Slamdance unveils feature line-up

There are 10 narrative and eight documentary films including 11 world premieres, four North American and one US.

Festival organisers sorted through more than 5,000 submissions to find the 18 titles, all of which are feature directorial debuts budgeted at under $1m and without US distribution.

Jury awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves. The festival also presents Audience Awards.

“The 2014 Feature Competition bristles with raw talent and innovative filmmaking,” said Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. “As an organisation run by film-makers for film-makers, we couldn’t imagine a truer way of representing the first 20 years and beginning our next.”

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, from January 17-23 2014.

All synopses provided by Slamdance.

NARRATIVE FEATURES

Copenhagen (US-Canada-Denmark)
Dir, Mark Raso
A charming scoundrel visiting the city of his father’s birth, William is drawn to his impromptu guide Effy – wise, spontaneous and half his age.
Cast: Gethin Anthony, Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Sebastian Armesto, Tamzin Merchant
World premiere

Goldberg & Eisenberg (Israel)
Dir, Oren Carmi
A lonely computer programmer finds his life disrupted by a boorish thug who becomes dangerously obsessed in this darkly absurd drama.
Cast: Yitzhak Laor, Yahav Gal, Roni Dotan

I Play With The Phrase Each Other(US)
Dir, Jay Alvarez
Young city-dwellers with lyrical musings and a sliding sense of entitlement hold court in this film comprised entirely of cell phone conversations.
Cast: Jay Alvarez, Will Hand, Megan Kopp, Alexander Fraser
North American premiere

I Put A Hit On You (Canada)
Dirs, Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart
A broken-hearted woman teams up with her ex-boyfriend to try and stop the hitman she accidentally hired to kill him.
Cast: Aaron Ashmore, Sara Canning
World premiere

My Blind Heart (Austria)
Dir, Peter Brunner
Suffering from an incurable disease, a young man rebels against his body and the expectations forced upon him in this black and white expressionist film.
Cast: Christos Haas, Jana McKinnon, Susanne Lothar, Robert Schmiedt, Georg Friedrich
North American premiere

The Republic Of Rick (US)
Dir, Mario Kyprianou
In this politic satire, a self-proclaimed President Of The Republic Of Texas rallies to lead a paranoid militia for Texas’s independence in the late 1990s.
Cast: Dave Abed, Angie Gregory, Lori Jean Wilson
World premiere

Rezeta – (Mexico)
Dir, Fernando Frias de la Parra
A jet-setting model leads a freewheeling and spontaneous life in Mexico City that starts to change when she falls in love with an unexpected young artist.
Cast: Rezeta Veliu, Roger Mendoza, Paulina Davila, Sebastian Cordova
US premiere

Rover (US)
Dir, Tony Blahd
A dispirited cult awaits the sign to off themselves when their leader fakes a prophecy instructing them to make a movie and share their story with the world.
Cast: Liam Torres, Jonathan Randell Silver, Steve Siddell, Natalie Thomas
World premiere

The Sublime and Beautiful (US)
Dir, Blake Robbins
David and Kelly descend into a complicated hell of grief but they take very different paths to make things right after losing their children to a drunk driver.
Cast: Blake Robbins, Laura Kirk, Matthew Del Negro, Armin Shimerman
World premiere

Wizard’s Way (UK, pictured)
Dir, Metal Man
A champion online fantasy video game player, his encouraging best friend, and two ambitious would-be filmmakers decide to capture it all for posterity.
Cast: Chris Killen, Joe Stretch, Kristian Scott, Socrates Adams-Florou, Sadie Frost
North American premiere

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Elliot – (Canada)
Dirs, Matthew Bauckman, Jaret Belliveau
The bizarre story of Elliot Scott, his supportive partner Linda Lum, and their cast and crew of outrageous dreamers all striving to achieve success.
Cast: Elliot Scott, Blake Zwicker, Linda Lum
World premiere

Glena (US)
Dir, Allan Luebke
Glena Avila is a single mother in her 30’s who is fighting to become a professional Mixed Martial Artist.
Cast: Glena Avila, Stormy Back, Ron Andersen
World premiere

Huntington’s Dance (US)
Dir, Chris Furbee
Told through 20 years of home movie footage, Huntington’s Dance is a personal and devastatingly raw look at how hereditary disease can shatter a family and a future.
Cast: Chris Furbee, Rosemary Shockey, Gene Furbee
World premiere

Kidnapped For Christ (US-Dominican Republic)
Dir, Kate S Logan
The personal stories of American teenagers who are taken from their homes and sent to an Evangelical Christian reform school located in The Dominican Republic.
Cast: David Wernsman, Tai Matheiu, Elizabeth Engle
World premiere

Little Hope Was Arson (US)
Dir, Theo Love
January 2010: In the buckle of the Bible Belt, 10 churches burn to the ground igniting the largest criminal investigation in East Texas history.

Skanks (US)
Dir, David McMahon
A community theatre in Birmingham, Alabama mounts a gender-bending new musical titled “Skanks In A One Horse Town”.
World premiere

Sometimes I Dream I’m Flying(Poland)
Dir, Aneta Popiel-Machnicka
The poignant story of a young dancer preparing to perform at the Berlin Opera and the serious injury that threatens her lifelong dream.
Cast: Weronika Frodyma, Anna Linnik, Sergey Basalayev
North American premiere

Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen Of Pointe à La Hache (US)
Dir, Nailah Jefferson
In Pointe à La Hache, Louisiana, the residents of this ruined fishing community continue dealing with the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in US history.
Cast: Byron Encalade, Stanley Encalde, Kenneth Feinberg
World premiere