an artist and a spectator in today’s world. The work reflects Anabella Lenzu’s my experience as a Latina/European artist living in New York and comes from a deep examination of my motivations as a woman, mother, and immigrant.
Choreographer and Dancer: Anabella Lenzu
Direction: Daniel Pettrow
Videographer and Technology advisor: Todd Carroll
Dramaturgy: Naoko Maeshiba
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: Move to Change Dance Festival at The Jacques d’Amboise Center for Learning & the Arts, NYC.
2023: Snug Harbor Dance Festival, Staten Island, NY.
2022: Latitudes 2022-Festival Internacional de Performance Art de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; LoudSoulMusic Festival & Dance Movement, Belgrade; BAAD!ASS Women Festival, Bronx, NY.
2021: La MaMa Moves! Online, NYC, USA; The Exponential Festival, Online Brooklyn, USA; Take Root Online Festival, NYC, USA; Post /Future Performance Online Festival, NYC.
2020: Café La MaMa Live: La MaMa Moves! Online, NYC, USA
“Out of the Folds of Women (Dance Film), immediately confronts the perception of the viewer...is an urgent cry speaking through the screen and into the silence of our own still-quarantined bodies at home.”
“This is a duet of two Lenzus - one with clear limits yet still an ever-evolving, distorted view of life, and one, amorphously flowing through life. ”
“Out of the Folds of Women”
Black & White, 5 min, 2020
"Out of the Folds of Women" tells a personal vision of femininity, and what it means to be a woman, mother and immigrant today. “Unfolded out of the folds of the woman Man comes unfolded, And is always to come unfolded" -Walt Whitman
Director, Choreographer and Dancer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer, Editor and Music Composition: Todd Carroll
AWARDS:
Best Dance Cinema Award at Frostbite International Film Festival, Colorado Springs, CO, USA (2020).
BEST SOUND & MUSIC at Experimental, Dance, Music Film Festival in Los Angeles & Toronto (2021)
Honorable Mention at London International Monthly Film Festival
London (2021).Honorable Mention at LoudSoulMusic Festival & Dance Movement, Belgrade, Serbia (2021).
Honorable Mention at Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, NYC, United States (2021)
Honorable Mention at New Generation Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia (2021)
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: Cuadro por Danza Festival at UCAB Cultural Center of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, Venezuela; Experimental Brasil, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweeden; Luleå International Film Festival, Norrbotten, Sweden; ESTIA Day Fest- Fall 2024, Brooklyn Art Haus, NYC; 20° Festival Internacional de Cine de Rengo, Cachapoal, Chile.
2023: XXVII Festival Internacional de Videodanza DVDanza Habana Movimiento y Ciudad, Cuba; 305 & HAVANA INTERNATIONAL IMPROV FEST, Miami, FL; Female Bodies in the Digital/Sofia, Bulgaria; Videoart.Ist Screening Program/ Ismir, Turkey; Noches en Movimiento: Cortometrajes de Videodanza, Yucatán, México; Coctelito de Videodanza, Mérida, Yucatán, México (Mexican Tour: Secretaría de las Artes y de la Cultura | SEDECULTA, Conservatorio de Danza de Yucatán , Universidad de las Artes de Yucatán, Universidad de Baja California Campus Mexicali | UABC, Taberna Montejo, Espacio Morillo (Oaxaca, México), Bistro Cultural B66, El Teatrito | Centro de Investigación Escénica, El Chayo Traspatio Cultural (Oaxaca, México) & POCOAPOCO).
2022: Film Fest by RogueDancer, Raleigh, NC; Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival based in Pittsburgh, PA; 21st Anniversary Virtual DUMBO DANCE FESTIVAL, NYC; The International Fine Arts Film Festival, Hollywood, CA; Short to the Point, Bucharest, Romania; Cuadro por Danza Festival - dance film & dance photography, Caracas, Venezuela; Cine Paris Film Festival, Paris, France; Coctelito de Videodanza, Mexico; 7Arts Cafe in Yokohama, Japan; 2022 Women in Dance Leadership Conference in Chicago, USA; Cinedanza Festival, Modena, Emilia Romagna, Italy; Athens International Digital Film Festival AIDFF, Athens, Greece; Breaking Walls Festival, Cairo, Egypt.
2021: Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual, Guadalajara, Mexico; LoudSoulMusic Festival & Dance Movement, Belgrade, Serbia; Essence of Embodiment 2021 Festival, NJ, USA; Women in Dance Leadership Conference, Chicago, US ; On Art Film Festival Warszawa, Poland; Edición Online del VI Festival Cuerpo al Descubierto, Mexico City, Mexico; La Bienal Casa Abierta, Oaxaca, Mexico; 5th Annual Lights Dance Festival, Seattle, Washington; FIVRS, Festival Internacional de Videodança do Rio Grande do Sul | Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil; New Generation Film Festival,
Belgrade, Serbia; 16th Cyprus International Film Festival "Golden Aphrodite", Nicosia, Cyprus; Experimental, Dance & Music Film Festival in Los Angeles & Toronto, Canada; Imajitari - International Dance Film Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2020: “Danza: a fish out of water” by Thru Lines Productions, NYC, USA; Frostbite International Film Festival, Colorado Springs, CO, USA; INHALE on Camera, Philadelphia, USA; Cuerpo Mediado Festival de Videodanza, Argentina; IMARP - Mostra Internacional de Dança - Imagens em Movimento - Vídeo Dança in Sao Paulo, Brasil.
“heart beats”
Black & White, 4 min 7 sec, 2021
heart beats conjures memories of the mother-daughter relationship, speaks to the loss of innocence, discipline, freedom, youth, aging, and the passage of time.
Director & Choreographer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer and Editor: Todd Carroll
Composer: Geoff Gersh
Dancers: Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll & Anabella Lenzu
AWARDS:
Best Artist- Feature Film 2022 at Madonie Film Festival, Palermo/Sicily, Italy (2022)
Best Artist Film at the Cine Paris Film Festival (2022)
Finalist at Open Vision Film Fest Festival, Belgrade, Serbia (2022)
Finalist at 2022 NewGrounds Dance Film Collection, Tampa, Florida (2022)
Best Ensemble Acting Drama, 18th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC (2022)
The top 10 dance films at Florence Dance On Screen, Italy (2021)
Finalist at FROSTBITE International Indie Fest Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA (2021)
Honorable Mention at New Generation Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia (2021)
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: ADF’s Movies by Movers, USA.
2023: Madonie Film Festival, Palermo/Sicily, Italy
2022: BIONICA AV, Barcelona, Spain; CASCADIA Dance & Cinema Festival, VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA; 2022 NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival, NYC; BB Dance Film Fest, Boulder, CO; 2022 ACDA Screendance Festival, USA; LoudSoulMusic Festival & Dance Movement, Belgrade, Serbia;BAAD!ASS Women Festival, Bronx, NY; Convocatoria Universitaria de Videodanza REDIV (Red Iberoamericana de Videodanza); Red Rock ScreenDance Film Festival, St George, Ut; 2022 ADF's Movies by Movers Film Festival, NC; Cine Paris Film Festival, France; Grand International Film & Theatre Festival (GIFT fest)
Nairobi, Kenya; On Women Festival, New Media Storytelling, Brooklyn, NY; FICCE Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes Corporalidad Expandida, BA, Argentina; Madonie Film Festival, Palermo/Sicily, Italy; mignolo international screendance festival, NJ, USA; Festival Internacional de Videodança do RS - FIVRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Motion State Dance Film Series, Bedford, MA & Providence, RI, USA; Imajitari - International Dance Film Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia; OPEN VISION FILM FEST, Belgrad, Serbia; 3rd Festival Encuentro Danza Pichilemu “La Memoria del Agua”, Chile; NewGrounds Dance Film Collection, Tampa, Florida; FilmFest by Rogue Dancer, Raleigh/NC, USA; 18th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC; Parenting and Dance Network Symposium at Queen’s University Belfast, UK.2021: DanceBARN ScreenDANCE Festival, MN, USA; FROSTBITE International Indie Fest Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Coctelito de Videodanza - 9a Edición, Mexico; ?!:New Works - 2021 at The Brick, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Florence Dance On Screen Festival, Florence, Italy; InShadow – Lisbon Screendance Festival, Lisbon, Portugal; IMARP - Mostra Internacional de dança - Imagens em Movimento, São Paulo, Brasil; La Vida Es Cortos/Life Is Shorts, Houston, TX, US; Festival Internacional Danza x la Identidad, BA, Argentina; Cuerpo Mediado Festival de Video Danza, Rosario, Argentina; 2021 - III Festival Internacional de Videoarte SPMAV at Museum of Art Leopoldo Gotuzzo, Pelotas, Brazil; Festival VideoDanzaBA Buenos Aires, Argentina; Athens International Digital Film Festival AIDFF, Athens, Greece; Unitaly International Film Festival
Agropoli/SA, Italy.
“CLOSE TO THE BONE”
Black & White, 5 min, 2022
Close to the Bone, a short film by Anabella Lenzu, exposes the inner dialogue of an artist in the examination of the creative process. Lenzu shows the struggles, the desires, and the internal contradictions that make visible the vulnerability of the performer.
Director, Choreographer & Dancer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer and Editor: Todd Carroll
Script: Anabella Lenzu
Script Editor: Daniel Pettrow
AWARDS:
Award Winner “Artist Film (Short)” at Brussels Capital Film Festival, Brussels, Belgium (2023)
Award Winner Short Dance Theatre Film at TheaterLive Online® Film Festival, Chester, NY (2022)
Semi-Finalist at Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweeden (2024)
Semi-Finalist at Paris Lady MovieMakers Festival, Paris, France (2024)
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweeden; Luleå International Film Festival, Norrbotten, Sweden; Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival, Canada; ESTIA Day Fest- Fall 2024, Brooklyn Art Haus, NYC; CatNat Dance Films Fest, CA; Paris Lady MovieMakers Festival, Paris, France; IMARP 10 anos Mostra Internacional de Videodança, São Paulo, Brazil.
2023: The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art Biennal; FilmFest by Rogue Dancer, USA.
2022: Spring Movement Festival: CROSSROADS, Center for Performance Research, NYC; The 17th Cyprus International Film Festival "Golden Aphrodite", Nicosia, Cyprus; Exeter Dance International Film Festival, Exeter, United Kingdom; TheaterLive Online® Film Festival, Chester, NY; Move to Change Dance Festival,NYC, USA.
“In Between”
Black & White, 5 min, 2022
"In Between", a short film by Anabella Lenzu, exposes the inner dialogue of a woman in her roles as mother and artist. Lenzu shows the struggles, the desires, and the internal contradictions that make visible the vulnerability of the performer.
Director, Choreographer, and Dancer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer and Editor: Todd Carroll
Music: Todd Carroll & Lucio Lenzu-Carroll
Script: Anabella Lenzu
Script Editor: Daniel Pettrow
AWARDS:
Best Cinematography, New York International Women Festival, NYC (2023)
Best Experimental Film at Love & Hope International Film Festival - Barcelona (L'HIFF), (2023)
Finalist Best Experimental Film at New York International Film Awards, NYC, USA (2023)
Best Editing (Todd Carroll) at 19th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC (2023)
Finalist at Luleå International Film Festival, Norrbotten, Sweden.
Finalist at The North Film Festival, Stockholm/Sweden (2023)
Semi-Finalist at The Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweden (2023)
Semi-Finalist at New York International Women's Festival, NYC (2023)
Best Experimental Film at Brussels Capital Film Festival, Brussels, Belgium (2022)
Best Experimental Film at Swedish International Film Festival, Arvika, Sweden (2022)
Best Experimental Film at Madonie Film Festival, Palermo/Sicily, Italy (2022)
Finalist New Generation Film Festival NGFF, Belgrade, Serbia (2022)
Honorable Mention at Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany (2022).
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: Luminous Frames Film Festival, Denmark & Armenia; International Dance Festival New Orleans, New Orleans, LA; Portugal Indie Film Festival, Nazaré, Portugal; The Capital Filmmakers Festival, Berlin, Germany; New York Film and Actress Awards 2024, NYC.
2023: 7th annual NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival/ New Ohio Theatre, NYC; Love & Hope International Film Festival - Barcelona (L'HIFF), Barcelona, Spain; Intervalli Festival - Cinema, Padova, Italy; The North Film Festival, Stockholm/Sweden; New York International Film Awards, NYC, USA; Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival, PA, USA; Chain NYC Film Festival, NYC, USA; New York International Women's Festival, NYC; Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Boulder, CO, USA; Luleå International Film Festival, Norrbotten, Sweden; NYC Downtown Short Film Festival, NYC; The Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweden; Parenting and Dance Network Symposium at Queen’s University Belfast, UK.
2022: Cine Paris Film Festival, France; Swedish International Film Festival, Arvika; New Generation Film Festival NGFF, Belgrade, Serbia; Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany; Motion Pictures International Film Festival (MOPIFF), Alberta, Canada; IMARP - Mostra Internacional de dança - Imagens em Movimento - Video dança, São Paulo, Brasil; 5th MOTION PICTURES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Nigeria and Kenya; Festival Video[An]Danza Internacional, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival, Toronto, Canada.
“Becoming”
Black & White, 5 min, 37 sec, 2023
“Becoming” captures a moment on the edge of awakening, the fleeting time before motivation and before criticism. A childhood dream-dance, lived fully in the moment, and destined to be forgotten.
Director & Choreographer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer and Editor: Todd Carroll
Composer: Geoff Gersh
Dancer: Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll
AWARDS:
Award Winner, Best Artistic Short Film at Madonie Film Festival, Region of Sicily, Palermo (2023)
Award Winner Best Short Dance Film, Brussels Capital Film Festival, Brussels, Belgium (2023)
Award Winner Best Short Dance Film at the Cine Paris Film Festival (2023)
Finalist (Best Child Actress) Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll at New York International Film Awards, NYC, USA (2023)
Nominee for Outstanding Young Performer Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll, MOM Film Fest, USA (2023)
Honorable Mention at Covent Garden Film Festival, London, UK (2023)
Semi-Finalist at Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweeden (2023)
Semi-Finalist at Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal (2024)
Nominee for Best Music/ Dance video at Love & Hope International Film Festival, Barcelona (2024)
LIST OF FESTIVALS:
2024: Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal; Love & Hope International Film Festival - Barcelona (L'HIFF); 5º Festival Internacional de Videodança do RS – FIVRS 2024, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
2023: CAPITOL Dance & Cinema Festival, Washington, DC; MOM Film Fest, USA; Exeter Dance International Film Festival, Exeter, United Kingdom; Cuerpo Mediado Festival de Videodanza, Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina; Rio Webfest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Covent Garden Film Festival, London, UK; Stockholm City Film Festival, Sweeden; Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal
“listen to your mother”
Color, 19 min, 45 sec, 2024
Listen to Your Mother is a choreographic research project dedicated to the lives of women-identifying artists who are immigrant mothers living in New York City. The project seeks to capture these underrepresented women's stories to inspire dialogue, appreciation, and social support instead of the ongoing prejudice endured that is historically placed against mothers and women in the arts. https://www.anabellalenzu.com/listen-to-your-mother
Director & Choreographer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer and Editor: Todd Carroll
Music Composition: Todd Carroll & Geoff Gersh
Text: Anabella Lenzu & Jerzy Grotowski
Drawings: Anabella Lenzu
Performers: Anabella Lenzu & Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll
Additional Choreography: Isadora Duncan “Le Mere” (1921) Music: Alexander Scriabin
Coach/ Reposition Isadora Duncan Repertory: Catherine Gallant
AWARDS:
2024: Best Experimental Film at The Portugal Indie Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal.