2014 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SPECIAL SCREENINGS, BEYOND PROGRAM AND SHORTS SHOWCASES SELECTIONS

The 20th annual Slamdance Film Festival, taking place from January 17th-23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah, has announced their Special Screenings, Beyond program and Shorts Showcase selections. From the official press release:

The Slamdance Film Festival today announced its Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts programs for the 20th Festival season including details about the premiere of the DIY documentary, which follows the historical development of the Do- It-Yourself indie film movement. The programs present thought-provoking films by a variety of acclaimed and visionary filmmakers from all over the world. This year’s films include such notable alumni filmmakers as Bill Plympton, Lise Raven and Slamdance veterans in front of the camera including Benh Zeitlin, Chris Nolan, Rian Johnson and Marc Forster, as well as the directorial debut of Joe Manganiello of “True Blood” fame. Slamdance alumni films will open the festival with Bill Plympton’s “Cheatin’,” and will close the festival with Lise Raven’s “Kinderwald.”

The expanded short film programs include 62 American and International productions including 24 World, 5 North American and 8 US Premieres. The 2014 Shorts showcase includes Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Anarchy and a new Experimental Program. This year’s programs bring us a magical French chateau, a deconstructed ‘Dante’s Inferno,’ street musicians, a southern gospel choir, and such powerful topics as infidelity, grief, love, survival, depression and adolescent friendships.

Jury Awards are presented to short films in all categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award judged by the filmmakers themselves. Films in the Beyond and Special Screening programs are eligible for the Audience Awards.

“We’re excited to present these innovative feature and short films as part of the 20th Festival. They involve many of our alumni who’ve given Slamdance its identity,” stated 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.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM

FEATURES

Cheatin’ – Director: Bill Plympton
(USA) North American Premiere
A newlywed wife proves the depth of her love by becoming her cheating husband’s mistresses.

Kinderwald – Director: Lise Raven; Screenwriters: Lise Raven, Frank Bru?ckner
(USA, Germany) North American Premiere
Two little boys vanish into the mountains in 1854, and their return becomes a mysterious and brutal test of their mother’s faith.
Cast: Emily Behr, Frank Bru?ckner, Max Cove, Brian McCann

La Bare – Director: Joe Manganiello
(USA) World Premiere
An insider’s look at the history, the lives and the culture of the greatest male strip club in the world, La Bare Dallas.

Waiting for Mamu – Directors: Thomas Morgan, Francois Caillaud, Dan Chen
(USA)
Pushpa Basnet has dedicated her life to ensuring no child spends life in prison. Cast: Pushpa Basnet

SHORTS

DIY – Directors: Peter Baxter, Ben Hethcoat, Eric Ekman
(USA) World Premiere
DIY explores the development of the do-it-yourself indie film movement with filmmakers who have shaped it. Filmmakers include Benh Zeitlin, Chris Nolan, Rian Johnson, Marc Forster, Nina Menkes and Oren Peli.

La Mime – Director & Screenwriter: Marjorie Cohen
(USA) World Premiere
Two mimes make a connection through a battle that bends reality. Cast: Ekaterina Pirogovskaya, Jean-Louis Darville

Somewhere In The Valley – Director & Screenwriter: David Greenspan
(USA) World Premiere
A man has sex with his neighbor’s wife 72 times, but it’s okay because his neighbor paid him to do it.
Cast: Jill Bartlett, Craig Cackowski, Robert Dassie, Jean Villepique

Zoe Rising – Director & Screenwriter: Paul Rachman
(USA) World Premiere
A haunting, poetic look back at the childhood of the late New York screenwriter and actress Zoe Tamerlis Lund, through the fading memories of her surviving mother, sculptor Barbara Lekberg. Cast: Barbara Lekberg, Zoe Lund

BEYOND PROGRAM

Crimes Against Humanity – Director: Jerzy Rose; Screenwriters: Halle Butler & Jerzy Rose
(USA)
A sweet and trusting young woman is repeatedly injured in bizarre accidents, but her overconfident boyfriend is far from sympathetic – he’s busy playing power games at the university where he works.
Cast: Mike Lopez, Lyra Hill, Ted Tremper, Adam Paul, Buki Bodunrin, Tommy Heffron

Forever Not Alone – Directors: Monja Art, Caroline Bobek
(Austria) North American Premiere
An astonishingly up-close and intimate look at the deep bonds of friendship amongst a group of adolescent girls, as one of them prepares to move away.

Love Steaks – Director: Jakob Lass; Screenwriters: Jakob Lass, Nico Woche, Ines Schiller, Timon Schaeppi
(Germany) US Premiere
A shy massage therapist and a rebellious kitchen worker at a luxury hotel develop a bond that turns into a complicated, bittersweet anti-romance.
Cast: Lana Cooper, Franz Rogowski

Three Night Stand – Director & Screenwriter: Pat Kiely
(Canada) US Premiere
Carl’s plan to reconnect with Sue is compromised when he discovers that his former girlfriend is running the ski lodge where they’re vacationing.
Cast: Sam Huntington, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Meaghan Rath, Jonathan Cherry

Who Took Johnny – Directors: David Beilinson, Suki Hawley, Michael Galinsky
(USA) World Premiere
On September 5, 1982, Johnny Gosch, 12, disappeared while preparing to deliver newspapers in West Des Moines, Iowa. For the next 30 years his mother Noreen devoted her life to finding out what happened.
Cast: Noreen Gosch, John Walsh

NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAM

Anacos – Director & Screenwriter: Xacio Ban?o
(Spain)
An old woman’s life is examined and reassembled by her son, who looks back on the many different stages she has passed through.
Cast: Mabel Rivera, Fernando Mora?n, Xose? Barato

Beat – Director & Screenwriter: Aneil Karia
(UK)
A man finds his withdrawal from the chaos and loneliness of the city challenged by a visceral inner force.
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Henry Garrett, Kieron Jecchinis, Chelsea Fitzgerald

Bradford-Halifax-London – Director & Screenwriter: Francis Lee
(UK) US Premiere
An irate father and pregnant mother argue vigorously after catching the 10:22 train from Bradford to London, with their sullen teenage daughter and the entire train car as audience. Cast: Katy Cavanagh, Paul Barnhill, Kirsty Armstrong, Martin Preston

Daybreak – Director & Screenwriter: Ian Lagarde
(Canada) US Premiere
Growing tension in a group of friends leads to quiet violence and destruction as the children enter adolescence.
Cast: Alexander Fitchev, Emilie Senecal

Eidos – Director & Screenwriter: Louis D’Arpa
(USA)
A blind sculptor attempts to capture his aging mother’s essence in an art piece. Cast: Robin Martin, Pascal Yen-Pfister, Rachel Rear

First Baptist – Directors: Nedra McClyde, Jamund Washington; Screenwriter: Nedra McClyde (USA) World Premiere
A young Southern Baptist choir soloist fights for the right for his place in both the choir and in his community.
Cast: Isaiah Johnson, Willie Teacher, Celestine Rae, Chike Johnson

Grand Morelos – Director & Screenwriter: Marco Coppola
(USA)
An old street musician’s depression is shaken when an unexpected friend inspires him to examine what he wants most out of life.
Cast: Anthony Govine, Maria Mercedes Morales, Thomas Kaufman
The Greggs – Directors: Bruce Bundy, Nigel DeFriez, Rob Malone, Kira Pearson, Alex Mechanik, Jessie Levandov,

Jonathan Rosenblit; Screenwriter: Bruce Bundy
(USA) World Premiere
The esoteric and secluded group responsible for the creation of the world’s standardized tests must find a way to adapt when their way of life is threatened by dissent within their ranks. Cast: Bruce Bundy, Nigel DeFriez, Kira Pearson, Rob Malone

I Love You So Much – Director & Screenwriter: Leah Shore
(USA) World Premiere
A man and woman express their affection for each other in increasingly bizarre and animated ways.
Cast: Jarret Kerr

Keep A Tidy Soul – Director & Screenwriter: Joshua Moore
(USA)
A young woman abruptly loses her soul and does everything she can think of to find it again. Cast: Claire McConnell, Naomi Lila

Kuhani – Director & Screenwriter: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine
(Uganda, USA) North American Premiere
A conflicted African priest wrestles with his conscience.
Cast: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Irene Sanga, Anania Ngoliga, Abiodun Ojora

Little Secret – Director & Screenwriter: Martin Krejci
(Czech Republic)
When his little white lie has unexpected large-scale consequences, an injured boy struggles to reach an understanding with his mother about how he was hurt.
Cast: Adam Misik, Klara Cibulkova, Jenovefa Bokova

Love Letter – Director & Screenwriter: Lindsey Martin
(USA)
A little girl attempts to make sense out of her parents’ divorce, with only scraps of their life together and her imagination to help her.
Cast: Molly McQuoid, Martina Plag

Marla – Director & Screenwriter: Nick King
(Australia)
After encountering a man curious about her rare medical condition, a woman risks exploring new aspects of her sexuality.
Cast: Eddie Ritchard, Dale March, Lani Tupu

Meet My Rapist – Director & Screenwriter: Jessie Kahnweiler
(USA) World Premiere
After accidentally bumping into him at the farmers’ market, Jessie is forced to confront the effect her rapist has had on her life.
Cast: Jessie Kahnweiler, Trenton Willey, Lori Alan, Amanda Foreman

Milk and Blood – Director: Markus Englmair; Screenwriters: Markus Englmair, Ugla Hauksdo?ttir
(USA, Iceland) World Premiere
Father and son respond violently to each other and their own frustrations with the scope of their lives as dairy farmers.
Cast: Hannes O?li A?gu?stsson, Guðmundur O?lafsson, Kjartan Bjargmundsson

Mother Corn – Director: Guillermo Lecuona; Screenwriter: Tera Hollingsworth-Lecuona
(USA, Mexico)
A Triqui Indian teen wrestles spiritual visions that awaken appreciation for her grandmother and culture.
Cast: Luz Mariana Santiago, Maria Concepcio?n Bautista Diaz, Tera Hollingsworth-Lecuona

Moving – Director & Screenwriter: Marc Horowitz
(USA) World Premiere
A series of peripheral conversations between two workers on the job raises more questions than answers.
Cast: Marc Horowitz, Chris Duce

Not Funny – Director & Screenwriter: Carlos Violade? Guerrero
(Spain)
When a woman turns the tables on her prankster husband, they are both forced to live with the serious consequences of a practical joke.
Cast: Mercedes Bernal, Andre?s Berlanga

Odyssea – Director: Morrisa Maltz; Screenwriter: Jeffrey Paul King
(USA) World Premiere
A young woman returns to her idyllic hometown and undertakes a private venture that involves both real and imagined inhabitants from her past.
Cast: Amy Ferguson, Natasha Warner, Beth Grant, Michael Chieffo

Off Ground – Director: Boudewijn Koole; Screenwriters: Boudewijn Koole, Jakop Ahlbom (The Netherlands)
A slender woman of 50 and a 12-year-old boy act as a single unit with one flowing movement, until suddenly they let go of each other.
Cast: Louise Lecavalier, Antoine Masson

Old Moon – Director & Screenwriter: Raisa Bonnet
(Puerto Rico) North American Premiere
A visit from her son-in-law and granddaughter causes Elsa, living deep in the mountains, to make a silent and dramatic decision.
Cast: Mari?a Vela?zquez, Julio Ramos, Laura Cristina Cardona

One Please – Director & Screenwriter: Jesse Burks
(USA) World Premiere
The perfect suburb has a rather gory method of currency when it comes to children’s treats. Cast: Michael Berryman, Sailor Holland, Catherine Burks, Langston Thompson

Pink & Baby Blue – Director & Screenwriter: Catrin Hedstro?m
(USA) World Premiere
A transgendered woman decides between using the men’s restroom or the ladies’ restroom. Cast: Alexander Leonn, Emelie Berman, Carmen LoBue, Travis Stroessenreuther

Pui – Director & Screenwriter: Rujiroj Thanasankittiwat
(Thailand) World Premiere
A mother’s attempt to discourage her daughter from acting like the neighborhood boys is successful, but only on the surface.
Cast: Parida Manomaiphibul, Putaranun Chotiprapa, Nattapum Thabthim

Trauma – Director & Screenwriter: Ethan Young
(USA) World Premiere
Proving that there’s nothing menacing in the attic of her childhood home is the only thing standing between Isabelle and freedom, but even with her doctor’s insistence, something still seems amiss.
Cast: Allyn Morse, Michael T. Francis, Charlie Ellis

The Voice Thief – Director & Screenwriter: Adan Jodorowsky
(USA, France) US Premiere
When an opera singer loses her voice, her husband embarks on an odyssey through Miami’s dark underworld to recover it through supernatural means.
Cast: Asia Argento, Cristobal Jodorowsky, Helene Nymann, Jean Yves Thual

The Walk – Director & Screenwriter: Mihaela Popescu
(Romania) North American Premiere
An old solitary woman feels the urge to go outside and feel alive again. Cast: Valeria Seciu, Sergiu Costache

The Way – Director: Max Ksjonda; Screenwriters: Max Ksjonda, Ivan Timshyn
(Ukraine)
A neglected teenager makes a bet with his friends that leads him on a dangerous trip to another city.
Cast: Evgeniy Gerasymenko, Evgeniy Efremov, Svitlana Shtanko, Victor Glushkov

We Keep On Dancing – Director: Jessica Barclay Lawton; Screenwriter: Rhys Mitchell
(Australia)
Alan, a sensitive sculptor and grieving widower, connects with an aggressive mechanic in a rather unusual way.
Cast: William Gluth, John Brumpton, Rhys Mitchell

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAM

The Chaperone 3D – Directors & Screenwriters: Fraser Munden, Neil Rathbone
(Canada) US Premiere
The story of a lone teacher who is chaperoning a middle school dance in 1970s Montreal when it is invaded by a menacing motorcycle gang.
Cast: Ralph Whims, Stefan Czernatowicz, Fred Nguyen, Yue Qi

Glass Eyes of Locust Bayou – Director: Simon Mercer
(Canada, UK)
Bayou-based filmmaker Phil Chambliss makes movies which blur the line between good and evil in rural Arkansas.
Cast: Phil Chambliss

Jim Morris: Lifelong Fitness – Director: Ryan Vance
(USA) World Premiere
A former Mr. America and Mr. USA, amongst other impressive titles, Jim Morris is a 77-year-old vegan bodybuilder who continues to work today as a personal trainer in Venice, California.
Cast: Jim Morris, Paul Lubowicki, John Lewis, John Balik

Methel Island – Director: Meg Smaker
(USA) World Premiere
A meditation on the ravaging effects of meth in a small island community in the Sacramento Delta.

Pablo’s Villa – Director: Matthew Salleh
(Australia)
Twenty-three years after the picturesque holiday town Villa Epecuen was submerged in front of Pablo’s eyes, the modern-day Atlantis re-emerges from the sea, preserving both his memories and his home.
Cast: Pablo Novak

Punches & Pedicures – Director: Ash Brandon
(USA)
An ex-Vietnamese gangster escapes to Defiance, Ohio where he now runs his own nail salon by day and trains at-risk youth in the brutal sport of Mixed Martial Arts by night.
Cast: Victor Pham, Corey “KoKo” Simmons

What I Hate About Myself – Directors: Ben Mullinkosson, Bobby Moser
(China)
A local Chinese TV station pairs with a cosmetic surgery sponsor for a contest in which the winner receives free surgery in the hope of looking more “Western.”

White Earth – Director: J. Christian Jensen
(USA) World Premiere
Three kids and an immigrant mother offer a glimpse into their lives in this poetic and poignant portrait of North Dakota’s oil boom.
Cast: James McClellan, Leevi Meyer, Elena Guadalupe Loaiza, Flor Loaiza

ANIMATION SHORTS PROGRAM

Another – Director: Sean Buckelew; Screenwriters: Sean Buckelew, Kevin Buckelew, Michelle Yu
(USA) US Premiere
A dreamlike narrative in which an intruding bear kills a family man and attempts to assume his role; mother and son try to adapt to the uneasy situation, but the threat of violence lingers. Cast: Ian McDuffie

Butler, Woman, Man – Director: Michael Langan
(France)
A French cha?teau becomes a magical place of gliding servants and shifting physical spaces, creating a fascinating sense of displacement as a man becomes a butler, becomes a woman, becomes a man.
Cast: Fabrice David, Amandine Bre?he?ret, Eric Larzat

Lord I: The Records Keeper – Director & Screenwriter: Lori Damiano
(USA)
A colorful and mystical odyssey, dense and playfully-drawn: a woman weighed down by books and surrounded by her own mental projections attempts to find peace in the present moment.

The Path of Wind – Director & Screenwriter: Kim Ju-im
(South Korea) North American Premiere
A human office chair unravels its legs and goes on a wildly imaginative psychedelic vision quest filled with both terror and beauty, leading to a transformation into a musical instrument of liberation.

Salmon Deadly Sins – Director: Steven Vander Meer
(USA) World Premiere
Dreamy, gorgeously morphing fish imagery inspired by the seven deadly sins merges with floating anagrams, the entire piece hand-drawn on a series of 3×5 index cards.

A Tongue Silent Like Your Words – Director: Vita Weichen Hsu
(Taiwan, USA) World Premiere
Two bodies grasp and entwine in an elegant and bizarre animated pencil drawing, intercut with evocative imagery of combat and escape.

U U – Director: Yu Yu
(UK) US Premiere
A humorous story of a man gazing into a mirror and discovering all of the pairs on his body; the thought that he could be not one, but two people takes him on a journey through the world of flesh and back to his origins.

Unicorn Blood – Director: Alberto Vazquez; Screenwriters: Alberto Vazquez, Pedro Rivero
(Spain)
Two squabbling teddy bears who must kill to maintain their cuteness hunt in a hallucinatory wilderness for their favorite prey.

EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS PROGRAM

Between Regularity and Irregularity – Director: Masahiro Tsutani
(Japan) US Premiere
An overwhelming experience of pleasure forms when the timing of improvised sounds deviates slightly from the timing one expects.

Bird S**t – Director: Caleb Wood
(USA)
A study of birds through an arrangement of photos of bird s**t.

The Coral Reef Are Dreaming Again – Director & Screenwriter: Lucas Leyva
(USA) World Premiere
Two corals living in the underwater remains of Miami share their dreams of the city’s former inhabitants.
Cast: Geraldo Pilatti, Fungia sp. stony coral, Epicystis crucifer anemones

Flower – Director: Naoko Tasaka
(USA)
A quiet audio narrative about a hungry bear hypnotically collides with bold and evocative natural and geometric imagery.
Cast: Lew Palter

R/B/G – Director: Alejandro Pen?a
(USA) World Premiere
An assaultive freakout of planetary catastrophe embedded into television signals. Cast: Maui Gaona, Brandon Burgman, Idea Steele, Joey Casseb

Ravel – Director: Gazelle Samizay
(USA) World Premiere
A woman traverses a multi-planar desert landscape in search of psychological release.

Real Etheral – Director: Evan Mann
(USA) World Premiere
An otherworldly journey through a fantastical metaphysical realm saturated with mystery and transition.
Cast: Deborah Mann, Evan Mann

Rough Trade – Director & Screenwriter: Drew Lint
(Canada)
An impressionist and assaultive character transformation of a young street hustler into a branded member of a leather cult.
Cast: Matt O’Connor

Those People of the South – Director: Ashley Christopher Leach
(USA) World Premiere
A three-part examination and deconstruction of the filmmaker’s eccentric and troubling family utilizing a variety of home recordings.

ANARCHY SHORTS PROGRAM

After Arcadia – Directors & Screenwriters: Joe Tippett, Robert Brice
(UK) World Premiere
A lone scientist wracked with guilt over his part in the accidental extermination of humanity is hoping to rewrite history and erase his past mistakes.
Cast: Adam Bacon, Ben Challen

C#ckfight – Director: Julian Yuri Rodriguez; Screenwriters: Julian Yuri Rodriguez, Ariel Castro
(USA)
A deconstructed adaptation of “Dante’s Inferno,” taking place at a bath salt-fueled fighting ring in Miami’s underworld.
Cast: Nassie Shahoulian, Badara Ndiaye

Der Nachtmahr – Director & Screenwriter: Akiz Ikon
(Germany) North American Premiere
An indulgent teenage girl discovers her self through the disgusting creature that visits her at night.
Cast: Carolyn Genzkow, Kim Gordon, Sina Tkotsch, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht

OVO – Director: Mihai Wilson; Screenwriters: Mihai Wilson, Marcella Moser, Davide Di Saro
(Canada) US Premiere
Stranded, starving and facing certain death, three intergalactic criminals encounter an ominous harbinger of change for the fate of the universe.
Cast: Kazumichi Nakashima, Stacy Lundeen, Ron Stone, Marie-France Tessier

Wawd Ahp – Director & Screenwriter: Steve Girard
(USA) World Premiere
The filmmaker’s rap manifesto and a collection of animated sea creatures come to a grisly head. Cast: Steve Girard

Welcome – Director: Rachel Ruizhen Ho
(USA) World Premiere
A beautiful boy emerges to find himself awash in a scene that may or may not be welcoming. Cast: Julian Petschek, Masa Fox, Chelsey Sullivan, Zane Johnson

White Hot Grid – Director: Jess Iglehart
(USA) World Premiere
A false article of 1980s futurism, rattled apart by multiple generations of dubbing. Cast: Rachel Ho