OCR Text |
Show C-4 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 17-19, 2018 Slamdance welcomes Solodnikova as new manager Russian filmmaker is looking forward to debut her new role meet everyone on the Slamdance staff,” Solodnikova said. During this past summer, Slamdance announced Solodnikova would replace Clementine Leger, who had been the festival director for the past few years. SCOTT IWASAKI The Park Record Alina Solodnikova, Slamdance’s new festival manager, relationship with the film festival nearly 365 days ago. She co-produced Cullen Hoback’s “What Lies Upstream,” a documentary that investigated a 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia that left 300,000 people without drinking water. The film premiered at Slamdance last year, and Solodnikova joined the films’ cast and crew in Park City for the event. “We had the best time and I got to Continues form C-1 Slamdance supports filmmakers process, but still stamped independent. If you look at the organizations or platforms involved at making these films, you will see they are not purely independent.” Baxter said Slamdance, which will run this year from Jan. 1925 at Treasure Mountain Inn, has always strived to bring unfiltered voices to Park City. “Our lineup this year, as it has in the past, embodies an artist-led, artist-driven organization that, I think, influences media culture, as well as discovers new trends, because of how independent film has developed since that time,” he said. “And that’s what stands us apart.” Part of that comes from what the film festival’s alumni have achieved. Those alumni include Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan, “Captain I’m very inspired by our mantra – ‘by filmmakers for filmmakers,’ and this has been such a helpful thing to refer to while making the decisions and coordinating the programs to make this year’s festival great.” Alina Solodnikova, Slamdance’s new festival manager Solodnikova, who is originally from Moscow, Russia, said she was so honored for her new role. America: The Winter Soldier” directors Joe and Anthony Russo, “Paranormal Activity” creator Oren Peli and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson, to name a few. “These are filmmakers who first showed their works at Slamdance, and it goes to show that the quality of their works are just as good as anyone else’s,” Baxter said. “Of course through time, the studios have worked with these alumni and found they are to be the very best in filmmaking in general. And I think this is the type of thing you can get out of Slamdance.” This year Slamdance will honor the Russo brothers, who will take time from their current project, “Avengers: Infinity War,” to attend the festival. The siblings will present the inaugural Russo Brothers Fellowship to a Slamdance filmmaker, according to Baxter. The fellowship will include a $25,000 prize consisting of filmmaker support, an office at the Russos’ new Los Angeles-based studio, mentoring, and a cash stipend for one year. “Joe and Anthony embody what Slamdance’s community is all about.” Baxter said. “Their artist driven partnership “It is a big vote of confidence that they wanted to work with me,” Solodnikova said. Solodnikova’s credentials speak for themselves. She worked at The Polytechnic Museum in her native Russia, where she helped launch the Contemporary Science Film Festival 360°. After developing the annual event in Moscow, Solodnikova produced science documentary festivals around the country, including Snezhinsk and Ozyorsk, and parts of central Russia. She feels her work with those festivals, which brought people together with common themes, has prepared her for Slamdance. “One of the things that makes Slamdance so interesting is that it also brings many different people together,” Solodnikova said. “I’m very inspired by our mantra – ‘by filmmakers for filmmakers,’ and this has been such a helpful thing to refer to while making the decisions and coordinating the programs to make this year’s festival great.” Solodnikova also referred back to her own experience as a Slamdance entrant and open studio environment takes our support for emerging filmmakers to the next level. We thank them both for this fantastic Fellowship and growing our organization.” In addition, to alumni support, networking and mentoring, Slamdance also offers filmmakers educational programs that address legal issues and distribution. “The whole sense of do-ityourself distribution is a dirty word to speak about within the film industry, but look what independent authors and independent music publishers have been able to do for artists,” Baxter said. “This is something we want to embrace.” After sifting through more than 5,000 entries, which included features and short films, Alina Solodnikova, the new Slamdance festival manager (see accompanying story), was amazed at not only the number of film submissions Slamdance received this year, but also the talent and diversity of the filmmakers. “I feel like Slamdance is doing a really good job at bringing all of those points together, but being fair to all the entrants,” she said. “This year, we received so when deciding what art she wanted to cultivate during this year’s festival. “I remember how I felt when I submitted my film and how I wanted the premiere to go,” she said. “So I want to make sure that I reach out to everyone who I can in the filmmaking community and audience to make their experience memorable.” Slamdance cofounder Peter Baxter is happy to welcome Solodnikova to Slamdance. “When she described the Contemporary Science Film Festival 360°, that she produced, which is really like an on-the-road festival that she took films all across Russia, even to government-restricted places, I felt that anyone who could pull off that kind of production was easily suited to what we do at Slamdance,” he said. “She really impressed me. She’s very calm under pressure and very good with filmmakers. She’s a great asset and human being to be with us at Slamdance.” Slamdance runs from Jan. 19-25, at Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Park Ave. Visit www.slamdance.com. COURTESY OF SLAMDANCE Alina Solodnikova, a filmmaker from Russia who curated the Contemporary Science Film Festival 360°, is Slamdance’s new festival manager. many submissions from all over the world. It’s overwhelming how much talent and diversity there is.” Solodnikova mentioned a surge in female filmmakers as well as more independent action films and documentaries. “The filmmakers in our Anarchy program are the most revealing at times,” she said. “They decided for themselves how to battle society that doesn’t care about them. They’ll do what they want to do in spite of everything in a celebration of noncompliance.” The festival manager said all of the Slamdance films tend to see their subjects in a skewed and interesting way. “I feel like there is a limited amount of stories in the world, so the thing is to keep exploring them through different angles, voices and perspectives,” she said. Solodnikova said she continually marveled at the dedication of each filmmaker. “Some filmmakers don’t have many people on their crews,” she said. “The just have their own voice and a little support from friends, and somehow with that, they manage to bring some great amazing stories into the G p C o r The L.A. Times crossword puzzle “BIT PARTS” By PAUL COULTER ACROSS 1 Many a reggae musician 6 Flavor 11 Involved stories 16 Montezuma’s people 18 Books smaller than quartos 20 Arenas, say 22 Film about a convict’s lame claims of innocence? 24 Play the market 25 European skyline sight 26 __ Marbles: historic sculptures 27 Longtime film critic for The New Yorker 29 “¿Cómo __ usted?” 30 Pays attention to 32 Chow line? 35 P&L report column 36 High hat 37 “__ was saying ... ” 38 Go public with 39 Film about St. Peter’s favorite striped stone? 42 Wildebeests 44 Barrel-bottom stuff 45 Cookie baking session output 46 Put to the test 48 K-12 49 River to the North Sea 50 Stage hog 53 Lady of León 55 Duck 57 Inherent character 59 Back muscle, familiarly 60 Film about the last of the oldtime schoolteachers? 64 First husband of Bathsheba 67 Bar stock 68 Aurora’s Greek counterpart 69 Leftover 70 Film about dealing with a class of five-year-olds? 76 Arles article 77 Form of aphasia involving the inability to name objects 78 Loi maker 79 Hot spots 82 “Do the Right Thing” pizzeria owner 83 Disco family name 86 Cherbourg cherub 87 It usually involves a getaway car 88 Plump Capp critter 89 “Beowulf” beverage 90 “Well done!” 91 Film about yet another complaint? 95 __ Colinas: upscale neighborhood in Irving, Texas 96 Diminish 99 Rival of Paris 100 Marshal at Waterloo 101 Cause harm 103 Studied, with “over” 105 “Sounds like fun to me!” 106 Utah lily 107 Metaphor for opportunities 109 Pie in the sky? 110 Jaguar, e.g. 112 Film about a devastating blizzard? 117 À la King 118 Calmed down 119 Stylish filmmaker 120 Chill TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Peter Baxter, co-founder and president of Slamdance, seen addressing an awards-ceremony audience last year, said the film lineup this year embodies an artist-led, artist-driven organization that “influences media culture, as well as discovers new trends.” world that address issues such as race, identity, the LGBT community, and other topics.” Solodnikova said these topics are pulled from the news. “This year we are faced with a very intense political climate in the United States and the rest of the world, and that may inspire people to make more artistic choices,” she said. “There is definitely a strong theme going on about survival or changing our perspective.” Baxter agreed and said independent film, especially documentary filmmaking, is more important now that it has ever been. “Documentary filmmaking is journalism,” he said. “It’s been a struggle for mainstream journalists to write stories about issues, because they haven’t been given opportunities to do that for whatever reason. And we have seen, SUDOKU 121 Runoff collector 122 Commuter’s read DOWN 1 Indian prince 2 Georgia’s state wildflower 3 Mushroom stems 4 Bus. card info 5 Yearns 6 Extended operatic solo 7 PDX tower group 8 Most golfers never break it 9 Ab __: from the start 10 1990 Stallone flick with the tagline “Go For It” 11 Bad to the bone 12 Stock holder 13 Protest bitterly (against) 14 Hill with one steep side 15 Sonnet section 17 One before la 18 Basket material 19 Achieve with minimal effort 21 Impolite look 23 Hybrid fruits 28 Author Ferber et al. 31 Make a stand 33 Put on hold 34 Variety show set in Kornfield Kounty 36 Fabric beltmaker’s technique 38 Lindley of “Three’s Company” 40 Line to the audience 41 Gregg user 43 “The Matrix” hero 44 Some wolves 46 Catherine the Great, e.g. 47 Vitamin A form 50 Moves speedily 51 One often shared in flight 52 Flat-topped lands 54 “I don’t give __” 56 In 58 Duty 59 “Witness” actor Haas 61 Obamacare, briefly 62 John, to Ringo 63 Recipe amts. 65 Gen.’s counterpart 66 Fictional miners’ work song 71 “Spider-Man” director 72 Latin lover’s line 73 The Supreme Court, for one 74 Where Tara Lipinski won her 75 80 81 84 85 88 90 91 92 93 94 95 97 98 102 103 104 106 108 111 113 114 115 116 Olympics gold medal at age 15 Community character War on Poverty agcy. Hulu offering Carried Spanish convenience stores Lettering guide Lively country dance Extended family More cozy Political fugitive Mr. Magoo et al. Bridges in movies Sultanate on the South China Sea Make dirty One in an airport taxi line, for the most part False: Pref. Bridal estate “Come Sail Away” band ANC country Mobile home: Abbr. “__ to Billie Joe” Cry near the ears Broke bread B&O stop more and more, truly independent artists who create investigative pieces that are documentary pieces, which are incredibly important to our culture. They enlighten us. They help uncover things we didn’t know about.” Baxter said the essence of truly independent films is interesting storytelling. “It’s not about movie stars and big-name filmmakers,” he said. “Essentially when it comes down to it, independent films are about our humanity and issues that are important, personal and unique to these artists. And these films, in the end, are films that audiences really want to experience and enjoy.” The 2018 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 19-25 at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City. For more information, please visit www.Slamdance.org. |