By Eric Christensen
Like it or not, the Wasatch front will turn into Hollywood”s little brother for the next couple weeks.
The movie industry”s eyes will focus on northern Utah for festival time — specifically, the Sundance Film Festival.
Tucked away just south of Park City is the Slamdance Film Festival.
Echoing the motto, “By filmmakers, for filmmakers,” the festival hopes to stir some attention in this, its sixth year.
BYU senior Bryan Lefler, 25, from Alpine, majoring in illustration, said he hopes some of this attention will shine his way.
Lefler”s 12-minute film, “Warplay,” will be his first experience with a major festival.
Lefler had previously attempted to enter the Sundance Film Festival, but he found it difficult to get in.
“Sundance has become so commercialized that you have to have an agent, for the most part, to get in,” he said.
Lefler”s name and film “Warplay” may be familiar among some BYU students because it appeared last year in BYU”s Final Cut.
“Warplay” ventures into the mind of a small boy playing make-believe war games with his friends. The film focuses on how one boy”s imagination gets the best of him.
“We all remember playing war games with dirt clods when we were younger,” Lefler said. “This film focuses on how imaginative a young boy”s mind can be in that setting.”
The film also discusses the controversial subject of violence in the media and whether children can be affected by it.
Lefler said he believes people can and are influenced by violence in the media, but he thinks the level of influence is up to the individual person.
“Certain people allow themselves to be influenced too much and lose control as a result,” he said.
Lefler said he hopes to use both his major in illustration and minor in film because he plans on making films after he graduates in August.
“My love is split 50-50 between film and illustrations,” he said. “I don”t know which I would choose if it came down to one or the other. I hope I will use them both.”
“Warplay” will be playing at the Silver Mine near Park City in the lounge portion of Slamdance. The Silver Mine can be found 1.5 miles south of Park City on Highway 224.
The film will be featured along with five or six other film shorts on Sunday at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. and Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.slamdance.com.
