Skip to main content

Slamdance · 2021

Slamdance 2021

Narrative Features

Programme

9 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

A Brixton Tale (Reprobate)

Review preview for A Brixton Tale

At just 76 minutes, it has the feel of an extended short, that could either do with condensing back or extending further into the psychological drivers of the two main characters .

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Wealthy YouTuber Leah chooses shy youth Benji as the subject of her Brixton documentary. They fall for each other, but the desire for edgy footage leads them down a violent path.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Darragh Carey, Bertrand Desrochers; Writer: Rupert Baynham, Darragh Carey; Stars: Lily Newmark, Michael Maloney, Jaime Winstone)

Full review

Dea

Dea leaves rural Indonesia and her singing dreams to migrate to Hong Kong as a foreign domestic worker.

(Country: Hong Kong, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Alberto Gerosa; Writer: Alberto Gerosa; Stars: Dea Panendra, Bruno Zanin)

A Family

Review preview for A Family

Funny, bleak and profound.

Anton Bitel · 4.5 out of 5
A lonely man seeks emotional refuge in the organising and documenting of family moments using low-grade impersonators. When his fake sister becomes inspired to follow his method, their relationship struggles between the forged and genuine.

(Country: Australia, Ukraine; Year: 2019; Director: Jayden Stevens; Writer: Jayden Stevens, Tom Swinburn; Stars: Maksym Derbenyov, Larysa Hraminska, Tetiana Kosianchuk, Pavlo Lehenkyi, Liudmyla Zamidra, Maksym Derbenyov, Larysa Hraminska, Tetiana Kosianchuk, Pavlo Lehenkyi, Liudmyla Zamidra)

Full review

Hurrah, We Are Still Alive!

An artistic commune of filmmakers awaits the return of the Director, who disappeared without a trace, despite his absence, the Director seems to control all of the troupe's actions.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2020; Director: Agnieszka Polska; Writer: Agnieszka Polska; Stars: Piotr Polak, Sonia Roszczuk, Marta Ojrzynska, Arkadiusz Brykalski, Jacek Beler, Joanna Drozda, Marcin Czarnik, Bartosz Bielenia, Malgorzata Hajewska, Andrzej Konopka, Rafal Adamczyk, Murat Altinoz, Natalia Ambroziak, Wlodzimierz Bajorek, Dagmara Bak)

Isaac (Izaokas)

Review preview for Isaac

The potential for violence and creeping paranoia haunt the film, but though some elements of it may feel murkier than others, there's always a sense that Matulevicius and his cinematographer Narvydas Naujalis are in control.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Skeletons rattle in the closet of a film director and his friends, 20 years after an infamous massacre.

(Country: Lithuania; Year: 2019; Director: Jurgis Matulevicius; Writer: Jurgis Matulevicius, Saule Bliuvaite, Nerijus Milerius, Antanas Skema; Stars: Aleksas Kazanavicius, Severija Janusauskaite, Dainius Gavenonis, Dainius Kazlauskas, Martynas Nedzinskas, Ainis Storpirstis, Salvijus Trepulis, Eugenijus Jankelaitis, Arunas Vozbutas, Rytis Saladzius, Mindaugas Ancevicius, Andrius Alesiunas, Jonas Baltakis, Kestutis Cicenas, Arvydas Dapsys)

Full review See: Jurgis Matulevicius on his debut film Isaac

Man Under Table (Man Under Table: Or I'm Writing A Movie)

Review preview for Man Under Table

The film was so clever, so sharp that after the first five minutes I had the impression of a project paper-cutting itself to death.

Jane Fae · 2.5 out of 5
In an anachronistic dystopian landscape, a beleaguered young man attempts to navigate his way through the indie film scene in LA.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Noel David Taylor; Writer: Noel David Taylor; Stars: Noel David Taylor, Ben Babbitt, Danny Lane, James Canto, Robert Manion, Alisa Torres, Frank Perry, Sarabeth Tucek, Katy Fullan, John Edmund Parcher, Noel David Taylor, Ben Babbitt, Danny Lane, James Canto, Robert Manion)

Full review

The Sleeping Negro

Confronted with a series of racially charged incidents, a young black man must overcome rage, alienation, and hopelessness in order to find his own humanity.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Skinner Myers; Writer: Skinner Myers; Stars: Rae Dawn Chong, Julie McNiven, David Fumero, Tunde Adebimpe, Skinner Myers, Nican Robinson, Alex Noel McCarthy, Phil Ductan, Peter Lucas, Vincent DeLuca, Diana Longarzo, Whitley Stratton, Rae Dawn Chong, Julie McNiven, David Fumero)

Tapei Suicide Story

A receptionist at a suicide hotel in Taipei forms a fleeting friendship over the course of one night with a guest who can’t decide if she wants to live or die.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2020; Director: KEFF; Writer: KEFF; Stars: Vivian Sung, Tender Huang, Chin-Yu Pan, Ming-shiou Tsai, Vivian Sung, Tender Huang, Chin-Yu Pan, Ming-shiou Tsai)

Teenage Emotions

What happens within the walls of an American High School?

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Frédéric Da; Writer: Frédéric Da; Stars: Jaya Harper, Jayden Capers, Ava Cooper, Silas Mitchell, Lea Fleck, Jaya Harper, Jayden Capers, Ava Cooper, Silas Mitchell, Lea Fleck)