2014 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FEATURE FILM COMPETITION LINEUP

The 20th annual Slamdance Film Festival, taking place from January 17th-23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah, has announced their Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition programs. From the official press release:

The Slamdance Film Festival today announced their Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition programs for its 20th Festival season. As the premiere film festival for filmmakers by filmmakers, Slamdance’s showcase for emerging filmmakers includes 10 narrative and 8 documentary films, including 11 World Premieres, 4 North American, and 1 US Premiere. After receiving over 5,000 submissions this year, Slamdance is proud to present the best of first time feature filmmakers pushing the boundaries of filmmaking with innovation and unique talent. All competition films are feature film directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million and without US distribution, and were programmed entirely from blind submissions by the Slamdance filmmaking community.

Jury Awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award judged by the filmmakers themselves, as well as the Audience Awards.

“The 2014 Feature Competition bristles with raw talent and innovative filmmaking. As an organization run by filmmakers for filmmakers, we couldn’t imagine a truer way of representing the first 20 years and beginning our next,” states Peter Baxter, Slamdance President and Co- Founder.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 17th – 23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060.

NARRATIVE FEATURES PROGRAM

Copenhagen – Director & Screenwriter: Mark Raso
(USA, Canada, Denmark) World Premiere
A charming scoundrel visiting the city of his father’s birth, William is drawn to his impromptu guide Effy – wise, spontaneous, and half his age.
Cast: Gethin Anthony, Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Sebastian Armesto, Tamzin Merchant

Goldberg & Eisenberg – Director & Screenwriter: Oren Carmi
(Israel)
A lonely computer programmer finds his life disrupted by a boorish thug who becomes dangerously obsessed in this darkly absurd drama.
Cast: Yitzhak Laor, Yahav Gal, Roni Dotan

I Play With The Phrase Each Other – Director & Screenwriter: Jay Alvarez
(USA) North American Premiere
Young city dwellers with lyrical musings and a sliding sense of entitlement hold court in this film comprised entirely of cell phone conversations.
Cast: Jay Alvarez, Will Hand, Megan Kopp, Alexander Fraser

I Put A Hit On You – Directors & Screenwriters: Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart
(Canada) World Premiere
A broken-hearted woman teams up with her ex-boyfriend to try and stop the hitman she accidentally hired to kill him.
Cast: Aaron Ashmore, Sara Canning

My Blind Heart – Director & Screenwriter: Peter Brunner
(Austria) North American Premiere
Suffering from an incurable disease, a young man rebels against his body and the expectations forced upon him in this black and white expressionist film.
Cast: Christos Haas, Jana McKinnon, Susanne Lothar, Robert Schmiedt, Georg Friedrich

The Republic of Rick – Director: Mario Kyprianou; Screenwriters: Mario Kyprianou, Becky Leigh
(USA) World Premiere
In this politic satire, a self-proclaimed President of the Republic of Texas rallies to lead a paranoid militia for Texas’s independence in the late 1990s.
Cast: Dave Abed, Angie Gregory, Lori Jean Wilson

Rezeta – Director & Screenwriter: Fernando Frias de la Parra
(Mexico) US Premiere
A jet-setting model leads a freewheeling and spontaneous life in Mexico City that starts to change when she falls in love with an unexpected young artist.
Cast: Rezeta Veliu, Roger Mendoza, Paulina Davila, Sebastian Cordova

Rover – Director & Screenwriter: Tony Blahd
(USA) World Premiere
A dispirited cult awaits the sign to off themselves when their leader fakes a prophecy instructing them to make a movie and share their story with the world.
Cast: Liam Torres, Jonathan Randell Silver, Steve Siddell, Natalie Thomas

The Sublime and Beautiful – Director & Screenwriter: Blake Robbins
(USA) World Premiere
David and Kelly descend into a complicated hell of grief but they take very different paths to make things right after losing their children to a drunk driver.
Cast: Blake Robbins, Laura Kirk, Matthew Del Negro, Armin Shimerman

Wizard’s Way – Director & Screenwriter: Metal Man
(UK) North American Premiere
A champion online fantasy video game player, his encouraging best friend, and two ambitious would-be filmmakers who decide to capture it all for posterity.
Cast: Chris Killen, Joe Stretch, Kristian Scott, Socrates Adams-Florou, Sadie Frost

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM

Elliot – Directors & Screenwriters: Matthew Bauckman, Jaret Belliveau
(Canada) World Premiere
The bizarre story of Elliot Scott, his supportive partner Linda Lum, and their cast and crew of outrageous dreamers all striving to achieve success.
Cast: Elliot Scott, Blake Zwicker, Linda Lum

Glena – Director & Screenwriter: Allan Luebke
(USA) World Premiere
Glena Avila is a single mother in her 30’s who is fighting to become a professional Mixed Martial Artist.
Cast: Glena Avila, Stormy Back, Ron Andersen

Huntington’s Dance – Director: Chris Furbee
(USA) World Premiere
Told through 20 years of home movie footage, Huntington’s Dance is a personal and devastatingly raw look at how hereditary disease can shatter a family and a future. Cast: Chris Furbee, Rosemary Shockey, Gene Furbee

Kidnapped For Christ – Director: Kate S. Logan; Screenwriters: Yada Zamora, Kate S. Logan (USA, Dominican Republic) World Premiere
The personal stories of American teenagers who are taken from their homes and sent to an Evangelical Christian reform school located in The Dominican Republic.
Cast: David Wernsman, Tai Matheiu, Elizabeth Engle

Little Hope Was Arson – Director: Theo Love
(USA)
January 2010: In the buckle of the Bible Belt, 10 churches burn to the ground igniting the largest criminal investigation in East Texas history.

Skanks – Director: David McMahon
(USA) World Premiere
A community theatre in Birmingham, Alabama mounts a gender-bending new musical titled “Skanks In A One Horse Town.”

Sometimes I Dream I’m Flying – Director & Screenwriter: Aneta Popiel-Machnicka (Poland) North American Premiere
The poignant story of a young dancer preparing to perform at the Berlin Opera and the serious injury that threatens her lifelong dream.
Cast: Weronika Frodyma, Anna Linnik, Sergey Basalayev

Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe à la Hache – Director & Screenwriter: Nailah Jefferson
(USA) World Premiere
In Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana, the residents of this ruined fishing community continue dealing with the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in US history.
Cast: Byron Encalade, Stanley Encalde, Kenneth Feinberg