(upbeat music) - The Utah Dance Film Festival showcases 28 dance-related films in person and online from nine countries.

They ran from documentaries to music.

And joining us is festival director and the curator, Katie Sorenson.

Hi Katie, thanks for being here.

So you were telling me about how you selected these 28 films.

You had 300 submissions.

- Yes, we have a huge submission pool, and then from those 300 films, my co-director and I plus a global jury whittled it down to these 28.

Those 28 films go on to be judged by our two judges, Tara and Fawaz, who are a dance educator and a filmmaker.

They award the films and then the weekend of the event we screen everything.

- Oh wow.

So people can go to the Rose Wagner and see them all.

- Yes.

- Wow.

So talk about some of the films you've got.

I mean, it's a great intersection of dance and film that you're showcasing, but highlight some.

- I would love to.

So one of the films that's made here in Utah that I would love to highlight is a piece choreographed by Jessica Heaton.

She's the executive director of Wasatch Contemporary Dance Company.

She created a duet called "Eve and Adam".

And what's really interesting about this piece is how it asks the viewer to reimagine pieces of the story that we know about Adam and Eve.

Another film that's really special, that's only screening in-person this year is a film called "Without Her", and it's made by a filmmaker in Iran.

And it speaks to the story of females and womanhood and what they're going through as a society in Iran.

The last film that I think really deserves a shout out because I'm a lover of folk dance, is a piece called "Kucha", and it's from China.

And it highlights this very specific region.

Its ecology, its geology, and how it relates to the movement styles and traditional costumes.

But then they also put a contemporary twist on the folk dance movement.

So it was a type of dance that I had never heard before, before seeing this.

And in this film, you can kind of capture the essence of this area in the world and also the movement.

- God, fascinating variety you've got.

It's impressive.

Well, thank you so much for doing it and thanks for being here.

- Thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about that upcoming Dance Film Festival at the Rose Wagner, it's August 16th and 17th.

Wide variety of films, go to utdancefilmfest.com.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching "Contact".

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