Slamdance Film Festival Unveils Primarily Virtual 2021 Lineup
The Slamdance Movie Competition has unveiled its lineup of 25 characteristics along with 107 shorts and episodics for the mostly digital 27th version of the pageant — a quantity that equals former editions of the competition.
The opening night film, which will screen at a travel-in in Joshua Tree on Feb. 13, is the entire world premiere of “No Trace” (Nulle Trace) from Canadian director and screenwriter Simon Lavoie. Taking position in a near potential, the movie follows a callous smuggler hardened by existence who guides a pious young lady and her boy or girl across the border to protection, unaware that their destinies are inescapably linked in an inhospitable land.
The competition will close with the world premiere screening of “18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story” at a Los Angeles drive-in on Feb. 25. The function documentary by Stephen DeBro is the story of Los Angeles advised via the prism of a historic battle palace and Aileen Eaton, the woman who ran it. The film attributes the voices of fighters, skaters and musicians which include Roddy Piper, John Doe, James Ellroy and Julio Cesar Chavez.
The competition, introduced in 1995 as an option to the Sundance Film Pageant, has integrated showings of these noteworthy titles as Oren Peli’s “Paranormal Exercise.” The fest ordinarily can take position at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, Utah throughout Sundance, but is diverging for the future version. This 12 months, Slamdance is working from Feb. 12 to Feb. 25. Slamdance’s supporting alumni include things like the Russo Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan, “Parasite” filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”), Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”) and Lena Denhum (“Girls”).
Digital competition passes are offered for free of charge right up until Dec. 31 with $10 per pageant passes available thereafter. There will be a two-night push-in presentation in Joshua Tree open up to the general public on Feb. 13 and 14 as effectively as the closing night screening at a Los Angeles push-in on Feb. 25. The festival’s formal concept, “Greenlight On your own,” demonstrates Slamdance’s ongoing motivation to turning the quite a few obstacles struggling with filmmakers into chances.
“Our concept this 12 months was impressed by the remarkable resilience and creativeness evidenced by our group and our workforce about the past several unprecedented months,” reported Slamdance President and Co-founder Peter Baxter. “The shared journey ahead for Slamdance’s filmmakers, alumni local community and group is to ‘Greenlight Yourself’ and triple down on not only who we are, but how we can go on expanding the several means we assistance the filmmakers who are the upcoming of independent filmmaking.”
Slamdance’s function level of competition lineup has 20 premieres, with 15 planet, four North American, and a person U.S. debuts. Levels of competition films in narrative and documentary types are characteristic-duration directorial debuts with budgets of considerably less than $1 million and with out U.S. distribution, though the Breakouts level of competition serves directors over and above their initially movies who manage distinct visible styles and a distinctive cinematic voice.
The festival’s new program, Unstoppable, will attribute 22 quick movies from up-and-coming disabled filmmakers, function actors with disabilities, or spotlight the dialogue of disabilities in today’s globe. “I’m honored to be aspect of the great Unstoppable group and embrace the thought of producing a risk-free place for filmmakers with disabilities and acquire our creative imagination as critically as anyone else in this sector. I really feel like we are developing a bridge for many others to cross and I am so proud to be a part of it,“ reported Unstoppable programmer Juliet Romeo.
Shorts in the narrative, documentary and animation sections are suitable for the 2020 Oscar Qualifying Shorts competitiveness. The short film plan will consist of, for the 3rd year, an episodes category showcasing episodic operate in any design and style, genre and format intended for broadcast – from comedy and drama to documentaries, social commentary and past.
The 2021 pageant will see the return of The AGBO Fellowship, offered by AGBO Movies in partnership with the festival — a $25,000 prize launched in 2018 by festival alumni Anthony and Joe Russo (“Avengers: Endgame”) to enable a deserving filmmaker the opportunity to continue on their journey with mentorship from the filmmaking duo.
The 2021 lineup contains:
NARRATIVE Attributes
A Brixton Tale – (Uk, Ireland) Entire world Premiere
Administrators: Darragh Carey & Bertrand Desrochers – Screenwriters: Rupert Baynham, Darragh Carey, Chi Mai – Producers: Rupert Baynham, Dennis Gyamfi, Beau Rambaut
A voyeuristic, wealthy vlogger finds herself drawn to a handsome, shy youth from the infamous Barrier Block housing challenge. Their connection with every single other, and with the digicam, qualified prospects them down a perilous path.
Forged: Ola Orebiyi, Lily Newmark, Craige Middleburg, Jaime Winstone, Barney Harris, Michael Maloney, Rose Kerr, Dexter Padmore.
A Household – (Ukraine/Australia) North American Premiere
Director: Jayden Stevens – Screenwriters: Thomas Swinburn, Jayden Stevens – Producers: Olga Mykhalets, Clea Frost, Thomas Swinburn, Jayden Stevens
A gentleman living in solitary seeks psychological refuge in the organising and documenting of loved ones moments making use of small-grade impersonators. When his faux sister becomes impressed to stick to his technique, their connection struggles concerning the forged and authentic.
Cast: Pavlo Lehenkyi, Liudmyla Zamydra
Dea – (Hong Kong, Switzerland, Indonesia, France) Earth Premiere
Director: Alberto Gerosa – Producers: Alberto Gerosa, Jocelyne Rouch, Andrea Gerosa
Dea leaves rural Indonesia and her singing dreams to migrate to Hong Kong as a international domestic employee. The script is the result of a 9-months acting improv laboratory with a team of Indonesian women of all ages migrant domestic staff, who have been victims of domestic violence when functioning in Hong Kong. The protagonist’s tale merges their authentic existence ordeals into one.
Cast: Dea Panendra, Bruno Zanin, Mas Gentur, Mas Akri, Mega, Mawar, Vincent, Abe and Icy Tsui
Hurrah, we are still alive! – (Poland) North American Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Agnieszka Polska – Producer: Anna Gawlita
An inventive commune of filmmakers awaits the return of the Director, who disappeared without the need of a trace. Irrespective of his absence, the Director looks to control all of the troupe’s steps.
Cast: Piotr Polak, Sonia Roszczuk, Marta Ojrzyńska, Arkadiusz Brykalski, Jacek Beler, Joanna Drozda, Marcin Czarnik, Bartosz Bielenia
Isaac – (Lithuania)
Director: Jurgis Matulevičius – Screenwriters: Saulė Bliuvaitė, Jurgis Matulevičius, Nerijus Milerius – Producer: Stasys Baltakis
A Soviet style movie noir about the murder of a Jew that transformed the entire world.
Solid: Aleksas Kazanavičius, Dainius Gavenonis, Severija Janušauskaitė, Martynas Nedzinskas
Taipei Suicide Story – (Taiwan) North American Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: KEFF – Producer: Amy Ma
A receptionist at a suicide lodge in Taipei types a fleeting friendship above the system of one night time with a visitor who simply cannot come to a decision if she wishes to are living or die.
Solid: Yuhua Sung (宋芸樺), Tender Huang (黃騰浩）
The Sleeping Negro – (Usa) World Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Skinner Myers – Producers: Skinner Myers, Matt Palmieri, John Campbell, Alex McCarthy, Dan Funes
Confronted with a sequence of racially charged incidents, a youthful black man ought to overcome rage, alienation, and hopelessness in order to uncover his personal humanity.
Solid: Rae Dawn Chong, Tunde Adebimpe, Nican Robinson, David Fumero, Julie McNiven, Skinner Myers
Teenage Emotions – (United states of america) Planet Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Frederic Da – Producer: Frederic Da, Roxane Mesquida
What occurs inside the walls of an American Substantial University?
Solid: Jaya Harper, Jayden Capers, Silas Mitchell, Ava Cooper
Person Under Desk – (United states of america)
Director / Screenwriter/ Producer: Noel David Taylor
In an anachronistic dystopian landscape, a beleaguered youthful gentleman tries to navigate his way through the indie movie scene in LA.
Cast: Noel David Taylor, Ben Babbit, Danny Lane, Katy Fullen, John Edmund Parcher, Robert Manion, Alisa Torres, Frank Hinterberger
DOCUMENTARY Features
A Very small Ripple of Hope – (Usa) Entire world Premiere
Director: Jason Polevoi – Producers: Jason Polevoi, Nick Jenkins
A charismatic activist is effective to establish a improved Chicago for the teenagers in his neglected neighborhood even if it arrives at the price of his residence, his relatives, and his safety.
Forged: Jahmal Cole, Dimetriana Chambers, Dominetrius Chambers, Deontae Lewis
Anatomy of Wings – (United states)
Administrators / Producers: Nikiea Redmond & Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander
Black and white, youthful and aged, a team of women danger their personalized identities to establish a second loved ones though producing a documentary-film across the inequities of their Baltimore Metropolis neighborhoods.
Cast: Brittany Backmon, Teshavionna “Tazz” Mitchell, Sheila Butler, Marquise Weems, Brienna Brown, Danisha Harris, Cami McCrief, Tywana Reid, Quandra Jones, Quanisha Carmichael
Bleeding Audio – (United states of america)
Director: Chelsea Christer – Producers: Erin Persley, Jannette Bivona, Chelsea Christer
From inspiring triumphs to heartbreaking setbacks, Bleeding Audio relives the explosive profession of the Matches and what it indicates to be successful in the electronic age of new music.
Solid: Shawn Harris, Justin San Souci, Jon Devoto, Matt Whalen, Mark Hoppus, Nick Hexum, Cassadee Pope, Justin Pierre
CODE Title: Nagasaki – (Norway) Entire world Premiere
Director: Fredrik S. Hana – Screenwriters: Fredrik S. Hana, Marius K. Lunde – Producer: Gunhild Oddsen
“CODE Name: Nagasaki” tells the tale of Marius and Fredrik, two younger guys who cast their friendship as a result of filmmaking and determined to put their capabilities to a special problem: obtaining Marius’ long shed Japanese mom.
Forged: Marius K. Lunde, Fredrik S. Hana
Absolutely everyone needs to be the subsequent Weismann – (Spain) North American Premiere
Director: Alberto Triano – Screenwriters: Alberto Triano and David Cantolla – Producer: David Cantolla
In the artwork environment, there are people who take dangers and then, there is Martín Solo.
Holy Frit – (United States) Planet Premiere
Director: Justin Monroe – Producers: Justin Monroe, Chris Saito
Tim, a proficient, nevertheless mysterious LA artist, bluffs his way into successful the commission to develop the world’s largest stained-glass window of its kind, even though he has no idea how to make it…but he stumbles throughout another person who could, the famous glass maestro, Narcissus Quagliata.
Solid: Tim Carey, Narcissus Quagliata, David Judson, Adam Hamilton
Me To Participate in – (United states of america) Planet Premiere
Director / Screenwriter / Producer: Jim Bernfield
As their bodies give way to Parkinson’s ailment, two New York actors place their hearts into 1 remaining Off-Broadway output of Beckett’s “Endgame,” the enjoy that posits, “there’s almost nothing funnier than unhappiness.
Solid: Dan Moran, John Christopher Jones, Joe Grifasi, Ruth Kreshka, Marybeth Coudal, Carolyn McCormick, Byron Jennings
Workhorse Queen – (Usa, Australia) Planet Premiere
Director / Screenwriter/ Producer: Angela Washko
Soon after an not likely casting on to a truth tv demonstrate, 47-yr outdated suburban telemarketer Ed Popil leaves his task to go after a full-time amusement industry profession as his drag queen alter moi, 1960’s era housewife Mrs. Kasha Davis.
Cast: Ed Popil (Mrs. Kasha Davis), Greg Meyer (Darienne Lake), Tom Smalley (Aggy Dune), Christopher Steckel (Ambrosia Salad), Michael Steck (Pandora Boxx), Steven Levins, Roy Haylock (Bianca Del Rio), Joey Santolini (Tatianna)
BREAKOUTS
Whilst Slamdance’s key opposition stays unique to very first-time administrators, the BREAKOUTS system serves directors further than their 1st movies who maintain unique visible variations and a unique cinematic voice.
A Black Rift Begins to Yawn – (Usa) Globe Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Matthew Wade – Producers: Matthew Wade, Sara Lynch As two former classmates dig into their deceased professor’s set of cassette tapes, which possibly incorporate recordings of weird signals from past the stars, they commence to experience recollections, the chronology of time, and their identities slip into obscurity. Solid: Sara Lynch, Saratops McDonald, Luke Massengill
After America – (Usa) Entire world Premiere
Director / Screenwriter / Producer: Jake Yuzna
In 2019 a team of criminal justice de-escalation staff in Minneapolis embarked on a collaborative film challenge that employed radical theater workshop procedures to discover their true-existence struggles to escape the pressures of the American desire. The consequence, concluded days in advance of the murder of George Floyd, captures a metropolis seeking for what lies after The us.
Solid: Yvonne Freese, Theresa McConnon, Daniel Nies, Ahmed Yusuf, Dan Fox, Eli Anthony, Robert Dante
Undesirable Mind-set: The Art of Spain Rodriguez – (United states) Entire world Premiere
Director / Screenwriter / Producer: Susan Stern
“Working-course Latino hood, crossed with insane artist, crossed with still left-wing radical,” so the famous underground cartoonist Spain Rodriguez is explained in this intimate portrait by his spouse, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Susan Stern.
Forged: Spain Rodriguez, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Aline Kominsky Crumb, Ed Piskor, Ishmael Reed, Trina Robbins, Susie Bright
Stop of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock – (Usa, Finland) World Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Shannon Kring – Producers: Shannon Kring, Pearl Daniel-Usually means, Sophia Ehrnrooth
That includes surprising, never-right before-witnessed legislation enforcement video clip surrendered by a disgraced officer, Close of the Line: The Females of Standing Rock is the incredible tale of the indigenous ladies who establish a peaceful camp in protest of the $3.8 billion Dakota Obtain oil pipeline development that desecrated historical burial and prayer sites and threatens their land, water, and very existence.
Cast: Phyllis Younger, Wašté Get Youthful, LaDonna Courageous Bull Allard, Sky Roosevelt-Morris, Linda Black Elk
Mia Misses Her Revenge (Mia isi rateaza razbunarea) – (Romania) US Premiere
Director / Screenwriter: Bogdan Theodor Olteanu – Producers: Anamaria Antoci, Anda Ionescu
Right after a violent breakup, Mia is having difficulties to get revenge on her ex. As her approach kicks off, she finds herself surrounded by a group of close friends that give feminine togetherness a new definition.
Cast: Ioana Bugarin, Maria Popistașu, Ana Maria Guran, Carol Ionescu, Adrian Nicolae, Alexandru Ion, Mădălina Stoica, Ștefania Cîrcu
No Trace (Nulle Trace) – (Canada) Environment Premiere – Opening Film
Director / Screenwriter: Simon Lavoie – Producer: Marcel Giroux In a in the vicinity of future, a callous smuggler hardened by lifetime guides a pious younger girl and her child throughout the border to basic safety, unaware that their destinies are inescapably joined in this inhospitable land.
Forged: Monique Gosselin, Nathalie Doummar, Martin Desgagnés, Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon
Spotlight SCREENINGS
18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Tale – (United states of america) Earth Premiere – Closing Movie
Director / Screenwriter: Stephen DeBro – Producers: Stephen DeBro, Robert Benavides, Mayre McAnulty, Tony Peck
A raucous, visceral Los Angeles tale—seen by way of the tale of a 20th Century struggle palace and the amazing girl who ran it-—reveals battles in excess of race, gender and identity that nevertheless roil The us.
Solid: Roddy Piper, Carlos Palomino, John Doe, Julio César Chávez, James Ellroy, Mamie Van Doren, Gene LeBell, The Destroyer
Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide – (Usa, Brazil)
Administrators / Screenwriters: Malia Scharf, Max Basch – Producers: David Koh, Malia Scharf, Max Basch
Together with pals Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf grew from a graffiti artist into a big pressure in the 1980s NYC artwork scene. Obsessed with rubbish, cartoons, and plastic, this playful Peter Pan’s roller coaster vocation flourished irrespective of the decimation of the AIDS crisis and the fickle tastes of the art globe and carries on to make colorful, complex operate that puts him at the forefront of the place popular lifestyle fulfills good artwork.