Calendar

I told you I might pop in more frequently to update the Renzi calendar for those who check in, or happen to live in the right location or just want to be in the know. Here's November and what I know of December 2025, annotated.

Inter Library Loan    November 9 @ 2:00    44th Asbury Short Film Concert   Phoenicia, NY

I was delighted to be invited to join this longest-running non-competitive touring exhibition of globally honored films. Curator Doug LeClaire who saw it at the Vero Beach Film Festival this past June. Hopefully, Library will be included in more venues in 2026.

Inter Library Loan  November 14-30     Moovy TanzFilmFestival    Koln, Germany

Months ago I heard that Library would be part of this cool festival. I saw a tiny clip of Library in the Moovy trailer, but no word of it online in the several programs they outline. When I inquired why not, this is what I heard: 

we have a program for children in particularly vulnerable social situations. This program is not open to the general public because these children require special protection. We are showing your film as part of this program. That is why it is not publicly available on the website. I am very grateful for your understanding and thank you for participating in the program with your wonderful film.

An also-ran, but of a heart-warming type.

Replica AND Blow Me Down     November 15 at noon    YoFiFest     Yonkers, NY

Two very different Renzi shorts in the same program in one of my favorite local fests, which has shown Renzi work 12 times in its 13 years - not bad, since my first submission was Honeymoon in 2015. That was also when Festival Programmer Patty Schumann first discovered this genre combining movement and camera which YoFi has dubbed "dance through a lens." Patty & I have a long-running conversation about how, even though my work can be categorized as dance through a lens, I'm happiest when it's screened alongside other shorts.

Inter Library Loan    November 21   Dancers' Short Film Festival    London, UK

This is the first year of this festival's existence, so I can't do the frequently-screened game yet. But I'm delighted to help inaugurate yet another dance through a lens festival ... especially since there are many long-established, rather costly ones I don't even bother with anymore!

Guardians of the Flame   November 22 Awards Gala Nat'l Ass'n for Multicultural Education

Because I was "only" the editor on the hour-long documentary Guardians of the Flame directed by Daniel Wolff, you don't hear much about it in here. Its festival run is just about over, but I'm proud to report that it won NAME's Multicultural Film Award this year. 

Replica AND Inter Library Loan   December 13-16      Athens Video Dance Project       

Not Athens, Ohio where I've also screened, nor Athens, Georgia where I haven't, this Greek fest is another where Renzi work has shown frequently over its ten-year history - 890 Broadway (2012) Wildwood (2014) and Kata (2023). 

A Day's Work      December 14-16      IMARP           Sao Paolo, Brazil

Admit it, you've completely forgotten about this one from 3 years ago. (Yes, it feels like 15.) Created at The Dragon's Egg with 3 students I'd met at Rhode Island College, performed live at Henry Street Settlement, all in preparation for a shoot in Connecticut. To jog your memory, here's the synopsis:  

They arrive at a factory with work boots and tin lunch pails. What kind of work is this? After a long day, they head home. Is this some kind of joke - or just a different kind of hard work?

Well, Blow Me Down

Today is the one-year anniversary of a project that's currently finding its way in the world: Blow Me Down. It relies shamelessly on the artistry and chemistry of Arthur Aviles & Selina Shida Hack, who had never even met before we started our process - 2 days of rehearsal, and 2 of shooting. It was absolutely an experiment - from their collaboration, to the seat-of-our-pants cinematography by Addy Birkes, to the vintage cartoons ripped from the Internet Archive, to the decision to shift to b&w in post-production. Part of the experiment was also to create a relationship between a man and woman that was sexy (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) without being sexual, suggesting intimacy and connection that felt familial, comedic, occasionally even tender. 

For one day - today, November 2 starting at 8:00 pm - you can watch Blow Me Down at WildSOUND, where it won Best Experimental Film.

Blow is also an Official Selection at one of my all-time favorite fests: YoFiFest in Yonkers, NY where it'll screen in a program that includes another of mine: Replica, deserving of its own origin story in a blogpost someday soon.

YoFiFest - Saturday November 15 at noon - info & tix

It's funny. I'd shared an early draft of Blow Me Down with a friend who told me - kindly - that she didn't think it merited completing, making public. And because it took a while to gain acceptance(s), I doubted myself. True, it's no Inter Library Loan, which is more accessible, and has been selected by threes times as many festivals. By the way, Library is due to screen at the 44th Asbury Film Concert in Phoenicia, NY

Asbury in Phoenicia - Sunday November 9 at 2:00 - info & tix

But that doubt always alternates with an absolute certainty that my job is to explore whatever it is I'm drawn to fail at next. Every week I juggle disappointment from rejections for Blow Me Down (over 25 to date) and satisfaction with acceptances - Festival Videodanza de Puerto Rico most recently; 21 more submissions yet to weather. WildSOUND (see above) offers a great service in which they share work with an audience, who record a short feedback video. You can imagine how tickled I was by the enthusiastic response from this smiling face - a stranger who's just opened her eyes to new work.

Of course all of these submissions cost something. I try to ferret out fests that cost less. Bless you to festivals that offer fee waivers for alums; luckily, I am often a repeat offender. Non-US fests often offer a small fee and seem more open to what I do. Although I just did the math, and Blow is half US and half-non. Fees from / online purchases of our 2024 documentary Cathy & Harry, (priced to sell!) help to somewhat offset submission fees. Oh, and by the way, another local screening of Cathy & Harry is coming right up.

Hopper House, Nyack Friday, November 7 @ 5:30 - info & tix

And old work is finding its way too. Part of my festival research is to find ones that don't necessarily prioritize brand new work. So I shared Through Mabel's Eyes, with a festival new to me: Berlin Kiez which screens films in "relaxed and informal settings, inviting local communities to enjoy screenings in alternative spaces." Just my cup of tea, right? 

Mabel was a very ambitious "experiment" (they all are) shot in the fall before the pandemic landed. It's won some awards - for Jon Gourlay's gorgeous cinematography, among others - but I haven't gotten a chance to hear from audiences what they get - and don't. Don't live in Berlin? You can watch Through Mabel's Eyes for yourself here and support my juggling act. Hey, send me a feedback video after and I'll post it here!

The Next Big Thing

If you're near NYC you have a rare chance to see an open rehearsal of  live work of mine made almost 4 decades ago: What Practice Makes choreographed in 1983 to one movement of a late Beethoven Quartet. It's danced by 4 lovely young dancers of Peter Stathas Dance who weren't yet born when it premiered. I'd love to see you there.

Thursday November 6 

5:00-7:00

Baryshnikov Arts Center

450 West 37th Street, NY NY

Free! RSVP here

Deep Dive

Am I ever going to grow up and make a traditional professional website with dropdown menus, etc? It seems not - or only for specific films. Somehow this blogspot feels more direct, easily updatable - and wholly NON-professional.

So I've decided to post a bit more often, dropping in news of coming events in case a visitor to the page happens to live near the upcoming event. Hey, it's possible in this big, interconnected world.

Meanwhile, the above poster was for a retrospective presented in 2022 by Rivertown Film, with an excellent post-screening conversation with Laura Harrison.

Recently I edited the video of the conversation, dropping in excerpts of the films people just saw.  It's actually pretty interesting ... if you're up for a deep dive.

Click on the link below to watch.

Marta Renzi discusses her films ...