A film fest first: Salt Lake City Film Festival

The Salt Lake City Film Festival may have had the humblest of beginnings, but it quickly grew in size and scope.

In fact, festival directors Matt Whittaker and Chris Bradshaw originally envisioned it as "a one-day festival at the (Salt Lake) City Library."

Instead, it "quickly turned into a three-day event with three venues," encompassing more than two dozen "programmed films from places as close as Salt Lake City proper to places as far away as Tel Aviv," Whittaker said.

He summed up the experience of dividing responsibilities for the festival between an eight-person staff with a quick "Yikes!"

According to Bradshaw, he and fellow University of Utah film school graduate Whittaker had been "floating around (ideas) for the last year but we finally started fleshing things out within the last five months, which has been insane, to say the least."

Still, both men are excited to see their fledgling festival start its three-day run next weekend. The 2009 Salt Lake City Film Festival will run in three Salt Lake venues (the Post Theatre at Fort Douglas, the Salt Lake City Library and the Tower Theatre).

As for hosting the event in Salt Lake City, Bradshaw noted that "there are a handful of film festivals in Utah, but few take place in the heart of the city.

"Even fewer of those festivals happen in the summer," he continued. "I wanted to utilize our strong artistic community and take advantage of the season."

Bradshaw and Whittaker also wanted to "dispel the perception that film festivals are only abstract, foreign or artsy."

"I want this festival to collapse some social boundaries and draw a truly diverse crowd to our event," Bradshaw said.

The first of what the two men hope will be many such festivals to come will screen 15 narrative and documentary features, including the nonfiction films "The Inheritance of War" and "Reserved to Fight." And two shorts programs boast an equal number of other works.

Both men say they are pleased with the submissions.

"None of these films should be missed, nor should the ones that we had to turn down," Whittaker said.

"We are so thankful for the number of submissions that came our way. There is simply too much talent out there for a three-day festival."

Also, they noted that two of the selected features have strong Utah ties. "White on Rice," a comedy about Asian-Americans, was filmed partly in Salt Lake City. And "Best Worst Movie" is a documentary about the making of the now-infamous 1990 horror film "Troll 2," which was shot in Porterville.

Of this bunch, Whittaker believes "Best Worst Movie" may be a possible breakout hit, while Bradshaw is touting the documentary "Hi, My Name is Ryan."