''Only When I Dance'' is a 2009

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Beadie Finzi.

Synopsis

''Only When I Dance'' tells the story of two teenagers, Irlan and Isabela, who pursue their dreams of becoming professional ballet dancers as a way to escape the violent slums of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Release

The film premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in April 2009. It was subsequently shown at several other major film festivals, including the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

, the San Francisco International DocFest, the

Rio Film Festival The Festival do Rio is an international film festival in Rio de Janeiro. The festival was the result of a 1999 merger of two previous film festivals, the Rio Cine Festival and the Mostra Banco Nacional de Cinema. Founded in 1984 and 1988 respectivel ...

Guadalajara Film Festival The Guadalajara International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara) is a week-long film festival held each March in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara since 1986. The presence in Guadalajara of dele ...

and

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

. It was broadcast on television in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

2009. It was released in USA in summer 2010. Prior to release it was pitched at the 2007

MeetMarket.

Production

The producers spent over three years trying to find the candidates to be filmed, and the film took around ten months to film.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' awarding it four out of five stars and calling it a "moving, if rather shallow documentary". The website Eye for Film awarded the film three and a half out of five stars, saying the film "shows how an artistic calling can be imbued with life-and-death determination."

References

External links

* 2009 films Documentary films about ballet Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) 2000s Portuguese-language films 2009 documentary films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films British musical documentary films {{arts-documentary-film-stub