DINA
Synopsis
Dina, an outspoken and eccentric 49-year-old in suburban Philadelphia, invites her fiancé Scott, a Walmart door greeter, to move in with her. Having grown up neurologically diverse in a world blind to the value of their experience, the two are head-over-heels for one another, but shacking up poses new challengeS.
Filmmakers Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini construct seamless vérité scenes that lovingly frame Dina and Scott's vulnerable yet matter-of-fact romance. Whether at the local nail salon, the warm beaches of Ocean City, Dina's racy bachelorette party, or on honeymoon in the Poconos, DINA captures the cadences and candid conversations of a relationship that reexamines the notion of love on screen.
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The Filmmakers
Antonio Santini Director and Producer
Antonio Santini is a Puerto Rican and Dominican director and producer. His first film, Mala Mala, premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, receiving an Audience Award, and was later distributed by Strand Releasing. His second feature, Dina, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, receiving the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, and was released by The Orchard in North America and globally by Dogwoof in October 2017.
Dan Sickles Director and Producer
Dan Sickles is an American filmmaker, writer, and actor living between New York City and Paris, France.
He received the 2017 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for his film DINA, and an audience award at the 2014 TriBeCa Film Festival for his directorial debut, MALA MALA.
As an actor, he is known for his for his theatrical work, most notably as Hamlet in the 2011 production at Theater 80 in downtown Manhattan, and Konstantin Treplev in The Seagull at Columbia Graduate.
He is the recipient of the PEEK Award and the ARC Alliance Community Service Award for his work within neurodiverse communities, and his production company, El Peligro, has been honored by the Social Media Impact Awards and Amnesty International for their approach at socially-conscious storytelling.
Festivals & Awards
Cinema Eye Honors
2018
Winner - The Unforgettables - Dina Bruno and Scott Levin
Sundance Film Festival
2017
World Premiere
Winner - Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary
IDA Documentary Awards
2017
Official Selection
Winner - Best Documentary Feature
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
2017
Nominee - Best Song in a Documentary
Independent Film Festival of Boston
2017
Winner - Karen Schmeer Award for Excellence in Documentary Editing
BAM Cinemafest
2017
Official Selection
Sheffield Doc/Fest
2017
Official Selection
True/False Film Festival
2017
Official Selection
Palm Beach International Film Festival
2017
Winner - Best Romance
Sarasota Film Festival
2017
Winner- Special Jury Prize For Honesty & Humanity
Reviews
“Alternately comic and tragic and best when it's both at once, DINA humanizes a world of people who were only dehumanized because we allowed them to be...DINA comes from a deep place of love...We need films like this. Whereas most docs about “different” people are content to flatter our empathy, DINA aims to deepen it.”
“Viewers who might think they wouldn’t be able to relate to someone like the brassy, plain-spoken 48-year-old Dina may be surprised at just how very, yes, universal her story can be. Directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles (who previously collaborated on MALA MALA) never condescend to or coddle their vivacious leading lady, and the result is a fascinating love story.”
“Perhaps the most beautiful romance at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival plays out in DINA, a documentary as warm-hearted and as open as its title character...In DINA Sickles and Santini strip away many of the trite cliches of documentaries about disability, and show two people dealing with autism together and on their own terms.”
“A sensitive snapshot of two ordinary people on the autism spectrum who are determined to carve out a meaningful future together...A vérité documentary that mirrors the minor-key humor, the rough-hewn texture, the gentle conflicts and awkward grace of many quirky indie narrative features, DINA cozies up unobtrusively to its complex, strong-willed protagonist as she takes charge of her impending wedding.”