The Ballerina

On the run from Child Protective Services, a man and his 9-year-old daughter disappear into the swampy Virginia backwoods, living off the land in a tattered tent and keeping a safe distance from the other homeless outcasts who occupy these woods. But the tragedy that has brought father and daughter to this desperate place has also torn a crater-like hole in their shattered lives, leaving the girl defenseless against nightly hauntings by shadows who encircle the tent and breathe threats to carry her away. The father tries everything in his power to free his daughter from the grip of this nightly torment, but it isn’t until the arrival of a new woman in the nearby camp that a glimmer of hope illuminates their lives. (Orlando Film Festival)