Pendace Announces 2024 Festival Lineup
The 7th Annual Pendance Film Festival features over 40 incredible films, workshops and a bevy of live events for filmmakers and guests. Pendance will take place Feb 22nd through Feb 25th, 2024 in downtown Toronto at the Imagine Cinema Carlton, located at 20 Carlton St.
TICKETS & PASSES NOW AVAILABLE VIA FILMFREEWAY
Individual short films and features links and descriptions will be posted within the next 48 hours.
ARARAT FEB 22ND, 2024, 7PM (Canadian Premiere)
A destructive young woman, Zeynep, is accused of intentionally causing a car accident to harm her boyfriend. She flees from Berlin to her parents’ house in the Turkish province, close to a dormant volcano, the Mount Ararat. With her sexual aggression she turns her parents’ deadlocked marriage and an entire society upside down – but not the dormant demons from her past.
Director: Engin Kundag
Languages: German/Turkish
Noteable Festivals: Berlinale, Istanbul Film Festival
PRATFALL FEB 23RD, 2024, 7:00PM (Canadian Premiere)
Eli (Joshua Burge), a troubled insomniac encounters Joelle (Chloé Groussard), an enigmatic French tourist in Central Park. The two set off on a sleepless New York adventure as the city casts a shadow over them.
“With his first feature, Pratfall, writer-director Alex Andre has created a film that exists at the crossroads of Woody Allen’s Manhattan and Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights…Andre flawlessly captures the visual emotion of New York.” – FILM THREAT
“Burge is remarkable…as Eli…a mentally overloaded New Yorker.”
“…a daring piece that maintains all the requisite vitality and immediacy to warrant notice.” – FILM THREAT
“One of the best performances I’ve seen this year.” – UNSEEN FILMS
Director: Alex Andre
Languages: English
Notable Film Festivals: Brooklyn Film Festival (Best Feature Spirit Award)
*Q&A with director in attendance
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PENDANCE MIDNIGHT s FEB 23rd, 2024, 10PM
Put the kids to bed. It’s not about gore and shock value. These shorts haunt on a deeper level. Mystery. Suspense. We’re all alone in the end.
- HELENO by Mikel Arraiz
- SKINS by Jaiden Reese
- DEATH GRIP by David Silset
- 5/3/0 by Danilo Stanimirović
- SAUER DOGS by Guillermo de Oliveira
- THE BROKEN SPACE by Gabriel Alemán, Eduardo Eimil
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THROUGH HER EYES SHORTS FEB 24TH, 2024, 1:30PM
8 Stories about women, by women. From childhood to old-age, this block encapsulates the complex, varied role that women play through time and space.
Co-presented with Girl North Studios
- ONLY UNTIL DAWN by Eliza Godlewska, Alan Ruczyński
- MARUJA by Berta Garcia-Lacht
- A Very Sick Man by Bronwen Spolsky
- JULIE BABY by Emily Grooms
- LITTLE BOY by Sophie Horry
- PACHO’S VISUAL ARCHIVE by Blanca Marcela Lopez
- MY OLD GALS by Natasza Parzymies
$$$ FEB 24, 2024, 3:30PM (Canadian Premiere)
Director: Jake Remington
Languages: English
Q&A with director in attendance
Paired with* AT LITTLE WHEELIE THREE DAYS AGO by Andrew Stephen Lee
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LMFAO Shorts FEB 24TH, 2024, 5:30PM
8 of the funniest short films from Canada and around the world. You will laugh. A lot.
- A CONVERSATION IN PASSING by Matthew Segal
- TESTING by Andy Reid
- LAUNDRY DAY by Justin Diezmo, Christian Bunea
- JESTER’S FLAMING HOT MAC & CHEESE by Victor Saucier-Magistry
- BACK TO THE CLOSET by Gerald B. Fillmore
- WEDDING SONG by Clara Altimas
- LETHAL SHOPPING Mahay Alayón
- LINDA 4 EVA by Sophie Somerville
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THE EXCURSION FEB 24TH, 2024, 8PM (Candian Premiere)
In Sarajevo, a teenager seeking validation claims that she had sex for the first time during a game of “truth or dare” among middle schoolers. Trapped in her own lie, she invents a pregnancy and becomes the center of a controversy that spirals out of control.
Director: Una Gunjak
Languages: Bosnian
Notable Festivals: Locarno Film Festival (Jury Mention), Sarajevo Film Festival
#STORYOVEREVERYTHING SHORTS FEB 25TH, 2024, 2:30PM
7 Short films about meaning, truth and self-discovery. From narrative docs to animated films, this block will touch your soul.
- THE LINE by Myriam Guérin
- LOT’S WIFE by Ori Birger
- BI-MOK by Baro Lee
- IDRISSA ABARA by Jordi Rullan Bisbal
- STILL HERE by Álvaro Hernández Blanco
- GARRANO Vasco Sá, David Doutel
- HARDCORE by Adán Aliaga
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TO MY PARENTS SHORTS FEB 24TH, 2024, 5:00PM
7 Beautiful shorts about parenthood, forgiveness, and overcoming misunderstandings. Bring mom and dad. You will cry. A lot.
- 24/SEVEN by Santiago Requejo
- OJUE by Fernando Alberto Broce
- ROPED by Carmen Córdoba González
- PARIS 70 by Dani Feixas Roca
- ONE MORE DAY by Juan Carrascal Ynigo
- NELLY’S STORY by Jonas Steinacker
- UPROOT by Queena Liu
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THE ACCIDENT FEB 25TH, 2024, 7PM (Ontario Premiere)
After being fired, Marcella, a gentle hearted mother going through separation, buys a tow truck; she gets trapped deeper and deeper in a cynical and aggressive world until a terrible opportunity shines in front of her.
Director: Giuseppe Garau
Languages: Italian
Notable Festivals: Slamdance Film Festival (Jury Award), 52nd Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival
Q&A with director in attendance
Paired with: 5/3/0 by Danilo Stanimirović
Robert is a Serbian-Canadian writer and director, the founder of the Pensare Films Studio in Toronto, and the festival director for the Pendance Film Festival.