Dance Films

“Ghostly Labor: A Dance Film” is a short dance film created during the pandemic to share the stories of Bay Area farm workers with the world. Co-directed by John Jota Leaños and Vanessa Sanchez, this film is based on farmworker interviews in California, this work honors the sacred hands that feed us and was filmed on Avila Garcia Farms with support from Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS), a non-profit advocacy organization for farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, CA. “Ghostly Labor: A Dance Film” has received widespread acclaim, featuring an array of selections at internationally respected film festivals. Most notably, it screened at the 51st Annual Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City, the longest-running and most esteemed dance film festival in the United States. The film was included in the renowned 23rd Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, Barcelona’s globally recognized Dance Film Festival (Choreoscope 2023), Dance Camera Istanbul, the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, Reel Work Labor Film Festival in Watsonville, the Capitol Dance & Cinema Festival in Washington DC, the London International Screen Dance Festival, which takes place at the prestigious Laban Theatre at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and the Inspired Dance Film Festival at the Talbot Theatre in Australia.

The film has also garnered multiple prestigious awards, such as “Best Short Documentary” at Dance Camera West in Hollywood, the leading dance film festival on the West Coast. It also received the “El XicanIndie Premio Mayor Award for Most Outstanding Film” at the XicanIndie Film Festival XXV in Denver. Additionally, the film won “Best of Festival” at the Third Coast Festival in Reno, Nevada, captured the “Audience Choice Award” at Boulder’s Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, and was honored with the “Outstanding Excellence Award” at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival.

“Convivencia” is a dance film commissioned by Dance Camera West that brings to light the lives and stories of female essential laborers along the US/Mexico borderlands through Tap dance, Son Jarocho, and Afro-Carribean rhythms. Focusing on the experiences of migrant domestic laborers from “La Colectiva de Mujeres,” a female-led collective of domestic workers in California, the film is a unique fusion of oral histories, percussive dance, footwork, and folkloric dance by filmmaker John Jota Leaños and choreographer/director Vanessa Sanchez. Through oral history and dance, the film dives into the struggles, resistance, and resilience of these women to showcase their significant contributions to our communities and celebrates their spirit of community, joy, and resilience.

“Convivencia” premiered at Dance Camera West‘s “Visibility Self Reflections” Film Premiere and Procession in Bakersfield, CA in April 2024.