The 30th annual Slamdance Film Festival wrapped up its first in-person year in Los Angeles during the Sparky Awards ceremony Wednesday night, and Utah was well represented.
The George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award, named in honor of the late, Utah-based Slamdance Film Festival producer, was given to Utahn Ben Kjar, a Greco-Roman wrestling gold medalist and motivational speaker who is the subject of Tanner Christensen’s documentary, “Standout: The Ben Kjar Story.”
Kjar, who was born with Crouzon Syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder, thanked his wife, LaCol, producer Jared Hess and the film’s filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, Christensen.
“I think everyone in this room are all renegades because people in our lives who have come to us and have told us in our darkest times that we are different,” he said to the cheering audience who attended the ceremony at the held at DGA Theater Complex. “In those moments people like us, people like my mom, people like our tribes that come together and have said, ‘You know what? You are different, so it’s time to make a difference.’”
The George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award was given to Kjar by Starks’ sister, Mary Starks, last year’s recipient, Radha Mehta, and Aaron David Harris, who won the award in 2023.
Before naming Kjar as the award winner, Mary Starks said she hoped the award would bring the recipient expansive possibilities.
“(George) loved to inspire people, and help people love themselves and help people be their authentic selves,” she said. “I’m so happy to be here.”
Wednesday’s ceremony also honored filmmakers whose works were selected for this year’s festival.
Cameron S. Mitchell’s “Disposable Humanity” won two awards — the Unstoppable Audience Award and Unstoppable Grand Jury Honorable Mention.
Unstoppable is a Slamdance initiative that debuted in 2021 for and by filmmakers with visible and nonvisible disabilities.
Mike Macera’s “Alice-Heart” also took home two awards. The film earned a Grand Jury Narrative Feature Honorable Mention, and Lissa Carandang-Sweeney received the festival’s Outstanding Acting Award.
The top Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize went to Henry Bernadet’s “Gamma Rays.” Phil Moniz and Kevin Claydon’s “Racewalkers” walked away with the Unstoppable Grand Jury Prize.
“American Theater,” directed by Nicholas Clark and Dylan Frederick, made off with the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize, and the Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize reeled in Glen Fulthrope’s “Hooked.” (See list of award recipients below).
Festival Wide Awards included the Summer Chastant Episodic Award that went to Becca Schall and Jessica Taylor, directors of “Victorian Ladies,” and the George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award, given to Kjar of “Standout: The Ben Kjar Story.”
Chastant, who died in 2022, founded Slamdance’s Episodes program, said Slamdance Director Taylor Miller, just before giving the award to the two filmmakers.
“Summer was too brilliant for this earth, and she couldn’t be boxed in,” she said. “I would definitely (say) one of the greatest minds of her generation. She gave us the gift of not being defined and going further than you think you can by finding a place that goes beyond courage, bravery and definition.”
Slamdance Cofounder Peter Baxter then presented Margot Budzyna, filmmaker of “Deuce,” the AGBO Fellowship.
The award — established by Slamdance alumni Joe and Anthony Russo, who are International Cinematographers Guild Motion Picture Showman of the Year Award recipients and directors of “Avengers: Endgame —” includes a cash prize, mentorship and the opportunity to visit the Russo Brothers-founded AGBO Studios in downtown L.A., Baxter said.
“This is so unexpected,” Budzyna said as she thanked Slamdance and her writing and producer partner, Christian Tasiopoulos. “This story is so personal. It’s about two children confronting gender for the first time, and these children are close to the children that my writing partner and I once were. It is revealing this theme surrounding the discrepancy of who you are and who you think you’re supposed to be is something that is universally felt. I think we’re all more alike than we realize. And it’s my hope that in looking back we can move forward toward collective clarity and hope.”
Hope is one of the topics Baxter touched on during his presentation during the ceremony, and he quoted a young filmmaking student from the Compton Unified School District, which had partnered with Slamdance and attended the festival this year.
“He said, ‘I see life more clearly through the camera,’ and I thought that was a great moment,” Baxter said. “(The students) had a great time, and one of the reasons why they had a great time was because they were with you, the filmmakers, who inspired them.”
Baxter thanked the L.A. Times Studios for recognizing Slamdance’s accessibility efforts, as well as Easterseals, who helped make Slamdance 2025 fully accessible.
Then he shared his gratitude to Quixote Studios.
“We have a home where we could all meet and share our work, get to know one another, discuss our films,” he said. “Audience members could join us. Industry members could join us. It was such a huge gift that they gave to Slamdance.”
At the end of his speech, Baxter honored Slamdance Director Taylor Miller and all of the filmmakers.
“You are the heart and soul of Slamdance, and your work has attracted thousands of people to the festival this year,” he said. “It must be said, as we all know, we are going through a moment in film entertainment where it’s really challenging for our films to be seen in other places outside of Slamdance, outside of other film festivals. Independent film you can’t live life without it. It reflects the moving times in which we live — our stories.”
Independent film is an important artform that has the potential to usher in change, Baxter said.
“Yeah, we have this exhibiting model that we’ve been working with, but I’m asking you, I’m challenging you, about not how we fight that existing model to bring change, but how, either collectively or individually, (we) can find a new model,” he said. “It’s such an easy thing to say, but look, Slamdance, once upon a time, did something very different. It challenged something, and you are all part of that change. I think it’s up to independent filmmakers, artists, themselves, to make that change and create that new model as we go forward.”
The 2025 Slamdance Film Festival winners:
GRAND JURY AWARDS — FEATURES
- Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: “Gamma Rays” (Henry Bernadet, Canada)
- Honorable Mention: “Alice-Heart” (Mike Macera, United States)
- Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize: “American Theater” (Nicholas Clark and Dylan Frederick, United States)
- Honorable Mention: “Twin Fences” (Yana Osman, Russia/Ukraine)
- Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize: “Silent Trees” (Agnieszka Zwiefka, Poland)
- Honorable Mention: “In The Mouth” (Cory Santilli, United States)
- Episodes Grand Jury Prize: “Serjan Bratan” (Alisher Utev, Kazakhstan)
- Honorable Mention: “I Need Your Love” (Walker Kalan, United States)
GRAND JURY AWARDS — UNSTOPPABLE
- Unstoppable Grand Jury Prize: “Racewalkers” (Phil Moniz and Kevin Claydon, Canada)
- Honorable Mention: “Disposable Humanity” (Cameron S. Mitchell, Austria/Germany)
JURY AWARDS — 6XTY
- Grand Jury Award: “Vermin Beings” (Kat Messing, United States)
- Honorable Mention: “Red Light, Green Light” (Corey Grispo, United States)
JURY AWARDS — SHORTS
- Narrative Short Grand Jury Prize: “Bita Joon” (Sara Boutorabi, United States)
- Honorable Mention: “Contours” (Aisha Amin, United States)
- Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize: “Hooked” (Glen Fulthrope, UK)
- Honorable Mention: “Only if the Baby Cries” (Shadab Farooq, India)
- Experimental Shorts Grand Jury Prize: “Your Mailbox is Full” (Allie Viti, United States)
- Honorable Mention: “One Rehearses, The Other Doesn’t” (Jessica Hankey, United States)
- Animated Shorts Grand Jury Prize: “A Night at the Rest Area” (Saki Muramoto, Japan )
- Honorable Mention: “Never Fall in Love” (Lucy Sao Wa Iao and Angela En-Yu Lao, China/Macao)
FESTIVAL WIDE AWARDS
- The AGBO Fellowship, presented by Joe and Anthony Russo, Award Winner: Margot Budzyna director of “Deuce” (United States)
- Summer Chastant Episodic Award: Becca Schall and Jessica Taylor directors of “Victorian Ladies” (United States)
- Slamdance Acting Award: Lissa Carandang-Sweeney for “Alice-Heart” (United States)
- George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award Winner: Ben Kjar of “Standout: The Ben Kjar Story” (United States)
AUDIENCE AWARDS
- Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: “Under the Burning Sun” (Yun Xie, United States)
- Audience Award for Documentary Feature: “Coroner To The Stars” (Ben Hethcoat and Keita Ideno, United States/Portugal)
- Audience Award for Unstoppable: “Disposable Humanity” (Cameron S. Mitchell, Austria/Germany)
Slamdance celebrated its 2025 film festival in-person in Los Angeles, California, from Feb. 20- 26. The festival continues virtually on the Slamdance Channel through March 7.