Of course, Sundance isn’t the only game in town here in Park City. Renegade festival Slamdance is always good for a couple of gems and is where a few high profile filmmakers (Matthew Johnson of The Dirties and Operation Avalanche, and of course Christopher Nolan) were discovered. The chairs are awful, the screening room is hardly a proper venue for a festival this important, but here are 5 features worth the trip up main street.
Film: High Flying Bird
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Section: Special Screening
Synopsis: During a lockout, a sports agent makes a questionable proposal to a client.
What Excites Me: I mean, its Soderbergh! And he is world premiering a film at Slamdance. Not everything he touches is gold, but its always worth watching.
Film: Crystal Swan
Director: Darya Zhuk
Section: Narrative Features
Synopsis: In post-Soviet Minsk, young Evalina want to follow her dream of being a DJ in the US and her need for a visa leads her into difficult decisions.
What Excites Me: Zhuk has been making excellent shorts for years and this story, set in in home of Belarus, seems ripe for her skills.
Film: The Vast of Night
Director: Andrew Patterson
Section: Narrative Features
Synopsis: in the midst of the space race, two teens discover a strange frequency on the airwaves.
What Excites Me: This is a period in American history where everything seemed possible, and the world was full of mystery. I love small stories, especially ones tangentially related to SciFi.
Film: Dons of Disco
Director: Jonathan Sutak
Section: Doc Features
Synopsis: Thirty years after European stardom for Den Harrow, an American Photographer reveals he was actually the voice.
What Excites Me: We all know the Milli Vanilli story, but that came out pretty quickly. This is a conspiracy that stretched decades.
Film: Seadrift
Director: Tim Tsai
Section: Doc Features
Synopsis: In 1979, a fishing dispute becomes a race argument when a Vietnamese refuge shoots a Caucasian crab fisherman in Seadrift, TX.
What Excites Me: In addition to the fascinating piece of Texas history that I didn’t know about, director Tim Tsai is also the Executive Director of the Austin Asian American Film Festival.
