2021 In-Person Festival Schedule

March 30th to April 8th: A Hybrid Film Festival

Excellent, funny, complex, beautiful and sometimes unsettling independent films screened in competition. With spaces for deep conversation with filmmakers and experts both online and at small screenings.  All films and seminars are online; some screenings and discussions are in-person; and many events are live streamed for those attending online.

VIRTUAL DCIFF March 30-April 8th: online screenings, workshops and discussions.  Get a pass and enjoy it all. Watch in your own time and join live discussions, seminars and workshops. DCIFF ONLINE IS HERE

IN-PERSON DCIFF: Buy tickets at the link under each each event.

Tuesday March 30th at Arlington Drafthouse, VA

6:30-8:00pm   The Legacy Sessions and #PrincessProblems directors attending.  #PrincessProblems: In the strenuous world of children’s party entertainment, an overly positive “princess” must win over a writer who is doing a story on female role models. The Legacy Sessions: A troubled high school student forms an unlikely friendship with a woman in a retirement community.  

8:30-10.30pm:  Sapelo  On the barrier island of Sapelo, two brothers are growing up in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people. Cornelia Walker Bailey works to preserve what remains of this unique community established by her ancestors. SAPELO is having an encore free screening on Saturday April 10th, 3.20pm at Arlington Drafthouse, VA.

Wednesday March 31st:

6:30-8:00pm: Join us and local poets in the glorious garden at Arts Club of Washington DC for drinks and the screening of the documentary Keeper of the Fire (USA/2020/30mins) about poet Alejando Murguia who will join us virtually from San Francisco.  WOW! That was a great event!

 Thursday April 1st 

Join Us for Screenings with hors d’oeuvres and a drink followed by a discussion with the filmmaker at the delightful Tabard Inn near Dupont Circle, DC.  Seating limited to 18.

6.30-8:00pm:       Estilo Americano    The timely story of a Mexican-American family divided by politics.  

7.30-9:00pm:       Funeral of a Nation: A Musical Essay     In memory of who we were, a tribute to who we will be. Followed by a discussion with director Keith L. Nixon     

8.30-10.00pm:     Funeral of a Nation: A Musical Essay     In memory of who we were, a tribute to who we will be. Followed by a discussion with director Keith L. Nixon    

Friday April 2nd:

           Evening: Documentary Seminar: Respecting and Supporting   Communities and Subjects: DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE

Saturday April 3rd

12 noon-1:30pm EST  WALA presents Web Streaming Legal Issues for Filmmakers        DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE

3:00-4:30pm EST       Getting Started in Your Media Career Speed-Dating Roundtable   DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE

World Premiere of Leave the Door Open at Everret House, the Residence, The Turkish Embassy, Washington  SUPERB Screening and Discussion

Sunday April 4th at Arlington Drafthouse, VA

2.00-3:30pm EST Animation Extravaganza Screening    

4:00-6:00pm EST Leave the Door Open (Turkey/2021/62mins) Documentary World Premiere. Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, founders of Atlantic Records, hosted jazz jam sessions with  artists such as Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Teddy Williams, Johnny Hodges and Count Basie at the Turkish Ambassador’s residence in Washington DC.  Q&A with director Umran Safter.

6:30-8:15pm EST  The Soul of A Cyclist Bicycles transport us in our discovery and in our reflection. Through a group of “classic” cyclists, we discover the values of friendship, ecology, valuing the old and minimalism to achieve a happier, simpler and more fulfilled life.

Monday April 5th: 

Music Documentary Seminar  DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE In-person panel recorded and available at DCIFFOnline.

Tuesday April 6th at Arlington Drafthouse

6:30-8:00pm EST The Bears on Pine Ridge (USA/2021/40mins) followed by a discussion with members of the Oglala Sioux. A respected elder leads the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s only suicide prevention team, while working with a group of suicide survivor teenagers to create a performance group, called the BEAR Program. TICKETS HERE 

8:30-10.30pm EST Chills and Thrills Short Films Program, directors attending  TICKETS HERE 

Wednesday April 7th: 

           12:00-1:30pm EST A Chat With Film Distributors: (online only)      DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE

8:30-10pm EST   9 Horror Filmmaking Tricks from the Experts (online only)  DCIFF ONLINE PASSES HERE

Thursday April 8th:

3;30-5;00pm EST  Animation Resources Roundtable     DCIFF PASSES ONLINE HERE

7:00pm EST  Juliet Must Die (Germany/2020/1:35mins/feature) directed by Marco Gadge (Washington DC and simultaneous screening in Detroit, MI). Followed by a virtual Q&A with the director. Lya laces her father’s tea with sleeping pills to secretly attend the acting audition. Caring for her father for eight years is enough. But, of course, the plan is blown.

Tickets for  Redmond Theater Detroit screening HERE

Closing Night Screening of Juliet Must Die in Washington DC at Tsehay Ethiopian Restaurant And Bar, 3630 Georgia Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20010. With beer, wine and samosas!   (6.45-9.15, film starts at 7:00pm). Washington DC Tickets HERE

Saturday April 10th at Arlington Drafthouse:

3:30pm-5.30pm EST   Sapelo  On the barrier island of Sapelo, two brothers are growing up in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people. Cornelia Walker Bailey works to preserve what remains of this unique community established by her ancestors. THIS IS A FREE  SCREENING, please register here