Festival
This year, Slamdance received over 5,000 submissions and programmed 83 films. It concluded with an Awards Ceremony at Treasure Mountain Inn. [1] The theme of the festival was "All is not lost." [2] For 2011, the festival donated 10% of its ticket proceeds in Park City back to the filmmakers. [2]
The film Pete Smalls is Dead opened the festival. Michael Dunaway of Paste wrote "Rather than bring his new film to the senior festival, former Sundance winner Alexandre Rockwell chose to accept an invitation to open Slamdance this year because he says Slamdance is more fun." [3] Dunaway wrote "most experienced Sundancers get a twinkle in their eye when they tell you about the exquisite little film they discovered either at Slamdance (Sundance's boisterous, irreverent stepsister) or in one of the more experimental categories of Sundance itself." At Slamdance, Paste was looking forward to the films Pete Smalls Is Dead; Drama; Last Fast Ride – The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess; and Superheroes. [4]
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It takes place each January in Park City, Utah, Salt Lake City, and at the Sundance Resort, and is the largest independent film festival in the United States. It includes competitive categories, includes documentary and dramatic films, both feature length and short films, in which awards are given, as well as out-of-competition categories for showcasing new films.
Charles Alexandre Rockwell is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Decatur, Georgia, with studios in Manhattan and Davenport, Iowa, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication from 2002 to 2010 before converting to online-only.
The festival had its second annual Filmmaker Summit, with an exclusive video on demand distribution agreement with Microsoft. Speakers included John Anderson of Variety, Scilla Andreen of IndieFlix, Orlando Bagwell of the Ford Foundation, Brian Newman of subgenre media, filmmaker and comic book writer Greg Pak, Amy Powell of Paranormal Activity, Jenny Samppala of Banyan Beach, Tiffany Shlain (director of Connected and Yelp), and Lance Weiler of Pandemic 1.0. [1]
Video on-demand (VOD) is a form of video media distribution that allows users to consume TV and movie content whenever they choose, instead of having to watch shows at a scheduled broadcast time.
Brian Newman is an American jazz musician, singer, and trumpet player. He is most known for his numerous performances with Lady Gaga and her surprise appearances at his performances in New York City. Newman currently holds a residency at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City and is married to American burlesque performer Angie Pontani.
Greg Pak is an American film director and comic book writer, known for his work on books published by Marvel Comics, including X-Treme X-Men and several titles featuring the Hulk and Hercules. As of 2019, Pak writes Weapon X and Weapon H for Marvel Comics.
For the entire duration of the festival, select feature films in competition were made available via Zune Marketplace. The films included Modern Imbecile's Planet World, Snow on tha Bluff , The Beast Pageant, the documentaries Road Dogs and Scrapper, and also films from previous festivals. [1]
Snow on tha Bluff is a 2012 reality/drama film directed by Damon Russell. It is the story of Curtis Snow, a real Atlanta "robbery boy and crack dealer whose livelihood revolves around armed robbery and drug pushing" who "sought out [director] Damon Russell to make a film about his life". The film's title refers to protagonist Curtis Snow and to Atlanta's neighborhood The Bluff, which is infamous for crime and drug dealing.
This year, 17 films were available on video on demand through Xbox Live and Zune, in standard definition or high definition. Revenue was split 50/50 with filmmakers. 12 films from past festivals will be available throughout 2011 including the documentaries Off the Grid, Orwell Rolls in His Grave, Zombie Girl; and the narrative features Omaha: The Movie and We Go Way Back. [5]
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at the system's launch in November 2005, and a further enhanced version was released in 2013 with the Xbox One.
Zune is a discontinued line of digital media products and services marketed by Microsoft. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, digital media player software for Windows PCs, a music subscription service known as a "Zune Music Pass", music and video streaming services for the Xbox 360 game console via the Zune Software, music, TV and movie sales, and desktop sync software for Windows Phone. Zune was also the provider of music streaming for United Airlines in-flight, after a partnership in 2010.
People attending the opening night festivities included Tim Roth, Peter Dinklage, Alexandre Rockwell, Lee Tergesen, Simon Arthur, Tommy Davidson, Fred Stoller, Angelo Tsarouchas, Steve Skrovan, Max Carlson, Tom Lenk, Lilly Ayers, Danielle Santos, Eva von Slut, INSAINTS members Daniel Deleon, Gregory Langston and Josh Levine, Michael Barnett, Kevin M. Brennan, Doug Manley, and Jeff Grace, and others. [6]
David Burger of The Salt Lake Tribune wrote that the Slamdance Film Festival "claims it's the more indie-spirited festival — and when it comes to films about music, that boast might be true." He spoke to the filmmakers behind Last Fast Ride — The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess, a documentary directed by Lilly Scourtis Ayers about Marian Anderson of INSAINTS; Pleasant People directed by Dave Bonawits; and Road Dogs, a documentary directed by Shane Aquino that follows the bands HTTH (Heavenly Trip to Hell) and Kettle Cadaver on cross country tours. [7]
In an interview with The Park Record, festival president and co-founder Peter Baxter said attendance had been "excellent" and most of the screenings had sold out. [8]
Awards
There were three competitive divisions at this year's festival: Grand Jury, Audience Awards and Special Sponsored Awards provided by Kodak, Panasonic, Dos Equis and Good Health. New this year, the festival added a theatrical distribution award for best feature, best short film, and selections from Grand Jury and Audience Award films. The films will be screened domestically throughout 2011, including at IFC Center in New York and 14 Pews in Houston. [1] Strongman, a previous Slamdance Grand Jury Documentary winner opened in late January at the IFC Center in New York. [1] Awards were sponsored by Adobe, Dos Equis, Kodak, Panasonic, Good Health and Pierce Law Group. [1]
Grand Jury Awards
- Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film - Stranger Things, written and directed by Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal
- Special Jury Mention - Joslyn Jensen's performance in Without, written and directed by Mark Jackson
- Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film - Bhopali, directed by Van Maximillian Carlson
- Special Jury Mention - Fordson, directed by Rashid Ghazi
- Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Animated Short - Bottle, written and directed by Kirsten Lepore
- Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Short - Bird, written and directed by Petr Stupin
- Special Jury Mention - Son Of None, written and directed by Todd Looby
- Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Short - Oaks, directed by Charles Wittenmeier
Audience Awards
- Audience Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film - Silver Tongues, written and directed by Simon Arthur
- Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film - Bhopali, directed by Van Maximilian Carlson
- Spirit of Slamdance Sparky Award, sponsored by Good Health - Shunka, directed by CJ Gardella
- Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography - Shunka, directed by CJ Gardella (also received 10,000 feet of Kodak film)
- Panasonic AF100 Award for Best “Road To Park City” Short Film Award - The Road to Park City is Paved with Artists, written and directed by Kevin Brennan and Doug Manley
- Slamdance/Adobe Re-cut Competition Award - Nelson Vunda
- Slamdance Theatrical Release Offer Award, Feature - Superheroes, directed by Michael Barnett; written by Michael Barnett & Theodore James
- Slamdance Theatrical Release Offer Award, Short - Hello Caller, directed by Andrew Putschoegl; written by Tom Lenk
