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Twenty-six feature films and 57
shorts will screen at the 12th annual Slamdance International Film
Festival, organizers of the alternative-to-Sundance event announced
Wednesday.
A short film by Provo native Mark Finch Hedengren, “Tolerance,” is
among those selected for Slamdance's dramatic short competition. The
film was originally written, shot and edited in January by Hedengren
and his brother David in 24 hours for a competition in the LDS Film
Festival (it won). Mark Hedengren remade the short on 35mm film in
May, using prize money from other film festivals.
Opening the festival on Jan. 20 will be “Wassup Rockers,” by the
controversial director Larry Clark (“Kids,” “Bully”). The movie
follows a group of Latino skateboard punks who leave their
neighborhood in South Central L.A. to try the landscape in Beverly
Hills.
Slamdance runs Jan. 20-27 at the Treasure Mountain Inn, at the top
of the hill of Park City's Old Main Street. For ticket and program
information, go to http://www.slamdance.com.
Here are the other films screening at Slamdance:
* “The Actress” (Australia), written and directed by Zak
Hilditch, about three roommates whose lives are disrupted by a new
fourth roomie an actress. U.S. premiere.
* “The Call of Cthulhu,”
directed by Andrew Leman, based on the H.P. Lovecraft horror story of
a monster and the cult that has grown up around it.
* “Find Love,” written and
directed by Erica Dunton, about two strangers unexpectedly falling
for each other. World premiere.
* “The Guatemalan Handshake,”
written and directed by Todd Rohal, a mystery involving a missing
demolition-derby driver and a town's power outage. World premiere.
* “Liebeskind” (Germany),
written and directed by Jeanette Wagner, about a less-than-perfect
reunion between a father and daughter. North American premiere.
*“Love Is the Drug,” directed
by Elliott Lester, in which a high-school love triangle turns deadly.
World premiere.
* “Motorcycle,” written and
directed by Paul Gordon, about three people linked by the title
vehicle. World premiere.
* “The Other Side,” written and
directed by Greg Bishop, about a young man who escapes Hell to find
his murderer with a team of “Reapers” trying to bring him back.
World premiere.
* “The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang,”
written and directed by Tim Skousen, a comedy about a sci-fi geek who
discovers big footprints in the woods. World premiere.
* “Things to Do” (Canada),
written and directed by Theodore Bezaire, about an office worker who
returns to his childhood home. World premiere.
* “We Go Way Back,” written and
directed by Lynn Shelton, a surreal tale of a 23-year-old actress who
unexpectedly meets her 13-year-old self.
World premiere.
“Abduction,” directed by
Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim, about a 13-year-old Japanese girl
kidnapped by North Korean spies. World premiere.
* “B.I.K.E.,” by Jacob Septimus
and Anthony Howard, a look inside the subculture of “tallbikes.”
World premiere.
* “Do You Remember Me?”
(Germany), by Alexander Heuken and Michaela Liechtenstein, about a
Thai mother who must choose between keeping her youngest daughter or
giving her away to save the girl's life. World premiere.
* “Downtown Locals,” by Robin
Muir and Rory Muir, which profiles six subway performers in New York.
World premiere.
* “The Empire in Africa Thief,”
by Philippe Diaz, about the “unjust war the international community
waged” against Sierra Leone. World premiere.
* “The Great Happiness Space:
Tale of an Osaka Love Thief,” by Jake Clennell, which looks at a
facet of Japan's adult entertainment industry: Clubs for young women
staffed by young male hosts. U.S. premiere.
* “Forgiving Dr. Mengele,” by
Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh, which chronicles the firestorm that
followed when a Holocaust survivor decided to forgive the notorious
Josef Mengele for the experiments he performed on her and her twin
sister.
* “The Holy Modal Rounders:
Bound to Lose,” by Sam Wainwright Douglas and Paul Lovelace, a
chronicle of a psychedelic folk-rock group whose drummer was the
playwright and actor Sam Shepard.
* “Stroke” (Germany), by
Katarina Peters, an autobiographical film about a couple “and the
healing powers of love and music.”
U.S. premiere.
* “Letters From the Other Side,” a documentary by Heather
Courtney, which uses video letters to tell the stories of women
across the U.S./Mexico border. World premiere.
* “The Limbo Room,” written and
directed by Debra Eisenstadt, in which an actress accuses her co-star
of harassment during an onstage rape scene and her understudy gets
involved in the real-life drama. World premiere.
* “Neo Ned,” directed by Van
Fischer, about a skinhead (Jeremy Renner) who falls for a black woman
(Gabrielle Union), whom he believes is carrying the soul of Hitler.
* “The Perfect Life,” a
documentary by Sam Lee, which follows five Harlem teens (all students
of the filmmaker when he was their second-grade teacher). World
premiere.
* “Monday,” written and directed
by Heidi Van Lier, a comedy about a guy with OCD and agoraphobia
having the worst day of his life.
Documentary short competition:
“Do You Want The Elephant Music” by Leslie Dektor;
“Grand Luncheonette” by Peter Sillen; “Rising Tide” by Robert Todd &
Michael Dwyer;
“Under The Roller Coaster” by Lila Place;
“Ride Of The
Mergansers” by Steve Furman;
“Outsider: The Life and Art of Judith
Scott” by Betsy Bayha;
“Afloat” by Erin Hudson;
“Fast and Reliable”
by Tom Soper;
“Yard Sale” by Brad Barber.
Animated short competition:
“The Flooded Playground” by Lisa
Crafts; “The Love Train” (United Kingdom) by Eva Bennett; “The Book
of Visions” by Annie Poon; “The Boy With No Name” by Adam Smith;
“Vaudeville” by Chansoo Kim; “Left and Leave” by Yongchu Suh;
“Stasis” by Jason Hite; and “Dragon” by Troy Morgan.
Dramatic short competition:
“Alla Fein (Where To)” (Egypt)
by Karim Fanous; “Barely Visible” (Australia) by Jody Dwyer; “Bright
Sunny South” by Kentucker Audley; “California” (Cuba) by Irene
Borrego; “The Day I Died (Argentina/USA) by Maryam Keshavarz;
“Daylight Hole” (United Kingdom) by Matt Palmer; “The Devil (Poland)
by Tomasz Szafranski; “Dirtyglitter 1: Damien” by Aron Kantor; “Five
More Minutes” by Dena DeCola & Karin E. Wandner; “Full Metal Slacks”
by Scott Calonico; “Gender” (Belguim) by Daniel Lamberts; “High
Winds” by Vanessa Ly; “Hiro” (Canada) by Matthew Swanson; “The
Homecoming” by Michael Lucid; “I Ran With A Grey Ghost” by Levi
Abrino; “Kiest Park” by John Ayala; “Listening” by Yvonne Buchanan;
“Los Coyotes” by Lee Isaac Chung; “Monster” (Australia) by Jennifer
Kent; “The Nightingale” by Daniel Kelley; “No Exit” by Etienne
Kallos; “No More Sympathy” by Patrick Tsai; “No Ordinary Sun” (New
Zealand) by Jonathan Brough; “Not For Sale” by Maryam Keshavarz;
“Opus” by Mary Helena Clark; “The Paper Wall” (Canada) by Sheila &
Nicholas Pye; “Patterns” (Canada) by Jamie Travis; “Phone Sex
Grandma” by Jack Truman; “Pounds Per Square Inch” by Heather Posner;
“Ruth & Maggie” by Ron Eyal; “The Saviour” (Australia) by Peter
Templeman; “Scorn” (Spain) by Raul Cerezo; “Siempre Quise Trabajar En
Una Fabrica (I've Always Wanted to Work in a Factory)” (Spain) by
Esteban Crespo; “Snails” by Pablo Di Zeo; “Still Life” (Canada) by
Jon Knautz; “Television Love” (Poland) by Jaroslaw Banaszek;
“Tolerance” by Mark Finch Hedengren; “Triptych” (Canada) by Michael
Shu; “Us” (New Zealand) by James Blick; and “Wake” by Keun-Pyo Park.
Anarchy Global Online competition: o “Dada” by Gabe
Barcia-Colombo; “Jettison Your Loved Ones” by Ray Tintori; “L'Amour
Est” (United Kingdom) by Adam Comiskey; “Lechon” by Carlos V.
Gutierrez; “Motel” by Thomas Moore; “Mujaan Zurag” by Chris McKee;
“My Mom and Dad” by Andrew Brotzman; “Never Live Above A Psychic” by
Steve Gentile; and “Space Thing” by Tim Busko.
Contact Sean P. Means at movies@sltrib.com or 801-257-8602.
Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.