Shorts are always an important part of any film festival. That is really true for Slamdance, which often features filmmakers who are working with very limited resources. But those short films often demonstrate as much power and skill as longer films. Often even more so because they are so compact. One of the sections for…
Slamdance is intentional about inclusiveness. That is especially evident through their ?Unstoppable? sections for both feature films and shorts. These films are built around the way people face struggles in life?often because of various disabilities?and find meaning in lives that many would find impossible. Today I?m going to look at some of the Unstoppable films….
One of the parts I love about film festivals is the chance to watch shorts. Slamdance Film Festival has so many to choose from. I dipped into three of the short films sections for just a sampling of each. Animation shorts: Sensual Pill (4 minutes), by director Sam 3, is a fast-paced trip all over…
?. . . The assumption when folks see my chair is that I won?t be able to do things before they assume I will be able to do things.? Acting is a very demanding profession. Actors become another person in the eyes of the audience. It is challenging. Even more so when part of who…
From director Randall Okita, See for Me tells the story of a blind young woman who must face off against a gang of intruders. But she isn?t quite alone. Her phone may be her salvation. Sophie (Skyler Davenport) is heading off to a remote mansion to housesit. She has a very strong independent streak?to the…
In Lindsay Gossling?s 13 Minutes, a natural catastrophe brings devastation to a community. But this isn?t your typical disaster movie that brings the survivors together to return to the way things were. Rather, this is really about the personal catastrophes that were already present in their lives. Set in a rural Oklahoma town, we meet…
Making Sense, directed by Gregory Bayne, strives to make those with disabilities visible. The story is built around those disabilities, but also around the abilities that are also part of those lives. It does so not only with the story, but by using disabled actors in several of the roles. Jules (Jessi Melton) leads a…
Like festivals all around the world over this last year, Slamdance Film Festival is going digital. Over 100 films will be available to watch from February 12-25. Slamdance, as the name implies, skews a bit to the edgier side of independent films. But that doesn?t mean it?s all weird, all the time. There are some…
?What we saw at that camp was that life could be better.? Perhaps the main theme of the Netflix documentary Crip Camp comes near the beginning as we see film of teenaged disabled campers in 1971 while hearing Richie Havens singing the word ?freedom? over and over from ?Motherless Child?. For these campers, their time…
As Give Me Liberty opens, we hear and then see a bedridden man who tells of being told he would never walk again, and finding that it was true. But he goes on to say, ?Life, it is what it is. Life is wonderful. It?s beautiful. I love life. I love everything about life, even…
