Slamdance announced their 2002 line-up of films with a kick-off party at Rudy’s Barbershop in Los Feliz. Film Threat was there to catch all the action as the 2002 selected filmmakers were introduced to the media at the open bar event. Past Slamdance alum rubbed sholders with Slamdance virgins as a party atmosphere prevailed at this press event. Here’s the official information from Slamdance central:
“The Slamdance 2002 Film Festival has invited 12 feature films, from a record 2468 submissions, to compete at our eighth annual festival,” Peter Baxter, Slamdance Executive Director/Co-Founder announced today. Seven of the Competition Features are fictional narratives, while a record five documentaries will screen in competition this year. In addition to the dozen feature length films, 11 of which are premieres, Slamdance will also screen 12 short films in competition. The festival will run from January 11-19, 2002, in Park City, Utah – coinciding with the Sundance Film Festival. Special Screenings and festival events will be announced at a later date.
“Low cost film production and the vast array of subject it portrays is obviously thriving in the U.S. Our goal at this year’s festival is to offer as many of these filmmakers a platform that they might not otherwise have and attract industry members to this talent pool,” said Baxter. “Somewhere in this slate is the next Christopher Nolan or Marc Forster,” Slamdance Co-Founder-at-Large Dan Mirvish added, referring to two award-winning Slamdance alumni who have moved on to mainstream critical acclaim for MEMENTO and MONSTER’S BALL, respectively. “If Hollywood is serious about discovering new talent, then Slamdance has proven that we’re the place to go. Remember, last year’s Palm d’Or winning short was first seen at Slamdance,” added Mirvish in a reference to David Greenspan’s “Bean Cake” which won the coveted prize in Cannes.
“One of the reasons submission figures grew this year is due to our new German festival in Cologne which is linking more European filmmakers working with low budgets to our Park City event. It is surely due to the non-bankruptcy method of digital filmmaking which accounted for 1223 of the total submissions this year, a big leap from Slamdance ’01,” said Baxter.
“Whether a film is made digitally or not shouldn’t even be an issue,” said Mirvish. “Filmmakers are going back and forth between mediums so much, that’s it’s becoming almost seamless.” Slamdance will also be projecting films on 35mm, 16mm, and for the seventh year in a row, on digital video.
“For the first time, Slamdance has been recognized by the Park City Municipal Corporation with an extension of their free public Silver Lake/ Deer Valley bus route to include a stop for festival goers with front door service at the Silvermine.” says Co-Director, Brent Clackson. Slamdance screenings, parties and most other events will once again be under one roof at the historic Silvermine on the outskirts of Park City (1.5 miles south of Park City on Hwy 224). “While we still maintain a small presence at the Treasure Mountain Inn on Main Street, the vast interior of the Silvermine offers a one stop shop for festival attendees, two larger screening rooms, concessions, a press lounge, e-mail garden, panels, cocktail hours, massage therapy and party events all under one roof.” explains Kristy Byrd, Co-Director. “The Silvermine’s 2,000 foot mine shaft will be a great place to throw cell phones if they go off during screenings,” added Mirvish.
The Slamdance feature competition section is limited specifically to first-time filmmakers working with limited budgets who have not yet found U.S. distribution, while Special Screenings slots are reserved for more established independent filmmakers. “Whether you’re an agent looking for a new client, a distributor looking for new films or you just want to see new filmmakers proudly screening their work for the first time, Slamdance is more than ever the place to go this year in Park City,” said Mirvish. “Winning films have been picked up for distribution every year since we’ve started, so I think a lot of eyes will be on this year’s competition features,” said Baxter.
Slamdance, which bills itself as “by filmmakers, for filmmakers,” was started in 1995 by a group of writer/director/producers and continues to be organized and programmed by active filmmakers. “A good thing about Slamdance coming into our eighth year is that we had a much larger pool of alumni to draw from for our programmers,” Nubia Flores, Slamdance’s Filmmaker Relations Liaison. “It’s still a uniquely consensus-based programming process, and the broadening of our reputation hasn’t changed the spirit of how our films are selected.” Unlike other festivals, Slamdance does not make any early invitations or selections for its feature competition. Over 50 programmers were involved in the selection process.
“Overall, the selections made by our programming teams were very solid this year, although every submission is fair game until the day we announce our slate.” adds Byrd.
A variety of awards will be presented to the winners of the competition films at the Slamdance “Sparky” Awards starting at 7pm on January 17 at the Silvermine. In addition to competing for the coveted bronze “Sparky” dog trophy, filmmakers will be eligible for cash and other prizes.
Get the full slate of films and more party pictures in part two of SLAMDANCE 2002 LINE-UP ANNOUNCED AT PARTY>>>
