SHOWWX™ Film Festival at Sundance

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 22 January 2010 09:55

Written by L E Shannon

The SHOWWX™ Film Festival at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, A Mobile Program of Films, Documentaries, Shorts, and Animated Shorts screening on multiple unique surfaces using Microvision’s SHOWWX™ Laser Pico Projector for Mobile Devices, is screening January 22–23 at The Sidecar Bar, 333 Main Street, 2nd Level in the Main Street Mall.

The SHOWWX™ Film Festival at The 2010 Sundance Film Festival, a creative collaboration between cloudzero, a San Francisco–based transmedia company and Microvision Inc., the Redmond, Washington–based pioneer in innovative ultra-mini projection technology whose CES 2010 Innovations Honoree–winning SHOWWX™ laser pico projector for mobile devices projects DVD-quality images up to 200 inches onto any surface. The SHOWWX™ Film Festival matches Microvision's revolutionary device with expertly curated content chosen by seasoned programming director Shade Rupe.

The SHOWWX™ Film Festival boasts three unique screening stations:

an Ice Theater with films projected onto an ice-screen sculpture;

the Sistine Chapel Lie-in Theater where rugs and pillows are arranged on the floor so that the audience can watch films on the ceiling;

the BYOMS AKA Bring Your Own Multiplex Screen! station, where cloudzero will demonstrate how the movie screen is evolving into a platform of creative DIY possibilities including a "hard-boiled egg screen."

The self-focusing SHOWWX™ can project onto any surface, including an egg, without losing any of its sharp DVD-quality resolution.

A special prize will be awarded to the audience member who comes up with the most original “spontaneous screen” for the SHOWWX™ laser pico projector. The audience will vote for the best screen creation.

“The SHOWWX Film Festival 2010 is where visionary micro-imaging technology meets cutting-edge independent filmmaking,” says Alexander Besher, CEO, and partner with filmmaker Maria Karpoukhina, of cloudzero. “We’re in the early days of a new era when it’s possible for anyone to curate their own film festival, anywhere. You can have your films screened on a coconut or on the side of a volcano. ‘You are the Film Fest’ is one of our credos. ‘Stream your dream’ is another. We're excited to partner with Microvision on this road to new forms of filmmaking."

The SHOWWX™ Film Festival Highlights:

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (US, 2009). A breathtaking blend of comedy, thriller, horror, and romance, this mind blower was written and directed by David Russo. After he loses his high-paying job, Dory takes a gig as a night janitor in order to pay rent. Alone late at night inside a market research firm, he soon discovers the company is experimenting on their entire staff of janitors including him.

Katie Turinski’s incredibly funny and fiery Sissyboy (US, 2009), a documentary about the outrageous lives of twelve “in your face” yet deeply sensitive drag queens.

The unbelievably talented Floria Sigismondi celebrates her Sundance feature debut The Runaways featuring Kristen Stewart (Twilight), with her personal short film Postmortem Bliss.
 
The SHOWWX™ FILM FESTIVAL delivers unique visual mindbursts such as iconic British bad boy Ken Russell's (The Who’s Tommy, Altered States) Boudica Bites Back (UK, 2007), a cine-opera retelling of the legend of Boudica, warrior queen, played by Ken’s wife Elize Russell.

The astonishingly beautiful Delphinium (US, 2009) by Matthew Mishory, a lyrical coming-of-age portrait of famed director Derek Jarman’s artistic, sexual, and political awakening in post-War England.

A Panel Discussion is held Friday, January 22  at 2:30 pm.
Where is the Future of Film Going -- And Who’s Going to Direct?

Participants:

Alexander Tokman, CEO & President, Microvision, Inc.
Lance Weiler, (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma, HiM), Chief Story Architect of Seize the Media
Scilla Andreen, CEO and cofounder of IndieFlix.com
Srini Vasan, Founder & CEO, iDIstribute whose flagship product is Gigaplex, an iPhone app and content distribution platform for streaming movies
Shade Rupe, Director of Acquisitions and Festivals for cloudzero
Alexander Besher and Maria Karpoukhina, Cofounders of cloudzero
 
For more information, visit www.cloud-zero.com.  

The SHOWWX™ Film Festival
January 22–23, 2010

The Sidecar Bar
333 Main Street
2nd Level in the Main Street Mall.

Slamdance 2010

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 18 January 2010 10:24

Written by Eric Lurio

At one time, 16 years ago, the festival season began in New York with the Independent Feature Film Market and three hopefuls, Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn and Dan Mirvish, who had befriended each other, decided to get their films seen there, But they flopped at getting in. So they sent their films to the United States Film Festival -- unofficially called “Sundance" at the time. Their films flopped there too so in January 1995, they set up shop in a spare room at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

After a day of being cramped, they moved to Park City 32 miles away, flipped Sundance the bird, made their own festival called Slamdance. The rest is history.

Slamdance has since gone on to become a major festival in its own right (though Robert Redford once called it parasitical). Ensconced in the Treasure Mountain Inn (255 Main Street) since 1998, it’s an entirely different experience than its bigger analog. in some ways it's better, and in others, it's not.

The festival is primarily confined to the first floor, where two large meeting rooms are converted into makeshift theaters. The hallways are always packed with people waiting on line for the next screening. It’s a great way to meet people.

Around the corner from the main venue is the game room; Slamdance has been championing the art and science of videogames since the turn of the current century. And at least since last time I was there, they didn’t charge to play them.

There’s one official party, at the Star Bar (268 Main St.) about a 30 feet from the hotel on the first night. They have free beer, which is always nice, but it’s crowded, which is what Slamdance is all about -- the lack of personal space.

Once the party is over and done with, there’s the movies. ah, the movies!

Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity, which made over 100 million bucks, premiered here, as did Seth Gordon’s King of Kong, one of the great documentaries of all time. Lots of major movie stars have shown up to promote their films, and some of the best films to come out of here have gone nowhere such as Michael Davis’ Eight Days A Week and Lance Mungia’s Six String Samurai. (But both are worth sticking on your Netflix queue).

Going to Slamdance is well worth taking time off from the big show. This year, award-winning director Steven Soderbergh will premiere his latest documentary, And Everything Is Going Fine, at the fest.

So what is there to see here? Well, besides the Soderbergh film, America’s undead humor magazine, the National Lampoon, is sponsoring a screening of their latest film Snatched, which may or may not suck (NatLamp’s films haven’t been good since the magazine was real) and 16 other features.



What little buzz has been generated so far has been mostly for Candyman (directed by Costa Botes) -- a look at the rise and fall of David Klein, inventor of Jelly Bellies; General Orders No. 9 (Robert Persons) An experimental doc that contemplates loss and change in the American South; and William Burroughs: A Man Within (Yony Leyser) A portrait of the Beat author and American icon.

And on the horror front. for some reason, programmers are into Cthulhu as well -- The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu (Henry Saine) is like the third film in the genre to be produced in the last 10 years.

Then there's Yellow Brick Road (Jesse Holland & Andy Mitton) a horror film set in the wilderness and finally, Gerard Johnson's UK horror-drama Tony, which is playing out of competition.


 The full list of features in Competition:



Cummings Farm
directed by Andrew Drazek
Cast: Laura Silverman

World Premiere


This is a disturbing comedy about an orgy at a lakeside strawberry farm. Three couples at the end their twenties give group sex a go, naively hoping it will grant them enlightenment.

Drones
directed by Amber Benson & Adam Busch

Cast - Angela Bettis, Jonathan M. Woodward 

World Premiere

When Brian walks in on his best friend’s closet time, he discovers a universal threat to his life, job and the Earth itself!

The Four-Faced Liar
directed by Jacob Chase
Cast - Emily Peck, Marja-Lewis Ryan, Todd Kubrak  

World Premiere

When small town couple, Molly and Greg, meets best friends Trip and Bridget, unexpected sparks fly. As friendship slides into passion, Molly must choose between a guy she took for granted, and the girl she can't resist.



The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu
directed by Henry Saine

Cast - Devin McGinn

World Premiere

Jeff is an ordinary guy that is stuck at a dead end job with a boring life, but when a strange old man gives him an Ancient relic and tells him that he is the last bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft. He and his friend Charlie embark on an adventure to protect the relic piece from falling into the hands of the Starspawn and his minions that wish to reunite the relic and release Cthulhu back into the world.

One Hundred Mornings

directed by Conor Horgan

Cast - Ciaran McMenamin, Alex Reid, Rory Keenan 

US Premiere

Set in a world upended by a complete breakdown of society, two couples hide out in a lakeside cabin hoping to survive the crisis.


Scenesters

directed by Todd Berger

Cast - Sherilyn Fenn, Suzanne May, Blaise Miller 

In this dark comedy, when a serial killer starts picking off beautiful young hipsters on the east side of Los Angeles, a group of crime scene videographers hatch a plan to catch him.



Snow and Ashes

directed by Charles Olivier-Michaud  

Cast - Rhys Coiro, Lina Roessler, Frederic Gilles
World Premiere

A War Correspondent covers an armed conflict in Eastern Europe. When he wakes from a coma, Blaise discovers that his collaborator is missing and sets out to recapture the events that led to his friend’s disappearance.

URFrenz
directed by Jeff Phillips
Cast - Lily Holleman, Gayla Goehl, Carole Anne Johnson

World Premier
e
High school girls and their parents collide over the use of a popular social networking site when the identity and motives of an on-line boy come into question.

The Wild Hunt
directed by Alexandre Franchi

Cast: Kaniehtiio Horn, Mark Anthony Krupa, Ricky Mabe
World Premiere
A medieval re-enactment game turns into a Shakespearean tragedy when a non-player crashes the event to win back his girlfriend.

YellowBrickRoad
directed by Andy Mitton & Jesse Holland

Cast: Cassidy Freeman, Lee Wilkof, Anessa Ramsey 

World Premiere
An expedition looks for answers to something horrible in the forest, but the forest finds something horrible in them.


Documentary Competition (all films are from the US unless otherwise noted):

American Jihadist 

directed by Mark Claywell. 

US Premiere 

What makes a man willing to kill and die for his religion?

Biker Fox
directed by Jeremy Lamberton  

World Premiere 

By taking the road less traveled, Biker Fox leads you to another dimension by "cogitating positive vibes to the cortex of your cerebellum" in this part documentary, part self-help testimonial.


Candyman

directed by Costa Botes
World Premiere

Candyman is the story of the rise and fall of David Klein, the man who invented Jelly Belly jelly beans. With Weired Al Yankovich

General Orders No. 9
directed by Robert Persons  

Take one last trip down the rabbit hole before it gets paved over. A history of the State of Georgia or Anywhere. Deer trail becomes Indian trail becomes county road becomes...

Mamachas Del Ring

directed by Betty M. Park

US Premiere

Bolivian women wrestlers throw down in the ring in this documentary about what it really means to fight like a girl. Carmen Rosa the Champion is their passionate leader, and is faced with a brutal decision when she is forced to choose between her love of sport and love of her family.

Mind of a Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story

directed by Adam Barker
Narrated by Lemmy

The birth of freestyle motocross became the demise of the sport's most infamous legend.

Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae

directed by Stascha Bader
With Rita Marley

US Premiere
The singers and musicians of Jamaica’s Golden Age of music, who made the rocksteady sound, come together after 40 years to record an album of their greatest hits, to perform together again at a reunion concert in Kingston, and to tell their story.

William Burroughs: A Man Within

directed by Yony Leyser
With David Cronenberg, Gus Van Sant, Peter Weller, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson
World Premiere

Leyser paints a tender portrait of the Beat author and American icon, whose works at once savaged conservative ideals, spawned vibrant countercultural movements and reconfigured 20th century culture.

With Soderbergh premiering his latest documentary here, those friends who met all those years ago at the IFFM  finally have the perfect revenge.


Winterize at X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 14 January 2010 06:24

Written by Lynne Shannon

Each winter, the world’s top action sports filmmakers, iconic athletes and enthusiasts come together in Utah to celebrate action sports culture at the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival.  This year’s event runs January 21-26, 2010 with screenings at the Off Broadway Theater (272 South Main Street) in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“It truly is the best of action sports. Nowhere else will you find all of the top athletes and filmmakers under one roof,” says surfing legend Laird Hamilton, a long-time X-Dance supporter. With roots in the action sports world as well as the mainstream entertainment industry, no event on earth harnesses the creative energy of adrenaline culture like the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival.

Launched in 2001 with the support of major sponsors, X-Dance has grown to become the premier action sports film festival in the world. The mission of X-Dance is to nurture the growth of action sports filmmaking and to honor achievement on both sides of the camera.  X-Dance will always recognize innovative work that pushes the limits of style and narrative.

X-Dance celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2010, and according to festival director Brian Wimmer, “It’s going to be an incredible year.  We are extremely proud to present Warren Miller, ‘The Godfather’ of action sports films with the Lifetime Achievement Award and are thrilled that he is getting involved with the festival.  In addition, there will be special screenings, X-Dance Institute forums and many off-the-chart parties to mark our 10th anniversary.”

X-Dance is held during the Sundance Film Festival to provide the filmmakers a chance to immerse themselves in Sundance and its activities.

The six-day festival includes:

Screenings open to the Public of top action sports films from industry stalwarts like Matchstick, Red Bull, Burton, Teton Gravity Research, Standard Films, Alliance Wakeboards, Poor Boyz, Radical Films, VAS, Transworld, and Woodshed Films, as well as noteworthy work by emerging talent and world premieres.

Contact, starring local skier Blake Nyman, opens the festival of local films and world premieres. Local filmmakers Stan Evans and Jeremy Miller present the female snowboarding film Stance, the Official Selection of X-Dance. Local author and director Bill Kerig stars in The Edge of Never. Jordan Romero, age 14, who intends to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, will screen his short. Shaun White will be on site for the special screening and Institute fundraiser for his film Project X.  Also showing is The Last Paradise from New Zealand, directed by Eric Pollard.

Q&As are held with filmmakers and featured athletes after each screening.

The panels and seminars deal with real issues facing the Action Sports filmmaker, including emerging Internet demands in regard to content providing, music licensing, digital and hard copy distribution, and legal issues that arise. The top people in the industry from each category will raise the level of awareness and help the fimlmakers.

A controversial debate over the future of distribution and copyright will be hosted by Bit Torrent.

The X-Dance Institute also presents a Cinematography Workshop sponsored by GoPro Cameras with Academy-nominated cinematographer Don Burgess (Forrest Gump, Spiderman) and Chris Woods, director of over 400 national commercials.

Finally, Miller will address filmmakers in a public forum.

The X-Dance Awards Ceremony and Closing Party will be hosted by Olympic snowboard commentator and Fuel TV’s Daily Habit producer/host Pat Parnell.  The “Godfather” of Action Sports Filmmaking, Warren Miller, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Industry stars and celebrities join bands and DJs to celebrate the best in action sports filmmaking, while VJ, Brien Rullman transforms Club Elevate into a mesmerizing, wall-to-wall montage of action sports imagery.

For more information, visit:  www.x-dance.com.

X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival
January 21-26, 2010
Off Broadway Theater
272 South Main St.
Salt Lake City, Utah
801-355-4628