“ War stole their childhood, music gave them hope. ”

Pierre Dulaine, four-time ballroom dancing world champion, is fulfilling a life-long dream when he takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa. For generations, Jaffa has been a city divided by two communities that continue to grow increasingly apart. Over a ten-week period, Pierre teaches Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children to dance and compete together. The film explores the complex stories of three children, all of whom who are forced to confront issues of identity, segregation, and racial prejudice as they dance with their enemy. We watch Pierre transform their lives, confirming his belief that dance can overcome hatred and provide the first steps towards real change.  Dancing in Jaffa is produced in association with kNow Productions and Tiara Blu Films.

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Impact

Honorable Mention – One Future Award at Munich Filmfest 2013 for films that “ethically as well as aesthetically, show that our world has one common future.”

Selected for the 2014 Film Forward series, an initiative of the Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, designed to enhance greater cultural understanding, collaboration and dialogue around the globe by engaging audiences through the exhibition of films, workshops and conversations with filmmakers.

Credits

Directed by
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Produced by
Albie Hecht

Executive Producers
Susan MacLaury, Mark Urman, Daniel Katz, Douglas Eger, Stephen Nemeth, and Erik Cleage

Co-Executive Producers
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Co-Produced by
Kari Kim and Josie Swantek

Associate Producer
Andrew Herwitz

Edited by
Jeff Consiglio

Director of Photography
Sean Fine

Music by
Asche & Spencer