SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANTICIPATED HIGHLIGHTS by Pamela Powell

The Slamdance Film Festival takes place in the same beautiful, quaint town of Park City, Utah during the same week in January as the Sundance Film Festival.  Slamdance, over the years, has gained quite a bit of momentum in showing innovative, quality films from around the world.  Their motto By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers showcases the fact that this festival is run entirely by filmmakers.  It is a place for independent artists to share their talents and possibly launch their careers.  In fact, the founders of this festival, including Dan Mirvish, began Slamdance in answer to being rejected by Sundance.  Many other legendary filmmakers began right here at Slamdance. You might recognize the name Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") or Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite").  Perhaps Seth Gordon, Lena Dunham, Lynn Shelton or Benh Zeitlin rings a bell.  All of these artists and many more were initially discovered through the Slamdance Film Festival.

During my first year of covering Sundance, I happened upon a couple of films at the Slamdance festival at the top of Main Street.  Enjoying these films, I decided to look more carefully at what this festival had to offer the following year and I am so glad I did.  The feature films, documentaries, and shorts all blew me out of the water.  The accessibility in the intimate theaters enabled everyone to really feel a part of the film and its creative powers.  Films such as BETWEEN US, VIPAKA with Forest Whitaker,  MY NAME IS FAITH, and JOSEPHINE AND THE ROACH were all a part of Slamdance last year.  (Check out this site for reviews on all of these films!)  And this year promises to be just as fulfilling.  Here are my picks for the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

COPENHAGEN  COPENHAGEN TRAILER
ROVER with the short ONE PLEASE
I PUT A HIT ON YOU
HUNTINGTON'S DANCE
THREE NIGHT STAND
WAITING FOR MAMU
KIDNAPPED FOR CHRIST
MY BLIND HEART
SOMEWHERE IN THE VALLEY
THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL

Waiting for Mamu

One Please

Three Night Stand

I Put a Hit On You

Rover

These are the feature films and documentaries that captured my attention.  Although it will be impossible to screen everything in the short time I am in Park City, I am confident that my choices won't disappoint me.  Another fun part of the Slamdance Film Festival that mirrors the Waterfront Film Festival (another favorite festival of RHR) is its use of shorts shown prior to the featured film.  Shorts are very near and dear to me.  Last year, "Josephine and the Roach" was one of my top picks by Jonathan Langager.  This film ended up winning an award through the Academy.  This year, the number of shorts available to screen is great and I trust the quality will be as well.   I was lucky enough to view the short "One Please" ahead of the festival and trust me, you won't want to miss this one!  Beautifully shocking and eerie is the perfect description of this short film.  You'll have to see it for yourself, though.

If you have the opportunity to attend the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival, you won't be disappointed.  The down-to-earth and welcoming attitude from everyone involved accompanied by the excitement in sharing their creative work is absolutely inspiring.  Check out their website for tickets and more information.  (SLAMDANCE WEBSITE)   If you can't jump on a plane and find accommodations in town, then just check back with RHR for updates and release information.  I'll be posting things daily!

Cheers!