Festival to Showcase 11 Narrative and 8 Documentary Features
Lineup Spotlights 8 Directorial Debuts From Women Filmmakers

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Los Angeles – The Slamdance Film Festival announced today their Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition programs for its 23rd Festival edition, taking place in Park City from January 20-26, 2017. Driven by a dedication to emerging artists, Slamdance continues to be the premiere film festival by filmmakers, for filmmakers.

Established in 1995, Slamdance is dedicated to discovering and supporting new talents in independent filmmaking. Previous Slamdance alumni include: Bong Joon Ho (SNOWPIERCER), Lena Dunham (TINY FURNITURE), and Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT; MEMENTO). The 23rd edition of Slamdance will also feature DIG (Digital, Interactive & Gaming) which showcases eight works by emerging artists working in cutting edge digital media, and Polytechnic, a series of free, open-learning workshops that explore new ideas and disrupt existing ones with unique perspectives on filmmaking and new media production from industry insiders.

“As filmmakers themselves, the Slamdance programmers and staff share the same creative spirit as the festival artists. Our stories are different but our divergent attitude is the same.” states Co-founder and President, Peter Baxter. “Together, we give a voice to DIY filmmaking. Empowering emerging artists is what we do, and you are about to see a great group at Slamdance 2017.”

This year the festival will showcase 11 narrative and 8 documentary features from emerging storytellers across the globe.

“Slamdance gives a platform to artists working outside of the system—we pride ourselves on supporting filmmakers who create challenging work,” says Festival Manager, Clementine Leger. “We feel so fortunate to welcome these artists and their works into our community.”

The feature competition lineup includes 16 premieres — 12 World, 3 North American, and 1 US premieres. All competition films are feature film directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million USD, and without US distribution. All films were reviewed by a team of Slamdance alumni and are programmed democratically.

Jury Awards are presented for the Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature. Previous winners include: THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK (Best Documentary Feature, 2016) and DRIFTWOOD (Best Narrative Feature, 2016). Films in both categories are eligible for the Audience Award and Spirit of Slamdance Award, the latter of which is voted upon by this year’s presented filmmakers.

Narrative Feature Selections:

Aerotropolis, (Taiwan) World Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Jheng-Neng LI

Beat Beat Heart , (Germany) North American Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Luise Brinkmann

Cortez, (USA)
Director: Cheryl Nichols; Screenwriter(s): Arron Shiver, Cheryl Nichols

Dave Made a Maze, (USA) World Premiere
Director: Bill Watterson; Screenwriter(s): Steven Sears, Bill Watterson

Dim the Fluorescents, (Canada) World Premiere
Director: Daniel Warth; Screenwriter(s): Miles Barstead, Daniel Warth

The Family, (China, Australia) US Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Shumin Liu

Kate Can’t Swim, (USA) World Premiere
Director: Josh Helman; Screenwriter(s): Jennifer Allcott, Josh Helman

Kuro, (France, UK, Germany, Luxembourg) World Premiere
Director(s) & Screenwriter(s): Joji Koyama, Tujiko Noriko

Weather House, (Germany) World Premiere
Director(s): Frauke Havemann; Co-Director: Eric Schefter; Screenwriter: Mark Johnson

Wexford Plaza, (Canada) North American Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Joyce Wong

Withdrawn, (Canada) World Premiere
Director: Adrian Murray; Screenwriter(s): Adrian Murray, Marcus Sullivan, Dean Tardioli

Documentary Feature Selections:

Bogalusa Charm, (USA) World Premiere
Director: Stephen Richardson; Screenwriter: Jennifer Harrington

The Children Send Their Regards, (Austria) World Premiere
Director: Patricia Josefine Marchart; Screenwriter(s): Jakob Purkarthofer, Sepp Rothwangl, Patricia Josefine Marchart

Hotel Coolgardie, (Australia)
Director: Pete Gleeson

The Modern Jungle, (Mexico/USA) North American Premiere
Director(s) & Screenwriter(s): Charles Fairbanks, Saul Kak

On The Sly: In Search of the Family Stone, (USA) World Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Michael Rubenstone

Strad Style, (USA) World Premiere
Director: Stefan Avalos

Supergirl, (USA)
Director: Jessie Auritt

Who is Arthur Chu?, (USA) World Premiere
Director(s) & Screenwriter(s): Scott Drucker, Yu Gu

For more specifics on the selections including cast & synopsis please visit Slamdance Website