Despite the absence of last year’s free flowing mimosas that made last year’s press launch for the Seattle International Film Festival ^[1] such a pleasure for Josh and I, this year’s press launch offered an exciting preview of what is surely to be one the best year’s yet for North America’s largest film festival. 

To give you an idea of just how huge the festival (which runs from May 22 – June 15 this year) is, consider some numbers:  there are 418 films, with 69 countries of orgin represented.  There are 191 features, 57 documentary features, 7 archival films, 4 Secret Festival films, and 170 short films.  Within all those films there are 43 world premieres, 38 North America premieres and 19 US premieres.  That’s a lot of new films.  The festival includes a number of competitions and awards, including the New Directors Showcase, the New American Cinema, the Documentary Competition, the Short Film Competition, the MyFestival competion, and, of course, the Golden Space Needle Awards handed out at the end of the festival to honor SIFF’s most well-received films. 

SIFF presents four gala nights this year: the opening night gala on May 22 features Battle In Seattle, the directorial debut of Irish actor Stuart Townsend that uses a highly regarded ensemble cast including Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Joshua Jackson, Ray Liotta, and many more to dramatize the events of the 1999 WTO riots here in Seattle; the closing night gala on June 14 features Bottle Shock, another based on real life feature, this one about the shockwaves sent around the world in 1978 when the Paris Tastings revealed that Californians could produce wine every bit as good, if not better, than the French; the centerpiece gala on June 6 is the Sean McGinley-directed feature, The Great Buck Howard in which Colin Hanks, son of Tom, plays a law school drop out who takes a job as a personal assistant to a “mentalist” played by John Malkovich, much to the dismay of his father, played by his father, Tom Hanks; and the Gay-la Extravaganza on May 29th which will screen Kiss the Bride in which a man attempts to “rescue” his high school boyfriend from the woman he is about to marry only to discover that the situation is a little more complex than he’d thought.

Other series within the festival include:

Films4Families, an 11:00 a.m. matinee every Saturday and Sunday during the festival featuring programming suitable for children and appealing for adults as well – one highlight of this series is a screening of the French animated film Princess of the Sun during which a cast of professional voice actors will perform the English subtitles live for the benefit of those too young to read them.

Northwest Connections spotlights films made in and connected to the Pacific Northwest, including the world premieres of Good Food, a cinematic tour of Washington state farms and ranches committed to raising their crops and their livestock organically and The Dark Horse, a feature about a Seattle ballet teacher who returns to her childhood home on Orcas Island when her father becomes mentally ill.

The Archival Presentations series screens some rarely seen archival films dating from 1914 to 1968.  Among the films in this stand out series are the epic Alexander Nevsky, a 1938 film from the Soviet Union that will be accompanied by a live performance by the Seattle Symphony of the original score and F.W. Murneau’s 1927 film Sunrise, considered by many film historians and critics to be one of the greatest films ever made.

Alternate Cinema is what SIFF calls its series of avante-garde features and shorts, including the US premiere of Milky Way, a psychedelic and minimalist look at the modern wold and Dust, a documentary about the constructive and destructive qualities of dust.

Documentaries are one of my favorite types of films and SIFF never disppoints with their selections – this year two of the many excellent documentaries that will be screened include Man on a Wire, about Phillipe Petit’s 1974 walk across a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and Werner Herzog’s Arctic exploration, Encounters at the End of the World. 

Face the Music is a series of eight documentaries about music, including Patti Smith: Dream of Life, a film about the legendary performer filmed over 11 years, and the real-life “Spinal Tap” saga of Anvil, a Canadian metal band who once played stadiums and now scratch out a living in didn’t-you-used-to-be?-land, still hoping for their next big break in Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

Other series within the festival include Emerging Masters, a celebration of four contemporary filmmakers who are poised to become film’s next generation of masters; Contemporary World Cinema, presenting 116 films from more than 50 countries; SIFF ShortsFest Weekend, a full weekend of themed short film packages; Planet Cinema, independent films meant to inspire public action in regards to world’s environmental threats; and Midnight Adrenaline, a series of “the terrifying and the weird”.

Talking Pictures pairs special guests with their favorite films; John Waters speaks presents his film Cecil B. Demented, Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Stephanie Shine presents Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo & Juliet, and Howard Patterson of The Flying Karamazov Brothers presents Jackie Chan’s The Young Master.

The Fly Filmmaking Challenge charged local filmmakers to create, shoot and edit a film in a mere 19 days and 1 hour and SIFF FutureWave inspires the next generation of filmmakers through a series of screenings, workshops and activities, including their own Superfly challenge.

One great addition to the festival is the Northwest Production Summit Panels, designed to educate would-be film producers on how to get their start.

No less great is SIFF Interactive:  MyFestival is an online based audience competition to program a screening on the final day of the festival and SIFF talk, debuting May 8, is behind the scenes podcast featuring SIFF coverage and filmmaker interviews.  Babelbum, a free, interactive internet TV service launches SIFF channel with short films and more from this and previous years’ festivals on May 21 and Film.com offers a short film of the day every day during the festival. 

Tickets for SIFF will be available on May 8 for SIFF supporters and May 11 for everyone else.