Dances With Films Unveils 2026 Film Festival Lineup

Dances With Films has unveiled the film lineup for the 4th New York City edition of the bicoastal indie-film focused film festival. January 15-18 will kick off the new year with several feature-length narratives, documentaries, and midnight films making their debut, with pilots, family films, and short films also featuring in the cinema showcase.

Dances With Films serves as a prime launching pad and showcase for cinema, while introducing fresh, new filmmaking talent on a big stage for audiences and critics. Dominik Sedlar's Vindicta is the Opening Night feature selection, and Salvatore Sciortino's Roof will make its world premiere as the Closing Night selection.

This year's DWF NY lineup includes 157 films, including 20 narrative, 9 documentary, and 4 midnight features, 21 television and streaming pilots, 6 family films, and 97 short films (56 narrative, 15 documentary, and 26 midnight). All screenings will take place at Regal Union Square (850 Broadway). 

Check out highlights from the festival below. For more information about the Dances With Films NY film lineup, events, passes, and tickets, go here.

In addition to Sciortino's Roof, additional feature-length films making their world premieres are Geoffrey Davin's Aliens Are Coming!! On Monday!!!, Walter Kim's Banana Split, Colmcille Donston's By the Grape of God, Peter Odiorne's The Cereal Aisle Effect, Craig Downing's Dad Genes, David Michán and Ed Alexander's The Girl Inside the Photograph, Isabelle Armand and Glendora Collaborative's Glendora, Ilan Azoulai's Holy Ghetto, Alexandra Speith's I Know Exactly How You Die, Nicholas Pineda's Infirmary, Jamie and Jason Neese's Kratom: Side Effects May Include, Zach Schnitzer's Loafers, Dana Reilly's Our Body Electric, Chloe Lenihan's Smile... The Worst is Yet To Come, Paul Schwartz's Stop Time, Sabbuur Ikhlas' Untouchables: The Story of St. Benedict's Fencing, and Mirza Esho's Where Sweet Dreams Die

Television, web series pilots, and episodics making their world premieres include Dan Angelucci's Bigg County Restorations - Pilot, Blake Sherwyn's Chet Bond: License to Chill, Ron L. Wilson's Clear & Far, Lauren Reins' Enneagram in Movement - "The Achiever", MJ Bernier and Emily Draper Farther Along, Henry Parker-Elder and Shaun Wu's Henry By the Hour - Episode 5, Joanna Harmon, Noah Bremer, and Nic Murphy inCharacter - Episode 1: The Birthday, Adrienne Lunson's Kenji (The Dedication), Mariah Marasco's mockumentary Misguided, John Mossman's Nobody F*cking Leaves, Matthew Avant's Roots & Relics, and Tyler Rubner's Winnie.

Showcasing brand new work by filmmakers on both coasts is a goal for for Dances With Films’ Founders and Directors Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. "Being at the start of the year for the first time emphasizes fresh starts and kicking off new projects and Dances With Films has always been about discovering new talent and providing a platform for new films to help them get distribution and representation furthering their careers," they said. "Our New York City fests share the energy and excitement the city is known for which just emphasizes the thrill of seeing great new work and helping our ever-growing family of filmmakers take their next steps toward realizing their dreams."

Thursday, January 15 will feature Dominik Sedlar's Vindicta. The vengeance drama begins when a young girl's parents are murdered in front of her. After she escapes, she seeks refuge with family friends before embarking on a campaign of revenge against those responsible for destroying her life. The film stars Devon Ross, Jack Bandeira, and Pip Torrens.

Closing Night on Sunday, January 18, will feature the world premiere of Salvatore Sciortino's Roof. The high-tension survival tale focuses on two co-workers who discover they've become trapped on the roof of a skyscraper. The inconvenience becomes a fight for survival over the course of a long, hot holiday weekend. As they attempt increasingly dangerous ways to escape and survive, they form a unique and unexpected friendship. The film stars Asif Ali and Bella Heathcote.

Among the many notable films in the narrative slate is Evan Metzold and Jake Rubin's Damned If You Do, which follows a rock star, a tech mogul, and a high-profile activist who must rely on an old classmate to try and escape Hell's grasp before their deal with devil comes due - at their 25th high school reunion. The film's cast includes Kate Siegel and two-time DWF alumnus Mike Flanagan.

Additional narrative feature films making their world premieres include Geoffrey Davin's mockumentary Aliens Are Coming!! On Monday!!! which centers on an online group of alien believers who discover more than the reality of the invasion, which they're sure is coming. Walter Kim's Banana Split follows the sparks between a grieving brother and his sister's friend when they are unexpectedly forced to share her apartment after her death. Colmcille Donston's comedy By the Grape of God focuses on two priests on a crazy wine tasting weekend searching for the perfect communion wine. Peter Odiorne's The Cereal Aisle Effect is a story that serves as a love letter to the American consumer, who in this case, are found in a small coastal grocery store during a hurricane that never quite arrives. Zach Schnitzer's Loafers hearkens back to the mumblecore heyday (even including an appearance by Joe Swanberg) as it follows two best friends navigating the shifting terrain of their relationships when faced with post-grad life's realities.

Also on the narrative world premiere front are Nicholas Pineda's mystery Infirmary, revolving around the disappearance of a security guard during his first night shift at an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Chloe Lenihan's Smile... The Worst is Yet to Come is about a couple retreating to California's Big Bear Lake for a weekend, hoping to rekindle their dwindling romantic flame. Paul Schwartz's Stop Time follows the intertwined stories of a photographer and a theatrical lighting designer over the course of 24 hours in New York City until they meet at the opening of Peter's gallery show, with unexpected consequences for both of them. From the creators of Taxi Driver and American History X comes Mirza Esho's Where Sweet Dreams Die, a raw portrait of obsession and rage in modern America, as an Italian-American restaurateur reeling from the loss of his New York landmark, becomes fixated on a Middle Eastern refugee cab driver whom he believes has taken the life he deserved.

The Midnight category's world premieres include David Michán and Ed Alexander's The Girl Inside the Photograph, where a lonely teenage girl searching for her lost cat begins to uncover the gruesome history of her house - and the possibility that she and her mother could soon be its latest victims. Alexandra Speith's I Know Exactly How You Die focuses on a hack writer whose slasher-fiction novel manifests in real life. Now he must figure out how to finish his story without getting his protagonist murdered.

The equally world premiere-rich documentary category at DWF NY includes Craig Downing's Dad Genes, which looks at a former sperm donor's discovery that he's fathered dozens of children, transforming him from anonymous donor to unconventional family man. Isabelle Armand and the Glendora Collaborative group's Glendora reveals a stirring tale of identity, heritage, and community in the Deep South. ILan Azoulai's Holy Ghetto follows four women trafficked and trapped in Tel-Aviv's red-light district, bound by hope. Jamie and Jason Neese's Kratom: Side Effects May Include investigates the lethal consequences and regulatory gaps surrounding a plant-based extract found in energy supplements that some claim has cost thousands of lives, found in everyday locations such as gas stations. Dana Reilly's Our Body Electric follows three elite women bodybuilders competing to be Ms. Olympia, the most coveted muscle show title. Sabbuur Ikhlas' Untouchables: The Story of St. Benedict's Fencing is a film about the sport of Fencing that isn't about the sport of fencing at all.

Well established as a film festival that platforms television, web series pilots, and episodics on the big screen, Dances With Films: NY will emphasize discovery with several world premieres. Those include Dan Angelucci's Bigg County Restorations - Pilot, which is a long running fictional reality show that takes place at Bigg County Restorations, an antique restoration shop located in scenic Bigg County, USA. Blake Sherwyn's Chet Bond: License to Chill follows the famous secret agent's son as he leverages his network to gain employment at American intelligence agency, MI7. Ron L. Wilson's Clear & Far focuses on two spoiled step-sisters who turn to selling marijuana to make ends meet when their rich parents cut them off. Lauren Reins' Enneagram in Movement - "The Achiever" blends documentary, dance, and psychology in an innovative exploration of identity, featuring dancers who embody each of the nine Enneagram personality types. MJ Bernier and Emily Draper Farther Along sets up a classic odd couple situation when an uptight perfectionist allows his devil-may-care father, a minister, to move in after his mother dies. Henry Parker-Elder and Shaun Wu's Henry By the Hour - Episode 5 centers on a 30-something Asian man who rents himself out to people who need a friend.

Additional television pilots, wed series, and episodics making their world premieres are Joanna Harmon, Noah Bremer, and Nic Murphy inCharacter - Episode 1: The Birthday which features ordinary people in stand-alone stories of extraordinary proportions. Adrienne Lunson's Kenji (The Dedication) focuses on a woman facing the shameful secret of who her son's father really is and the deal she made with the devil for her his future. Mariah Marasco's mockumentary Misguided follows a group of misfit guides who lead tourists-and us-through the streets of New York City. DWF alumni John Mossman's Nobody F*cking Leaves pits a woman with a secret and some powers at her disposal versus the family she ran from years before. Matthew Avant's Roots & Relics looks at the history a family has history must deal with. Tyler Rubner's Winnie centers on a former childhood star of a family band who decides to make a comeback.

DWF NY's strong short films slate features several notable comedians. David J. Foley's Cry of the Coyote stars Joe List (Netflix's The Standups, Last Comic Standing), while Nick von Gremp's Good Not Great features Matt Pavich (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). Alisha Ketry's Your Own Flavor stars comedienne Alyssa Limperis (Peacock's No Bad Days).

Other standout performances include Jack Craymer and Jesse Suchomel's Chocolate Cake, starring Jaeden Martell (St. Vincent, Stephen King's It, Knives Out), as well as Britney Young (GLOW, Stone Creek Killer) in Lain Ewing's short film Performance Review.