Just before the launch of their new BEYOND Program , IndieFlix caught up with Slamdance programmer, Josh Mandel to pick his brain about all things Slamdance, his job, and the wide world of film festivals. To learn more about Slamdance or the new BEYOND program — visit them on the web! http://www.slamdance.com/
IF: Slamdance is a large and growing international festival and staple in the independent film world — but just in case anyone reading this has been comatose for the past 20 years (or if they hate movies), can you give us a bit of background on the festival and explain what you think sets Slamdance apart from other festivals?
JM: Over the last 19 years, Slamdance has established a reputation of discovering new voices in independent filmmaking who have worked under modest means and limited resources. Programmed 100% by working filmmakers, most of whom are alumni, Slamdance is truly a festival “by filmmakers, for filmmakers.” At Slamdance, we don’t invite films early; we don’t slot films from labs or fellowships; and we don’t show favoritism to alumni or friends of the festival. With roughly 6,000 submissions every year, Slamdance is the only major international film festival programmed entirely from the blind submission process, which levels the playing field for filmmakers everywhere regardless of their resources. And, because we don’t show as many films as other major festivals, every single film has to count.
IF: There’s a great excerpt from your website saying that Slamdance “exists to deliver what filmmakers go to festivals for – a chance to show their work and a platform to launch their careers. The festival has earned a solid reputation for premiering films by first-time writers and directors working within the creative confines of limited budgets.” Would you say this is true of all independent film festivals? Or has the landscape changed?
JM: There are literally thousands of film festivals all over the world. Only a tiny fraction of those festivals are “discovery festivals,” meaning that they are the first to give a World / International / US premiere to a film AND are attended by Distributors. While the majority of discovery festivals (i.e. Sundance, Slamdance, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, SXSW, Tribeca, LA Film Festival, etc) look for the newest film making voices, only Slamdance makes it a #1 priority to showcase first-time filmmakers. It’s one of the main reasons Slamdance stands apart. Taking a chance on first-time filmmakers is a big risk. But, the biggest risks often lead to the biggest rewards. The reality is that for independent film to survive, film festivals must program films that are not only exciting and new, but speak to audiences so that some of those films can go beyond the festival circuit. This balance of art and commerce unfortunately puts pressure on festivals to choose films that engage audiences and distributors equally. And, since not all filmmakers get everything right on their first directorial attempt, festivals often program films from more experienced directors who meet at the intersection of art and commerce.
IF: Personally, who are a few of your favorite Slamdance alumni/filmmakers?
JM: Some of my favorite Slamdance filmmakers include Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING), Marc Forster (LOUNGERS), Bong Joon-Ho (BARKING DOGS DON’T BITE), Seth Gordon (THE KING OF KONG), Lynn Shelton (WE GO WAY BACK), Greg Mottola (THE DAYTRIPPERS), Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE), Rian Johnson (EVIL DEMON GOLFBALL FROM HELL!!!), Drake Doremus (SPOONER), Lena Dunham (DEALING), Mark Jackson (WITHOUT), Damon Russell (SNOW ON THA BLUFF), Azazel Jacobs (KIRK AND KERRY), Benh Zeitlin (EGG), and Gerard Johnson (TONY) among others.
JM: As a film producer and movie geek, programming for a major film festival like Slamdance is a great look behind the scenes of independent filmmaking. There’s no better way to discover new filmmakers than to program for a festival like Slamdance. Since I program two sections at Slamdance, Narrative Feature Competition and Beyond, my movie-watching gets a little crazy over a period of about 5 months every year. During that time, I’ll watch roughly 250 feature films for Slamdance. That’s independent of my own movie-watching year-round, which I think is safe to say, borders on clinical obsession. Coming from the film making side, I was shocked to learn just how devastating it can be as a programmer to fight for films you love, that you have absolutely nothing to do with personally, but lose during the programming process. Filmmakers have no idea how hard programmers often fight for their films in deliberations, carrying a film for months as if it was their own baby, and then having to let it go when another film takes its place. For all the films I have helped discover at Slamdance, there are many that I still think about today that didn’t end up making it, but were no less deserving or memorable. One of the things that programmers at Slamdance do after our lineups have been announced is reach out to filmmakers who were not selected and offer encouraging words about their films, introductions to programmers at other festivals, or sometimes just free filmmaking advice. It’s not part of our job description. But, as a festival of filmmakers working to help other filmmakers, Slamdance really goes the extra mile to be a constant source of support for filmmakers out there.
IF: What is your criteria for selecting films? What distinguishes your selections from other festivals?
JM: People often ask us, what makes a film a “Slamdance film?” On the surface, a Slamdance film is directed by an unproven director working with modest means. More importantly, a Slamdance film has a singular vision that is personal, vibrant and stands apart from others in its genre. A Slamdance film should be bold, provocative, impassioned and unrelenting in its quest to create discussion. We don’t demand that films be overtly commercial even though PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, the most successful independent film of all time, was a Slamdance film. At the same time, we don’t hold it against a film for having commercial viability. Slamdance is committed to finding new directing voices. That is why people look to Slamdance as a festival of discovery for filmmakers.
IF: Can you tell us a bit about your new Beyond Program?
JM: Beyond is a brand new section at Slamdance this year, and one that will continue to grow in the years to come. I mentioned before that Slamdance has spent 19 years building a reputation of discovering first-time filmmakers. Every year, we’ve had to turn away some incredible feature films from directors still on the verge of breaking out, but who weren’t first-time directors, or whose budgets exceeded the $1 million limit for Competition. That changes this year. Beyond will give a platform to filmmakers who are not yet established, but are making daring, original films that embody everything we look for in a Slamdance filmmaker. This includes narratives and documentaries, genre-defining and genre-busting films, from America and the rest of the world. I’m really excited about this year’s selections for Beyond. The films range from an incendiary documentary on one of the most important and least understood topics of today: invasion of privacy over the internet, to a deliciously sinister Spaghetti Western-inspired horror film from the Spanish plains, to an American indie that breaks narrative convention in its story of two lost souls finding finding themselves by pretending to be other people, to a charming and eccentric Romanian comedy that reminds us just how universal stories about family can be regardless of the spoken language. These films are being seen by World or North American audiences for the very first time.
IF: What’s your favorite movie that you’ve seen at Slamdance or at a Film Festival? Is there one film or a specific scene that stands out as the most memorable? We assume you see a lot of weird stuff.
JM: It’s really hard to pick a favorite Slamdance film, especially if I was in some way, shape or form involved with programming it. So, I’ll say that one of my favorite Slamdance films from just before I started programming there is Kurt Kuene’s gripping documentary, DEAR ZACHARY. To this day, that film is still one of the most devastating and infuriating documentaries I have ever seen. That the filmmaker dug deep into his own life in order to give viewers a window to his soul without losing sight of his story makes it all the more remarkable. One of my recent favorite films from a first-time director is Patrick Wang’s understated American masterpiece, IN THE FAMILY. It still blows my mind to this day that I never saw it during the festival submission process. Supposedly, it was rejected by 30 festivals before finally getting into one. I’m very curious which 30 festivals they were. IN THE FAMILY is a film I would have fought for until the bloody end to make it into Competition at Slamdance had I seen it during the submission process. I’m grateful to the Hawaii Film Festival for giving that film a chance at being seen. And, as a voter for the Independent Spirit Awards, I have no problem admitting that it had my vote for the Best First Feature Film Award last year, even above films directed by friends of mine. For every IN THE FAMILY that manages to break out and get its much-deserved praise, there are too many other amazing indie films that get lost in the shuffle every year, playing at smaller festivals and getting ignored by the distributors and industry heavy-weights that narrow their focus to just a handful of discovery film festivals.
IF: Slamdance is founded by filmmakers for filmmakers. We love that about your Festival. IndieFlix has a similar mission. We were founded by filmmakers and our goal has always been to support filmmakers and help them make meaningful revenue for their films. This leads to my next question….Are you a filmmaker? Working on anything at the moment?
JM: The first feature film I produced actually played at Slamdance in 2005. It was documentary called, RINGERS, about how the “Lord of the Rings” book influenced Western pop culture over 50 years. It brought Hobbits and Elves to Park City, and for the first time in the history of Slamdance OR Sundance, had fans pitching tents in the snow to wait in line for tickets. Sony Pictures acquired the film and released it worldwide later that year, and that really gave me my first start in independent filmmaking. Before that, I spent years working in the music video industry. As for right now, I am actually in the last week of production of new a feature film called, THIS LAST LONELY PLACE. It’s a modern LA noir that is being backed by the Humphrey Bogart Estate, run by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s son, Stephen. We started with an ambitious Kickstarter campaign, and eventually got the attention of Stephen Bogart, who has brought some cool old Hollywood cache to the project. It’s the first time in 50 years that Humphrey Bogart’s name is involved with any film, which is really exciting for a big movie geek like me. Producing films and programming a major film festival like Slamdance simultaneously may seem a little crazy. But, being a Slamdance programmer kinda requires a little bit of crazy.
