Pete Gleeson’s documentary, “Coolgardie,” is about a remote town in Western Australia. After getting their credit cards stolen and travel savings drained in Bali, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph decide to work in the town’s pub, hoping to replenish their funds. Coolgardie, however, isn’t anything close to what Lina and Steph were prepared for. … read more
“Aerotropolis” follows Allen, a young, middle-class man who invested everything he owned into a beautiful apartment and unused aerotropolis land. Lulled in by the aerotropolis’ “promised land,” Allen is instead ensnared by the pitfall of financial pressures and an existence stripped of meaning. … read more
Friday the 13th: an ominous and seemingly perfect date to watch Wesley Eisold and friends rattle the cage of discontent with a sound that takes the electro-punk aesthetic of Suicide and merges it with the songsmith of New Order—a discordant pop that references the past, but feels comfortably progressive. Everything that is old resurrected for future use. … read more
Toronto-based Joyce Wong’s first feature film, Wexford Plaza, is an at-times painfully real-life comedy about suburbia, isolation and ennui. The film follows the lives of 19-year-old, late-night security guard, Betty (Reid Asselstine) and the well-meaning, deadbeat bartender, Danny (Darrel Gamotin), as they find their lives unraveling. … read more
Yu Gu and Scott Drucker’s aptly titled documentary, Who is Arthur Chu?, chronologically follows Chu’s rise to fame, using Chu’s number of Twitter followers at any given time to mark different chapters of Chu’s life during and after Jeopardy! … read more
“Weather House” depicts a post-apocalyptic world where humans are driven to the brink of extinction via extreme and sudden temperature shifts. While the film does not give us many clues as to how the world came to be this way, it does show what a certain, cult-like group does in order to ensure its survival. … read more
“The Modern Jungle,” directed by Charles Fairbanks and Saul Kak, depicts life in an area of Oaxaca, Mexico, known as La Selva Negra (The Black Jungle), and follows local Zoque shaman, Juan Juarez Rodriguez and his neighbor and friend, Carmen Echavarría Gomez. … read more
“Kate Can’t Swim,” directed by Josh Helman, can almost be described as a post-coming of age film as Kate (Celeste Arias) starts to feel unsettled right as her life is seemingly falling into place. Artistically, all of the elements are in place for a visually stunning cinematic experience. “Kate Can’t Swim” shows on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom and Jan. 24 at 10:30 a.m. in the Gallery. … read more
Slamdance Film Festival’s “Dave Made a Maze,” directed by Bill Watterson, is a quirky, absurd comedy with a touch of horror-movie antics, starting with Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) learning that her boyfriend Dave (Nick Thune) is inside of a cardboard mass. “Dave Made a Maze” plays Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 23 at 10:30 a.m. in the Ballroom. … read more
Slamdance Film Festival’s “Beat Beat Heart,” directed by Luise Brinkmann, creatively portrays how a person heals from a heartbreak—especially in a closed-off, small-town setting. … read more
Ford Clitaurus is a 2017 Slamdance Film Festival short with an oddball sense of humor. Taking place in Salt Lake City, the story follows three friends’ misadventures, from an inspirational interview with a triathelete gone awry to a sheepdog competition to playing chess with a Sufi mystic while pondering one’s sexuality at Liberty Park. … read more
On Jan. 14, the exceptional talent of Taylor Mac makes its debut in Salt Lake City at Kingsbury Hall. One of the greatest theater artists of our time, Mac (who uses “judy” as a gender pronoun) is known for judy’s talented performance pieces and playwriting. … read more
