Films by Alumni Screen at Dances with Films Festival

By
Amanda Breen
September 25, 2020

Paint, co-produced by film alumnus Gabriel Wilson ’19, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature at Dances with Films this past August. Must Love Pie, written and directed by film alumnus Patrick Clement ’20, and Diabla, produced by film alumna Maya Korn ’19, were also featured at the festival. 

Paint, directed by Michael Walker, is a dark comedy based on the TV pilot of the same name, which premiered at Sundance in 2018. Set in Brooklyn, the film follows three young artists as they strive for personal and professional success. The film will be released on VOD on December 15, 2020. 

Working “through a naturalistic lens,” Wilson has examined “mental health, existential crises, and the darkly comedic side of the financial crisis” in past films. Wilson’s films have screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival, the Independent Film Festival Boston, the River Run International Film Festival, and the Urbanworld Film Festival. His short film Clean was broadcast on PBS.

Man holding flowers

In Must Love Pie, a man who doesn’t consider himself adventurous places a personal ad in search of romantic connection. He takes a chance on a woman named Gwen, but she stands him up at the diner where they are supposed to meet; the man stipulates that those responding to his personal ad “must love pie.” 

Clement’s Study in Blue was selected as a semifinalist for the NOLA Horror Film Festival’s and the Screamfest Horror Film Festival's screenplay competitions, a finalist in FilmQuest's screenplay competition, and a semifinalist in the Genre Blast Film Festival's screenplay competition. The screenplay features a man who is trapped on a mountain with his wife’s corpse. Over the course of the winter, the man uncovers a family secret, investigates the mysterious landscape, and grapples with regret over a past affair.

Three Corner House, directed by Clement, co-written by Clement and David Mar Stefansson ’19, and co-produced by Clement and Catherine Kosiba ’18, screened at the Roze Filmdagn Amsterdam LGBTQ Film Festival on September 17, 2020. The film explores the complex family dynamics resulting from a leery wife, a closeted husband, and a sex-addicted son.  

Woman holding metal tool

Korn’s Diabla follows a 17-year-old girl who draws on her female power and the local witch culture to exact revenge after surviving an assault. Diabla has also recently screened at the Fantasia Film Festival, the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival, the Monterrey International Film Festival, and the Catalina Film Festival. It will screen at the Norwich Film Festival this November as well. 

Founded by a group of independent filmmakers in 1998, Dances with Films now draws over 20,000 attendees each year, and Indiewire calls the festival “the premiere showcase of innovative independent cinema, presenting amazing undiscovered talent to an industry audience in Hollywood."