It’s time for the 32nd Slamdance Film Festival, which is all about discovering new filmmakers and unveiling their work. Originating with 30 years in Utah, this is the second Slamdance in Los Angeles. It’s a hybrid festival with live events (February 10-25) and online via the Slamdance Channel (February 24-March 6). Three LA venues will host the screenings – DGA, Landmark Sunset, and 2220 Arts with the closing night ceremony held at the Egyptian Theater.
Slamdance was founded in 1995 by filmmakers reacting to the gatekeeper role and growing marketplace focus of a nearby Utah film festival with a similar name. Whenever I cover a film festival, I’m on the lookout for first films and world premieres – and here’s a festival essentially entirely made up of first films and world premieres.
Slamdance alumni include: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, Memento, Dunkirk), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room), Lynn Shelton (Outside In, Sword of Truth), Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine), Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Brick), Benny & Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems) and the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Infinity War).
All Slamdance feature films selected in the competition categories are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than $1 million. The 141 films in this year’s program, featuring 50 world premieres, hail from 50 countries and were selected from 10,000 submissions.
Slamdance opens with the world premiere of Alexandre Rockwell’s The Projectionist, a love letter to cinema starring Vondie Curtis-Hall and co-produced by Quentin Tarantino.
This year, Utopia will offer theatrical distribution for at least one Slamdance Grand Prize Winner. Way cool.
I’ll start rolling out full reviews of some Slamdance films on February 24th. Remember, even if you don’t get to the fest in LA, you can sample these films on the Slamdance Channel from February 24 thru March 6.