Salt Lake resident's film to be screened at Sundance
Park City UT Record 20Jan99
By Stephanie Howell: Record Guest Writer

Alex Beckstead of Salt Lake City is keeping his fingers crossed that the film he produced for his undergraduate thesis at the University of Utah will open the doors to a film career. The film, sXe, an 18-minute documentary was included in the Sundance Film Festival, and will be playing 5 times (immediate prior to "The Legacy")in the upcoming festival.

Beckstead became interested in filmmaking while serving a mission in Poland, where he met and observed a photographer working for TimeLife. A documentary filmmaking class at the University of Utah clinched his decision to make this a career.

Beckstead's film, sXe, is a documentary about the Straight Edge gang, a drug- and alcohol-free youth gang in Salt Lake City, that endorses vegetarianism, tattoos, punk music, and body piercing. sXe chronicles the lives of 3 Straight Edge gang bangers: 19-year-old Josh, who is currently serving a 7 year prison term for blowing up a mink-food supply company; a painter, currently attending the University of Utah on an art scholarship; and a bass player.

Beckstead submitted the film to the Telluride Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival, but was turned down. When he entered it into the Utah Short Film and Video Festival, Beckstead walked away with the Best Film Documentary Award giving him the courage to submit it to the Sundance festival. If the film does not generate interest or job offers or financial support for his current project (on an off-beat retirement community and trailer park in Arizona), Beckstead plans to enter graduate school and continue his filmmaking education.