Happy Face (2018)

[caption id="attachment_32888" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] We Are Thankful[/caption] The Slamdance Film Festival today announced the Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition programs, as well as the lineup for its new Breakouts section, for their 25th edition, taking place January 25-31, 2019 in Park City. The feature competition lineup boasts 18 premieres, including 10 World, 4 North American, and 4 U.S. debuts. In addition to the United States, films come to Slamdance from countries around the globe, including Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Poland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. All competition films are feature length directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million USD, and without US distribution. Featured films were selected by a team of Slamdance alumni via a blind submission process and are programmed democratically. Films in both categories are also eligible for the Audience Award and Spirit of Slamdance Award, the latter of which is voted upon by filmmakers at the festival. “When it comes to discovering talent, Slamdance has consistently shown that its artist led community can do it themselves,” said Slamdance Co-founder and President, Peter Baxter. “In a milestone year, our competition lineup symbolizes this ongoing endeavor. It’s full of incredible talent representing a global diversity that we believe will play a significant role in our cultural future.” In addition, the 2019 festival will see the return of the Russo Fellowship — a $25,000 prize launched in 2018 by celebrated festival alumni Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: Civil War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War) to enable a deserving filmmaker the opportunity to continue their journey with mentorship from the filmmaking duo. Presented by AGBO Films in partnership with the festival, the inaugural fellowship was awarded to filmmaker Yassmina Karajah for her narrative short Rupture. Also announced today is the lineup for the festival’s all-new Breakouts section. Breakouts are films by non-first-time-feature directors who demonstrate a determined vision of filmmaking that is instinctively becoming their own. These artists continue to push boundaries in genre and form, and are beacons of light that predict the future of film. Slamdance’s goal is to help daring and resilient filmmakers connect with bigger audiences and take their well-deserved place on the world cinema stage. The 2019 Breakouts feature the work of several Slamdance alumni, including Steven Soderbergh, who executive produced Beats,and Canadian filmmaker Alexandre Franchi who received the Audience Award for best Narrative Feature at the 2010 festival for The Wild Hunt. “Our newly minted Breakouts section celebrates a group of experienced directors, including some Slamdance alumni, who are genuinely intent on taking bigger risks with their storytelling and career paths,” said Paul Rachman, Slamdance co-conspirator and Breakouts programmer. “These are films from around the world that deliver a bold vision from filmmakers with drive and intent to establish their unique cinematic voices.” Established in 1995, Slamdance is dedicated to discovering and supporting new talents in independent filmmaking. In addition to the Russo Brothers, notable Slamdance alumni include: Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Bong Joon Ho (Okja), Lena Dunham (Girls), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Gina Prince-Blythewood (Shots Fired), and Sean Baker (The Florida Project).

2019 Slamdance Film Festival Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition

NARRATIVE FEATURES

A Great Lamp (USA) – World Premiere Director: Saad Qureshi Screenwriters: Saad Qureshi, Donald R. Monroe, Max Wilde On the river towns of North Carolina, two sad vandals and an unemployed loner wait for a fabled rocket launch. Cast: Max Wilde, Spencer Bang, Steven Maier, Julian Semilian, Laura Ingram Semilian, Netta Green, Connie Stewart, Smokey, Spaz Boni Bonita (Brazil, Argentina) – North American Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Barosa Reeling from the death of her mother, Beatriz moves to Brazil where she begins an intense and toxic relationship with Rogério, an older musician struggling with his family’s artistic legacy. Cast: Ailín Salas, Caco Ciocler Cat Sticks (India) – World Premiere Director: Ronny Sen Screenwriters: Ronny Sen, Soumyak Kanti DeBiswas A pack of Calcutta youth seek greater lust and life in their relentless pursuit of Brown Sugar (dirty heroin)… and it’s unsustainable high. Cast: Tanmay Dhanania, Sumeet Thakur, Joyraj Bhattacharjee, Rahul Dutta, Saurabh Saraswat, Sreejita Mitra, Raja Chakravorty, Kalpan Mitra Crystal Swan (Belarus, USA, Germany, Russia) – North American Premiere Director: Darya Zhuk Screenwriter: Helga Landauer In mid-90s Belarus, a young DJ’s big overseas plans get derailed when a typo on her Visa application sends her to a backwater factory town where she is determined to fake her way to the American dream. Cast: Alina Nassibulina, Ivan Mulin, Yury Borisov Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture (USA, Canada) – North American Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Nicole Brending A puppet-animation charting the rise and fall of fictional child pop star, Junie Spoons. Cast: Aneikit Bonnel, Sydney Bonar, Nicole Brending, Erik Hoover, Maggie Morrisson, Peter Ooley, Adam Sly Hurry Slowly (Norway) Director/Screenwriter: Anders Emblem Hurry Slowly follows Fiona over a few life-changing summer months on the north-western coast of Norway, where she juggle the care of her brother, her job at the local ferry and her interest in music. Cast: Amalie Ibsen Jensen, David Jakobsen, Lars Halvor Andreassen Impetus (Canada) – US Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Jennifer Alleyn In the process of her ongoing film shoot in New York City, a filmmaker finds herself questioning the origin of impulsion. As she tries to overcome loss through creation, an unexpected event enlightens her journey. Cast: Pascale Bussières, Emmanuel Schwartz, Jorn Reissner, Esfyr Dyachkov Lost Holiday (USA) – World Premiere Directors/Screenwriters:Michael Matthews, Thomas Matthews Two old highschool friends solve a Christmas mystery in D.C. Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Thomas Matthews, Keith Poulson, William Jackson Harper, Ismenia Mendes, Tone Tank, Joshua Leonard and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Spiral Farm (USA) – World Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Alec Tibaldi When two outsiders arrive on an isolated intentional community, seventeen-year old Anahita begins to question her role at home, and what a future out in the world-at-large could be. Cast: Piper de Palma, Amanda Plummer, Jade Fusco, Teo Halm, Cosimo Fusco, Landen Beattie, Akuyoe Graham, Kayleigh Gilbert The Vast of Night (USA) – World Premiere Director: Andrew Patterson Screenwriter: James Montague, Craig W. Sanger At the dawn of the space-race in America, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves that could change their lives, their small town, and all of Earth… forever. Cast: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis We Are Thankful (South Africa) – North American Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Joshua Magor When Siyabonga, a young South African actor hungry to expand his craft, gets wind of a movie production that is shooting in a neighboring town, the eager thespian decides to set out a journey that will take him away from his quiet home life and out into a bustling world of possibility. Cast: Siyabonga Majola, Sabelo Khoza, Xolani “X” Malinga, Amanda Ncube, Percy Mncedicy Zulu, Ntokozo Mkhize, Sibusiso “Sbu” Nzama, Luthando “Cminzah” Ngcobo

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Behind the Bullet (USA) – World Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Heidi Yewman An in-depth look at four individuals who have pulled the trigger and the profound impact it’s had on their lives. The Beksinskis. A Sound and Picture Album (Poland) – US Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Marcin Borchardt A famous Polish painter known for his dark and twisted imagery chronicles his son’s troubled life from the 1950s through the millennium. Desolation Center (USA) – US Premiere Director: Stuart Swezey Screenwriters: Stuart Swezey, Tyler Hubby The untold story of a series of Reagan-era anarchic punk rock desert happenings that still reverberate throughout our culture. Dons of Disco (USA) Director: Jonathan Sutak A lip-syncing scandal pits an American singer against an Italian male model over the legacy of 1980s ‘Italo Disco’ star Den Harrow. Markie in Milwaukee (USA) – World Premiere Director: Matt Kliegman A mid-western transgender woman struggles with the prospect of de-transitioning under the pressures of her fundamentalist church, family and community. Memphis ‘69 (USA) – World Premiere Director: Joe LaMattina, Screenwriters: Joe LaMattina, Lisa LaMattina A year after Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, a group of blues legends came together to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of Memphis, TN. This concert documentary, shot over 3 days in June of 1969, celebrates an American art form that unites us all. The Professional: A Stevie Blatz Story (USA) – US Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Daniel La Barbera A behind-the-scenes look at the magic of Stevie Blatz, an entertainment entrepreneur in Bethlehem, PA. Seadrift (USA) – World Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Tim Tsai In 1979, the fatal shooting of a white crab fisherman in a Texas fishing village ignites a maelstrom of hostilities against Vietnamese refugees along the Gulf Coast. Sudan: The Last Male Standing (USA, Kenya) – World Premiere Director: David Hambridge Through the conservation efforts of a rhino caretaker unit in Kenya, we peer past the headlines into the emptiness of extinction in real time.

BREAKOUT FEATURES

Beats (UK) – North American Premiere Director: Brian Welsh, Screenwriter: Kieran Hurley, Brian Welsh A universal story of friendship, rebellion and the irresistible power of gathered youth – set to a soundtrack as eclectic and electrifying as the scene it gave birth to, BEATS is a story for our time. Cast: Cristian Ortega, Lorn Macdonald, Laura Fraser Demolition Girl (Japan) – World Premiere Director: Genta Matsugami, Screenwriters: Yoshitaka Kasui, Genta Matsugami A high-school girl who lives in a rural town in Japan struggles to define her own way in life. To help her impoverished family she works as a video fetish performer which leads to problems for her and her family with a criminal underworld. Cast: Aya Kitai,Hiroki Ino,Haruka Imo,Yura Komuro,Yota Kawase,Ko Maehara,Ryohei Abe,Nobu Morimoto Happy Face (Canada) – US Premiere Director: Alexandre Franchi, Screenwriter: Alexandre Franchi, Joëlle Bourjolly Desperate to become less shallow, a handsome teenage boy deforms his face with bandages and attends a support group for disfigured people. Cast: Robin L’Houmeau, Debbie Lynch-White, David Roche, E.R. Ruiz, Alison Midstokke, Cindy Nicholsen, Noémie Kocher. History of Love (Slovenia, Italy, Norway) – North American Premiere Director/Screenwriter: Sonja Prosenc A teenage swimmer/high diver Iva, endures a grieving process, as family secrets and mysteries, especially her mother’s, unveil. Cast: Doroteja Nadrah, Kristoffer Joner, Matej Zemljic, Zoja Florjanc Lukan, Matija Vastl, Zita Fusco

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