News

At first sight, “Darla in Space” appears to have a premise that feels like a fever dream, an ambitious blend of the every day and the bizarre that intrigues and unsettles. Darla, portrayed by Alex E. Harris with a wonderful eccentricity, is a failing entrepreneur burdened with a massive tax bill that echoes the financial nightmares many of us fear. Her mother’s reckless behaviours have pushed her to the brink of bankruptcy, a reality that strongly resonates with our current anxieties about economic instability.

Enter Mother, a sentient kombucha scoby with the unique ability to induce orgasms—a concept so bizarre that it demands our attention. This contrast between Darla’s bleak financial reality and the fantasy promise of pleasure captures a fundamental absurdity.

It invites us to question the lengths we would go to escape our burdens. The idea of monetizing one’s pleasure strikes me as both...

"Will you come with me when I go to space tomorrow?" Freestyle Digital Media has unveiled a fun trailer for an indie comedy called Darla in Space, a kooky, wacky creation from the filmmakers Eric Laplante & Susie Moon as their feature debut. This premiered at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival earlier this year, and it'll be out to watch on VOD in October. Darla Peterson just found out she owes the IRS $349,000.22. She teams up with a sentient kombucha scoby named "Mother" who has the ability to grant mind-blowing orgasms to pay off the debt. In exchange, Mother wants Darla's help getting to space. Is this a match made in heaven, or the other place? Alex E. Harris plays Darla, with Constance Shulman, Thomas Jay Ryan, Jenn Lyon, Rasheda Crockett, Eamon O'Connell, and Js Oliver. This is such a weird concept, and it's a real shoestring indie made for less than $100K.

There's a funky new sci-fi comedy film coming to Slamdance that has the kind of plot that prompts a spit take. It's called Darla in Space and it looks like a bonkers, fun ride through sexuality, economics, and kombucha. Check out the full synopsis for Darla in Space below:

"In this sci-fi comedy, Darla runs a business called Kitty Kasket, LLC, which makes custom caskets for cats. Darla is stunned to learn that she owes $349 thousand dollars (and 22 cents) in taxes, and that it's due in one month. Fortunately, Darla soon meets a sentient orgasm-granting kombucha scoby (a culture of yeast and bacteria) named Mother. Mother instantly agrees to help Darla out with her debt. All Mother asks in return is for Darla to help her get to space."

Darla in Space stars Alex E. Harris, Thomas Jay Ryan, Constance Shulman, Jenn Lyon, Rasheda Crockett, and Woody Fu. You can...

Returning for its 30th anniversary edition next year, Slamdance Film Festival has now unveiled its full film lineup for 2024. Kicking off with Oscar-winning filmmaker Carol Dysinger’s One Bullet, this year’s festival will showcase 32 features both in Park City and Salt Lake City from January 19-25 and online screenings will be available on the Slamdance Channel from January 22-28.

“Our 2024 Slamdance lineup is a testament to filmmakers who dare to push their stories to the very edge of filmmaking, making it deeply personal yet globally resonant,” said Festival Director Taylor Miller. “Their raw passion and risk-taking echo our commitment to exploring uncharted territories of cinematic expression. This year, we proudly host the most inclusive and accessible festival we’ve ever had, staying true to the core objectives I aimed to cultivate with our programmers when I took this job.”

The 2024 programming was selected from more than 9,000 submissions, 1,729 of which were features.

Festival runs January 19-25 in person, January 22-28 online.

Slamdance Film Festival has announced the roster for its upcoming 30th anniversary edition, which is bookended by Carol Dysinger’s previously announced post-Afghanistan War documentary One Bullet and Vanessa Hope’s IDFA closing night documentary Invisible Nation, a profile of Taiwanese first female president Tsai Ing-wen.

Running January 19-25 in person and January 22-28 online, this year’s event returns to Yarrow Hotel in Park City where the festival launched and will showcase 32 features, of which 17 are world premieres, as well as 75 shorts, and five episodics.

Festival organisers said this year...