SCREENING IN THE BERNARD OSHER FOUNDATION AUDITORIUM
85 minutes. Not Rated. Directed by Leslie Shampaine. In English and Hindi with English subtitles.
Manish is a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai who is struggling against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path because they are counting on their only son to support them.
When he secretly attends an inner-city dance school and accidentally walks into a ballet class he meets Yehuda, a curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli teacher, and a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him. Call Me Dancer is a story of hope, heartache, and hard work. Together, Manish and Yehuda transform each other’s lives, searching to uncover who and what they are. Yehuda seeks a purpose and a place to call home. Manish dreams of dancing on the world-stage but struggles to break free from the confines of his own economic and social circumstances.