We stand with Ukraine.
Call Me Dancer Documentary
Directed by Pip Gilmourl Fiore
Playing Saturday, April 27th at 7:30 pm
Madison Community Arts Center
10 Kings Road, Madison
CALL ME DANCER is a story of perseverance, passion, culture, and an unlikely friendship. It follows Manish Chauhan, a street dancer from Mumbai, whose working-class parents depend on their only son's support. When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters a brilliant but curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master, a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him.
CALL ME DANCER is a story of hope, heartache, and hard work. Together, Manish and Yehuda transform each other’s lives, searching to uncover who and what they are. Yehuda seeks purpose and a place to call home. Manish dreams of dancing on the world-stage but struggles to break free from the confines of his economic and social circumstances.
Dancing In Fire Documentary
Discussion to Follow with director
Ramesh Khadka and producer al pach
Playing Saturday, June 8 at 3:00 pm
Madison Community Arts Center
10 Kings Road, Madison
DANCING IN FIRE documents for the first time the spirit and deity possession seances and the sacred Khalikhane fire-walking ceremony that occurred in a Hindu village in the Kathmandu Valley. It is an audio-visual sensory and multi-storied exploration of the experiences and responses to traumatic loss and suffering, and the transformative effects of communal ceremony and ritual healing.
The documentary was produced over six weeks of continuous filming to capture the immersive rituals, music, dance of the Khalikhane ceremony and the embodied, possession testimonies of ancestral spirits who describe their unnatural, often violent, deaths that have left them trapped as wandering spirits. Seeking recognition and release from their earthly existence, they cause family members illness and misfortune.
A ritual specialist calls these spirits to possess family members, describe the events of their death, and enter the fire-walking ceremony to be released to the divine ancestral realm. These events bring family members relief from everyday suffering and misfortune, help process their grief, and support the spiritual progress of their loved ones’ souls. This documentary is a testament to the power of ritual and community to heal and process suffering caused by the traumatic loss of family members. The film concludes with a joyous community celebration of the success of the ceremony.
The Sitting Duck /
La Syndicaliste DRAMA
directed by Jean-Paul Salomé
Discussion to Follow
Coming Soon
Madison Community Arts Center
10 Kings Road, Madison
An investigative thriller set in the world of nuclear power and corrupt politics, La Syndicaliste follows the true story of Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert), the influential head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. A deft navigator of elite political and financial circles, Maureen becomes a whistleblower when she discovers international backroom dealings, exposing secrets that shook the French nuclear sector. Fighting against government ministers and industry leaders, Maureen worked tirelessly to bring the scandal to light and defend thousands of jobs until she was violently sexually assaulted in her own home, seemingly targeted for her attempts to reveal the truth. As her attack is investigated, new elements create doubt in the minds of detectives and lawyers, and they begin to see Maureen not as a victim, but as a suspect. Surrounded by powerful enemies and unable to trust anyone, Maureen must fight to clear her name.
Official Selection: Venice International Film Festival