LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ( October 23, 2024 ) -

Slamdance, the artist-led “by filmmakers for filmmakers” organization, is proud to announce the launch of The Indie Awards, an annual event dedicated to celebrating the spirit of truly independent filmmaking. The inaugural ceremony will take place on December 9, 2024, at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by comedians and actors Nic Novicki (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos”) and Steve Way (“Ramy”). Tickets are available at Slamdance.com with all proceeds supporting Slamdance Group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Indies will spotlight US and Indigenous films that are overlooked by major festivals and distributors and go unrecognized during awards season. This event is designed to champion emerging independent filmmakers whose work is bold, resourceful, and impactful. Sponsors of the event include FilmFreeway, Eventive, and Presidium Construction Company.

Slamdance’s mission has always been to foster a vibrant and accessible community for visionary filmmakers. The Indie Awards is a natural extension of this commitment, creating new opportunities for filmmakers to overcome the barriers of an industry that often remains exclusive. Co-founders Ben Umstead, Paul Rachman, and Peter Baxter aim to connect the nominated filmmakers with key resources, collaborators, and financial support, empowering them to bring their projects to life and usher in a new era of cinema.

“Independent U.S. and Indigenous filmmakers feel abandoned and neglected,” said co-founder Paul Rachman. “The current landscape for recognizing fresh voices in cinema is bleak. This inaugural year of The Indies, coinciding with the Slamdance Film Festival’s move to Los Angeles, can help spark the recognition and support these films and filmmakers deserve from Hollywood and the Motion Picture industry at large.”

Ben Umstead added: “To rectify this sense of abandonment, we went straight to the filmmakers. The fact that we weren’t asking them to submit and pay a fee gave them this instant sense of being supported.

Knowing the anxiety filmmakers experience from closed-door tactics, being transparent about our development and nomination process was also paramount. We wanted every eligible filmmaker to know that even if they didn’t get a nomination they had our gratitude and solidarity in helping create an antidote to the status quo.”

To be eligible for The Indie Awards, films must have played at one or more of a carefully selected group of North American festivals that champion diverse and inclusive independent films from the United States and Turtle Island. Additionally, films that had their World Premiere at Sundance, SXSW, or Tribeca are not eligible.

Once a film is deemed eligible, it undergoes a review process by the Documentary Feature or Narrative Feature Nomination Committees which are composed of esteemed film critics and scholars who evaluate all eligible films and nominate select works across a range of categories, with a special emphasis on the collaborative nature of cinema.

In addition, Special Honorary awards help spotlight specific communities, including the Native Viewpoint Awards, selected by journalist Vincent Schilling – Akwesasne Mohawk. “The Native Viewpoint awards signify the ever-present voice of the Indigenous storyteller,” cites Schilling. “Native films are a wonderful celebration of the story and the resilience of Native people. My selections are the epitome of this sentiment.”

After nomination, the films are judged by the Documentary Feature and Narrative Feature Juries, composed of seasoned professionals from the alternative and independent filmmaking communities. They will select winners for each award category, which includes: Best Narrative Feature Film (Director/s and Producer/s), Outstanding Storytelling Craft (Screenwriter and Editor), Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominees (Production Design, Visual Effects and Cinematography), Outstanding Ensemble and Casting (Casting Director and Main Ensemble), Best Documentary Feature (Director/s and Producer/s), Outstanding Storytelling Craft (Editor, Director and Writer if credited), Outstanding Use of Archival Footage (Archivists, Archival Producers and/or Editor), and Outstanding Cinematography (DP, Camera Operator/s, AC).

The nominees for each category for the inaugural The Indie Awards are:

NARRATIVE FEATURES (Jury Awards)

Best Narrative Feature Nominees (Director and Producer)

• Atikamekw Suns (Chloé Leriche, Director and Producer)
• Free Time (Director Ryan Martin Brown, Director and Producers Mackenzie Jamieson, Justin Zuckerman, Paula González-Nasser, Nolan Kelly)
• The People’s Joker (Director Vera Drew and Producer Joey Lyons)

Outstanding Storytelling Craft Nominees (Screenwriter and Editor)

• Chloé Leriche (Writer, Editor) and Natalie Lamoureux (Editor) / Atikamekw Suns
• Ryan Martin Brown (Writer, Editor) and Byron Leon (Editor) / Free Time
• Vera Drew (Writer, Editor) and Bri LeRose (Writer) / The People’s Joker

Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominees (Winner could be Production Design, Score, Sound Design, Special/Visual Effects, Cinematography)

• Glauco Bermudez (Director of Photography) / Atikamekw Suns
• Cooper Vacheron (Visual Effects Artist) / Free Time
• Courtney McIntosh (Production Designer) / The People’s Joker

Outstanding Ensemble and Casting (Award goes to entire cast and casting director)

• Mirotansa Chilton, Jacques Newashish, Wikwasa Newashish, Carl-David Ottawa (Cast) and Chloé Leriche (Casting Director) / Atikamekw Suns
• Colin Burgess, Rajat Suresh, Holmes, Jessie Pinnick, James Webb, Eric Yates, Alex Bliss, Michael Patrick Nicholson, Rebecca Rose Bulnes, and Steve Young (Cast) / Free Time
• Keris Hope Hill, Melanie Bray, Constant Bernard, Alex Trahan, Josee Young (Cast) and Melanie Bray, John Buchan and Jason Knight (Casting) / Rosie

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES (Jury Awards)

Best Documentary Feature (Director and Producer)

• All We Carry (Director Cady Voge, and Producers Laura Pilloni, Laura Tatham, Rachel Clara Reed)
• Israelism (Directors Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsan, and Producers Daniel J. Chalfin, Nadia Saah, Erin Axelman)
• Sweetheart Deal (Directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller, and Producers Peggy Case, Elisa Levine, Alan Pruzan)

Outstanding Storytelling Craft (Editor, Director and Writer if credited)

• Cady Voge (Director and Writer) and Rachel Clara Reed (Editor and Writer) / All We Carry
• Kristina Motwani (Editor), Kevin Duncan (Director), Todd Sills (Co-Director), and Yar Tin Tham (Co-Director) / Home Is A Hotel
• Karen Sim (Writer), Elisa Levine (Director), Gabriel Miller (Director), and Brittany Kaplan (Editor) / Sweetheart Deal

Outstanding Use of Archival Footage (Archivists, Archival Producers and/or Editor)

• James Cude (Editor) / The Little Pageant That Could
• Sara Newens (Editor) and Rebecca Kent (Archival Producer) / Racist Trees
• David Baker (Editor) and National Geographic Society Archivists Lela Sewell-Williams, Sara Mancho, Renee Braden, Karen Cerka, Kelly Miner / The Wonder And The Worry

Outstanding Cinematography (DP, Camera Operator(s), AC)

• Luke Connor (Cinematography), Ben Giesbrecht (Cinematography), Joshua Manyhands (Assistant Camera), Calvin Stimson (Assistant Camera), and
• Anthony Stengal (Additional Cinematography) / Aitamaako’tamisskap Natosi: Before The Sun
• Jonathan Lacocque (Director of Photography) / O Pioneer
• George Hupka (Director of Photography), Andrew Manske (Wildlife Cinematography) and Johnny Blerot (Additional Wildlife Cinematography) / Singing Back The Buffalo

SPECIAL HONORARY AWARDS

The Native Viewpoint Award – Outstanding Indigenous Community Story Collaboration
Atikamekw Suns (Chloé Leriche, Director and Producer)

The Native Viewpoint Award – Indigenous Film Critic’s Best Overall Selection
WaaPaKe (Jules Koostachin, Director)

Narrative Features Committee Renegade Award
Vera Drew (Writer, Director, and Editor) / The People’s Joker – For bringing her audacious vision of The People’s Joker to life

Narrative Features Committee Authenticity Award
Kelli McNeil (Screenwriter and Producer) / Daruma – honoring excellence in authentic representation of disability on screen

Documentary Features Committee Spotlight Award
Emily Sheshkin (Director) and the Silva Family in honor of Jesslyn Silva / JessZilla

The esteemed individuals that make up the nomination committees and juries are as follows:

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES NOMINATION COMMITTEE

• Matt Fagerholm (Former Editor, RogerEbert.com, Chicago Film Critics Association)
• Soham Gadre (The Film Stage, MUBI Notebook)
• Tina Kakadelis (News Editor, Film Obsessive, Editor-in-Chief, Beyond the Cinerama Dome)
• Steve Kopian (founder and chief film critic, unseen films)
• Shelagh Rowan-Legg (Contributing Editor, Screen Anarchy, Second Sight Films essayist)
• Vincent Schilling (founder and editor, Native Viewpoint)
• Peter Wong (Beyond Chron, San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle)
• Special Thanks for Assistance: Jack Hanley (Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast)

NARRATIVE FEATURES NOMINATION COMMITTEE

• Carlos Aguilar (Los Angeles Time, IndieWire, National Society of Film Critics)
• Olga Artemyeva (Screen Anarchy)
• Max Cea (Esquire, Nothing Bogus)
• Kat Hughes (Deputy Editor, The Hollywood News, Online Film Critics Society)
• Ankit Jhunjhunwala (Screen Anarchy, The Playlist)
• Natalia Keogan (Filmmaker Magazine, Paste Magazine)
• Simon Laperrière (Panorama-Cinéma, 24 images)
• Vincent Schilling (founder and editor, Native Viewpoint)

NARRATIVE FEATURES JURY

• Theodore Collators (Director – Palookaville, Queen of Lapa)
• Marie Jamora (Director – What Isn’t There, Queen Sugar)
• Frank Mosley (Actor and Director – Quantum Cowboys, The Event)
• Cheryl Nichols (Director – Cortez, Keep This Between Us)
• Shih-Ching Tsou (Director and Producer – Takeout, The Florida Project)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES JURY

• Angela H. Brown (Deputy Editor, Slug Magazine)
• Joslyn Jensen (Actor and Director – Driftwood, Bad Actor: A Hollywood Ponzi Scheme)
• Scott Iwasaki (Arts and Scene Editor, Park Record)
• Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Director and Actor – Memories of Love Returned, The Chi)
• Pete Ohs (Director and Editor – Erupcja, Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play)

The inaugural year’s list of festivals that eligible films played at are as Creativity Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, Hot Docs, Indie Memphis, ImagineNATIVE, MountainFilm Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival, ReelAbilities: New York, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival, Tallgrass Film Festival, and Urbanworld Film Festival.

The inaugural Indie Awards marks the beginning of a new chapter for the organization, coinciding with the upcoming Slamdance Film Festival’s move to Los Angeles this February. After 28 years in Park City, where it was founded in 1995, Slamdance is embracing its new home in Los Angeles.

The festival will run February 20-26, 2025 at venues in and surrounding Hollywood, including the Landmark Theatres and the DGA Theater Complex, with more locations to be announced. Committed to accessibility, the festival offers in-person passes starting at $50, with many programs open to the public free of charge. For more information, visit slamdance.com

About Slamdance
Established in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers who were tired of relying on a large, oblique system to showcase their work, Slamdance has consistently discovered new and emerging talent that shapes our cultural future. The non-profit artist-led organization lives and breathes its mantra; by filmmakers, for filmmakers.

On January 26, 2024, Slamdance completed its 30th Festival in Park City, Utah. The 31st annual Slamdance Film Festival will run February 20th-26th in Hollywood and virtually on the Slamdance Channel from February 24th-March 7th.

In addition to the festival, Slamdance serves artists with several year-round programs, including its Screenplay Competition, DIG (Digital, Interactive & Gaming), an accessible education initiative called Polytechnic and Unstoppable, a showcase of works made by creators with visible and non-visible disabilities.

Slamdance’s mission is to function as an agent of change in filmmaking and digital media, helping to make the creative works of artists with divergent voices accessible to everyone.

Slamdance is a non-profit organization under code section 501 (c) (3).

For more information on Slamdance, visit: https://www.slamdance.com