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Evolving Screendance Gotland An exclusive screendance workshop + public film festival 18–23 May 2026 · Visby, Gotland
Evolving Screendance Gotland is a curated, application-based workshop led by Douglas Rosenberg, created for filmmakers, choreographers, and dancers working with screendance today. Limited Seats!
Participants are selected based on an already completed screendance film, which will be screened publicly as part of a one-time special film festival at a local cinema venue in Visby. Across six days, the workshop offers in-depth dialogue, mentoring, and critical exchange around participants’ own works, artistic processes, and the evolving language of dance on film — culminating in public screenings and moderated Q&A conversations with audiences at the local Folkets Bio Betty cinema.
Led by Douglas Rosenberg (USA) — acclaimed director of The Sea and author of Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Image — together with cinematographer Paul Wu, the program offers an immersive space for creation, dialogue, and experimentation. A special guest session will be led by Ami Skånberg, choreographer and researcher known for her embodied, cross-cultural approach to dance and film.
For: professional filmmakers, choreographers and dancers.
Cost: €800 (inc. lunch)
When: May 18-23, 2026 Where: Visby, Gotland (Sweden) Language: English
Application: The submission deadline is March 22, 2026.
Travel and Accomodation: Participants are responsible for arranging and covering their own travel to and from Gotland, as well as accommodation during the workshop.
As a participant, you will:
Have your film screened publicly at a cinema festival in Visby
Take part in an exclusive workshop led by Douglas Rosenberg
Engage in moderated Q&A sessions with a public audience
Join a small, international peer group of screendance artists
We recommend booking early, as travel and lodging options can be limited during the season. Gotland is easily reached by ferry or plane from mainland Sweden, and Visby offers a wide range of accommodation — from hotels and hostels to private rentals. Closer to the festival dates, we will share practical information and local tips to help you plan your stay, including suggested areas to stay in, transport options on the island, and ways to connect with other participants who may wish to share accommodation. If you have specific access needs or questions related to travel logistics, feel free to reach out — we’ll do our best to support you with information and guidance.
We look forward to welcoming you to Gotland and to sharing time, space, and movement together.
A brief description of your previous experience in dance film / screendance
A film that you directed or choreographed
Evolving Screendance Film Festival Gotland welcomes moving image works where dance, choreography, body, space, and cinema meet. We are interested in films that explore movement as language — intimate, experimental, poetic, political, or playful.
How to submit:
We accept digital submissions only, via a private Vimeo link or a similar secure online platform. There are no premiere requirements, and the festival is non-competitive. Our focus is on shared viewing, dialogue, and exchange rather than awards.
About the festival:
The festival exists to create a space for screendance beyond commercial frameworks and rigid categories — a place where filmmakers, choreographers, dancers, and audiences can encounter works in different stages, forms, and sensibilities.
Practical notes:
– Please submit a secure online screener and avoid changing the link or password after submission. If something needs updating, just let us know. – Make sure all rights for public screening are cleared before submitting. – Films should be presented with their original soundtrack. Works not originally in English must include English subtitles.
Deadlines & selection:
The submission deadline is March 22, 2026. We aim to notify all filmmakers of our decisions by the end of March.
If your film is selected, we’ll ask for a final screening version no later than May 1, 2026. Any costs related to creating the screening copy are handled by the filmmaker.
Screenings:
As a non-commercial event, the festival does not pay screening fees.
Rights:
By submitting your film, you confirm that you hold the rights to the work (or have permission to submit it).
The workshop blends conceptual discussion with hands-on exploration. Participants will work in small interdisciplinary groups, engaging in labs that merge choreography, camera, sound and post-production — with access to Visby’s atmospheric locations, from the old city ruins and cobbled alleyways to the Baltic shoreline and botanical gardens, together with The Sea's cinematographer-editor Paul Wu.
Guest contributor isAmi Skånberg, acclaimed Swedish choreographer, filmmaker, and researcher, who will give a talk on Screendance Today and her own artistic journey bridging dance, ritual, and screen practice.
Throughout the week, participants will explore embodiment, collaboration, and authorship through both practice and reflection, guided by individual mentoring and group discussions.
The experience culminates in the Screendance Gotland Festival on Saturday, May 23, held at Folkets Bio Betty cinema in Visby — a public event featuring screenings of the participants’ own films, artist talks, and a closing panel on The Future of Screendance.
Creative Team
Douglas Rosenberg - Director, Artist, and Leading Scholar in Screendance
Douglas Rosenberg is the director of the award-winning screendance feature The Sea, filmed on Fårö/Gotland and currently touring international festivals. He is also a major voice in the field of dance film, having authored several foundational books, including Screendance: Inscribing the Ephemeral Image (2012), The Oxford Handbook of Screendance Studies (2016)—recipient of the Oscar G. Brockett Book Prize—and Staring at the Sky: Essays on Art and Culture (2024).
Rosenberg’s work in video, performance, and installation has been presented widely in the United States and internationally—across museums, galleries, public television, and festivals around the world. He has received numerous grants and awards, including an NEA Dance/Film/Video grant (with choreographer June Watanabe), an NEA/Southeast Media Fellowship, two Zellerbach Foundation grants, a Painted Bride Art Center New Forms Grant (co-recipient with Li Chiao-Ping), a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship, an IZZIE Award for his collaboration with Ellen Bromberg and John Henry on Singing Myself a Lullaby, and a Fellowship from The Project on Death in America for another collaboration with Bromberg. His video dance My Grandfather Dances, created with Anna Halprin, received the Director’s Prize at the Jewish Video Festival, Judah Magnes Museum, Berkeley.
He has held artist residencies at the Institute for Studies in the Arts, the Bates Dance Festival, and the International Festival of Video Dance in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His writing on dance for the camera has been published in journals such as LEONARDO.
Recent exhibitions and festival screenings include the Dance on Camera Festival (New York), Riccione Teatro Televisione Video Festival (Italy), the Contemporary Art Museum in Buenos Aires, The New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), and Mostra de Vídeo Dansa de Barcelona.
Rosenberg served for more than a decade as Director of the American Dance Festival’s video archival program and continues to lead ADF’s Dancing for the Camera Festival.
Creative team
Paul Wu
Paul Wu (b. 1964) has called Gotland home since 2019. A former professional dancer with a decade-long career, he later transitioned into journalism and filmmaking. As a producer-director, cinematographer and editor, he has created numerous dance films and documentaries.
Ami Skånberg
Ami Skånberg, PhD in Dance from University of Roehampton, is a performer, choreographer, filmmaker and teacher. She is the current Head of the Master’s programme in Contemporary Dance Education at the Stockholm University of the Arts, and also works at Academy of Music and Drama at University of Gothenburg. Her 90 min solo performance A Particular Act of Survival received a performing arts award at Scenkonstgalan in Sweden in 2015.
About The Sea
The Sea is a black-and-white feature film directed by Douglas Rosenberg, filmed entirely on location along the Baltic Sea. Inspired by the stark, elemental landscapes of Ingmar Bergman’s Fårö, the film unfolds as a quiet meditation on aging, masculinity, and the bonds that form between men later in life.
Since its premiere, The Sea has screened extensively at international screendance festivals across the world, where it has been met with strong critical response and deeply engaged audiences. The film has been selected by leading screendance and arthouse festivals and has sparked conversations around aging, male vulnerability, and the expressive potential of the moving body on screen. Repeatedly described as meditative, emotionally resonant, and visually striking, The Sea has established itself as a significant contemporary work within the field of screendance and experimental cinema.
Cast: Jarck Benschop / David Dorfman / Rolf Engström / Lars Eskilsson / Bengt Hesselberg / Henrik Krogh / Mikael Larsson / Olof Nellgård / Lars Osterman / Lasse Pettersson / Douglas Rosenberg / Lasse Siggelin / Björn Thudén / Benno Voorham / Paul Wu
Producer: Andreas Nordblom Director: Douglas Rosenberg Director of Photography: Paul Wu Sound Engineer: Björn van Weiden Choreography: Benno Voorham, David Dorfman, Douglas Rosenberg, and the performers Original Music: David Dorfman, Mikael Larsson
Save a seat by sending us an e-mail.
More than a workshop, Evolving Screendance Gotland is a meeting place for artists redefining the relationship between movement, camera, and place — an invitation to shape the next steps in the art of screendance.
