Slamdance 2013: Special Screenings & Slam Collective Announced

Our next round of Slamdance news out of Park City, Utah (via Los Angeles) has arrived and it's quite an interesting sidebar that's a-brewing. Most notable is the first ever Slam Collective feature documentary made by seven Slamdance alumni from five continents. Entitled I Want To Be An American, this innovative project is made up of the seven filmmakers' short films, constructed and presented in the style of the surrealist parlor game Exquisite Corpse -- Color me intrigued then. The film will premiere at the festival in Park City on January 21st, and will also be available online for folks to watch... anywhere... so huzzah! Per the press release, read on to find out all the details on Slam Collective and all the special screenings that are set for Slamdance 2013:

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2013

SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM AND SLAM
COLLECTIVE LAUNCH

FIRST-OF-ITS KIND SLAM COLLECTIVE BRINGS
AMBITIOUS, FIVE-CONTINENT PROJECT TO GLOBAL
AUDIENCES

LOS ANGELES - December 19, 2012 - Slamdance announced today their
Special Screenings Program for the 19th Annual Slamdance Film Festival
and the official launch of the Slam Collective. The Special Screenings
Program presents a variety of acclaimed and visionary films by a diverse
group of global filmmakers. This year's films include such notable cast
members as: Taye Diggs, Melissa George, Julia Stiles, Sean Young, Larry
Fessenden, Mike Epps, Sanaa Lathan, and Forest Whitaker, among others.
One of this year's Special Screening selections, Jug Face, was the Grand
Prize Winner of the 2011 Slamdance Screenwriting & Teleplay
Competition.

The Slam Collective features seven Slamdance filmmakers from five
continents coming together to make I Want To Be An American,
Slamdance's first documentary feature. In the spirit of the Surrealist parlor
game of chance Exquisite Corpse, each filmmaker makes a documentary
short film based on imagery forwarded on by the previous filmmaker in the
chain. The composite story forms a global independent filmmaking
experience. The Slam Collective will World Premiere at Slamdance Film
Festival, January 21st, 2013 and then online at
http://www.slamcollective.com/

The 2013 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 18 - 24, 2013 in
Park City, Utah, at the Treasure Mountain Inn: 255 Main Street, Park City,
UT 84060.

"We're excited to showcase these innovative film experiences as part of the

Festival," stated Peter Baxter, Slamdance President and Co-Founder.

All Access, Industry, Locals, and Student Festival Passes are available now
online, and individual tickets will be available shortly. To purchase, go
to: ???http://showcase.slamdance.com/#1598746/Passes-and-Tickets

SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM:

Between Us - Director: Dan Mirvish, Screenwriters: Joe Hortua & Dan
Mirvish
(USA)
In this darkly comedic drama based on a hit Off-Broadway play, two
couples reunite over the course of two volatile evenings where anything can
happen.
Cast: Taye Diggs, Melissa George, David Harbour, Julia Stiles

Jug Face - Director & Screenwriter: Chad Crawford Kinkle
(USA) World Premiere???
Teen, pregnant with her brother's child, tries to escape from a backwoods
community when she discovers that she must sacrifice herself to a creature
in a pit in this dramatic horror offering.
Cast: Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Bridgers, Sean Young, Larry Fessenden,
Daniel Manche, Scott Hodges, Katie Groshong, Alex Maisus

Vipaka - Director: Philippe Caland, Screenwriter: Shintaro Shimosawa
(USA) World Premiere???
You reap what you sow.
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Anthony Mackie, Mike Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Nicole
Ari Parker, Ariana Neal

SLAM COLLECTIVE:

I WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN
(United States, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, India) World Premiere

I Want To Be An American - Director: Dale Yudelman
Stix, a 19-year-old youth has lived on the streets of Cape Town and the
suburb of Manenburg all his life. The Americans he mentions are a notorious
gang on the Cape Flats, but what Stix really wants is to see the world and
America someday.

Clown In The Crowd - Director: Maya Newell
Yani, a 29-year-old Peruvian refugee, leads a double life: part wife and
mother, part clown.

Aidee - Director: Dylan Verrechia
The story of Aidee, a stripper living in Tijuana struggling relentlessly to
provide her daughter with a good education and a better life.

Suzanne Takes Me Down - Director: Q
Through the course of one night, Suzanne, a transgender sex worker, walks
the streets of Kolkata, confessing her dreams.

Listen - Director: Monteith McCollum
A story about man's love affair with shortwave radio.

All About Eve - Director: Peter Baxter
Eve, an outgoing 12-year-old girl living in Hollywood, California is
preparing to meet the world and life in the 21st Century.

Rosa - Director: Daniel J. Harris
Rosa is about a traditional wedding song in Cape Malay culture, now sung
mostly at choral competitions.

Slam Collective Mission Statement:

The Slam Collective supports film-production collaborations between global
filmmakers using innovative methods and shared experience.

Be it the $99 Short film program or Anarchy online, the Slamdance film
festival has for over a dozen year produced short films with its
alumni. Slamdance has always been a showcase for original, raw and
innovative filmmaking and the year-round organization serving new and
emerging artists.

Governed by its maxim By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers, Slam Collective
No.1 titled I want to be an American is Slamdance's first collaborative
feature. Inspired by the idea that with digital technology, cameras, online
distribution, like-minded filmmakers from different cultures across
continents can embrace a basic concept and create several films with one
unifying theme; the discovery of community.