By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
SIFF Dispatch: I Went to SIFF, and My Car Got Raptured
Well, not so much raptured as stolen during a SIFF screening in broad daylight on a Sunday morning. No joke.
This morning I took my son Jaxon to see the second of his Youth Jury films, Sound of Mumbai. I’ve wanted to see this one myself, so I was excited to go. Today also happened to be the day of my daughter Neve’s Coming of Age service at church (kind of the Unitarian equivalent of a Bat Mitzvah if you’re Jewish, or Confirmation if you’re of the Catholic peruasion. Pretty big deal). So I got up early and took Jaxon to the 9AM service, figuring I’d be out in time to get us to Renton for the screening at 11AM.
We made the screening, which was at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center, adjacent to (or maybe part of?) Renton High School. Parked the car right by the sidewalk, in full view of the entrance. Made sure to lock the car, because it’s Renton. There was a church service, I heard, also going on on the same campus. In other words, lots and lots of people milling about, broad daylight. Performing arts center parking lot.
We got there at 11AM, got out of the screening at 12:30, car was gone. Raptured? Stolen? Probably teens taking it for a joy ride, or to steal the stereo, so sayeth the bored and nonchalant cop who came out to take the report. Of course he can be bored and nonchalant, it’s not his car. Their find rate on stolen vehicles is pretty high in Renton, so sayeth the clerk at the police station who filed the affidavit for us.
The car is fully insured, at any rate, so if it’s found but damaged, we can get it fixed, and if it’s not found they’ll replace it. But still, criminy. It very disconcerting to walk out of a theater after a feel-good movie, discussing it with my son, on our way back to the church to be there in time for the potluck celebration, and find my car gone.
I do have to add, the volunteers working the screening, one of whom may have been the venue manager, were nothing but helpful in trying to resolve things. One of them (I’m so sorry, I didn’t get your name, but thank you) called the police for me, then stayed with us until they go there. She was great. And it’s not SIFF’s fault that it happened. C’est la vie.
I’ll have more on Sound of Mumbai, and also on Jess + Moss, which I finally caught up with last night, soonish. Right now, I need a cup of hot tea.
By the bye, if you are in Seattle, Without screens tonight at Harvard Exit at 9:30PM and tomorrow at the Egyptian at 4:30PM. Go see it. You’ll like it.