Slamdance
Film Festival

January 20 - 27, 2001 (Park City, Utah)



At Slamdance, "the spirit of do-it-yourself filmmaking is present
in the halls, in the lines and at the parties in an incredibly supportive
environment that at times feels more like a college dorm room than
a festival," wrote Chris Gore in The Ultimate Film Festival
Survival Guide.

For
the 2001 edition, Slamdance has announced the 12 features that will
compete in this year's seventh annual event. Organizers received
a record 2326 submissions, an increase of almost 300 submissions
from last year, according to Peter Baxter, festival Executive Director/Co-Founder.
"Close to half of the features submitted - and a third of the ones
selected - were shot on digital or video. It's a huge increase from
a year ago," added Baxter. The digital revolution in both production
and post-production has clearly caught up with the festival circuit."




This year the festival has become more international, with two features
from South Korean (including Boon Joon-Ho's Barking
Dogs Never Bite), one from Germany and another from Sweden.
"If last year's focus on German films meant it was the Year of Sauerkraut
for Slamdance, then this is going to be the Year of Kim Chee," added
Slamdance Co-Founder-at-Large Dan Mirvish. He credited the success
to Slamdance's On-the-Road events in Cannes, Germany, Sweden and
beyond, which have garnered more exposure for our American Slamdance
films, but have also brought more international filmmakers into
our fold."



One of the biggest differences at Slamdance this year is a change
of venue for all screenings, parties and most other events to the
historic Silvermine on the outskirts of Park City (1.5 miles south).
"Slamdance audiences have grown so much over the last few years
that we were just too hot and crowded to stay fully in our old home
at the Treasure Mountain Inn," said Baxter. "The Silvermine will
offer us greater screening-room capacity, and thus will serve our
filmmakers better." Slamdance will run its own shuttle service to
the Silvermine with stops on Main Street - including the Treasure
Mountain Inn, where some Slamdance events will still take place
this year. "The Silvermine's 2,000 foot mine shaft will be a great
place to throw cell phones if they go off during screenings," added
Mirvish.



The Slamdance feature competition section is limited specifically
to first-time filmmakers working with limited budgets who have not
yet found U.S. distribution. "Whether you're an agent looking for
a new client, a distributor looking for new films or you just want
to see new filmmakers proudly screening their work for the first
time, Slamdance is more than ever the place to go this year in Park
City," said Mirvish. "We've had winning films picked up for distribution
every year since we've started, so I think a lot of eyes will be
on this year's competition features," said Baxter.



Slamdance, which bills itself as "by filmmakers, for filmmakers,"
was started in 1995 by a group of writer/director/producers and
continues to be organized and programmed by active filmmakers. "A
good thing about Slamdance coming into our seventh year is that
we had a much larger pool of alumni to draw from for our programmers,"
said Henry Turner, Slamdance's Filmmaker Relations Liaison. Unlike
other festivals, Slamdance does not make any early invitations or
selections for its feature competition. Over 50 programmers were
involved in the selection process. "Every slot in the competition
is fair game until the day we announce our slate."



A variety of awards will be presented to the winners of the competition
films at the Slamdance "Sparky" Awards starting at 7:00pm on January
26 at the Silvermine. In addition to competing for the coveted bronze
Sparky dog, filmmakers will be eligle for cash and other prizes.

Highlights
from the 2000 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City included over
$50,000 in cash and prizes awarded to the winning films. Several
films were picked up for distribution and almost every film went
on to play at other international film festivals. Last year's Grand
Jury Winner -- Frank Novak's Good
Housekeeping -- went on to screen in the prestigious Critics'
Week section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it was acquired
for US distribution by Shooting Gallery in conjunction with Universal
Studios. The film will be released next spring.