Just after the new year, filmmakers and film lovers descend on Park City, Utah, to attend two independent film festivals: the Sundance Film Festival, held from Jan. 17-27, and its counterpart, the Slamdance Film Festival on Jan. 18-24. This year, the festivals will feature an extraordinary breadth of CalArts work: with four films screening at Sundance and 12 films at Slamdance.

2013 Sundance Film Festival

Eliza Hittman (Film/Video MFA 11) screens her feature “It Felt Like Love” in the festival’s Next Program. The film focuses on how “a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.”

Also at Sundance, the work of alumnus Yung Jake, aka Jake Patterson (Art BFA 12) is featured in the New Frontiers Program with video and performance from his “E.m-bed.de/d,” “Datamosh,” and “Augmented Real” projects.

In addition, Song E. Kim’s (Film/Video MFA 07) animated short, “Bite of the Tail,” and Pendelton Ward’s (Film/Video BFA 05) animated short, “Thank You,” will be screened at Sundance this year.

2013 Slamdance Film Festival

This year, an unprecedented 12 CalArtian filmmakers—seven alumni, six current students and one faculty member—screen films at Slamdance, the indie festival in which feature films in competition are made with budgets under $1 million and made by first-time directors.  Of the CalArts filmmakers, the School of Film/Video’s Experimental Animation Program was the most represented, with eight alumni and current students, followed by four films from Film Directing Program alumni.

The CalArtian filmmakers at the 2013 Slamdance Festival:

Faculty member J.R. Hughto’s (Film/Video MFA 06) feature film, “Diamond on Vinyl,” on the Beyond Program.

Rebecca Sgan-Cohen’s (Film/Video MFA 11) short, “A Time in A Dark Cloud,” on the Live Action Shorts Program.

Ian Samuels’ (Film/Video MFA 12) short, “Caterwaul,” on the Live Action Shorts Program.

Kate Marks’ (Film/Video MFA 12) short, “Pearl was Here,” on the Live Action Shorts Program.

Benjamin Markus’ (Film/Video MFA 14) short, “The War Profiteers,” on the Anarchy Program.

Einar Baldvin’s (Arnason) (Film/Video BFA 09) short, “Baboon,” on the Animation Shorts Program.

Calvin Frederick’s (Film/Video BFA 12) short, “Bermuda,” on the Animation Shorts Program.

Ethan Clarke’s (Film/Video MFA 12) short, “Drifters,” on the Animation Shorts Program.

Jose Quique Rivera’s (Film/Video MFA 14) short, “El Delirio Del Pez Leon,” on the Animation Shorts Program.

Meejin Hong’s (Film/Video MFA 12) short, “Sugarcoat,” on the Animation Shorts Program.

Sean Buckelew’s (Film/Video MFA 12) short, “The Jennings Account,” on the Live Action Shorts Program.

Grace Nayoon Rhee’s (Film/Video MFA 13) short, “Triangle,” on the Live Action Shorts Program.