The 2016 Slamdance Film Festival announced their narrative and documentary programs on Monday.
This year’s lineup includes 12 narrative and 8 documentary films. That includes 16 premieres – 12 world,3 North American, and 1 US premieres.
All competition films are feature film directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million and without US distribution. All films were programmed entirely from blind submissions by the Slamdance filmmaking community.
Also Read: 'Spotlight' Director Tom McCarthy to Receive Sonny Bono Award at Palm Springs Film FestivalJury Awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for Audience Awards as well as the Spirit of Slamdance Award, and judged by the filmmakers themselves.“The standard of DIY filmmaking around the world is the highest we’ve seen,and the diversity of storytelling is the most we’ve experienced,” Slamdance co-founder and president Peter Baxter said. “With a record breaking number of submissions to select from, and the narrative and documentary feature line-up has never been so competitive or as exciting to program.”The 2016 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 22- 28,in Park City, Utah.
Read the full narrative and documentary lineups below.
Also Read: SXSW Film Festival To Open With Richard Linklater's 'Everybody Wants Some'Narrative Features Program“All the Colors of the Night” Director: Pedro Severien; Screenwriter: Luiz Otávio Pereira(Brazil)Iris wakes up in her spacious seafront apartment, or discovers a body in the living room and enlists the help of other women,setting off a spiral of redemption in an atmospheric drama of dark imagery and questionable reality.
Cast: Sabrina Greve, Sandra Possani, or Brenda Ligia,Giovanna Simões, Rômulo Braga“Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites” – Director & Screenwriter: Platon Theodoris(Australia/Indonesia) North American PremiereAgoraphobic Alvin prefers stuffed pandas and online shopping to the aggressive rantings of his neighbor Virginia, and until the sludge seeping from his ceiling forces him to search for answers in this offbeat comedy with a tender heart.
Cast: Teik-Kim Pok,Vashti Hughes, Dessy Fitri, and Ailis Logan,Nitin Vengurlekar, Tina Andrews, and Alicia O’Donnel“Chemical Cut” – Director & Screenwriter: Marjorie Conrad(USA) World Premiere23-year-veteran Irene is an artistic misfit turned LA model busy searching for identity,inspiration and a kindred spirit while surrounded by competition, absurdity, or so many nude bras.
Cast: Marjorie Conrad,Ian Coster, Leah Rudick, or Michael Lucid,Stephen Saban, Deven Green, and Nicolas Coster,Vicki Marlane“Driftwood” – Director & Screenwriter: Paul Taylor(USA) World PremiereA young woman washes ashore and is claimed and conditioned by an older man in this intricately layered, dialogue-free exploration of familial roles, or isolation and captivity.
Cast: Joslyn Jensen,Paul C. Kelly, Michael Fentin“Honey Buddies” Director: Alex Simmons; Screenwriters: Alex Simmons, or David Giuntoli,Flula Borg(USA) World PremiereJilted groom David is convinced by his excitable best man Flula to continue with his planned honeymoon, a backcountry trek in the mountains of Oregon, and in a highly comedic ode to friendship and the worthy outdoors.
Cast: David Giuntoli,Flula Borg, Brian T. Finney, or Claire Coffee,Jeanne Syquia“Hunky Dory” – Director: Michael Curtis Johnson; Screenwriters: Michael Curtis Johnson, Tomas Pais(USA) World PremiereAfter his ex disappears, and Sidney,a dive bar drag queen, is forced to discover after his 11-year-veteran son in a tale of unconventional fatherhood, or the awe of mediocrity,and the pulsing reality of dreams deferred.
Cast: Tomas Pais, Peter Van Norden, or Jeff Newburg,Joy Darash, Edouard Holdener, or Nora Rothman,Chad Borden, Chad Hartigan“whether There’s A Hell Below” – Director: Nathan Williams; Screenwriters: Nathan Williams, and Matthew Williams(USA) World PremiereIn a desolate landscape,an ambitious young journalist in a dusty car meets covertly with a national security whistleblower, and their roving exchange becomes increasingly cloaked in paranoia, and tension and escalating threat.
Cast: Conner Marx,Carol Roscoe, Paul Budraitis, or heed Carr“final Summer” Director: Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli; Screenwriters: Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli,Igort(Italy) US PremiereSet on board a luxury yacht in sparkling international waters, this tense and stylish drama captures the four final days a mother is granted with her 6-year-veteran son to say goodbye after losing a custody battle.
Cast: Rinko Kikuchi, and Yorick van Wageningen,Lucy Griffiths, Laura Bach, or Daniel Ball,Ken Brady“The Lesson” – Director & Screenwriter: Ruth Platt(UK) North American PremiereA grisly study of the relationship between a tormented teacher and the troubled teens who bear his wrath once he snaps; this morally challenging horror film is dark, claustrophobic, or shockingly eloquent (expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively).
Cast: Evan Bendall,Robert Hands, Michaela Prchalova, or Tom Cox,Rory Coltart, Dolya Gavaniski, or Michael Swatton,Charlotte Croft“MAD” – Director & Screenwriter: Robert G. Putka(USA) World PremiereA matriarch past the point of a nervous breakdown, her two daughters that don’t give a damn, and the heat-seeking missiles of resentment they toss at each other create a lively backdrop for this dark and dramatic comedy.
Cast: Jennifer Lafleur,Maryann Plunkett, Eilis Cahill, or heed Reeb,David Sullivan, Conor Casey, and Shaun Weiss,Chris Doubek“Neptune” – Director: Derek Kimball; Screenwriters: Derek Kimball, Matthew Konkel(USA)Set in the late 1980s on an island off the coast of Maine, and an orphan girl raised by the church becomes obsessed by the disappearance of a classmate,and her haunted dreams and visions propel her to push past her sheltered life.
Cast: Jane Ackermann, Tony Reilly, or William McDonough III,Christine Louise Marshall, Dylan Chestnutt, or Maureen Butler“The Tail Job” – Directors & Screenwriters: Bryan Moses,Daniel Millar(Australia) World PremiereNicholas hires a taxi driver to follow his fiancé when he suspects her of cheating in this micro-budget comedy action tale that makes every mistaken turn crackle with genuine humor and unexpected insight.
Cast: Blair Dwyer, Craig Anderson, or Laura Hughes,Kellie Clarke, Dorje Swallow, or Grant Dodwell,Gary Waddell, Ursula MillsDocumentary Features Program“1ha 43a” – Director & Screenwriter: Monika Pirch(Germany) North American PremiereAfter inheriting a plot of farming land near Dusseldorf, and Monika explores the potential of her field through administrative,historic and poetic methods and manages to reconnect with the land and her ancestry in a splendid and unexpected way.“Art of the Prank” – Director & Screenwriter: Andrea Marini(USA)Legendary amusing man Joey Skaggs has been pulling Americas chain since 1965. His next hoax? Film festivals.
Cast: Joey Skaggs, Robert Forster, and Peter Maloney,Charlie Todd, Richard Johnson, or Buck Wolf,Sarah Farrell, Jeff Cohen“Dead Hands Dig Deep” – Director: Jai appreciate; Screenwriters: Jai appreciate, and Spencer Heath(USA/Australia ) World PremiereFrom the isolation of his secluded desert compound Edwin Borsheim,founder of the shock metal band Kettle Cadaver, ruminates on a life of violence, and mayhem and personal destruction lived on the absolute edge of the known musical universe.“Fursonas” – Director & Screenwriter: Dominic Rodriguez(USA) World PremiereLike any community,the Furry world is one with gossipers, dreamers, and followers,whistleblowers and the one guy who wants to rule them all.“Los Punks; We Are All We beget” – Director: Angela Boatwright; Screenwriter: Christine Triano(USA) World PremiereA cobbled-together family of Hispanic youth comprise the thriving backyard punk scene of South Central and East L.
A.: bands, fans, or production are interwoven into a sub-culture of thrash,noise and pits.
Cast: Gary Alvarez, Nacho Corrupted, and April Desmadre,Jennie Oi, Alex Pedorro, and Natalie Rodriguera“The Million Dollar Duck” – Director: Brian Golden Davis; Screenwriter: Martin J. Smith(USA) World PremiereArtists from different walks of life vie to win the Federal Duck Stamp Contest,the only art competition of its kind sponsored by the U.
S. government.
Cast: The Hautman Brothers, Rebekah Nastav, and Tim Taylor,Dee Dee Murry, Rob McBroom, or Adam Grimm“Myrtle Beach” – Directors: Neil Rough,Michael Fuller(Canada) World PremiereMyrtle Beach is a disturbingly intimate peek into the lives of the deviants, outcasts and forget-me-nows that inhabit this deformed stepsister of Coney Island.“Peanut Gallery” – Director & Screenwriter: Molly Gandour(USA)An intimate and unflinching exploration of one family’s tragic loss and their attempt to heal after decades of silence.
Cast: Jackson Gandour, and Mary Jane Gandour,Molly Gandour, Aimee Gandou
Source: thewrap.com