Keep Calm and Keep on Moving
Now in its 11th edition, the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (BIDFF) will take place between September 11 and 14, 2025, in six locations across Bucharest. This year’s theme, “Keep Calm and Keep on Moving,” reflects the emotional and affective crises that shape our world today, but also the urgent need to find in movement a tool for resilience, dialogue, and reinvention. We live in times when uncertainty has become part of everyday life, and collective emotions are rewritten from one day to the next. In this context, movement is no longer just an artistic gesture, but a form of resistance, a way of remaining present, of not letting ourselves be defeated.
The structure of the festival is deliberately built around the idea of staying connected to the reality of the present, no matter how fluid and unpredictable it becomes. Whether we are talking about how technology changes our bodies and perceptions, about the individual and collective memory that shapes our identity, or about our projections for the future, BIDFF seeks to bring these themes into dialogue through dance and film. The five sections: Expand, Community, Exchange, VR, and Films, are not just simple program categories, but meeting places between artists from around the world and the public, places where dance becomes a tool for understanding, questioning, and reimagining the world we live in.
The BIDFF Film section hosts the dance short film competition, where the jury consists of special guests: Judith State (RO), Kati Kallio (FI), and Andreas Hannes (NL).
Important titles such as “The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés” (dir. Antón Álvarez), “Night Stage” (dir. Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon), “Rains Over Babel” (dir. Gala del Sol) and “Dreams” (dir. Michel Franco), which premiered at renowned festivals such as Berlinale, Sundance, and San Sebastián, will be screened every day at BIDFF.
The highlights of this edition bring Danse Macabre! A Choreography of Terror to the stage, a performance by Italian artist Jacopo Jenna, an intense exploration of dance in unstable and ever-changing forms, combining film, electronic music, and light, alongside the world premiere of Mihai Mihalcea’s performance, Sweet Spot (From the Middle of Terror) — a synthetic exercise in entertainment that provokes and surprises.
The education program complements the BIDFF Expand section with the FRAMING video dance lab, led by Jacopo Jenna, the masterclass Cinematic Spheres: Exploring the Cinematic Environment in 360° with Marius Hodea (RO), and the BIDFF Exchange event “Dance and Film Today: Perspectives, Challenges, and Collaborative Connections,” which opens a discussion about the future of dance film in Europe, the current challenges facing filmmakers, and the role of education in training new creators.
The Community section features collaborations with artists Andreea Novac (RO), Silvia Brazzale (IT), and Catrinel Catană (RO).
The festival’s hosts and partners are Cinema Elvire Popesco, Grădina cu Filme – Cinema & More, the National Dance Center Bucharest, /SAC @ MALMAISON, and the MASCA Theater, and specific activities dedicated to communities of all ages take place at the Amalia and Chief Rabbi Dr. Moses Rosen Residential Center in collaboration with the ADO Association and Ferentari Studios, and in public spaces in Bucharest.
The complete festival program can be found on the BIDFF website: www.bidff.ro
Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (BIDFF) is organized by the Tangaj Collective Association.
“Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, the 11th edition” is a cultural project co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.
“Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, the 11th edition” is a project co-financed by the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB within the „București. Împreună” 2025 Programme. The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of the Bucharest City Hall or that of ARCUB. For detailed information about the financing programme of Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB, you can access www.arcub.ro.
Partners: Institutul Francez din România (Cinema Elvire Popesco), CREART – Centrul de Creație, Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului București (Grădina cu Filme – Cinema and More), Asociația Spațiul de Artă Contemporană (/SAC@Malmaison), Centrul Național al Dansului București/CNDB, Institutul Italian de Cultură, Studiourile Ferentari, Teatrul MASCA, Asociația ADO – Artă pentru Drepturile Omului (Centrul Vârsta4), Centrul Rezidențial pentru persoane vârstnice „Amalia și Șef Rabin Dr. Moses Rosen”, Animest, Happy Friday Catering
Watched by: Radio Guerilla
Media partners: ELLE, Libertatea, Viva, Unica, Revista BIZ, Haute Culture, IQads, Revista FILM, The Trends, Movienews, Happ.ro, Cărturești, Observator Cultural