Slamdance reveals films in competition program

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Slamdance 2010, the independent alternative to the Sundance Film Festival, announced the lineup of 18 narrative and documentary feature films in the competition program of its 16th annual event, January 21-28, 2010.

The festival requires that films are made by first-time feature directors with limited budgets and without US theatrical distribution. "If you want to see the best in do-it-yourself, true independent filmmaking," said President/Co-Founder Peter Baxter, "our Sweet 16 outing will, as always, showcase emerging filmmaking talent at its finest."

Topics of this year's films include writer William Burroughs, Bolivian women's wrestling, and feature director Gus Van Sant and Lemmy of metal band Motorhead.

Selections from the record 5,000-plus submissions include 11 world premieres.

Paranormal Activity, the low-budget phenomenon snagged a deal with DreamWorks after screening at Slamdance last year and went on to make $100 million. Every filmmaker here hopes for a repeat of that success.

Documentary Competition:

- American Jihadist (Mark Claywell) What makes a man willing to kill and die for his religion?
- Biker Fox (Jeremy Lamberton) Part docu, part testimonial about Biker Fox, who advocates "cogitating positive vibes to the cortex of your cerebellum."
- Candyman (Costa Botes) A look at the rise and fall of the inventor of Jelly Bellies.
- General Orders No. 9 (Robert Persons) A history of a place where trails become country roads that get paved over.
- Mamachas del Ring (Betty M. Park) Chronicle of Bolivian women wrestlers.
- Mind of a Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story (Adam Barker) The birth of freestyle motocross became the demise of the sport's most infamous legend; narrated by Lemmy.
- Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae (Stascha Bader) Canada. Rocksteady, from Jamaica's Golden Age of music, come together after 40 years to record a greatest hits album and perform in Kingston.
- William Burroughs: A Man Within (Yony Leyser) A portrait of the Beat author, with David Cronenberg, Gus Van Sant, Peter Weller, Iggy Pop, and Laurie Anderson.

Narrative films:

- Cummings Farm (Andrew Drazek) a sexual comedy
- Drones (Amber Benson & Adam Busch) about a threat to life, job and the planet.
- The Four-Faced Liar (Jacob Chase) When a small-town couple meets two best friends.
- The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu (Henry Saine) An ordinary guy is given a relic by a strange old man who says he's the last bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft.
 - One Hundred Mornings (Conor Horgan) Ireland. Two couples hide in a lakeside cabin hoping to survive an unended world; Ciaran McMenamin, Alex Reid and Rory Keenan.
- The Scenesters (Todd Berger) Dark comedy starring Sherilyn Fenn about crime scene videographers who hatch a plan to catch a serial killer.
 - Snow and Ashes (Charles Olivier-Michaud) Canada. A war correspondent wakes from a coma to discover his collaborator missing; Rhys Coiro, Lina Roessler, Frederic Gilles.
 - URFrenz (Jeff Phillips) High school girls and parents collide over social networking.
 - The Wild Hunt (Alexandre Franchi) Canada. A medieval reenactment game turns into a Shakespearean tragedy; with Kaniehtiio Horn, Mark Anthony Krupa and Ricky Mabe.
 - YellowBrickRoad (Jesse Holland & Andy Mitton) a horror film with a twist.

www.slamdance.com/

RC