[1] indie rocker goes into the woods … true adolescents still via SIFF

Ahoy, friends. SIFF ^[2] enters its second full week today with a whole lot of features from the Northwest Connections program. For me, at least, the festival has started out better than any I can remember. Along the way I’ve been posting SMS-sized reviews [twitter ^[3]]; and looking back on my list I haven’t even been tempted to tear the ballot anywhere south of 3. In fact, many have left me tearing a spot somewhere between 4 and 5 to leave it to the tireless volunteers to decide whether to round up or down.

In addition to being the halfway point, this twelfth day of the festival also marks the opening of an eastside venue at the Kirkland Performance Center. There, several previously screened films will get repeat showing to either save fans a trip across the lake or tempt others to venture eastward to catch some buzzy films that they missed, including several of our recommendations for last week. [mb ^[4]]

Like Dandelion Dust [siff ^[5]] : Based on a novel of the same title by Karen Kingsbury, this is a knockout gutwrenching adoption horror movie, with a happily contrived tearjerker ending. though I admit they never won me to their side,  Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper give the standout performances as the working-class biological parents who attempt to reclaim their son from his happy upper class home. Passions run high, as Sunday’s Q&A was lively, filled with lobbying, a visit from the author and her family, and nearly taken hostage by a well-meaning advocate for open adoptions. [josh] June 1, 7:00 pm (Kirkland)

The Strength of Water [siff ^[6]] : Even death can’t completely sever family ties in this intense drama enriched by its immersion in Maori culture as practiced in modern small-town New Zealand. Ten-year old twins center the story, when tragedy strikes unexpectedly, everyone around them is affected. [zee] June 1, 9:30 pm (Harvard Exit); June 8, 4:30 pm (Admiral)

Welcome [siff ^[7]] : Dramatizes the experience of immigrants attempting to make their way into England through the story of a Kurdish teen making his way across Europe to find his recently-emigrated girlfriend on the other side of the English Channel. But before he can make the crossing, he’ll need to strengthen his swimming skills, which is where the friendly former lifeguard comes in. [josh] June 2, 9:15 pm (Harvard Exit)

Zombies of Mass Destruction [siff ^[8]] : Part of the Northwest Connections series, this film focuses on a small Washington town where progressive attitudes seem to have passed by. A son returns home with his partner, intending to come out, and a daughter returns home to help in her father’s restaurant. This would be your standard ‘don’t see eye to eye’ movie if it weren’t for the zombie virus outbreak that occurs. In order to stay alive, everyone must put aside their differences and work together. [patricia] June 2, 9:15pm (SIFF Cinema); June 4, 10:00 pm (Kirkland)

William Kuntsler: Disturbing the Universe [siff ^[9]] : Depending on your perspective, you might see William Kunstler as a hero or a villian or maybe a little of both. The flamboyant civil rights figure who turned courtrooms into theater to push an agenda of equal rights for all turned into an egocentric attention hound who took any case that would keep him in the limelight. His daughters process their feelings about him in this interesting documentary that takes a complex look at a complex man. [zee] June 2, 4:30 pm (SIFF Cinema); June 4, 7:00 pm (SIFF Cinema)

Animated Enemies with James Forsher [siff ^[10]] : Propaganda films have been a tool of politicans since the Spanish American war. Cartoons attacking the enemy were particularly popular during the World Wars and WWII saw a bonanza of animated appeals aimed at encouraging hatred of the enemies of the day. Local film historian Dr. James Forsher of Seattle University curates a selection of these vintage pieces. Appealing to history fans of all sorts. [zee] June 2, 7:00 pm (SIFF Cinema)

The Whole Truth [siff ^[11]] : Filmed in various locations around Seattle, this “screwball comedy” starring Law & Order’s last-minute lesbian as an acting coach who makes shady defendants appealing sees its world premiere at SIFF. Hijinks ensue when she finds out that one of her clients is on the lamb with a lust for blood. [josh] June 2, 9:30 pm (Pacific Place); June 3, 4:30 pm (Pacific Place).

Art and Copy [siff ^[12]] : Prior to the 1960’s, advertising was a staid industry; Madison Avenue executives designed campaigns that were all variations on the same limited themes, about as exciting as a grey flannel suit. That all changed when groups of rebellious creative types, bored with the same old thing, came along and changed the rules with exciting, unusual ad campaigns that didn’t just sell products but actually changed lives. An absorbing look at just how powerful creative work can be. [zee] June 3, 7:15 pm (Pacific Place); June 5, 1:15 pm (Pacific Place)

Sweet Crude [siff ^[13]] : Seattle filmmakers risked their freedom to make this documentary about the Nigerian oil industry; they returned with this story of corporate greed and environmental devastation. June 3, 7:00 pm (Egyptian); June 7, 1:30 pm (Kirkland); June 13, 1:30 pm (Egyptian)

Prodigal Sons [siff ^[14]] : Kimberly Reed goes back to her hometown in Montana for her high-school reunion and the fact that they all knew her as Paul, the captain of the football team, is actually the smallest of the surprises in this intriguing, intimate look at a family with a history more colorful and complicated than most. Every bombshell dropped is followed by an even bigger one as the film examines the tangled mass of sometimes completely contradictory feelings shared by siblings who both love and resent one another. [zee] June 3, 9:30 pm (Pacific Place); June 6, 11:00 am (Pacific Place)

True Adolescents [siff ^[15]] : You can tell this movie was made by a local, because for once the local scenery is used not just as a colorful backdrop but as the integral part of the whole that it is. Amiable but shiftless Sam is the lead singer of a band (played by local favorites The Blakes) whom he believes are thisclose to a major label deal. Superstardom awaits, but in the meantime, his had-enough girlfriend has just made him homeless so Sam has take advantage of his aunt’s hospitality, not for the first time. When he gets talked into taking his teenaged cousin Oliver and Oliver’s best friend Jake for a camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula, well, that’s when all the trouble starts and thank goodness for that. [zee] June 4, 9:30 pm (Egyptian); June 6, 1:30 pm (Egyptian)

Katia’s Sister  [siff ^[16]] : Young teen Lucia is quiet, plain, and very lonely living in a seedy part of Amsterdam with her mother and her beloved older sister. The Russian immigrants hoped for a better life but mom is forced to turn tricks and Katia’s greatest aspiration becomes a gig at the local strip club. Lucia retreats even further into herself, alienating the one person who is nearly a friend to her, as she watches her family fall further and further down into despair. Can she keep her optimism in a world that offers no reward for it? [zee] June 4, 4:30 pm (SIFF Cinema); June 9, 9:30 pm (Egyptian)