TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
Select Showtime to Purchase Tickets

Come early to take your photo at the Portland Dance Film Festival Step and Repeat!

Click here to learn more about accessibility at the Tomorrow Theater. 

---

THE EXPERIENCE

Portland Dance Film Fest (PDFF) is back for its 9th year! This year’s three-day festival will include 25 film shorts showcasing a diverse range of films that use movement to tell stories. PDFF endeavors to foster the appreciation and creation of dance film in Portland and to connect us all more to the language of our bodies. Join us for 25 spectacular PDFF Picks, curated from 14 different countries.

The eight films of Picks 2 explore the slippery layers of time and how we surrender into its supposed reality. We begin with The Joy and Sorrow of Time (Denmark), a sunlit meditation on community vibrancy and the delicate dance of possibilities. In i am woman (USA/Oregon) we peer into the cyclical flow and screech of a woman’s daily meeting of the world as the wheels fall off and she cleanses the discord. 

From there we are delivered into the hypersaturated, supernatural arms of HipHop Purée (Australia) in which two sisters confront one another on a perilous journey to Thursday night’s dinner in their suburban home. The color continues and then fades in SEASONS (Poland), a playful and editorial expression of nature’s themes in four distinct chapters.

The second half begins with The Meaning of February (USA/Oregon), a solo elegy of profound grief set in the particular weight of the Pacific Northwest winter. Kielo (Finland) reminds us: “We all have a poetic body that dances when encouraged.” Youth, neurodivergence, and the tension between sitting still and authentic movement are given compassionate time. 

In One Human Show (USA), experimental film becomes a tool for questioning gender roles and societal hierarchies as the subject encounters themselves in varied roles, and we end the evening with the stunning film What Remains (Belgium), a haunting, multigenerational inquiry into memory, inheritance, and the shapes grief makes as it settles in the body. 

8 Films  |   Run Time W/Intermission: ~1 hour 30 minutes

---

ON SCREEN: Portland Dance Film Festival 2025 Picks 2

The Joy and Sorrow of Time | Directed by Sara Jordan & Choreography by  Supa Rich Kids | 4:05 | Denmark

The future is a delicate dance of possibilities, where every choice and every moment shapes the path ahead.  The fragility of what’s next reminds us to handle it with care, to nurture our dreams and aspirations, and to believe in the limitless potential of tomorrow. Time is a valuable currency.

I Am Woman | Directed & Choreography by Kailee McMurran | 9:48 | Local Artist

…and the cycle continues.

Hiphop Purée | Directed by Ryan Renshaw & Choreography by Jack Lister | 3:00 | Australia

Two sisters confront supernatural suburban forces and their own dark secrets on a perilous journey to Thursday night dinner.

SEASONS | Directed by Malgorzata Czyzowska | 14:32 | Poland

The main inspiration and organizing principle of the movie are the seasons. In our latitude, we can experience breathtaking springs, sun-wrapped summers, autumns shimmering with different colors and harsh winters. The film has been divided into four corresponding chapters. The common denominator connecting the parts is the figure of a dancer who leads us through the changing seasons. Nature not only determines the rhythm of our lives, but is also an inseparable element of it. The cyclicality of the seasons and the changes that the surrounding landscape undergoes is a metaphor for the ones happening to and in us as well. Therefore, seasons is nothing more than a story about constant metamorphosis, vanishing, letting go, the passing of the old and making room for what new is there to come.

-intermission-

The Meaning of February | Film by Peace Tree Collective | 16:25 | Local Artist

The Meaning of February is an experimental short film following a young woman’s journey through loss. Set against the backdrop of a rural farm in winter, the film weaves together dance, poetry, and landscape to explore how grief transforms through the seasons. This film was produced by Peace Tree Collective and created in memory of Ezekiel Sozo Crowder, who passed away at the age of fifteen in February 2021.

Kielo | Directed & Choreography by Janina Rajakangas | 4:36 | Finland

“Kielo finds it hard to sit still in class. She takes a break venturing into the corridors of her imagination.” The film Kielo touches on the subject of love, support as well as contempt between young people in the school environment, with a focus on the convergence of neurodivergence and sisterhood/peer-hood. “We all have a poetic body, that dances when‬ encouraged. It just needs to be given a chance to exist alongside the body that goes by the‬ rules and is used to shy away from expression.” 

One Human Show | Directed & Choreography by Yue Zhu | 8:00 | United States

One Human Show delves into the essence of life, exploring diverse forms, gender roles, and societal constructs. Through the symbolic cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, the film reflects on equality, transformation, and the interconnectedness of existence. It questions traditional hierarchies, offering a thought-provoking exploration of how cultural customs shape our understanding of life and renewal.

What Remains | Directed by Michiel Venmans, Jonathan Van Hemelrijck, & Zoë Demoustier | 12:00 | Belgium

A man tries to escape the memories in his head, that slowly start shaping his bitter reality.

 

ON STAGE: Kailee McMurran, Tia Palomino, Jess Evans, Kathryn Frey, Maile Crowder, Cory Standridge, Brady Heinsoo

 

Kailee McMurran / Festival Director / Director & Choreographer for I Am A Woman
Kailee McMurran is a Portland-based multidisciplinary artist who delights in bridging dance, filmmaking, and design. Born and raised on the wild coasts of Alaska, she spent her early years training in ballet and competitive gymnastics, directing homemade movies, and foraging salmonberries under endless summer skies. She went on to dance with multiple companies, co-found SubRosa Dance Collective, and create dance films that are narrative poems with a little bit of humor and usually an unexpected plot twist. Kailee also co-founded and directs Portland Dance Film Fest, runs a bespoke design company, & eats approximately one chocolate bar a day.

Tia Palomino / Director of Operations
Tia Palomino is a performer, teacher, and co-founder of Portland Dance Film Fest. She has performed and taught with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theater, Polaris Dance Theatre, POV Dance, SubRosa Dance Collective, and A-WOL Dance Collective. She runs Trampoline Town, a circus studio in SW Portland, where she teaches aerial arts, trampoline, and acrobatics.

Jess Evans  / Director of Communication
Jess Evans is a dancer, choreographer, somatic healer, and co-founder of Portland Dance Film Fest. She has created and performed work as a principal with Rainbow Dance Theater, SubRosa Dance Collective, push/FOLD, and as a solo artist. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher.

 

Kathryn Frey is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, dancer, and facilitator who believes dance is a ritual for memory, embodiment is resistance to the capitalist matrix, and poetry is a reunion with the robust mundanity of existence. Frey earned her B.A. of Fine Arts from Parsons Paris and currently teaches, performs, and creates based in Portland, OR. She is a co-founder of Peace Tree Collective where her creative practice seemingly integrates and explores deeply human themes such as grief, ritual, and transformation.

 

 

 

Maile Crowder is a Portland-based performance artist, teacher, and co-founder of Peace Tree Collective, a community dedicated to empowering people to process grief through creativity and community. With over 20 years of dance experience and 10 years of teaching, she has worked across an extensive range of styles and settings. Maile holds a B.S. in Biochemistry with a minor in Dance Studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and is currently pursuing her M.A. in Counseling. Her work explores the intersections of emotion, imagination, and connection through movement and storytelling.

 

 

Cory Standridge is an accomplished cinematographer whose recent work includes the experimental short film The Meaning of February, crafted in collaboration with Peace Tree Collective. He has also contributed his cinematography to notable feature films such as I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017), Moxie (2021), and Metal Lords (2022). His cinematographic work spans both cinematic narratives and poetic, movement-based shorts, demonstrating versatility across genres and formats.

 

Brady Heinsoo is a versatile and seasoned musician with over 12 years of experience in the industry, seamlessly blending his passion for music with a deep understanding of production. Holding a B.A. in Music Production, Beady has honed his craft through a diverse range of musical projects, showcasing his ability to adapt to various genres and styles. Currently, he is the Lead Vocalist and Guitarist for The Sonic Splits, where his powerful voice and dynamic guitar work help shape the band’s distinct punk rock sound.