2015 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SPECIAL SCREENINGS, BEYOND AND SHORTS PROGRAMS

The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival, running January 23-29, 2015, has announced the films in the Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts Competition programs. From the official press release:

Slamdance today announced their Special Screenings, Beyond and Shorts programs for their 21st Film Festival. The programs present thought-provoking films by a variety of acclaimed and visionary filmmakers from all over the world and include 26 World, 12 North American, and 7 US Premieres. This year, many Slamdance Alumni return with strong feature presentations in the Beyond Program, including Gary Walkow (The Trouble with Dot & Harry), Steven Richter (Birds of Neptune), and Jiyoung Lee (Female Pervert). The Festival will open with Special Screening Brian James O’Connell’s Bloodsucking Bastards, followed by an Opening Night Party presented by Red Bull & Live Style Ent. Special Screenings also feature Alpha, the second feature from up-and-coming Greek director Stathis Athanasiou and Greece’s first fully crowdfunded film. Additional Special Screenings include short animations Footprints by Bill Plympton, shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards®, and the 2013 Slamdance Screenplay Competition Short winner Think Ink, written by Emily Hu and animated by Slamdance alumnus Wally Chung.

The 2015 Shorts competition showcases 42 American and 26 International productions in the Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Anarchy and Experimental sections. All Slamdance films are programmed entirely from blind submissions by the Slamdance filmmaking community.

“We’re constantly amazed by the cinematic diamonds we discover every year through our blind submissions,” states Anna Germanidi, Festival Director. “There’s so much talent behind these films we’ve announced today, and we can’t wait to see what these Slamdancers do next!”

Films in the Beyond program, made by emerging narrative and documentary filmmakers working beyond their first features, are eligible for the Audience Awards. Jury Awards are presented to short films in all categories and every 2015 Slamdance film is eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award, judged by the filmmakers themselves.

“This year’s film slates continue to show the diversity of powerful indie filmmaking around the globe,” states Co-founder and President, Peter Baxter.

The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 23rd – 29th, 2015 in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, located at 255 Main Street, Park City, UT 84060.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM

Alpha – Director: Stathis Athanasiou; Screenwriters: Stathis Athanasiou, Pedro Olalla
(Greece) North American Premiere
A conforming bourgeois woman, Alpha, refuses to help a fugitive in fear that her life will be put in danger, a 21st century retelling of Antigone’s myth about the current, political status quo.
Cast: Serafita Grigoriadou, Tasos Karakyklas

Bloodsucking Bastards – Director: Brian James O’Connell; Screenwriters: Ryan Mitts, Dr. God
(USA) World Premiere
When an office worker at a soul-crushing company loses his coveted promotion to his longtime nemesis, he begins to fear for more than his job as strange disappearances and bizarre deaths suggest the office is turning into a haven for the undead.
Cast: Fran Kranz, Pedro Pascal, Joey Kern, Joel Murray, Emma Fitzpatrick, Yvette Yates, Justin Ware, Marshall Givens

Footprints – Director: Bill Plympton
(USA)
A gullible man goes on a quest to find a mysterious, destructive monster, only to arrive at a surprising revelation.

Think Ink – Director: Wally Chung; Screenwriter: Emily Hu
(USA) World Premiere
A young coffee stain dreams of becoming a professional inkblot for psychological testing.

BEYOND PROGRAM

Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World – Director: Dana Nachman; Screenwriters: Dana Nachman, Kurt Kuenne
(USA) World Premiere
5-year old Miles Scott has spent half his life battling leukemia. Now, it’s his wish to be Batman. Why not turn San Francisco into Gotham City?
Cast: Miles Scott, Natalie Scott, Nick Scott, Patricia Wilson, Eric Johnston, Mike Jutan, Jen Wilson, Teresa Clovico

Birds of Neptune – Director: Steven Richter; Screenwriter: Steven Richter, Flavia Rocha, Michael Lea
(USA) World Premiere
After the death of their parents, Mona builds an illusory image of herself while her sister Rachel finds solace in her music – until a man enters their world and sees an opportunity to assert control.
Cast: Britt Harris, Molly Elizabeth Parker, Kurt Conroyd, Christian Blair, Lauren Monet Luiz

Concrete Love – The Böhm Family – Director & Screenwriter: Maurizius Staerkle Drux
(Germany) North American Premiere
A look into the complex dynamics within the family of Germany’s premiere architect Gottfried Böhm, as they lose their emotional center, Gottfried’s wife Elisabeth.
Cast: Gottfried Böhm, Elisabeth Böhm, Stephan Böhm, Peter Böhm, Paul Böhm

Female Pervert – Director & Screenwriter: Jiyoung Lee
(USA) World Premiere
Phoebe is a lonely video game designer seeking a true connection in the modern world, but her perversions are hard to suppress. Will she be able to change? Or will she accept her fate as a female pervert?
Cast: Jennifer Kim, Skizz Cyzyk, Brian Cafferty, Joshua Mikel, Jesse Price, Kate McManus, Taylor Proctor, Eddie Ray

The Trouble with Dot & Harry – Director & Screenwriter: Gary Walkow
(USA) World Premiere
An American writer finds himself caring for two ridiculously smart and articulate British children and discovers an unexpected sense of purpose in life.
Cast: Neil Morrissey, Theadora Walkow-Foster, Harry Walkow-Foster

NARRATIVE SHORTS PROGRAM

09:55-11:05, Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B – Directors & Screenwriters: Cristine Berglund, Sophie Vukovic
(Sweden) North American Premiere
Ingrid has decided to deal with cancer on her own, but when home care employee Frida knocks on her door she awakens feelings that Ingrid can’t shut out.
Cast: Lisbeth Zachrisson, Cristine Berglund, Hélene Parment

2580 – Director & Screenwriter: Bryce Richardson
(USA)
A man’s memory fails him, derailing his plans to work out.
Cast: Vince Edgehill, Irina Brovina, Max Bernstein

Detritus – Director: T.J. Misny; Screenwriter: Kaija Matiss
(USA) North American Premiere
A girl emerges from the depths, carrying with her an unusual burden.
Cast: Kaija Matiss

Drama – Director & Screenwriter: Guan Tian
(USA)
A couple is having sex in the car when they realize there are no more condoms left.
Cast: Ni Yan, Guan Tian, Shi Sun, Yanyu Dong

Hitori – Director: Raymond Carr; Screenwriters: Raymond Carr, Wade Tilton
(USA)
In a world made entirely out of puppeteers, a boy is trying to get back to where he came from.
Cast: Wade Tilton, Kiera Robbins, Melissa Brewer, Tim Hand

In Search of the Miraculous – Director & Screenwriter: Sam Kuhn
(USA) World Premiere
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat, expecting to be married to a rich claimant by her mother, falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated ‘Ocean Wave.’
Cast: Erik Jensen, Marta King, Daiva Z, Michael Harmon

Intruders – Director & Screenwriter: Santiago Menghini
(Canada)
In the aftermath of a deadly haunting in a small suburban home, an omnipresent entity causes havoc in the private lives of a young boy, an unsuspecting teen and an absent minded inspector.
Cast: Joshua Young, Charles Sirard Blouin, Sarianne Cormier, Alain Gendreau

Invaders – Director & Screenwriter: Jason Kupfer
(USA)
A pair of home invaders consider their potential character choices just prior to their planned invasion.
Cast: Ricky Wayne, Jordan Woods-Robinson

Last Base – Director & Screenwriter: Aslak Danbolt
(UK/Norway) North American Premiere
Joachim is retiring from base-jumping to become a father for the first time, but first he will stop at nothing to pull off his very last jump.
Cast: Petter Width Kristiansen, Kenneth Åkerland Berg, Edda Grjotheim, Richard Olsen

Models – Director & Screenwriter: Jérémi Roy
(Canada) World Premiere
An exploration of the tortuous relation between a photographer and her model.
Cast: Léa Roy-Bernatchez, Dominick R. Chartrand

Off Season – Director & Screenwriter: Elinor Nechemya
(Israel)
Wandering through a mysterious seaside resort, Zohar seeks clues for her father’s absence from a family vacation.
Cast: Mika Altman, Kareen Ophir, Itzik Arviv, Tamir Lyfshiz

Peter On Your Mind – Director: Joe Pickett; Screenwriters: Joe Pickett, Larry Pierce
(USA) World Premiere
Larry Pierce, the raunchiest country music singer in America, confronts a cheating wife, his painful memories, and every country music video cliché known to man.
Cast: Larry Pierce, Cassie J. Sneider, Al Robinson

Que La Nuit Soit Douce – Director: Frédéric Recrosio; Screenwriters: Frédéric Recrosio, Jean-Luc Barbezat
(Switzerland) World Premiere
8-year old Alice and her 5-year old brother visit their dying grandfather in the hospital and take matters into their own hands.
Cast: Alice Barbezat, Anthony Bubloz, Claude Blanc

Role Play – Director & Screenwriter: Brynach Day
(UK) North American Premiere
In rural Wales, three children explore the adult world.
Cast: Leah Ponchaud, Dan Middleton, Sam Caple, Elizabeth Healey

Running Season – Director: Grayson Moore; Screenwriters: Grayson Moore, Nigel Turgeon-Mannion
(Canada)
Arthur Zimmer attempts to sell his late father’s house on Prince Edward Island, just as severed feet have been turning up on the island’s shores.
Cast: Peter Spence, Richard Clarkin, Sarah Orenstein, Mike Wilmot

Salad Days – Director & Screenwriter: Will Welles
(USA) World Premiere
Just a normal couple out on a normal picnic on a normal nice day. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here…nothing at all.
Cast: Nick Fesette, Kira Pearson

Salt – Director: Ugla Hauksdóttir; Screenwriters: Ugla Hauksdóttir, Markus Englmair
(Iceland) North American Premiere
A lonesome boy who has just moved to a small village tries to befriend a mysterious girl, but their encounter leads to unexpected consequences.
Cast: Alex Elí Schweitz Jakobsson, Diljá Valsdóttir, Pálína Jónsdóttir, Haukur Ingi Jónasson

Stay Awake – Director & Screenwriter: Jamie Sisley
(USA) World Premiere
Two brothers, a mother, songs from the seventies, Xanax, and a woman named Vicki.
Cast: Owen Campbell, David Rysdahl, Rebecca Harris, Lori Brown-Niang

A Tenista – Director: Daniel Barosa; Screenwriters: Humberto Palmas, Daniel Barosa
(Brazil) North American Premiere
Troubled by a deep secret, Ju runs late for her tennis class.
Cast: Bianca Melo, Gabriel Godoy, Renata De Paula, Stefane Eskelsen

The Tide Keeper – Director & Screenwriter: Alyx Duncan
(New Zealand)
An aging fisherman dreams the spirit of the sea right into his bed.
Cast: Lee Stuart

Topography of a Hotel – Director & Screenwriter: Cedric Cheung-Lau
(USA) World Premiere
A boy working at his parents’ hotel meets a woman waiting for her lover.
Cast: Shondale Seymour, Joe Salling

Unknown Unknown – Director & Screenwriter: Ed Flynn
(USA) World Premiere
An errant ginger sends a peckish man on an existential journey through the bowels of a twenty-four hour grocery store.
Cast: Ed Flynn, Susan Monts-Bologna, Jack Bronis, Sarah Jane Murray

Viking – Directors: Sam & Ben Callis; Screenwriter: Sam Callis
(UK) World Premiere
Armed with aphorisms and a need for revenge, a woman’s childhood lies buried with her father’s corpse until she finally digs up the cause of her miserable life.
Cast: Sophie Thompson, Andrew Lancel, Joe May

Waterfall – Director & Screenwriter: Charlie Cole
(USA) World Premiere
A young girl is haunted by her inability to help her brother while he’s drowning.
Cast: Dulcey Culotta, Holden Culotta, Kevin Michael Barbaro

Working Title – Director: Irina Arnaut
(USA)
A filmmaker emboldened and tormented by her creative ambition, her artistic and cinematic predecessors, and even by her DP, careens through a cavalcade of cultural influences before erupting in a deceptively charming slapstick routine.
Cast: Irina Arnaut, Justin Drobinski

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAM

The Columbarium – Director: Tyler Trumbo
(USA)
As the long-time caretaker of close to 80,000 deceased at the San Francisco Columbarium, Emmitt Watson cannot help but see life in the midst of death.
Cast: Emmitt Watson

Dolphin Lover – Director: Kareem Tabsch
(USA) World Premiere
The true story of a man with a porpoise.
Cast: Malcolm J. Brenner

Love Song for the Apocalypse – Director: David Ridgen
(Canada) World Premiere
Urban explorers, or urbexers, illegally enter abandoned places and make use of them in a variety of creative ways.
Cast: Jerm IX, Ninja IX, Terapr0, Rashomon

Marie – Director: Jadina Lilien
(USA)
A portrait of Marie and her daily visits to the local diner as she philosophizes about life.
Cast: Marie Lytwn, Andrew Tsatsimas

Mujer – Director: Sofia Canales
(USA)
Three Latinas of different generations take pleasure in helping each other bathe, dress up, and cook dinner.
Cast: Rosa Emma Estrada, Rosa Emma Canales, Emily Judith Canales

N6-4Q: Born Free – Director: Sasha Gransjean
(USA/Japan) World Premiere
As it falls apart, Kyoto’s life becomes the vehicle for a message seen through the lens of technology.
Cast: Takuto Kawabe

The Solitude of Memory – Director: Juan Pablo González
(Mexico/USA) US Premiere
A meditative portrait about a Mexican father mourning the untimely death of his son.
Cast: José Bolaños, Jesus Bolaños

Stella Walsh – Director: Rob Lucas, Screenwriters: Rob Lucas, Steve Felix
(USA)
Almost fifty years after her stunning gold medal win in the women’s 100 meter dash, Stella Walsh was shot and killed in Cleveland, Ohio, exposing the truth about her ambiguous gender.
Cast: Stella Walsh, Grace Butcher, Dan Coughlin, Chuck Schodowski

ANIMATION SHORTS PROGRAM

Busking Tales – Director: Adriana Copete
(Colombia/USA) North American Premiere
A patchwork of memories about undesirables, cheap-goods-hustlers, and buskers in a city undergoing constant transformation.
Cast: Juis Garay, Camilo De La Espriella

Butter Ya’Self – Director: Julian Petschek
(USA) US Premiere
A banana and a hot dog bun are famous.
Cast: Katrina Recto, Jacob Gibson, Julian Petschek

Cruising – Director: Zachary Zezima
(USA)
The chaotic and cacophonous world of forced fun aboard an insular cruise ship seen through the eyes of a young boy.

Defragmentation – Director: Saebyul-Hwangbo
(South Korea) US Premiere
A woman’s lifetime of emotionally-charged events are altered to retain only the happy memories, in a process similar to the defragmentation of a computer hard drive.
Cast: Jinwoong-Moon, Saebyul-Hwangbo

Half Wet – Director: Sophie Koko Gate
(England) North American Premiere
“We are all born as wet as a banana, about 75% water” – the whimsical ruminations of a love-stricken man in a surreal, watery landscape.
Cast: Keiran P Chantrey, Paul Williams

Hipopotamy – Director: Piotr Dumala
(Poland) North American Premiere
Naked women and children bathe in a river. They are secretly observed and gradually approached by a group of naked men.

Hopkins & Delaney LLP – Director: Sean Buckelew
(USA)
A drily humorous look at mundane workplace culture, as an important client visits a law office to discuss his copyright infringement suit.
Cast: Chris Sullivan, Ethan Clarke

Horse – Director: Shen Jie
(China) US Premiere
Five chapters about a horse are repeated and cut with escalating, violent revelations.

La-Gar-To – Director: Miguel Jiron
(USA) US Premiere
Traveling to Nicaragua with his family, a young boy finds the world a weirder, scarier, and more iguana-filled place.
Cast: Daniel Jiron, Gabriela Jiron

Myszochujek * – Director: Kristof Babaski
(Poland/UK)
A lost 1957 sexually provocative Polish animation, about a mouse with a very playful body part.
*Out of competition

The Pride of Strathmoor – Director: Einar Baldvin
(USA)
In 1927, a racist Southern pastor works himself into a frenzy over a local boxing match between a white man and a black man.
Cast: Geoffrey Gould

Sports – Director: Brian Smee
(USA)
Observe the conclusion to today’s marathon, told from the grotesque and colorful point of view of a proud burger flipper.
Cast: Sean Buckelew, Rachel Ho

Tears of Inge – Director: Alisi Telengut
(Canada)
A cloud of tiny particles forms a shifting, emotionally-charged vision inspired by the phenomenon of mother camels rejecting their offspring after a painful childbirth.
Cast: Qirima Telengut

Upon the Rock – Director: James Bascara
(USA)
A man leading a Sisyphean life suddenly has a euphoric vision, then undergoes a dysphoric transformation.

EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS PROGRAM

Agrabagrabah – Director: Calvin Frederick
(USA) World Premiere
September 11, 1991/2001/2057.

Fort Morgan – Director: Alexander Stewart
(USA)
Following an intricate geometric diagram, a star-shaped fort grows of its own accord like an oyster shell or a crystal.

The Handeye (Bone Ghosts) – Directors: Anja Dornieden, Juan David Gonzalez Monroy
(Germany)
A distinguished flea hypnotizes the ghost of a distinguished man.

I’ve Got The World On A String – Director: Spencer Holden
(USA) World Premiere
I only had a string, a camera, and a need to create.

Nothing – Director: LJ Frezza
(USA)
The nothing moments from a show about nothing.

Pure Concentricity – Director: Evan Mann
(USA) World Premiere
Shaving cream concentrically envelopes the organic world.

Red Luck – Director: Mike Olenick
(USA)
Anonymous notes, a jump rope, an overgrown yard, a crumpled piece of tinfoil, a baseball bat and a drill guide a group of individuals towards violence, sexual perversion and an inevitable encounter with Red Luck.
Cast: Andrew Cherry, Barry Horschakt, Todd Finney, Andy Pak

The Take-Up – Director: Patrick Tarrant
(UK) US Premiere
An A/V mystery is unspooled when a digital camera looks through the take-up reel of the instructional film we hear.

ANARCHY SHORTS PROGRAM

Cosmic Egg – Director: Matt Reed
(USA) North American Premiere
A journey through other realities leads to a familiar place.

Day 40 – Director: Sol Friedman, Screenwriters: Evan Morgan, Sol Friedman
(Canada)
An animated retelling of the Noah’s Ark story, where various unholy activities fill the great ship as the animals discover the darker side of their nature.
Cast: John Boylan, Rowie Huberman

Deviance – Director & Screenwriter: Aron Kantor
(USA)
The proprietor of a corner store entertains a rich fantasy of each of his customers in this celebration of the perversity that lies just below the surface in even the least suspecting people.
Cast: Larry Kitagawa, Courtney Trouble, Jerrod Littlejohn, Andy Clements

Gun Shy – Director & Screenwriter: Sam Goetz
(USA) World Premiere
Every cop has that one event, that one memory they just can’t shake.
Cast: Jason B. Nicholas, Michael Goetz, Joseph K. Gannon

Ill Will – Director & Screenwriter: Lester Brown
(UK)
An old man gets revenge after being assaulted by a local teenager for seeing something he shouldn’t have.
Cast: David Kirk, Quesy Yankey

Ocean Five – Director & Screenwriter: Vito Trupiano
(USA)
A young tourist’s night in Miami.
Cast: Gordon Maxwell, Alan Rodriguez

Out of Reach (Rain Night) – Director & Screenwriter: Pablo Diartinez
(Belgium/Netherlands) US Premiere
A nameless poet wanders through Brussels, seeking shelter from the rain.
Cast: Hein Wollants, Colum Hatchell, Victoria Giraldo, Erik Parys

A Peaceful Man – Director & Screenwriter: Harrison Norris
(Australia)
Beaten within an inch of his life, a peaceful man has a gruesome epiphany through violence.
Cast: Judd Wild, John Walton, Zach McGowan

Pond – Director: Josh Shaffner
(USA)
Two mythical creatures inhabit a forest where uncomfortable truths manifest themselves through deformation of figure.

Sea Devil – Director & Screenwriter: Dean C. Marcial, Brett Potter
(USA)
In the summer of 2012, an unmanned fishing boat surfaced on the Biscayne Bay in Miami. Its passengers were never found.
Cast: Antoni Corone, Mario Ernesto Sanchez, Taylor Rouviere, Moise Brutus

Thinking About – Director: Stephen Engstrom, Screenwriters: Stephen Engstrom, David Rowson, Catherine Engstrom
(Australia) World Premiere
An experimental game show goes awry as a mysterious apparition infiltrates a contestant’s mind.
Cast: Stephen Engstrom, Manon Ouimet, Brenton Douglas, Aurora Legget

Unicorn – Director & Screenwriter: Grace Nayoon Rhee
(USA) World Premiere
Girl and Boy meet little strangers.
Cast: Jason Davis, Meghan Tryon

Viscera – Director: Lauren Morrison
(USA)
As houseguests blissfully ignore the provenience of their food, the reality of their consumption takes on a monstrous form.
Cast: Eva Sinotte, Rose Arscott, Gyasi Silas, Jesse March

Zerogon – Director & Screenwriter: John Mattiuzzi, Joshua Planz
(USA) World Premiere
A lonely creature, on a lonely planet, abducted into the false allure of a computer generated world.
Cast: John Mattiuzzi