I’m determined to see Andrew Patterson‘s The Vast of Night at the Slamdance Ballroom on Monday, 1.28 at 8pm. A low-budget but allegedly resourceful ’50s sci-fi thriller, it’s about a single night in New Mexico in which a young switchboard operator and a radio DJ uncover a strange frequency (aliens?) that could change their lives, their small town and in fact the planet Earth.

Variety contributor Nick Clement recently saw Patterson’s film, and mentioned his admiration of it while interviewing director Steven Soderbergh, whose High Flying Bird will premiere at Slamdance the day after tomorrow (Sunday, 1.27, 3 pm).

Clement: “The interview was for a curtain-raiser piece about the 25th anniversary of Slamdance. I told Soderbergh how much I love Vast of Night and he asked to see it — and then he messaged me saying how much he loved it and how he’s gotta meet the filmmakers.”

Directed by Patterson and written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, The Vast of Night stars Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer and Bruce Davis.