Slamdance Joshua Tree, to be held from Sep. 24 to 26, is an outdoor screening event featuring award-winning and audience-favorite films from the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival. The three-day event will be held at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center.
Taiwanese film "Taipei Suicide Story (安眠旅舍)" and "There (入世)" will be presented at the festival's opening night on Sep. 24, followed by a Q&A with the director KEFF (王凱民).
The Slamdance Film Festival announced 2021 award winners in February, with the "Taipei Suicide Story" directed by KEFF taking both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Narrative Feature; the leading actor, Tender Huang (黃騰浩), also earned the Acting Award. The film was also in the official Cinéfondation selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival.
"There" was also selected in the official competition. The film depicts Taiwan's traditional funeral that confuses and alienates a foreign immigrant.
Established in 1995, Slamdance has nurtured filmmakers that have generated over $18 billion at the box office over the last 25 years. Filmmakers who have shown their early short films and debut features at Slamdance include Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Ari Aster (Midsommar), Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), and Christopher Nolan.
Besides the film festival, Slamdance also hosts screenplay competitions, workshops, mentorship, and year-round programs to discover the next generation of cinema talent. The upcoming Slamdance Joshua Tree will present 12 features and short films from 5 countries (Canada, Norway, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States) from the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival.
For more information, please visit https://slamdance.com/joshua-tree/#about.