68 SPRING 2020 MOVIEMAKER.COM
FESTIVAL BEAT
SLAMDANCE
FILM
FESTIVAL
When you go to a panel at
Slamdance, you’re going to a real
discussion where people tell the
truth and hold nothing back.
You’re among peers—they’ll
pay you the compliment of
being blunt. I had the honor of
moderating a panel on festival
strategy at the latest Slamdance
in January, joined by five razor-
sharp festival veterans, four of
whom program other festivals.
No vague advice was given.
Sitting in a cozy room in the
lodge-like Treasure Mountain
Inn, filmmakers got a chance
to see a few of the program-
mers who decide what films
will and won’t make the cut at
their festivals. The programmers
were a lot like the moviemakers:
human, open, yearning for au-
thenticity. Beth Barrett, artisticfilms, are part of the storytelling
process.
“Give us a taste of who you
are, where you come from, what
your vision of life is,” Lipski
said. “We have a minute or two
when we scan this page where
we want to get to know you and
make a connection.”
And Clementine Leger, film
festival coordinator for the USC
School of Cinematic Arts, com-
forted every filmmaker who’s
ever entered a festival by disclos-ing that she never watches mov-
ies in a bad mood.
Thomas Mahoney, interim
head of thesis production for
the American Film Institute, did
just enough devil’s advocacy to
keep everyone on their toes. And
when a filmmaker asked if it
was ever okay to turn in a rough
cut, they were unequivocal in
saying no.
That’s the flavor at Slamdance,
which famously goes by the
model “For Filmmakers, By Film-director of the Seattle Interna-
tional Film Festival, pleaded
with directors not to wear too
many hats, because sometimes
a director, editor, writer, and
producer need to keep each
other in check. Al Bailey, head of
programming for the Manches-
ter Film Festival, and Sandra
Lipski, founder and director of
the Evolution! Mallorca Inter-
national Film Festival, urged
entrants to remember that their
applications, and not just their