News

With fingers tightly crossed, the Slamdance Film Festival plans a return to in-person screenings Jan. 20 29 in Utah, but its organizers have not forgotten the lessons they learned during two years of pandemic pivots.

“Something that’s become abundantly clear to us that’s important for the survival of independent film is accessibility,” festival producer Michael Morin tells Variety. “We’ve been able to do a successful online version of our festival for the last two years. It really made us reconsider what kind of program we wanted to put on when we did come back in person.”

“For me, the key word here would be diversification,” says festival manager Lily Yasuda. Where a hybrid of in-person and online programming was a logistical necessity during Covid, its success in facilitating attendance underscored the need for the festival to broaden its access to individuals, some without the resources and others the physical ability,...

Just two days before Sundance Film Festival will unveil its lineup, the other major January Utah festival has released theirs. Now in its 29th iteration, next year’s Slamdance Film Festival––which will also be providing programming both in-person and online, from January 20th through 29th––has unveiled its features slate. The lineup for the festival, which opens with Moby’s Punk Rock Vegan Movie, was culled from 7,600 total submissions, 1,522 of which were features. All films selected in the Narrative Features and Documentary Features competition categories are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than 1 million Usd.

“From the streets of Seattle to the psychedelic skies of a unicorn-run dystopia, our filmmakers are transporting audiences to new dimensions with stories that explore the nuance of disability, immigration and gender. This year’s lineup represents a generation of new directors who are breaking boundaries and redefining what filmmaking...

Today, the Slamdance Film Festival announces its 2023 feature lineup, including programming for the Narrative Features Competition, Documentary Features Competition, Breakouts, Unstoppable, and Spotlight Screenings. The 29th annual edition of the festival will adhere to a hybrid model, with events taking place in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah from January 20-26 and online via the Slamdance Channel from January 23-29. “From the streets of Seattle to the psychedelic skies of a unicorn-run dystopia, our filmmakers are transporting audiences to new dimensions with stories that explore the nuance of disability, immigration and gender,” said Festival Manager Lily Yasuda in […]

The post Slamdance Film Festival Announces Feature Lineup for 2023 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Today, the Slamdance Film Festival announces its 2023 feature lineup, including programming for the Narrative Features Competition, Documentary Features Competition, Breakouts, Unstoppable, and Spotlight Screenings. The 29th annual edition of the festival will adhere to a hybrid model, with events taking place in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah from January 20-26 and online via the Slamdance Channel from January 23-29. “From the streets of Seattle to the psychedelic skies of a unicorn-run dystopia, our filmmakers are transporting audiences to new dimensions with stories that explore the nuance of disability, immigration and gender,” said Festival Manager Lily Yasuda in […]

The post Slamdance Film Festival Announces Feature Lineup for 2023 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Slamdance has announced its feature lineup and “Free LSD” as the closing night film for the 29th Slamdance Film Festival

This year’s lineup was chosen from 7,600 submissions — 1, 522 of which were features — and represents projects from 13 different countries. The selections for the Narrative Features and Documentary Features competition categories are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than 1 million.

In addition to Slamdance’s opening night film Moby’s “Punk Rock Vegan Movie,” the festival will also showcase two additional Spotlight Feature screenings: “Downwind” and “Free LSD,” which follows one man’s inter-dimensional journey where, after using an experimental drug, he is provided a glimpse into a parallel universe. The film features appearances from Keith Morris and Jack Black.

“From the streets of Seattle to the psychedelic skies of a unicorn-run dystopia, our filmmakers are transporting audiences to new dimensions with stories that explore the nuance of disability,...

The Slamdance Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 29th edition — taking place both in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah from January 20-26, and online on the Slamdance Channel from the 23rd to the 29th.

This year’s lineup of films from 13 countries was chosen from more than 7,600 submissions, more than 1,500 of which were features. As has been the case at each edition of Slamdance since its 1995 founding, all films selected in Narrative Features and Documentary Features competition are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than 1M Usd.

Slamdance revealed today that Dimitri Coats’ Free LSD will make its world premiere at the festival, serving as its Closing Night feature. The film featuring appearances from Keith Morris and Jack Black follows the inter-dimensional journey of a man who has used an experimental drug to cure a personal problem, thereby being provided a...

Music artist to give film away for free following premiere.

Musician and animal rights activist Moby will open the 29th Slamdance Film Festival with his feature directorial debut Punk Rock Vegan Movie on January 20 2023 and has vowed to give the film away for free after the premiere.

The festival, which runs in Park City and Salt Lake City from January 20-26 and online on the Slamdance Channel from January 23-29, has also announced a partnership with the University of Utah dedicated to the first in-person showcase of the Unstoppable Program, a free showcase of “raw and innovative filmmaking”.

Punk Rock...

Slamdance announced the winners of its 2022 screenplay competition, with the grand prize going to writer Gabriel Malasig for his screenplay titled “American Retail.” The screenplay follows a Black woman as she struggles to supplement her music career through a dead-end retail job at a superstore.

Additional prizes were awarded during a live ceremony that took place at the Nuart Theatre and co-presented by the Writers Guild of America West and Landmark Theatres on Sunday. Slamdance recognizes writers in its feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot, short film and mentorship categories. More than 18,000 in prizes, in addition to various industry services, are awarded to winners across all categories.

“We received over 4,200 screenplay submissions this year,” said festival manager Lily Yasuda. “Our readers were blown away by the quality of scripts this year, and our winners exemplify everything we look for in a screenplay: bold, original and unafraid to tackle complex social issues head-on.