A portrait of the personal journey of charismatic Spanish dancer and choreographer Sol Picó, From Knee to Heart highlights the artistic career of this force of nature from street theater to the creation of her company.

Performance is at the heart of this story about family, mortality, and new beginnings, starring American actress and dancer Bobbi Jene Smith and featuring choreography from Punchdrunk’s Maxine Doyle.

When legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham died in 2009, filmmaker and media dance innovator Charles Atlas created a compilation of excerpts focusing on their unique, longtime collaboration. To mark the Cunningham Centennial, Atlas will show this rare selection of films made with or about the artist he has called “the best collaborator anyone could have.”

Mitten tells the story of the making of the performance “Mitten wir im Leben sind/Bach6Cellosuiten” by Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, focusing on the discussions and conversations during the rehearsal process.

This behind-the-scenes documentary follows the production of Alexander Ekman’s “Play,” staged at the Paris Opera in 2017. Play Serious is a film about meeting artistic crises on possibly the world’s most famous and intimidating dance stage.

A newsclip featuring Tamar Rogoff’s work with Gregg Mozgala inspires a group in Spain, made up of people from different backgrounds, to put into practice something that seemed impossible: children with motor disabilities as protagonists on a theater stage. Those who make up this small dance company share their experiences.

In Hungary, hundreds of children apply to the nine-year ballet program at the Hungarian Dance Academy, but only a small portion of them are admitted. This documentary follows three generations who have been accepted, as they struggle with separation from family, the weight of expectations, and the challenge of experiencing adolescence while living in a demanding training environment.

Yuli is the nickname given to Carlos Acosta by his father Pedro. From a young age, Yuli resisted any kind of discipline and education, but Pedro knows his son has natural talent and forces him to attend Cuba’s National Dance School. Yuli deals with two realities: the past, in which we look at the childhood and youth of Carlos Acosta, and the present, in which the dancer and choreographer works with his company in Havana today, rehearsing a work that tells his life story.

Dance on Camera Festival continues for the second year its DFA Global, an initiative of support and dialogue with global screen dance filmmakers. This edition celebrates women from very different countries and traditions strengthening themselves and their communities through the practice of dance while up against significant odds. These three documentaries, directed by women, lead the audience into a wide world of empathy, wonder, and inspiration.

Includes About Face (Yoram Savion), Dance, Dance, Evolution (Jules Rosskam), Mother of All Time (P. Sam Kessie and Lane M. Wooder), Reminiscence (Lucy Doherty), REVEL IN YOUR BODY (Katherine Helen Fisher), SOHAM – The Swan (Usha Rajeswari), Sound and Sole (Cara Hagan), The Stop (Komrakova Liudmila), and Unfolding (Dylan Wilbur)

Includes Able (Jacob Jonas), But First (Erin Brown Thomas), Conduit (Andrea Murillo), Haud Close Tae Me (Eve McConnachie), Pooling (Dawn Westlake), Self (Becky Morrison), SISTERS (Daphne Lucker), SWEET DREAMS (Alexandre Hammoudi), and T.I.A (THIS Is Africa) (Matthieu Maunier-Rossi)

Spreading the word about Dance on Camera Festival while presenting an opportunity for artists to be chosen for a festival screening without a formal submission, DFA launched an invitation to dance filmmakers to post their short films on social media. The screening of these #mydancefilm shorts will be followed by a conversation with filmmakers, followers, and content producers about “getting your film out there.”

Professor Jaszi will discuss the history of the Fair Use doctrine, the ways contemporary courts apply it, and how it relates to documentary filmmakers.

An early stage work-in-progress, the screening includes 15 minutes of excerpts from Obsessed with Light, a documentary that tells the story of American Loïe Fuller, who rose to stardom in Paris in the early 20th century as a pioneer of modern dance and a technological trailblazer.