Here’s a look at the Award winning Narrative Features at Slamdance Film Festival for 2025.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize is Gamma Rays, directed by Henry Bernadet. This is a triptych of stories of young Moroccan immigrants in Montreal. Abdel’s life is confounded with the arrival of his outgoing (if maybe a bit dull) cousin. Fatima is living with a great deal of rage that comes out in inappropriate ways. Toussaint is quiet and likes to fish. He finds a note in a bottle that says, “Call me” His phone calls bring something new to his life. Each of them is trying to find their way in a world that does not quite accept them as they are.
The Grand Jury gave an Honorable Mention to Alice-Heart, directed by Mike Macera. Alice-Heart is not far from graduating college, when she pretty much sabotages nearly every aspect of her life. Everything she does just seems to make things worse. My favorite line is when she says, “I’m not giving up. I wasn’t trying to begin with.” Her life is not miraculously saved, but she does seem to see a light at the end of the tunnel leading to adulthood. Lissa Carandang-Sweeney, who plays Alice-Heart, received the Outstanding Acting Award.
The Audience Award went to Under the Burning Sun, directed by Xun Xie. Set “Sometime, Somewhere else”, Mowanza, a victim of rape, lives in a desolate land where abortion is forbidden. She sets out in an unreliable car with what little water she can carry to travel to Iropas, where abortions are available. We really know nothing of Iropus except that it seems to be a much different place than the dystopia she is in. Along the way she has encounters that may or may not help her along the way, but certainly add to Mowanza finding humanity in the face of a violent world.
