The Slamdance program includes over 100 films from documentaries to shorts and narrative features.
The lineup was chosen from over 9,000 submissions, which festival director Taylor Miller said is a new record.
“Even though it was an incredibly difficult year, in terms of the strikes and people really being able to stand up and speak for what they feel is fair and what they feel is right, more stories than ever are being made,” Miller said.
Miller is excited to move Slamdance back to its original home, the Yarrow Doubletree Hotel on Park Avenue.
“One of the main things that is an incredible point for us is its accessibility. So the Yarrow is 100% accessible, and this is important for all of our filmmakers in our program and attendees, but specifically, we have an Unstoppable program, which is for and by filmmakers with visible and non-visible disabilities.”
For years Slamdance hosted the festival at the Treasure Mountain Inn on Main Street.
Slamdance has its fair share of notable alumni, Miller noted.
“We got Christopher Nolan, Lynn Shelton, what a visionary she was, Gina Prince-Bythewood, there’s so many. Lena Dunham actually, her first short film, Rian Johnson, Bong Joon Ho, Sean Baker, the Safdie brothers, Merawi Gerima, Andrew Patterson, it’s pretty unbelievable… Our alumni have grossed over $22 billion at the box office.”
The Slamdance Film Festival runs from Jan. 19-25 at the Yarrow. The Unstoppable program will also be shown at the University of Utah student union Jan. 22-24.
People can check out the program, see the film schedule and book tickets at slamdance.com.
