While Sundance gets far bigger buzz, another, much more intimate and independent festival happens at the same time in the Treasure Mountain Inn at the top of Park City's Main Street. Slamdance is smaller, and its selections tend to be a bit more raw and with a less mainstream appeal. It has nevertheless launched the careers of some high profile directors, such as Christopher Nolan (Sundance rejected his first film, Following; it played at Slamdance instead) and Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity was launched in the Treasure Mountain Inn in 2008, where I saw it with a group of Eckerd Students in a midnight screening, after which we huddled together and walked up the chilly mountain to our condos in the darkness, delighted in fright).
This year I only saw a few things at Slamdance. I didn't care much for Let's Be Evil, a science fiction thriller about precocious kids raised isolated in a virtual reality with the aim of creating super geniuses who can save the real world. It's a premise akin to Ender's Game, except in this case the kids decide, as the title suggests, to use their intelligence for evil. The setup is intriguing, and the scenario plays out a bit like a science fiction version of a haunted house, but the dialogue is laughable, as though written for fifth graders – except for the sexual teasing and profanity.
What I usually like the best at Slamdance are the docs, and this year was no exception. The biggest buzz was for Million Dollar Duck. No, not the zany 1971 Disney caper featuring Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan and a duck whose yolks are golden. This fascinating and enjoyable documentary follows six wildlife artists hoping to win the big prize in the Federal Duck Stamp Contest. Following enthusiastic reactions by audiences in Park City, the film was picked up for theatrical and television distribution by Lionsgate and Animal Planet. It also won Slamdance's audience choice and grand jury prizes for documentary film.
The Slamdance doc I liked best, though, was Los Punks: We Are All We Have. It's a heartfelt and intimate exploration of the Latino punk rock scene thriving in the backyards of South Central and East Los Angeles' impoverished neighborhoods. The film focuses on several young singers, promoters and groupies, all of whom have found a sense of belonging and a place to express themselves in the chaotic mayhem of backyard thrashing. The visual style is rough around the edges, in keeping with its subject matter. It's raw but engaging, and, like the best documentaries, offers its viewers a window into a world they might not otherwise encounter and a chance to care deeply about people they would likely never meet. I liked it, quite a bit. Here's a quick interview I did with its director, Angela Boatwright, and a few of its stars (cut together with bits from the trailer, which you can see in full here):
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2016.