by Marla Lewin
2010 marked the 16th anniversary of the Slamdance Film Festival, a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent. Slamdance was founded by independent filmmakers and is dedicated to the nurturing and development of new independent artists and their cinematic vision.
There are three competitive divisions at Slamdance: Grand Jury, Audience Awards and Special Sponsored Awards provided by Kodak and Dos Equis. The Slamdance Feature competitions is limited to first-time filmmakers working with production budgets of $1 million or less.
GRAND JURY AWARDS
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film
Winner: SNOW AND ASHES, directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud
Special Jury Mention: ONE HUNDRED MORNINGS, directed by Conor Horgan
Winner also receives three 8-hour work days from POP Sound in Los Angeles for Audio Post Production Services; Panasonic AG-HPX170 Camera; Sony Software Package
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film
Winner: AMERICAN JIHADIST, directed by Mark Claywell
Winner also receives Sony Software Package
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Animated Short
Winner: SEED, directed by Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird
Winner also receives Sony Software Package
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Short
Winner: PRVI DAN MIRA (First Day of Peace), Mirko Rucnov
Special Jury Mention for a short documentary film: BOUT THAT BOUT, directed by Nico Sabenorio
Winner also receives Sony Software Package
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film
Winner: THE WILD HUNT, directed by Alexandre Franchi
Winner also receives $5000 in Post Production Services from Post Factory, New York; $3500 in Legal Services from Pierce Law Group; Sony Software Package
Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film
Winner: MIND OF THE DEMON: THE LARRY LINKOGLE STORY, directed by Adam Barker
Winner also receives $5000 in Post Production Services from Post Factory, New York; $3500 in Legal Services from Pierce Law Group; Sony Software Package
Audience Sparky Award for Best Anarchy Online Film
Winner: SUGAR STICK, directed by Laura Way
Winner also receives Sony Software Package
Spirit of Slamdance Sparky Short Film Award
Winner: MOSQUITO, directed by Jeremy Engle
Awarded by the Class of 2010 filmmakers to the film teams that best exhibit passion and talent, commitment to the independent community, and enthusiastically embrace all Slamdance has to offer.
Winner also receives Sony Software Package
SPONSORED AWARDS
Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography
Winner: GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9, directed by Robert Persons
Winner also receives 10,000 feet of Kodak film for the filmmaker to make their next feature
Dos Equis Most Interesting Film Award (and best Mumblecore film to NOT play SXSW)
Winner: NOTHING BUT EVERYTHING, directed by Wallace Cotten
Slamdance also presented the 1ST Annual Script Accessible Screenplay Award sponsored by Lonely Seal Releasing to ALL THE WRONG REASONS written by Gia Milani. The Script Accessible Award is part of Slamdance’s year-round Writing Competition that received over 2,500 submissions in 2009.
Slamdance 2010 Awards are sponsored by Dos Equis, Kodak, Lonely Seal Releasing, Panasonic, Pierce Law Group, POP Sound and Sony Creative Packages.
This year Slamdance expanded its community outside of Park City during the festival with the Filmmaker Summit and a new VOD/EST distribution agreement with Microsoft. The Filmmaker Summit brought together some of the best in the independent film industry streaming live from all over the world via Skype including delegates Peter Baxter, Paul Rachman, Jamie King, Brian Newman and Lance Weiler in Park City, Khavn de la Cruz in the Phillippines, Timo Vuorensola in Finland, and Christy Dena in Australia, to discuss new opportunities afforded to filmmakers by the democratization of new tools and technology. Audiences from around the world were invited to participate in the Summit by tuning into
www.slamdance.com summit and continue the conversation through Twitter with designated hashtags. Columbia University and University of Southern California were amongst several colleges that held live auditorium events of the Summit.
Selections from the Grand Jury and Audience Award winning films will be screened in several domestic venues throughout the year, including the IFC Center in New York City.
