“The Bug” filmed by Tu Do and directed by Mahyar Mandegar
Maria moments
Fresh
pre-production
This is pre-production time.
Everything is sacred.
Nothing is sacred.
Sharpening the senses.
Aware of all the life that made/makes every piece of the story.
Aware of the stated and the unstated.
The brave hands and hearts raveling and unravelling so there could be play.
This is pre-production time.
Wheeeeee!
Campy Silent Self-Tape
Campy and silent….but of course!
This morning I had some acting fun doing this audition self-tape, playing a wildly grandiose, self-entitled and miserable individual. I removed the audio to retain the project’s confidentiality.
Enjoy!
Silent Scene from Dalit Berkowitz on Vimeo.
And I like them.
I stopped trying to “cover my silvers” a couple of years ago. #Grayhairdontcare, as the shmashtag goes. (I know it’s hashtag. I just prefer shmashtag.) Oy.
But there really wasn’t so much gray….until….I recently made a discovery.
There’s apparently a bevy of silver strands nestled within my hair, particularly in the side sections.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
Somehow the middle-parted bang style I was wearing was covering them up a bit more.
It wasn’t intentional. It’s just what happened.
These strands are unpredictable. A bit wild.
Thoroughly unapologetic.
They thrive on the edges. In the underneath.
Outcasts like I can be.
And I like them.
And I’m curious to see how/if I might let them out more. In all their wiry abandon.
(Well, maybe with a little product, but hey, why not?)
Please notice something to appreciate about your one precious body in this one precious life.
Or be interested in. Or amused by.
Inside. Outside. It doesn’t matter.
It’s all part of the rare puzzle that is you.
Feel free to comment on what that might be!
Either way, keep shining and keep noticing.
Kinks and all.
XOXO
Dalit
Heart Mind Love
Hi, friends!
Like for so many of us, it’s been a year of sorting, honing, tossing, and making. Here is something I made. Press play and take a listen!
there is a stain it can’t be seen and there are rocks they keep moving you spin around making new shapes the air is hot you trace your brain but there is heart and there is mind and there is love some of the time there was a place you knew yourself you recognized your winking eye and then they came the had their rules you fought but still they got you schooled the shook your heart they hooked your mind a twisted love built upon lies do buh do buh do... I know for sure not much again except the sand it keeps falling you’re hoping still there’s something new could it be hidden in your plain view a little heart a little mind a little love some of the time some of the time some of the time November 2020
shakily steadily
returned from N.Y. I gather strength to share some pics food especially to let you know I am warm and alive and even eager to move forward shakily steadily shakily steadily we begin again shakily steadily appetite awakens the corner we turned is still near but the call though indistinct is clear xD
Baz Bagels. Nova cream cheese on pumpernickel. So good. 
The First Masterclass at Violette_Fr’s first pop up. Anticipation surrounded by beauty. 
My fave pizza, still after all these years. Cafe Viva, Upper West Side. This is a slice of Carrozza: Fresh tomato, spinach, kalamata olives and mozzerello on the perfect spelt crust. Perfection. 
My face after the slice. Need we say more. 
Another of my faves, Mill Korean near Columbia. So fresh and tasty, even out of the stone pot and since no seating onsite, I got creative. 
I loved this gallery so much! Eric Yahnker’s paintings shook me hard. I travelled 3000 miles to discover someone who’s in my backyard. So it goes. 
Downtown Sunday AM. 
East Village vibes. 
Early morn, but June Pride all around.
Chaos and Gifts
I’m ending this bizarre year with acting work: a commercial and a short film. Both were so much fun – albeit quite surreal, given all of the COVID precautions. I took four tests last week to ensure my health for both projects. I’m extremely happy to be working with safe and kind humans. And I’m so grateful to be healthy and creatively engaged with others. Here’s to more of it – ideally without the need for masks, eventually.
Making the parents proud. XO 
Judith in “The Ghost”
Stay safe, my friends. And do what is necessary to be close to what you love, whatever that may be.
Dalit
facing ourselves
Deep summer greetings to you all!
I hope this finds you healthy and managing as well as can be expected in these complicated times. I heard something recently from creatrix and muse, Beth Lapides: “Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
I love this very much and I offer it to you. These are confounding times. Everyone I know is being forced to dig deeper, to listen more closely, to consider what really matters, both personally and collectively. It’s not comfortable. But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad. This gives me some solace and I hope it does for you too.
In acting news, “Premenstrual Margot” will be at the Newport Film Festival in August as part of the collegiate showcase as well as the Women’s Film Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont (in its 29th year!) in September, and the Skyline Indie Film Festival, also in September. More on that to come.
Finally, here are some new headshots I got earlier in the year before the great unraveling. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was just a few months. Enjoy!
Love,
Dalit
Taste + Vision
Did I mention they love me in Japan? LOL. The above is a clip from an article in a Japanese lifestyle blog about Amazake Co., my husband’s start up business which launched last summer. I am the chief advisor (we made that up, but of course I am) and it’s been quite an adventure to say the least. The taste-testing has been beyond fun (it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it), and it’s pretty cool to see others learn about and enjoy this traditional fermented Japanese sweet drink. Unlike other Amazakes you might find, this one is hand-crafted and non-pasteurized, so it has all those probiotic benefits, too!
In acting news, “Premenstrual Margot” is having its premiere this March at the Women’s Film Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont. This festival is in its 29th year and features films “by and about women for everyone.” I spent some time in Putney and Brattleboro years ago, so I’m stoked the film will debut there. It’s a uniquely beautiful part of the United States, and the festival itself has a fantastic lineup this year, as you can see here. If you’re in the area, do check it out!
That’s it for the moment. Wishing you a great, nourishing year.
XD
All of It
Happy December, friends!
Well, yesterday I submitted my nominations for the upcoming SAG Awards. So many remarkable shows and films to watch and reflect on….what a treat it’s been to be on the nominating committee this year!
It’s been an intense few months, between screenings, acting, teaching and helping my husband with a nourishing new venture. More on that to come! I gave my final exam this morning, so I’m ever so gently starting to recalibrate. Hallelujah, for reals.
Here are some images from some of that, in no particular order.
As we come to the end of this year and decade (!), I feel extra aware of this precious life. Everything is so tender, so fleeting. We must be kind: to ourselves and each other…it feels so imperative now.
So here’s to life – to learning and celebrating all of it.
XO
DB
June. Bam.
Here we are mid-year kind of!
It’s a been a busy one so far, between acting, teaching, and helping my DH with his knee recovery. It’s also been uncharacteristically chilly here in Los Angeles. It hasn’t felt like spring, or at least the spring of my memory…But it’s this year’s spring, so spring it is.
In acting news, the feature I worked on last summer is in its final stages of post-production. Exciting! And the Chapman thesis from last fall had it premiere and hopefully will have an impactful festival run. I also filmed another USC short (second of the year) which should be completed soon. It’s always interesting to do one’s part and let go. There’s not much to be done about these things now. That’s one of the unique things about any collaborative creative process: we do our part, pass the baton, and hope for the best. And no matter what, there are lessons and unexpected surprises that emerge.
The really exciting news is getting a new mattress! Ha ha. But seriously, when it was raining a lot last month the current one (a years-old futon one) was getting so painful to sleep on. Something about the moisture. After years of no issues, my back was starting to revolt. So finally, we took the plunge and ordered an eco-friendly, sustainable, hard “legit mattress” that just arrived. Setting up that bad boy today!
Here’s to a great June. May you up-level what is needed, celebrate your successes (there’s always something, right? ;-), and sleep well when you do.
XO
Dalit
May Offering (quickie)
Pics from 2 recent projects: a short film, where I play a conflicted single mom through different eras, and a tv pilot, where I play a concerned Orange County neighbor:
xDalit
Dalit Berkowitz 