Slamdance presents the filmmakers representing 7 films from this year’s festival, on one red carpet Friday, February 21st at Quixote Studios. The directors, cast and crew, and subjects of the 7 films will be together in one place, at one time. A lineup of films making their world and U.S. premieres, among these films are provocative, heartrending, and entertaining documentaries, a surreal darkly comic narrative feature, and an experimental short with an unbelievable back story.
See the list of films below!
40 Watts From Nowhere is a documentary about Los Angeles pirate radio station KBLT and the 1990s low-power FM movement in the U.S. It’s based around vintage footage shot in 1998 that shows KBLT operating 24/7 out of an apartment closet in Silver Lake with DJs running the gamut from Keith Morris (Circle Jerks), Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Don Bolles (Germs) to garden-variety music fans playing everything from jungle and punk to vintage country and French pop. Sue Carpenter started the 40-watt FM station in 1995, exploiting a legal case that allowed hundreds of low-power illegal radio operators to proliferate throughout the country and gave birth to the legal LPFM movement, inviting strangers into her house to spin whatever the hell they wanted. It soon took on a life of its own, drawing Mazzy Star to headline a benefit concert and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play live in her living room.
Screenings:
World Premiere: Saturday, February 22nd at 6:15PM
LUMIX Theatre at Quixote Studios West
Monday, February 24th at 10PM
Los Angeles Times Theatre at Quixote Studios West
Complicated tells the poignant story of kids with the devastatingly complicated connective-tissue disease Ehler’s-Danlos syndrome (EDS) suffering at the margins of mainstream medicine – and their parents who risk losing them if they go too far to help (including potentially losing their parental rights): a shocking look at a hidden epidemic in pediatric care when a complex disease, lack of research, and the limits of child protection collide to disastrous and too often deadly outcomes. This is a disease that requires dedicated loved ones to be your medical advocate to finally get a diagnosis and some level of care.
Screenings:
World Premiere: Sunday, February 23rd at 3:45PM
Summer & David Theatre at Quixote Studios West
Monday, February 24th at 5:45PM
Summer & David Theatre at Quixote Studios West
Disposable Humanity follows Cameron Mitchell’s family, who are Disability Studies scholars and filmmakers that have researched the Nazi Aktion T4 program since the 1990s. Through conversations with memorial directors, disabled people, and relatives of T4 victims, they uncover the horrifying truth: that the Nazi Aktion T4 program, was in fact the program where the Nazis trained killing staff and designed the apparatus of mass murder that led to the Holocaust. Disabled people were the first victims to be killed under the Third Reich and in this investigative documentary, the Mitchells reveal how this history has been covered over and erased from international public memory.
Screens:
Friday, February 21 at 7:15PM
Los AngelesTimes Theater at Quixote Studios West
Saturday, February 22 at 5:30PM
Summer & David at Quixote Studios West
In The Mouth is a surreal dark comedy which follows the travails of a man trapped in his home. Merl has been living his life as a shut-in recluse, in complete isolation, unable to leave his house after discovering a giant version of himself protruding from his lawn, blocking any attempt at escape. He’s run out of money, but Merl he doesn’t pay his rent in the next 5 days his landlord is going to evict him. With no other options left, he is forced to get a roommate to pay him the debt in advance. Larry, an older man traveling shockingly light with only the clothes on his back, heeds the call and comes to live with Merl. It’s an adjustment for sure, but maybe they can learn a thing or two from each other. Or maybe Larry’s just found the perfect place to hide.
Screens:
Friday, February 21 at 4:45PM
Summer & David Theater at Quixote Studios West
Monday, February 24 at 11:30AM
Panasonic LUMIX Theater at Quixote Studios West
Larry (They/Them) looks at the intimate world of young non-binary trans photographer Laurence Philomène as they put together their first book, Puberty, a series of self-portraits documenting their transition during hormone therapy. Mirroring Philomène’s autobiographical approach, Larry (they/them) highlights the cinematic power of the artist’s vibrant, colour-saturated images and above all, their willingness to share their story with authenticity and vulnerability. Gender non-conforming identities, body diversity and the challenges of self-affirmation are also explored through an exclusive foray into Philomène’s family and community. Beyond the story of individual transformation, the film chronicles a society that is likewise transitioning, evolving as it grows.
Screenings:
LA Premiere: Friday, February 21st at 5PM
Los Angeles Times Theatre at Quixote Studios West
Tuesday, February 25th at 2:45PM
Landmark Theatre 3
One Rehearses, the Other Doesn’t is an experimental short film in which Marjorie Annapav plays herself as she immerses in improvisational work and on-stage rehearsals with a fictionalized performance teacher. Drawing from her personal history, she enacts scenes based on the murder of her boyfriend by the mob and her time as a sex worker in 1970s New York. In an effort to discover a version of her life that can play to audiences, Marjorie will probe overlooked behaviors, desires, selves. A peripheral figure in American Surrealism, Annapav is noted for her relationship with artist William Copley, who once claimed he sold his art collection in order to pay her to marry him.
Screens:
Friday, February 21 at 12:15PM
Summer & David Theater at Quixote Studios West
Tuesday, February 25 at 5:15PM
Landmark Theater 3
Silent Trees introduces us to Runa, a 16-year-old Kurdish refugee and her family who have been stranded in an icy forest in the Belarusian-Polish border, denied entry into either country. Runa is forced into responsibilities beyond her years, caring for her younger brothers and being a support for her father after her pregnant mother dies due to the harsh conditions. Eventually placed within a Polish refugee camp, the family grapples with the trauma of their loss while struggling to adapt to a new life in a new country.
Screens:
Friday, February 21 at 2:30PM
Summer & David Theater at Quixote Studios West
Saturday, February 22 at 4:00PM
Los Angeles Times Theater at Quixote Studios West