Nestled high atop a snowy small town street, the Slamdance Film Festival has just wrapped up its 21st year in Park City, Utah, a ski town that’s known for hosting that other film festival every January. (Something else with “dance” in it, we think?)
Slamdance may have been originally conceived as an alternative to Sundance (which, sort of hilariously, mainly operates just down the hill from Slamdance Headquarters), but the festival has blossomed into its own thing over the two-plus decades it’s been in existence. In addition to providing a home for all sorts of filmmakers (including a few you might have heard of, like Christopher Nolan, Benh Zeitlin, and Lynn Shelton), Slamdance also hosts a number of year-round initiatives, like its “On the Road” series, a screenplay competition, and a brisk VOD business.
This year’s Slamdance has just wrapped and, as ever, their annual awards provide a glimpse at some of independent film’s true rising stars. There’s also a film about a guy who claims to have had a sexual relationship with a dolphin, so no, Slamdance isn’t toning itself down anytime soon.
This year’s Slamdance award winners are:
Audience Award for Narrative Feature: Across The Sea, dir. by Nisan Dag & Esra Saydam
Audience Award for Documentary Feature: Sweet Micky For President, dir. by Ben Patterson
Jury Award for Narrative Feature: Tired Moonlight, dir. by Britni West
Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature: They Look Like People, dir. by Perry Blackshear
Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature: Across The Sea, dir. by Nisan Dag & Esra Saydam
Jury Award for Documentary Feature: Sweet Micky For President, dir. by Ben Patterson
Jury Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature: 20 Years Of Madness, dir. by Jeremy Royce
Jury Award for Documentary Short: The Solitude Of Memory, dir. by Juan Pablo González
Jury Honorable Mention for Documentary Short: Dolphin Lover, dir. by Kareem Tabsch
Jury Award for Narrative Short: Stay Awake, dir. by Jamie Sisley
Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Short: 09:55 - 11:05, Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B, dir. by Christine Berglund & Sophie Vukovic
Jury Award for Animation Short: The Pride Of Strathmoor, dir. by Einar Baldvin
Jury Honorable Mention for Animation Short: Hipopotamy, dir. by Piotr Dumala
Jury Award for Experimental Short: Red Luck, dir. by Mike Olenick
Jury Award for Anarchy Short: Deviance, dir. by Aron Kantor
Jury Honorable Mention for Anarchy Short: Sea Devil, dir. by Dean C. Marcial and Brett Potter
Spirit of Slamdance Award: Think Ink, dir. by Wally Chung
Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Grand Prize: Coming To, dir. by Lindsey Haun, DP Spencer Rollins, starring Jacob Demonte-Finn
Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Honorable Mention: The Character Study, dir. & DP Luke Pelizzari
Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmaking Honorable Mention: Isobel, dir. by Marie Jamora, DP Jason McLagan
Kodak Director’s Prize: Detritus, dir. by T.J. Misny