The organization behind the Slamdance Film Festival and ArcLight Cinemas have announced the launch of Emergence, a four day festival of screenings, workshops, panels and happy hours dedicated to the discovery of new filmmakers. Emergence will take place from March 26-29, 2020 at the ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood. The festival’s lineup will be announced in late February and will feature a mix of Slamdance alumni along with new voices, with a focus on filmmakers and stories from California.
This new partnership between the two organizations is an extension of their successful Slamdance Cinema Club screening series. The festival is also a key part of Slamdance’s expansion into new markets, with a previously announced inaugural Miami Festival bowing in May this year.
The inaugural Emergence will be programmed out of this year’s Slamdance Park City submissions and will include both premieres and a selection of Park City films, particularly those made by California-based artists and Californian subjects.
Slamdance Co-founder and President Peter Baxter commented, “Slamdance is known for discovering ground breaking filmmakers and ArcLight Cinemas has been providing a year-round place for us to do that. We’ve realized it’s time to take our partnership to the next level, to do more for emerging artists and increase programming diversity. We believe Emergence is a great festival opportunity for the entertainment capital of the world.”
Launched in 2014, the Slamdance Cinema Club is presented in partnership with ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood and features Slamdance Film Festival award-winning and audience favorites that don’t have traditional distribution. The yearlong series includes post screening Q&As with the filmmakers and typically sell-out. Recent highlights include screenings of My Name is Myeisha, Spiral Farm, Desolation Center, Funny Story, Burying Yasmeen and Queen Mimi.
The 26th edition of the Slamdance Film Festival is currently happening in Park City.