More films, new and improved screening rooms and a new jury formatare on the cards at the 10th Slamdance Film Festival, which will take placefrom Jan 17-24 2004 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Headquartered at the Treasure Mountain Inn on Park City's MainStreet, the event will boast four screening rooms: two inside Treasure MountainInn, which is now air-conditioned, one at Brewvies in Salt Lake City and afourth at a location to be announced.

For the first time, there will be separate juries for narrativefeatures and shorts and documentary features and shorts.

The number of features will increase in 2004, with an expandeddocumentary strand and more special screenings.

Gallery Shorts (screening out of competition) will be eligible forthe audience award and the Spirit of Slamdance Award for the first time.

"It would be fair to say that in 10 years, Slamdance has exceededexpectations," Slamdance co-founder Peter Baxter said in a statement.

"After all, the first festival was intended to be the last. Thirtyfilm-makers sweated it out in one house and the former Park City chief ofpolice wrote in no uncertain terms that our days were numbered.

"Slamdance was the first to programme the first films of thenunknown directors like Chris Nolan and Marc Forster, who, let's face it, no oneelse appeared interested in at the time."

The final submission deadline for the 2004 festival is Oct 10.