Carried in Silence is an extract of a relation between a mother and a daughter. Through contemporary dance and classical music the film speaks about intergenerational trauma and suppressed emotions, carried in silence. The chain of generations is also reflected in the music of the film, composed by Isabella Leonarda in the 17th century – one of the few female composers of her era.

A gateway, a threshold and a figure pausing, maneuvering his being within a misplaced frame. I dream no more I remember is a palindrome film, a mystical ritual in a magical and archaic place. An homage to the poetry of Lorenzo Calogero.

Phuong is released from prison and returns to her home province. She finds Khang, her childhood sweetheart, but no longer recognizes her village. All the small factories in the province have closed, and the big city suddenly bristled with countless skyscrapers. Urban Genesis questions the place left to love when time passes faster than the clouds.

To be able to live in Bogotá, you need a skin that can adapt, that can turn reptilian when it doesn't stop raining for weeks and that can go soft when the woman in the corner shop gives you a free morning coffee. Thick Skin is a dance film that takes the viewer through the Colombian capital, high above the Andes, with stylized movement that speaks of life in the bustling city.

A film about the limits of the aging body and the boundless mind. Rauno's story takes us on a boat trip with his father. A journey of misadventures and his father's new Finnish record in cursing.

In this non-dialogue tale, set along the coast of Vietnam, a mermaid is rescued from the fish market by a fisherman. As the hero carries her back to the ocean they are joined by two seahorses. Upon her awakening on the beach the mermaid performs a sensual dance. But her joy is short-lived: the waves have other plans.

In a dystopian world, freedom comes with ranking. An MMA fighter is about to step on the ring when his social anxiety disorder takes over. The only way he knows how to deal with his fears is to either fight or flight, but this only takes him further away from winning the game.

“Simple is complex and complex is simple.” Choreographer and director Naomi Kats exposes the internal world and the perspective we hold on our thoughts. To which extent do we allow ourselves to choose, and to look in the mirror?

In the process of encountering an abandoned building, multi-disciplinary artist Martijn Klukas playfully tests our perception in a series of parables. Representation, decontextualization, deconstruction and sequentiality in text, image and sound playfully reveal an intuitive body that constantly searches for meaning and expanded connections.

A young Bulgarian man, riding the endless rollercoaster of workouts, anonymous sex, and dopamine, asks how to finally get off in a world where the body is everything. The film explores the obsession of queer men with their bodies as an object of desire, pleasure, and self-confidence and probes how the body is weaponized in fitness, sex, and hookup culture. Collecting footage from video games, 3D scans, online conversations, and archive footage of the ideal male body, the film asks if it is possible to completely detach from our bodies in this supersexual culture.

In the history of the future, lab technicians clone themselves. The temperature rises when a clone emerges that deviates from the norm. A game of mirroring, attraction and repulsion emerges, in which the distinction between the deviation and the standard becomes blurred, and even reversible. In the end, who is the right clone?

The discovery of a dance creature in the elevator of a theater sets in motion a cat and mouse play between performer and camera. Both are looking for the fragile harmony of a dance captured on film.

Twelve world leaders assemble in a war room to play a game on life and death in which they have to dance tango. Last man standing.

This film is part of the online program but is not accessible on the territory of Belgium.

A faceless, genderless body moves in tiny motions; twisting, twitching, stretching; transforming into curious, surreal and intimate shapes. Forming includes dancers with MS and examines the experience of living with a neurological condition. Developed from an artwork by Chloe Rosser and supported by Scottish Ballet.

The human body and its most basic need is the subject of this minimalist film envisioning a water-scarce future. A young man stumbling along a path, hears the sound of water before dropping down in exhaustion. He opens his eyes to find himself in a bare landscape where a bottle of water sits on top of a very high pole.

"In our neighborhood, lives a rooster. In our neighborhood, lives a sadist slaying rooster!" With these first words, Syrian writer and poet Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani recites the journey of a dictator rising to power.

Carmen, has just won a dance competition, she is holding the prize in her hands. She is exhausted, but happy, it has been worth the effort. She walks home, she just wants to show off her prize and let her family know that she has succeeded this time. She is so happy she can't even feel her own feet. But someone is following her. She realizes too late, it's too close. Carmen has to run, hide and defend herself. She'll never get home, she doesn't need to prove anything to anyone, not anymore. "Footsteps" proposes a poetic look at violence against women based on a physical investigation of Argentinean folkloric traditions and their replication in modern times.

Siren is a short story of a curse. The central figure’s heightened state of danger blooms into ecstasy, disgust and rage. What happens when we yield to our fear?

As the Call, So the Echo follows a young woman in conflict with her inner demons. How does she reckon with her unknown self?

Millennial Eva is looking for a way to escape her daily struggles. The nightlife can give her the anonymity she needs to finally surrender to the moment. Will she get carried away by the flow of the beat? Can she disappear into the crowd without losing herself?

Blue Funk charts the physicality of being afraid. As chain reaction, fear settles over its targets, exposing their innate sentient responses of freeze, fight, fawn, and flight. The resulting cacophony evokes the volatility of this moment in time, a mounting pressure edging towards its breaking point.

Through a feminist lens, Wiaam from Syria and Orian from Israel seek to examine alternative methods of protest against occupation, racism and violence in current Israel. They grapple with the decision of whether to leave or stay, take action or remain home.

Mathilde is a short film based in parts of the 19th century novel 'A Love Story' by Dutch author Lodewijk van Deyssel. Mathilde is estranged from herself and her surroundings by a long-term illness. She is advised to go and live in the countryside for a while. One evening she comes out of her lethargy and has a breakthrough.

Sininen (The Blue) is a fairytale fantasy of a bird-like figure in the embrace of the forest. The central character of the film has evolved over the years as Vappu has searched for her power figure through dance and movement. The film depicts gentle strength and magical skills, independence and a self-directed ability to create life, meaning and encounters around her. Each of us has something unique to pass on. The script was written together with the performers and choreographed by Vappu Virkkula.

Branches asks how our lives could differ based on a single decision or encounter. Drawing on director Masumi's experience as a minority and immigrant to the UK, we examine how the environment and society shape us. Exploring neuroses and fears through the multiverse, viewers will ponder how choices in life topple like dominoes. We present opportunities for viewers to reflect on their lives in our post-COVID information-oriented society, which fragments our ideology.

Little Movement is a short dance film in which six patients with Huntington's disease are portrayed in a dream-like space where time is suspended. An intimate choreography shows us their positive energy, zest for life and resilience in their vulnerable and fragile existence.

Ngày Mới’ (A new day has come), is a poetic visual response to the new track “Ngày Mới” of Vietnam-based electronic band Tiny Giant. The film depicts a world in constant motion that opens up when we slumber. Cavernous darkness is a habitat of transit, between worlds and the axis of time. In the heart of this motion, memories, knowledge, sadness and joy will leave their residues without completely disappearing: perhaps they have fallen into another place, another turning of time. The moment of transit in the cave doubles as both childhood and adulthood come to the surface in sync, where we bend closer in proximity to the inner child, the taste of a spoonful of innocence lingering on the tongue. Deity-like characters also appear in the video. They are gods of the filmmaker’s own world turned into images, as any person can have their own interpretation of a god. In this film, God is understood as a provider of support and company, and trust is a form of custody. We trust in the things that can protect and guide us. The eyeless horses, then, appear as mascots and attachment figures that walk with the children towards the world.

Part of the choreography was initially inspired by the ‘Kitsune Wedding’ scene in ‘Dreams’ – a film by Akira Kurosawa, in combination with experimental hip hop moves and the krumping stomps, choreographed and performed by Saigon-based dancer Kim from La Différence Saigon and Hanoi-based dancer Quay Trần from Abnormal Conceptz.

Whether it's running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or simply making it through a difficult day, endurance is what enables people to persist and succeed. A film about the power of perseverance and resilience and a testament to the idea that with hard work, determination, and the inherent drive to keep going despite adversity, anything is possible.

A park. Two bodies dance looking for the exit. Through the tour they find fantastic and real situations. The movement will carry them forward into the next age. A labyrinthine passage from Dance in the Park.

Mimeisthai is an experimental screendance that responds to Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘mimetic faculty’, which is, the ability to perceive and/or reproduce similarity. This generic skill is possessed by all living things and finds expression on various levels, from the biological to the behavioral; such as in reproduction or camouflage, to the myriad ways that creatures communicate.

In Mimeisthai movements are shared, copied and repeated between performers both on and off-screen, and then amplified across multiple frames. Through duplication, repetition, and layering multiple exposures, this work explores the mimetic faculty of dance and digital video.

Around its own axis showcases the infinite, repetitive rhythm of the automated Dutch agricultural landscape. Machines perform a dance, while choreographer Pauline Roelants, in the language of her profession, guides the viewer through the scenes. Thus, the silences and tranquility of the landscapes, interacting with the impulsive actions and mistakes of the machine, become an integral part of the choreography.

Faces of Passing Love is a film that mourns for past lovers through obsolete technology: a repeatedly projected slideshow, where eyes open, mouths whisper, tears linger.

A figure transitions between two realities: An external material one - in which they are subjected to increasing levels of social interaction - picking up ‘human’ traits as they go. And an internal fluid one - in which they are able to seek refuge to be and feel themselves.

EXT. is centred around the experience of someone trying to figure out what it is to be ‘human’. The film is a reference to our experiences as social animals and the often absurd evolution we go through, to adapt to society.

It also references gender exploration - the journey of an initially gender neutral character, that is increasingly nudged to conform to a binary - in order to fit in - and their escape to a fluid space, devoid of expectations and norms.

The film uses movement instead of dialogue as a means of expression and follows the protagonist on their awkward journey through different surroundings, like an avatar in a computer game.

Rowin, a 22-year-old fisherman from Banda Abou (Curaçao) has little luck catching fish at his fishing spot. He goes there everyday despite the disapproval of his mother. One day, on the coastline where he fishes daily, he encounters a mysterious young man who will change everything.

This film is part of the online program but accessible only in the Netherlands and until the 25th March.

On a 5-day hike from the Seriana to the Brembana Valley in Italy, a character is in search of answers but doesn’t pose any questions. A speculative dance documentary reflecting on the relationship between human and mountain, as material entity and as idea.

Two bodies emerge, one of flesh and one of metal. Both are cautious of, yet compelled towards each other. This evolves into a game of hide and seek. Can friendship truly form or will we always be stuck in a limbo of a human vs machine narrative? ?!%$&#@$^()}!@#|%>? is a cry to connect, to be seen by each other and come together. Singaporean filmmaker Clare Chong and movement artist Sonia Kwek are working for the first time with the Bolt, a high-speed camera robot.

Four dancers, one choreographic score, one poem, one camera, one angle, three takes and no edits. Dog Cloud explores the subtle interplay between structure, chance and the human desire for finding patterns and stories.

We are transported into a dream-like state in which we do not run, but dance. The original music composed by Echo Collective takes us on a journey through landscapes where time disappears and we are drawn into nature.

A building is in constant development, it’s enlivened, used, worn out, decaying. Bodies leave traces in buildings. Buildings leave their mark on us. Decay does not necessarily end in dust that we gently sweep away. In and so I'll go the carpet of an old furniture showroom becomes the grid of various accumulative micro plots and intimate dances.

Who are these entities of abandonment? They have never seen the light and a simple lightning strike awakens the hope of escaping from confinement.

Noora is a dance short film that follows Noora's movement. She is a dancer. Her body's impulses are generated in the moment from contact with different environments. Noora has congenital bone fragility, osteogenesis imperfecta. She uses a wheelchair as a dancing aid. In it, she can move widely, but feels isolated. On the ground, she feels the ground against her skin. In the water she can let go of her wheelchair. Noora's toes sink into the mud bottom, which pulsates with her steps. The water supports her fragile body with its pressure and surrounded by it she dares to move more freely, her body is more elastic, her expressions and range of motion are greater. In water she finds ways to move as independently as other dancers on land.

We may imagine ourselves unaffected by the changes of contemporaneity, but the organic and the synthetic have fused. In Dark Field Analysis, we take a dive into the disconcerting strangeness of the inner self, of what often remains hidden – anatomically, psychologically and spiritually. The film speaks about the complexity of living in this world, incorporating animal forces, desire, instinct and technology.

A bird called Memory has forgotten how to come back home. Lua, a trans woman, searches for Memory in the streets, where she finds the city to be a hostile place.

The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet, nurturing and developing exceptional young talent and shaping the future generation of leading dancers, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. A celebratory documentary about a crucial platform for the development of young and ambitious dancers.

Inspired by hydrofeminist theories and wearing a vessel suit, full of leaking water, artist Elisabeth Raymond tells an otherworldly story about sorrow, the plastic in our oceans and how our borders are fluid.

An allegorical film based on the news photos of refugees. Reality is often more absurd and bitter than you could have ever imagined. We are inundated with images that make us jaded in a certain way and our conscience has become a casual phenomenon of our time: today it is here, tomorrow it is gone.

The film is accompanied by a performance by artist Miloushka Bokma.

Bart shares his experiences of living in Moerwijk-Oost, a working-class neighborhood in The Hague. The many empty buildings merge the world of a group of inhabiting creatives with the daily antics of five children living down the street. Shot with a hand-held 16mm and super 8 camera and accompanied by a photo series by Nas Hosen and soundtrack by Unit Nine.

Inei, meaning darkness in Japanese, is a poetic exploration of the unfixed time system known as futeijihō. The dance film unfolds against the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Yufu and is a visual and emotional feast for the senses. From the blue hues of sunrise to the dusky shadows of sunset, the film captures the shifting atmospheres and moods that accompany the passing of time.

Bull Rider merges meditations on dance from choreographer Martha Graham, music by composer Philip Glass and featuring bull rider in action Ouncie Mitchell.

Lucid Dreaming tells the story of a girl in a train, who loses herself in the world of another passenger. As she falls deeper in his emotions and sensations, the train and its passengers become part of the world she encounters through him. During this non-verbal encounter between strangers, she experiences how imagination and empathy are both powerful and vulnerable at the same time.

This film is part of the online program but accessible only in the Netherlands.