Slamdance Fest unveils jury members for feature film competition

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Slamdance Film Festival has unveiled jury members for its feature film competition programs for its 22nd edition during Jan. 22-28, Variety has learned.

Notable members include Steve Yu, director of “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake,” and Damon Russell, producer of “Before I Disappear.”

The festival, launched in 1995 as an alternative to Sundance, has included showings of such notable titles as Oren Peli’s “Paranormal Activity.”

Along with Peli, the best-known Slamdance alumni include Christopher Nolan, Marc Forster, Jared Hess, Lena Dunham, Benh Zeitlin, Seth Gordon and Lynn Shelton. Significant titles that debuted at Slamdance include “Mad Hot Ballroom” and Gordon’s “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.”

The Slamdance feature competition is limited to films made with budgets under $1 million and made by first-time directors. The awards will be presented Jan. 28 at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, Utah.

Narrative features jury members include Russell, whose “Before I Disappear” won the audience award at SXSW (2014) and was acquired by IFC; Erik Jambor, co-founder of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, Ala., and the former exec director of Indie Memphis; Julie La’Bassiere, CEO of BAFTA New York and former director of marketing & industry for Tribeca Enterprises.

Documentary shorts and features jury includes Vanessa Hope, producer of “William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe” and director of “All Eyes And Ears,” which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival; Yu; and Skizz Cyzyk, who has held positions at MicroCineFest, Maryland Film Festival and Atlanta Film Festival.

Experimental and anarchy jury includes Jack Sargeant, author of “Against Control,” “Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground” and “Naked Lens: Beat Cinema”; Dekker Dreyer, host of the Movie Cult vodcast and live show series and the creator of the touring festival Anime After Dark; and Wally Chung, director of “The Eater.”

Narrative and animation short jury includes Steve Montal, who developed the AFI Docs Film Festival and produced “Viva Terra Viva,” a television concert for UNICEF; Ina Pira, senior programmer for the Montclair Film Festival; and Mark Shapiro, who manages brand strategies at Laika.

The competition lineup was unveiled in November.