UTango

the dance form applied to the screen as an abstract painterly image

In 2002, Elliot Caplan writes about his new film, UTango:

During the summer of 1999, I traveled to Argentina to jury a film festival. As part of that trip, I had been told about a section of Buenos Aires where people danced tango openly on the street. I went there and found exactly that - this section of town called, "La Boca" was filled with the sights and sounds of Argentina. With camera and sound, I recorded live performance of both music and dance and returning to New York began editing my first dance piece since leaving the Merce Cunningham Company.

The footage became a first rough-cut, which I let sit for a time while I searched for finishing funds. Around this time, I had an opportunity to meet Francis Ford Coppola at his office. After viewing some material that he had been working on, he said to me, "You see this place - this is my laboratory. I come here everyday when I'm in New York." After a pause he turned and said, "Sure beats working for a studio." His statement impacted my thinking about the importance of finishing this work.

Through the dedicated work of editors Janine Melillo and Laure Sullivan, I completed UTango.