Dances With Films 2023 NY tackles daddy issues, sex work, and anger

When Mel House was a child, she was raised to believe anger is bad and destructive.

Like many women, she suppressed or diverted her feelings in various ways that were potentially unhealthy. But since getting married and having a child, House has changed her mind and launched a half hour pilot called Hot Angry Mom.

Eric Ruffin portrays House’s son while Welker White plays her sister.

“It is inspired by my real life family and my journey to renegotiate my relationship with anger,” House said in an interview. “Writing this series has been me exploring what does healthy anger look like and how do we turn it into a source of power because we need anger to know when an injustice has happened.”

Hot Angry Mom is among 28 shorts, features, pilots and series episodes that screened on Saturday Dec. 2 at the 2023 New York Dances with Films Festival (DWF: NY) from Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 at Regal Union Square Cinema.
“We need anger to know what our boundaries are, and it's a part of our voice,” House told Patch. “Learning to reclaim that I think is something that would be good for everyone in our culture. I would love for a streamer like an Apple TV to take a look at what we're creating and help us bring that vision into reality over many, many seasons.”
DWF: NY originates from Los Angeles where it recently celebrated 26 years. This year is the second that DFW has been produced in New York City.

Projects that made their world premiere on Day 3 of the festival include Bound, Sugar, and Black Silk.

Bound, directed by Isaac Hirotsu Woofter, is about a teen who flees to New York City to escape her drug dealing abusive stepfather but after successfully reinventing herself, she must confront her dark past to be truly free.

Woofter was inspired to write the script for Bound during COVID.

“I was working to make money to fund my projects but during COVID I could put in 15 to 20 hours a day on filmmaking as opposed to 6 or 8 hours a day on filmmaking,” Woofter told Patch. “I also wanted to make a movie for my dad.”

Black Silk, a father-son themed film, is about a boy who is thrust into darkness after he discovers a secret about his estranged Dad.

“It’s based on the first time I met my father," said Director Patrick Michael, who holds an MFA in film and tv production from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. "Our relationship has been so complex that I thought it deserved a film. It's also about generational trauma and the legacies of our families.”
Sugar, starring, directed and written by Alyssa Brayboy, is a short based on Brayboy’s real-life sex work experiences.

“It’s a profession that’s often looked at in a negative way and I want to shine light on that and show a different perspective because it’s not always about sex, which has lead me to advocate for the rights of sex workers,” Brayboy told Patch.

Another career-related film that screened was East in which Dana Marisa Schoenfeld plays Ella who gets fired from a corporate job and decides to pursue her childhood dream but is confronted with New York City’s gritty entertainment industry.

“It’s loosely based on my life,” she said.

When Schoenfeld was growing up, her family thought she’d be a lawyer but instead Schoenfeld became an artist and actor.

“We’re hoping to find it a home and then make season two because we finished the entire season one,” said Jolie Curtsinger, who executive produced and stars alongside Schoenfeld. “We have six episodes ready to go and we’ve had a couple of interesting conversations at the festival so we’ll see what happens.”

DWF: NY continues on Sunday Dec. 3 with 31 more selections and ends after the screening of the Activated Man. Purchase tickets on the DWF: NY website.