Manish Chauhan, a talented, self-taught acrobatic street dancer from Mumbai, hungers for a career as a professional dancer– but with a scarcity of paying opportunities, the odds are stacked against him. While his parents expect him to study for an MBA in pursuit of an office job, Manish seeks out lessons, in secret, at DanceWorx Performing Arts Academy, where he finds a lifelong mentor in ballet master Yehuda Maor.
Recognizing his students’ potential, Yehuda encourages a rivalry between Manish and 13-year-old ballet prodigy Amiruddin Shah, pushing both performers to new heights. But while Amir is fast-tracked to the Royal Ballet School in London, Manish– with the disadvantage of a later start to ballet– is advised to try his hand, instead, at mastering a whole new style of dance at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Israel.
A tale of artistic passion and raw determination, Call Me Dancer traces Manish’s hopes and setbacks as he pursues his ambitions to dance on the world stage– attaining unexpected fame in Bollywood, along the way.
Astonishing! It’s the classic underdog story… touching… lustrous imagery.
Matthew Carey, Deadline
Co-Presented by
Leslie Shampaine & Pip Gilmour
Manish Chauhan
India/UK/Israel/USA
2023
In English, Hebrew & Hindi with English subtitles
VIFF Audience Award (Portraits Section)
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
Jay Sean, John Patrick King, Jitin Hingorani, Esther van Messel, Diana Holtzberg
Producer
Leslie Shampaine, Priya Ramasubban, Cynthia Kane
Screenwriter
Jennifer Beman, Pip Gilmour, Leslie Shampaine
Cinematography
Neil Barrett, Abhijit Datta
Editor
Jennifer Beman
Original Music
Nainita Desai, Abhijit Datta
Also Playing
Flow
In this wordless and gorgeously atmospheric animated feature, a solitary black cat survives a tsunami and must confront his fear of water whilst sailing through a flooded world with a group of misfit animals. An enchanting adventure film for all ages. Rated: G
Obsessed with Light
Nearly a century after her death Loie Fuller is still inspiring artists like Taylor Swift, Shakira, Bill T Jones and William Kentridge. She became world famous as an innovative dancer, combining fabric, lighting effects and movement in revolutionary ways.
Food Bank Benefit Screening: Hundreds of Beavers
The funniest, and certainly the furriest movie you will see this year, Hundreds of Beavers channels the zany slapstick shtick of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Bugs Bunny through a videogame quest narrative to retell the eternal saga of Man v Nature. All proceeds from this screening go to the Vancouver Food Bank.
Babylon
Damien Chazelle's second Hollywood on Hollywood movie (after La La Land) follows Margot Robbie as a starlet on the make at the tail end of the silent film era in the late 1920s, and a couple of friends she makes along the way.