Slamdance Film Festival to Present Documentaries About Neil Young, Stan Lee

Documentaries about Neil Young and Stan Lee and a “lost” television pilot directed by Ed Wood are among the Special Screenings and Shorts Programs that will be featured as part of the 18th annual Slamdance Film Festival, which runs Jan. 20-26 in Park City, Utah.

As the festival released the latest additions to its lineup Wednesday, it announced such titles as Jonathan Demme’s Neil Young Journeys; Will Hess, Nikki Frakes and Terry Dougas’ With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story; and Wood’s Final Curtain.

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The Special Screenings program will showcase three narrative films and five documentary features. The Shorts Program will consist of 75 shorts, divided among Special Screenings, Live Action Competition, Documentary Competition, Animation, $99 Special and Anarchy Shorts. This year’s program will also include a sidebar of seven shorts from Iran that have not previously been seen outside of that country.

“This year’s Special Screenings in every way represent the maverick spirit of Slamdance, from Jonathan Demme’s documentary Neil Young Journeys, to the premiere of a never before seen Ed Wood television pilot, and the poetic realism of Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden’s Old Dog,” Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter said.

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A jury will present awards to short films in competition in the following categories: Narrative, Animation and Documentary.  Competition shorts are also eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award.

Out of competition shorts and programs include the $99 Special Short Harold’s Bad Day, a winner of the 2011 Slamdance Short Screenplay Competition, directed by Slamdance alum Jordan Brady. The $99 Special Program presentation is part of an annual tradition in which filmmakers are challenged to make a short film in 99 days with a budget of $99. 

The new lineup additions can be found on the next page.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS PROGRAM

NARRATIVE:

Holiday Road

Directors/Screenwriters: Todd Berger, Bill Palmer, Bobby Miller, Daron Nefcy, Benny Grinnell, Ian Eastin, Marcy McIlwain, Aaron Arendt, Michael Suter, Dee Robertson, Doug Manley, Helena Wei, Andrew Putschoegl. (USA) World Premiere

A feature length comedic anthology celebrating the hilarious, poignant, and absurd aspects of America’s twelve most recognized holidays.

Cast: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jerry Trainor, Thomas Lenk, Blaise Miller, James Carpinello, Jeff Grace, Kent Osborne, Christing Ulloa

 

Old Dog

Director/Screenwriter: Pema Tseden. (China) US Premiere

On the high Tibetan plains, an old shepherd will do anything to prevent his Tibetan Mastiff from being sold to an urban Chinese dealer.

Cast: Yanbum Gyal, Drolma Kyab, Lochey, Tamdrin Tso

 

Unconditional

Director: Bryn Higgins, Screenwriter: Jo Fisher. (UK) World Premiere

The psycho-love story of two teenage twins who fall under the spell of a charismatic man offering love on one condition: the boy becomes his own sister.

Cast: Christian Cooke, Melanie Hill, Harry McEntire, Madleine Clark

 

DOCUMENTARY:

Neil Young Journeys

Director: Jonathan Demme. (USA) US Premiere

A personal, retrospective look into the heart and soul of iconoclast Neil Young – as told through intimate performances from Young’s 2011 summer solo shows in Toronto’s iconic Massey Hall, and insightful, wistful stories from his life while driving from his idyllic Canadian hometown.

 

No Room for Rockstars

Director: Parris Patton. (USA) World Premiere

Through the experiences of four musicians on The Vans Warped Tour, No Room For Rockstars takes you on an emotional journey of hope and determination, and documents the extreme highs and lows that occur in the pursuit of success in today’s era of rock and roll. 

 

Terra Blight

Director: Isaac Brown. (USA) World Premiere

A global examination of the unseen life cycle of computer consumption, from manufacturing to disposal, that has created one of the largest, most common toxic wastes on our planet.

 

Wild in the Streets

Director: Peter Baxter, Screenwriters: Peter Baxter, Jay Nelson. (UK/USA) World Premiere

Every year, thousands of locals from rival sides of a rugged English town brutally compete in an ancient sports game that is the lifeblood of the community – and the origin of soccer, rugby, and football.

Narrator: Sean Bean

 

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Stor

Directors: Will Hess, Nikki Frakes, Terry Dougas, Screenwriters: Will Hess, Nikki Frakes. (USA)

The story of maverick pop culture icon Stan Lee – one man’s journey of perseverance, and how by sticking to what he loved, he became an internationally influential and successful artist.

Cast: Stan Lee, Nicolas Cage, Michael Chiklis, Roger Corman, Kirsten Dunst, Danny Elfman, James Franco, Samuel Jackson, Tobey Maguire, Eva Mendes, Frank Miller, Seth Rogen, Bryan Singer, Kevin Smith, Ringo Starr

 

SPECIAL SCREENINGS – SHORTS:

Ed Wood’s Lost Film Final Curtain

Director/Screenwriter: Edward D. Wood, Jr. (USA) World Premiere

In a never before seen Ed Wood television pilot, a weary actor prowling a darkened theater at night searches anxiously for meaning which leads him to a surprising end.

Cast: James “Duke” Moore, Dudley Manlove, Jenny Stevens

 

Franchi is Back

Director/Screenwriter: Alexandre Franchi. (Canada) World Premiere

A Filmmaker talks about his bout with cancer in a self-promo film in order to avoid repeating his damn story 1000 times to people because it’s a pain in the ass.

Cast: Alexandre Franchi

 

SPECIAL SCREENING – $99 SPECIAL:

Harold’s Bad Day

Director: Jordan Brady, Screenwriter: R.J. Buckley. (USA) World Premiere

A wry, dark comedy about a well-intentioned teacher with a gambling debt.

Cast: Doug Benson, Nicholas Sadler, Zack Pearlman, Curtiss Frisle

 

SPECIAL SCREENING – MADE IN IRAN: 7 SHORT PREMIERES:

Dances With The Armchair

Director/Writer: Dariush Nehdaran. (Iran) US Premiere

As an armchair burns down to the ground, all the faces and memories embedded inside it dance away from its body through the flames.

 

Far From Him, Towards Him

Director/Screenwriter: Javad Rezaei Monfared. (Iran) World Premiere

An atheist with a terminal disease goes on a journey to find and reconnect with his father whom he believes is a servant in a holy shrine.

 

Room No. 8

Director/Screenwriter: Zohreh Keshavarz Motlagh Shirazi. (Iran) World Premiere

A story about a group of people trapped in various social and psychological confines who yearn to break free.

 

Pondering

Director/Screenwriter: Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz Motlagh Shirazi (Iran) World Premiere

On a crisp night, under the blue moonlight, a man explores his inner child as he strangely interacts with the streetlights hovering above him.

 

A Pore As Big As a Knuckle

Director/Screenwriter: Ali Ahmadi. (Iran) World Premiere

A story about a family that has to face the consequences of a painfully unusual rape incident committed by one of their own.

 

The Tree

Director/Screenwriter: Hamed Siami. (Iran) World Premiere

A studio photographer loses the ability to associate people with their pictures.

 

When The Kid Was a Kid

Director/Screenwriter: Anahita Ghazvinizadeh. (Iran) World Premiere

A ten-year-old girl strives to understand her divorced mother’s world, while preparing for a play in which children imitate their parents.