Personnel:
Zeke Hanson, Festival Director
Samuel Hanson, Artistic Director
Anna Hanson, Director of Operations
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Submission Policy:
Festival Season: Late Summer (usually weekend after labor day in September)
Deadline: Aug. (check website for exact dates)
Entry: $20 for features. $15 for shorts. Fees vary depending on deadline.
Content:
Features, Shorts
Festival Season:
Summer
Comments:
The festival is an annual celebration of independent cinema, where filmmakers from all over and audiences from largely rural areas in the South Dakota and Minnesota plains gather for two days to enjoy films from a variety of genres and formats, from documentary and experimental, to dramatic and comedic narratives in both feature and short film length. What’s so special about Dancing Spider is the relaxed tone of the festival – none of the films are in competition with one another and they are largely created by filmmakers and students from the midwest region. The focus is to bring filmmakers and storytellers together with an audience to which they otherwise might not have access. This is so unique in the area and that's why the festival feels it's so important to introduce these stories and creative outlets to the rural communities. All have stories to share and DSFF craves an audience for them. Not to mention it takes place at a Drive-In movie theater which captures the spirit of wonder but also provides a comforting and increasingly rare experience.