From Independent Roots to Universal Themes

Director Shira Piven discusses her new film, The Performance, with fellow Director Jade Jenise Dixon in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, she discusses working with her brother as the lead Actor to capture authentic tap dancing performances, making a period piece movie on an independent film budget and mixing 8mm film and real footage from the era to capture a 1930s Berlin time period.

The film tells the story of Harold, an accomplished tap dancer touring Europe with his troupe in the late 1930s. When they are scouted by a Nazi attache for an exclusive performance, he realizes they don’t know about his Jewish identity and is faced with the dangerous dilemma of performing in secret or staying true to himself.

See photos and a summary of this event below:

https://dga.org/Events/2025/February2025/ThePerformance_QnA_1224