CITY GIRLS Type: Narrative Short Director: Jon Rafman Premise: After a long-term girlfriend breaks up with him, an anonymous man confronts a number of women he imagines must have known him in the past. Budget: N/A Behind the Scenes: Rafman playfully incorporates Russian travel footage, Jem cartoons and other random footage with improvised scenes of the young ladies the hero encounters. Shot on a shoestring: natural lighting, minimal locations (a laundry mat, a street corner and apartment) – City Girl is a charming voyage into post-relationship uncertainty.
Rice unwittingly helps fund Strongman.
STRONGMAN Type: Documentary Feature Director: Zachary Levy Premise: Grand Jury Award Winner for Best Documentary, Strongman documents the life of Stanless Steel, a man who can leg-press 10,000 pound dump trucks and bend a U.S. penny with his fingers. Unfortunately, his strength is rivaled by his weaknesses: middle age, career disappointments and soured relationships. Budget: $500,000 Behind the Scenes: With a six-figure budget, Strongman isn’t exactly a microfilm. However, the story behind it should inspire any low-budget filmmaker. As the New York Times originally reported, Zachary Levy accumulated over forty thousand dollars in credit card debt.
Fortunately, he had an idea to help get him out of the hole: create a deck of cards spoofing the Bush administration, featuring 52 members of the key White House staff (including President Bush as the ace) and sell them online from his NYC apartment. What Levy didn’t expect was the outcome – the cards became a giant success, selling over 300,000 decks in 1,800 stores around the world. Levy then used the cash to fund Strongman, proving to filmmakers everywhere that a dream project is only a small business venture away.
Check out SlamDance.com for more highlights of the 2009 lineup.
Michael Lawson is the director of Barackula: The Musical, a film about a young Barack Obama fighting off vampires at the Harvard Law Review. In addition to directing and writing, Michael has worked as an actor in Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, Friends with Money, and the MGM thriller The Poughkeepsie Tapes. He produces films, shorts and web series with Nice Dream Films. He’s also the founder of the Jeanne McCarthy Air Hockey League.
Fortunately, he had an idea to help get him out of the hole: create a deck of cards spoofing the Bush administration, featuring 52 members of the key White House staff (including President Bush as the ace) and sell them online from his NYC apartment. What Levy didn’t expect was the outcome – the cards became a giant success, selling over 300,000 decks in 1,800 stores around the world. Levy then used the cash to fund Strongman, proving to filmmakers everywhere that a dream project is only a small business venture away. 
