Chicagoland Area Films ‘Waiting for the Light to Change’ ‘Teacher of Patience’ Set to Premiere at Slamdance

It’s time to head to Park City! Slamdance Film Festival is ready to roll and there are two films hailing from Chicagoland and the Midwest awaiting their premiere. Slamdance 2023 will take place in-person from January 20-26 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah and virtually from January 23-29.

Let’s take a look at these two productions…

The Wait Is Over

The coming of age film Waiting for the Light to Change features a Chicago cast and crew, which filmed in Michigan.

Best friends since high school, Kim and Amy haven’t seen each other since Amy moved to the west coast for grad school. Now the two are reunited as they join a group of friends for a trip to a lake house with Kim’s boyfriend, Jay. When Amy had left for the west coast, she was in love with Jay, though she never pursued it due to her insecurities thinking she was too fat and ugly. While she has changed physically, her feelings for Jay haven’t, and the reunion has brought them back to the surface. That maelstrom of emotions within her is poised to reveal itself at any moment as the group’s struggles to find something to do in the empty little beach town turns into an unsuccessful effort by all of them to sort through attractions to each other, as well as suppress old resentments, jealousies and desires before they leave.

For your first look at the film, here is an interview with Director Linh Tran, Producer/Actor Sam Straley and Executive Producer James Choi, courtesy of Breezeway Productions…

Patience Is Rewarded

The award-winning 29-minute documentary Teacher of Patience is set to be screened as part of Slamdance Film Festival’s first in-person iteration of its trailblazing Unstoppable program. Slamdance Unstoppable is a showcase of films made by filmmakers with visible and non-visible disabilities. Programmed exclusively by disabled artists, Slamdance Unstoppable aims to eliminate the prejudices and gate-keeping that have historically kept disabled filmmakers from being represented in the entertainment industry. 

Teacher of Patience follows a Northwest Indiana family’s efforts to raise disability awareness among first responders and the general public, teaching others how to interact with individuals with Down Syndrome and other disabilities through a presentation called The Emily Talk. 

Here is your first look at the film…

The film accompanies father and paramedic Tom, wife and labor and delivery nurse Tina, and daughter who has Down syndrome Emily Felter as they use learned life lessons as a tool for teaching others about living with disabilities. As a short documentary, its goal is to facilitate an understanding of how to best respect and interact with those who communicate in all types of ways while highlighting the story of a family who advocates for that in their own community. 

“I was inspired to tell this story because we don’t often see on screen what it looks like to be a small-town advocate,” said director Carmen Vincent. “Disability education for our first responders is vital, but lacking, and the Felter’s are doing all they can to fulfill that need. Being part of the 2023 Slamdance lineup is a huge deal for us, as it gives big-industry visibility to a small-town narrative. As a disabled filmmaker from Indiana, having this kind of platform to share the Felters’ story means the world.” 

Teacher of Patience will screen as part of the “Slamdance Unstoppable Shorts Block One” in Salt Lake City at The Student Union Theater at University of Utah on Monday, January 23 from 5:25-8:10pm. Tickets are free, but RSVP’ing is recommended to secure a spot at the screening. The film will also screen alongside feature documentary Sexual Healing on Thursday, January 26 from 4:00-6:00pm at the Crescent Room at Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City. Q&As will follow both screenings, and director Carmen Vincent will be present.

Teacher of Patience and the entire 2023 Slamdance lineup can be streamed from January 23-29 for just $7.99.

Click here for passes and for the full Slamdance lineup.