Sundance and Slamdance 2015
Every January, Park City, Utah, kicks off the film festival season by hosting two of the most notable U.S. independent film festivals—the tastemaker of the indie scene, Sundance, and its reputedly edgier cousin, Slamdance. Last year, serveral breakout films from RTF afiliates premiered at these festivals, including lecturer Kat Candler's Aaron Paul starrer, HELLION; the Zellner Brothers' Indie Spirit Award-nominee, KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER; and Todd Rohal's Special Jury prize-winning short, RAT PACK RAT. This year, RTF filmmakers will once again be in the midst of the action.
SUNDANCE
US Dramatic Competition
RESULTS / U.S.A. (World Premiere)
Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski (lecturer); Editor: Robin Schwartz (UT alum); Casting Director: Carlyn Hudson (BS ’10)
Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client.
Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.
Documentary Premieres
BEAVER TRILOGY PART IV / U.S.A. (World Premiere)
Director: Brad Besser; Producers: Don Swaynos (BS ‘02), Kelly Williams (BS ‘99), and Jonathan Duffy (BS '00)
A chance meeting in a parking lot in 1979 between filmmaker Trent Harris and a young man from Beaver, Utah, inspired the creation of an underground film that is now known as Beaver Trilogy. But the film itself is only part of the story.
Narrated by Bill Hader.
NEXT <=>
ENTERTAINMENT / U.S.A. (World Premiere)
Director: Rick Alverson; Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker; Executive Producer: Andrew Logan (BS '04); Post-production Supervisor: David Fabelo (BS ‘05)
En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert.
Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek. World Premiere
SPECIAL EVENTS
ANIMALS. / U.S.A.
Executive Producers: UT alumni/former RTF students, the Duplass Brothers —Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass
Animals. is an independently produced and animated series that focuses on the downtrodden creatures native to Earth's least habitable environment: New York City. Whether it’s lovelorn rats, gender-questioning pigeons, or aging bedbugs in the midst of a mid-life crisis, the awkward small talk, moral ambiguity, and existential woes of non-human urbanites prove startlingly similar to our own.
SLAMDANCE
Documentary Shorts Program
****WINNER FOR BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY****
THE SOLITUDE OF MEMORY / Mexico/U.S.A. (US Premiere)
Director: Juan Pablo González (MFA student)*
DP: James Hickox (MFA student)
A meditative portrait about a Mexican father mourning the untimely death of his son.
Cast: José Bolaños, Jesus Bolaños
*MA student Sean Malin recently interviewed González about his documentary; see story.
Special Screenings (opening night film)
BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS / U.S.A. (World Premiere)
Director: Brian James O’Connell
Screenwriters: Ryan Mitts (BS '07), Dr. God
When an office worker at a soul-crushing company loses his coveted promotion to his longtime nemesis, he begins to fear for more than his job as strange disappearances and bizarre deaths suggest the office is turning into a haven for the undead.
Cast: Fran Kranz, Pedro Pascal, Joey Kern, Joel Murray, Emma Fitzpatrick, Yvette Yates, Justin Ware, Marshall Givens
