The Slamdance Film Festival may be changing locations next year, but its international flavor won't be changing.
Slamdance officials announced that next year's event, which will run Jan. 20-27, is moving from the Treasure Mountain Inn to the Park City Silver Mine, south of Park City on U-224.
"Slamdance audiences have grown so much over the last few years that we were just too hot and crowded to stay fully in our old home," said executive director Peter Baxter.
"(The 2,000-foot mine shaft) will be a great place to throw cell phones if they go off during screenings," added festival co-founder Dan Mirvish.
Slamdance officials also announced the slate of competition films. The festival has invited 12 feature films, 10 of which are world premieres. Special screenings and other events will be announced later.
Next year's Slamdance lineup includes two films from South Korea, one from Germany and one from Sweden.
"If last year's focus on German films meant it was the Year of Sauerkraut for Slamdance, then this is going to be the Year of Kim Chee," Mirvish joked. "This proves that our on-the-road events in Cannes, Germany, Chile and other places have not only garnered more exposure for our American Slamdance films but also brought more international filmmakers into our fold."
Baxter said the festival received a record 2,326 submissions for films hoping to compete at the seventh annual event. In addition to the dozen features, Slamdance will also screen 16 short films in competition.
Features to be screened at Slamdance include "American Chai," by Anurag Mehta; "Black Days," Ari Margolis and James Morley III; "Daydream Believer," Debra Eisenstadt; the documentary "Hybrid," by Monteith McCollum; "Play Dead," Jeff Jenkins; "The Trouble with Lou," Gregor; the documentary "Up Syndrome," by Duane Graves; and "Virgil Bliss," by Joe Maggio.
Foreign films include "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (South Korea), by Bong Joon-ho; "Memento Mori" (South Korea), Kim Tae-yong and Min Gyo-dong; "Paul Is Dead" (Germany), Hendrik Handloegth; and the documentary "Shocking Truth" (Sweden), by Alexa Wolf.
Though some of the films do feature such celebrities as Wil Wheaton and Lee Majors, the Slamdance feature competition section is limited specifically to films that have not yet found U.S. distribution by first-time filmmakers working with limited budgets, Baxter said.
"We've had winning films get picked up for distribution every year since we've started, so I think a lot of eyes will be on this year's competition features," said Baxter.
Past Slamdance award-winners include "The Daytrippers" (Grand Jury Prize, Best Dramatic Feature, 1996), "20 Dates" (Audience Award, Best Feature Film, 1998) and "Man of the Century" (Audience Award, Best Feature Film, 1999), all of which received studio distribution.
Films in competition are eligible to win the coveted bronze Sparky dog, as well as cash and goods amounting to more than $50,000.
Prizes include grand jury awards for Best Dramatic Feature and Best Dramatic Short; the Best Documentary Award; audience awards for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film; the Moviemaker Breakthrough Award; the Award for Excellence in Editing; and the Kodak Vision Award, for best cinematography.
A limited number of festival passes are still available by calling 1-323-466-1786. Individual screening tickets will be on sale at the Slamdance box office beginning Jan. 20 at 10 a.m.
Updated information about the festival schedule can be found on the Slamdance Web site www.slamdance.com.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com