Festival celebrates indie spirit with light approach

  Egyptian Theater Actors Tchelet Semel
and Oren Rehany star in "The Holy Land," which
will be screened at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

By Katie Leff
Daily Bruin Contributor

In a world where the little guy is all too frequently shoved to
the wayside to make room for the already rich and famous to
increase their prestige, creative spirit often suffers. The
Slamdance Film Festival provides refuge for the artist who
struggles for his voice to be heard above the din of materialist
society.

The festival’s slogan, “by filmmakers, for
filmmakers” is a motto that illustrates the festival’s
intent to provide a venue for first-time directors.

“The slogan is true. Slamdance is about movies, about
expression, about art, about storytelling. It is a refuge from all
the bullshit that surrounds filmmaking” said Eitan Gorlin,
winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature for his film
“The Holy Land.”

The festival runs at the same time as the more widely known
Sundance film festival and features independent films made by
first-time filmmakers. In 1994 in an effort by established
directors to support others pursuing their craft, Shane Kuhn, Dan
Mirvish, and Jon Fitzgerald conceived the festival after being
rejected by Sundance.

“Slamdance is a much more low-key, egalitarian kind of
festival that any filmmaker or filmgoer would like who are into
seeing a different kind of film. Sundance tries to embellish the
process, put a gloss on it. Slamdance is really basic,” said
director Mark Moskowitz. Moskowitz won the Special Grand Jury Honor
and the Audience Award for Best Feature for his film “Stone
Reader.”

This is the fourth year that the American Cinematheque has
brought The Best of Slamdance to Los Angeles. This series of
screenings is part of Slamdance’s “On the Road”
program, which brings a sampling of the festival to cities all over
the world. Showings of the award winning films will start February
6. Ending March 27, there will be screenings of “Stone
Reader” by Mark Moskowitz, “My Father, the
Genius,” winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary,
directed by Lucia Small, and “The Hunger Artist,”
winner of the Best Short and directed by Tom Gibbons.

Winners of Slamdance take home a Sparky, a trophy in the shape
of a grinning, mischievous dog that embodies the lighthearted
spirit of Slamdance.

“Sparky is definitely the manifestation of a good
attitude. It encourages you to be more bull-doggish and just go for
it” Lisa Yu said, a recent UCLA graduate and director of the
Short Experimental stop-animation film, “Vessel
Wrestling.”

The Festival continues to grow every year, and this year over
2,400 submissions were sent to Slamdance. Only 12 features were
selected, including Moskowitz’s “Stone Reader,”
winner of the Special Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award. This
allows for the directors to be present at the screenings and to
answer questions from the audience.

“Appearing personally narrows the gap between the film and
the audience” Moskowitz said.

Moskowitz will also be present at the February 6 screening of
“Stone Reader” at the Egyptian Theater.

At Slamdance, the focus is on the art of filmmaking, not on the
filmmakers themselves. All the films are low budget and made by
first time filmmakers, they are not tied to a studio contract.
Thus, directors are free to follow their imaginations rather than
focus on profits.

“My hope is for the film to be seen by as many people who
want to see it ““ it’s not an economic hope”
Moskowitz said.

Despite the focus on the film itself and not a financial profit,
prestige has followed as a result of involvement in this tiny but
growing organization. Acclaimed filmmakers Stephen Soderbergh,
Christopher Nolan (“Memento”) and Marc Foster
(“Monster’s Ball”) all participated in Slamdance,
an experience which became a springboard to expand their careers to
include an audience that reaches beyond Slamdance’s still
meager reach.

The festival is young and the results of participating in the
festival and being the beneficiary of its acclaim have not yet
withstood the test of time. While some have been propelled into the
fast lane of filmmaking, the outcome for others is not so
certain.

For Gorlin, Slamdance is a place where film mogul hopefuls such
as himself can get a foot in the door, possibly increasing his
chances of taking his talents as a filmmaker to a bigger arena.

“Putting aside my conspiracy theories regarding big money,
big business and the Bush cabal, I see no reason why big audiences
shouldn’t be watching indies. The Hollywood execs never fail
to underestimate the sophistication and curiosity of the average
Joe,” Gorlin said.

Slamdance gives the voices that don’t normally get heard a
chance. Though it might be a small venue tackling a huge arena in
the creative process, what the festival and directors lack in
wide-spread recognition is made up in heart.

“It’s a scrappy thing to make an independent film. A
lot of times, you end up eating dog food, but it’s worth it
““ there’s different flavors of dog food. Variety,
man,” Yu said.

FILM: For a complete listing of screenings,
visit www.slamdance.com or www.egyptiantheatre.com.