By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
Seattle International Film Festival 2009 Preview
The Seattle International Film Festival opens tonight with a Gala screening of fest openerIn the Loop, followed by a big party, which will probably be very crowded and very loud, like most festival parties, but hopefully fun, too. Folks here in Seattle get excited about parties and films, and when you put both together, we might even get so excited we dig in our closets for something besides jeans.
SIFF holds a special place in my heart, both because it’s the very first festival I covered as a critic, and, of course, because it’s in my hometown. When I tell my fellow fest-circuit junkies about SIFF, they can hardly wrap their minds around the idea of a fest of over 350 films lasting 25 days. How can a fest (and its staff and volunteers) possibly sustain energy over so long a schedule? How can they get butts in seats for over three weeks of often obscure, artsy films? I don’t know how they do it, but they do.
Here’s a peek at some of the highlights of this year’s SIFF. You can find out more about specific films, categories or schedules at the SIFF 2009 Website.
Alternate Cinema
The alternate cinema section of SIFF is where you’ll find the more experimental features (both narrative and documentary) and shorts in the fest. Some of the films from this slate I’m hoping to check out: It Came from Kuchar, a doc exploring Mike and George Kuchar’s life, work and fans; and FILM IST . a girl & a gun, an Austrian film that intrigued me by this program description: Gustav Deutsch combines archival pornography with World War I footage and really old nature films. The result is an essay on sex and violence and the children born of that union, written entirely with editing choices and music. Your interpretation may vary.
Okay … how can I NOT check that out?
Archival Presentations
Much as I enjoy seeing new things I haven’t seen before at a film fest, I also love seeing old films I’ve never seen on a big screen before they way they were meant to be seen. This year, the archival section boasts so many good choices that I’m going to be hard-pressed to choose just one or two: Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood? Blake Edwards’The Great Race? Antonioni’s Le Amiche? Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West? Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (pictured, above)? Carol Reed’s The Third Man? Sun Yu’s 1932 silent film Wild Rose? Or perhaps John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence? How am I supposed to choose among those? And that’s just one section of the fest catalog … well, hell. I may have to squeeze as many of these into my schedule as possible, come what may. Note to self: cancel “sleep” from schedule for the next 25 days …
Contemporary World Cinema
The largest program at SIFF, Contemporary World Cinema features recent offerings from both masters of cinema and up-and-comers. Fortunately, I’ve already seen some of the films in this section, so I can focus on those I haven’t, particularly those that aren’t as likely to be released here anytime soon.
Possibilities include Russian epic The Admiral, Amreeka, Baby Love (which explores the issue of gay adoption in France), the potentially amusing French film Beauties at War, Boy(from Aureaus Solito, who previously made The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, which I liked), Bronson, Japanese flick The Dark Harbor, and the Oscar-winning Departures.
And I’m just getting started. There’s also — are you kidding me? — Danish film Fear Me Not(pictured, above), which is directed by Kristian Levring and written by Anders Thomas Jensen, who also wrote and directed the excellent Adam’s Apples. That’s a MUST see.
Then there’s South Korean fantasy/horror entry Hansel and Gretel, Spanish tale In Your Absence, The Karamazovs from the Czech Republic, Palestinian film Laila’s Birthday, Chilean entry The Maid (which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance) andSnow from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Oh, and Spring Breakdown, which I skipped at a previous fest and then heard is actually very good. Oh, man — and Zift, too — because you just can’t have too many Bulgarian neo-noir thrillers.
Documentary Competition and Documentary Films
SIFF’s documentary competition features eight films this year and I’ve actually not seen any of them. The slate includes Defamation (Israel), El General (Mexico), The Fortress(Switzerland), Garbage Dreams (USA), Kimjongilia (France), Manhole Children (Japan),The Red Race (China) and talhotblond (USA).
The documentary slate overall looks pretty solid, though there are at least a couple of excellent films I know were submitted and not accepted to the fest that I think are better than some of the films on the list (and no, I’m not saying which ones. Go see the docs on the SIFF slate and make your own judgment). I’m most interested in catching Afghan Star, The Garden, Manhole Children, Unmistaken Child and We Live in Public.
Also: Films from this section I recommend, aside from the ones I want to see: Prodigal Sons(an interesting flick that played at Telluride last year) and The Cove.
Emerging Masters
There are three directors highlighted in this section: South Korea’s Lee Yoon-ki (My Dear Enemy, This Charming Girl); Argentina’s Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman and La Cienaga, which I’ve not seen); and Czech Republic’s Bohdan Slama (The Country Teacher, Wild Bees). Of these, I’ve only see The Headless Woman (pictured above, and highly recommended), but I hope to catch the rest of this slate.
Face the Music
Love film AND music? This might be the section of the SIFF program for you. With an eclectic slate ranging from Bruce Springsteen (Bruce Springsteen: Live in Barcelona) to the Baile Funk from Brazil’s favelas (Favela on Blast), from jazz (Icons Among Us) to the creative genius of Seattle-based artist/inventor Trimpin, there’s something for every music lover in the Face the Music offerings.
Films4Families
Between SIFF and Northwest Film Forum, there’s plenty of oppurtunity in Seattle for young cinema buffs (or pretentious parents like myself who enjoy introducing our kids to foreign language and not-so-mainstream films) experience something new in film. This year SIFF’s family-friendly offers a nice selection of shorts, along with Robin Hood (mentioned above), a 29-minute Wallace and Gromit, and animated features from Russia, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, Thailand and the USA. Pretty cool, stuff, and they’ll be reading the subtitles aloud at the foreign ones.
Galas
The Galas are always in high demand, in part because they come packaged with that desirable combination of prestige and celebrity that we don’t get a whole lot of here in Seattle. And there are parties afterwards, with cocktails and snacks, which is a nice side benefit in a recession. There are three Gala screenings this year, for opener In the Loop, Humpday(directed by Seattle’s own Lynn Shelton), and closing night film OSS-117: Lost in Rio, the follow-up to OSS-117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, which won the SIFF Audience Award in 2006.
Midnight Adrenaline
The midnight films at any fest are a nice break from all the indie family/relationship dramas, docs, and foreign fare. This year, Seattle has eight films in its late-night lineup, and the midnight screenings are all at one of my favorite Seattle theaters, The Egyptian. The Egyptian is conveniently located near a slew of Capitol Hill bars, so you can go get your drinking on and still make the show, or grab a late coffee at one of the many Cap Hill coffee shops to keep the caffeine buzz going. I’m looking forward to catching Black Dynamite, which I missed at Sundance. Other midnight options include zombie Nazis (Dead Snow), dead/not dead girls (Deadgirl), zombie babies (Grace), horror films run amuk (The Hills Run Red), graverobbers and corpses (I Sell the Dead), murdering psycho chicks (Sexykiller) and dead people (I Can See Dead People, not to be confused with The Sixth Sense).
New Directors Showcase
The New Directors series features 12 directors. Each film has to either be the first or second film by the director, and be without US distrib at the time fo the selection. This year’s films are an eclectic mix; I’m particulary interested in My Suicide and Inland, but hopefully I’ll have a chance to check out at least other selections from this slate.
Northwest Connections
This regional section, which you find at many fests these days, can be hit or miss, though there are some films on the program that I know to be good, and others I’ve either heard good things about or am just interested in seeing. I’m intrigued by Dancing Across Borders(pcitured, above), a film about a Cambodian boy who was discovered dancing on the streets by the filmmaker, who helped him become a ballet dancer (he now dances for Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet). I’m also curious to see The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, which is supposed to be bizarre, but in a good way, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention and It Takes a Cult, about the Israel Family (aka The Love Family). Also recommended from this slate: True Adolescents and Humpday (both of which, coincidentally, star Mark Duplass).
I’m also looking forward to the Fly Filmmaking Challenge, wherein three local filmmakers are given five days to write, five to shoot, and five to edit a short film. This is always one of the most fun parts of SIFF, and I’m looking forward to seeing just what this year’s entrants come up with.
-by Kim Voynar
