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The 7th annual Arizona Underground Film Festival will screen a smorgasbord of cult flicks, horror movies, comedies and provocative documentaries on September 19-27 at The Screening Room in Tucson, Az.

Opening Night: The fest kicks off on the 19th with Killers, a dark thriller all the way from Japan and Indonesia about a psychopath and a journalist who forge an unlikely, hellish bond.

Other films to be on the look out for include documentaries like the powerful Who Took Johnny? by acclaimed filmmakers Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley and David Belinson that examines the legacy of the disappearance of young Johnny Gosch in 1982; Penny Vozniak’s Despite the Gods, about Jennifer Lynch’s struggles to make a Bollywood musical; and Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater’s wild Limo Ride.

Then, there are horror movies like the Lovecraft-inspired The Call Girl of Cthulu by Chris Lamartina; the slasher flick Crazy Bitches...

Watch a new clip from Mario Kyprianou's The Republic of Rick starring Dave Abed. The comedy makes its world premiere at the upcoming Slamdance FIlm Festival and also includes Becky Leigh, Ronnie Lee Steadman, John Macey, Darrell Philip, Angie Gregory, Glen Mcdougal and Lori Jean Wilson. The story follows Rick Launer (Abed), the Ambassador of the Republic of Texas club. He spends his days at Alamo reenactments and haranguing Us mailmen to get off Texas soil. But when he takes things too far, he's jailed and kicked out of his beloved club. Out on bail and a warrant on his head, he manipulates a group of paranoid eccentrics to protect him from the hand of the "oppressive government." Rick must confront what it takes to be a true leader, as a modern day Alamo unfolds on national television.

Many filmmakers got their start on the independent film circuit.

So who will follow the greats such as Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”), Marc Forster (“World War Z”) and Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”)?

The Slamdance Film Festival announced their lineup for the Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition after receiving over 5,000 submissions this year.

All of the competing films are directorial debuts with less than $1 million and without Us distribution. The films include 11 world premieres, 4 North American premieres and one Us premiere.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 17-23in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street.

Here’s the lineup:

Narrative Features Program

Copenhagen – Director & Screenwriter: Mark Raso

(USA, Canada, Denmark) World Premiere

A charming scoundrel visiting the city of his father’s birth, William is drawn to his impromptu guide Effy – wise, spontaneous, and half his age.

Cast: Gethin Anthony,...

Top brass at the upcoming 20th Slamdance Film Festival have revealed their narrative feature and documentary line-up, one day before the first programme announcements are due from Park City neighbour Sundance.

There are 10 narrative and eight documentary films including 11 world premieres, four North American and one Us.

Festival organisers sorted through more than 5,000 submissions to find the 18 titles, all of which are feature directorial debuts budgeted at under $1m and without Us distribution.

Jury awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves. The festival also presents Audience Awards.

“The 2014 Feature Competition bristles with raw talent and innovative filmmaking,” said Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. “As an organisation run by film-makers for film-makers, we couldn’t imagine a truer way of representing the first 20 years and beginning our next.”

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival...