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OUR STORY – OUR WAY

Pendance is an independent film festival supported by a bevy of great sponsors and key artists in the Canadian film community. We exist to give a serious platform to innovative storytellers and to spark a new love affair with cinema among modern audiences starving for truth and meaning on the big screen. Our slogan ‘Story Over Everything’ effectively sums up our event in eight syllables. To find out how we started this crazy journey and what we’re planning for the future, keep reading.

#STORYOVEREVERYTHING & HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Pendance was founded by long-time friends Rob & Andjelika over a late afternoon coffee in August of 2017. A few months later on December, 15, 2017 at the Regent Theatre in midtown Toronto, the first edition of the Pendance Film Festival opened to 415 guests for a single night of short films.

The 2018-2020 Boom

Due to the unimaginable success following the first edition, Pendance expanded focus dramatically in years 2 and 3. Year two was held again at the Regent, but was expanded from a single night in 2017 to a full four day marathon from January 31st to February 3rd, 2019. The festival included over 40 international guests, four workshops, panels, 41 selected short films, and 8 selected features. It was a monumental step forward for a young festival, and despite a blizzard, thousands of guests poured in for the four day event.

For the 2020 edition, Pendance moved downtown between the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Jackman Hall Theatre. The third year was again a four day event, which now included; Pendance Doctrina, Pendance Music and the Pendance Director’s Lab. With after-parties at Arcane and Drom, film panels and workshops and a full-fledged concert for opening night, year 3 was effectively Pendance in full-form.

THE PENDANCE LIBRARY

New in 2021, Pendance launched a revamped Pendance Library—a place to stream dozens of amazing films for free. From past selections and festival favourites to cult classics and video essays about cinema. The library adds at least one title per week, and is a promissory commitment from the festival to any and every official selection at Pendance that whenever a film is ready to be released publicly, Pendance will support it. Forever.

The secret lives of teenage girls, finally explored in a hilarious way.
A scheming street photographer runs from debt collectors and his pissed off girlfriend on the biggest night of his career.
Fresh out of foster care, a young drifter turns to petty crime to survive.
When the neighbourhood dogcatcher William Page is found wandering the streets disoriented, he is taken to the local police station for help.
A production assistant discovers the truth about the fast track.
When his younger brother goes missing, a frustrated man takes the law into his own hands.
In this timely Golden Globe-nominated thriller, single father Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) is evicted from his home.
A lonely man receives a mystery package which turns his life upside down.
One year after the events of Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs are now living in our world.
A chance encounter at a coffee shop shows two people their future.
A woman displays her ultimate strength.
Edward Pratt unicycled around the world. He still doesn't know why.
Simon and Lea, a young couple, need to get rid of their broken washing machine. Instead of bringing it to the dump, they decide to sell it online.
A tomboy's body becomes home to a startling metamorphosis in this first film from the "Titane" and "Raw" director.
In space, no one can see you're upside down...
A man tries to be a superhero and instantly regrets it.
a young drummer in his school's top-tier jazz band clashes with the intense, abusive methods of an obsessive music teacher (Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons).
an Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls in love, but she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
An astronaut (Sam Rockwell) and his AI companion (Kevin Spacey) encounter a mysterious presence toward the end of their three-year stint at a lunar mine.
Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell, who lived unarmed among grizzlies for 13 summers
An old married couple finally air out their dirty laundry.
A young woman arrives at a hotel escaping from something, but everything about this hideaway intensifies her paranoia.
Deno and Sara manage their drunkard father's self-destruction and social humiliation every day. But everyone has their limits.
On September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by the KKK. 4 Black girls died that day.
Before Marlon died, he sent Kim a message saying he had something important to tell her. Now she'll never know.
Lynn’s quest for a one night stand is complicated when the guy she goes home with lives 2 hours away via public transit.
The film concerns a group of people in a saloon who, in an act of breaking the fourth wall, are able to hear the narrator of the film.
An Argentine expat faces difficult decisions when his mother's bipolar disorder worsens, and her medical bills continue to pile up.
Dana and Hart Perry capture 15 years of their son Evan's heart-breaking battle with bipolar disorder and suicide.
When his son comes home after a prolonged journey with a mysterious woman, a concerned father becomes suspicious.
A 6-year-old Serbian girl, has a difficult time interacting with the other kids – and she ends up being misunderstood and lonesome.
After an apprehensive sexual encounter, a young woman wanders the streets in search of answers when her partner disappears.
All Luke and his mom have are two garbage bags full of clothes, and two tickets out of town on the midnight Greyhound.
A few minutes in the woods reveal a talent for horror, in the short that preceded Sundance breakthrough The Witch.
Marko is living a lie. He has the entire world convinced things are going well. But under the quiet exterior, he's slowly starting to crack.
A young man's livelihood is put to the test when he is stopped by the police on his way home. Official Selection at Sundance 2014.
To investigate the life of Russian composer Pavel Sosnovsky, Andrei goes to Italy, where Sosnovsky resided before his suicide.
When a man dies in a traffic accident and gets into a conversation with God, he gets an answer to the biggest question of life.
An overweight teen is mercilessly bullied by three girls from her high school until a chance encounter turns the tables.
A housebound man thinks he might be the only witness to a disturbing event on the sunset channel.
After a clay shoot goes wrong, a miserable cynic, an alcoholic and an accountant find themselves lost in the Scottish Moorlands with the body of a gamekeeper.
Based on a true story. Against mounting odds and facing grave danger, a young Jewish photographer joins the Soviet Resistance.
Sonya, a 17-year-old Russian immigrant, lives in a claustrophobic Brooklyn apartment with her dad and his ever-growing menagerie of cats.

THE PENDANCE PHILOSOPHY

Our selection process is uniquely transparent. Each official selection to Pendance is the process of deep deliberation over months of internal debates among our programmers. We care a great deal about the films we consider and the filmmakers who have entrusted us to consider their work.

As filmmakers, we know that each film is the result of months and sometimes years of work. Each submission is watched by no less than two programmers. Prior to being officially selected, a film is then watched and reviewed by each programmer before being subject to a final vote.

We don’t outsource our screenings to volunteers for preliminary selections. Our attention to detail is why there are no fillers at Pendance. We’ve never selected a film we didn’t feel warranted our stamp of approval. Passing up a hidden gem, or selecting a film we’re not comfortable with isn’t something we take lightly.

All of the talk around the festival is about the art and craft of cinema. Pendance is a marathon of galas, screenings, networking events, and workshops. We foster a real connection with our audience and the filmmakers we select. We take the time to actually learn about our filmmakers and communicate with them on a very human level.

We’ve always believed in generating as much value for those we select, and we work tirelessly on behalf of our official selections to make sure they’re seen, talked about, and have an imprint in the world beyond just our festival.

Film festivals are about more than just films, and we’ve devoted ourselves to networking, education, and fostering a great atmosphere for film lovers and filmmakers to connect. In 2019, we launched our workshops, headlined by veteran filmmakers like Mark Raso, Peter Brunner, and Ann Lupo. We feel that it is through these workshops that Pendance can give value to emerging talent in Toronto and to those visiting from abroad. Our workshops are truly hands-on and cover a wide range of topics for intermediate and advanced filmmakers.