An embarrassment of cinematic riches awaits film fest attendees this Memorial Day Weekend, so let’s just hop right in, shall we? For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.

Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde Cinema  Ace documentarian Chuck Workman serves up a great primer on Underground Cinema, with Anthology Archives curator and filmmaker Mekas functioning as a charming epicenter. Marilyn Brakhage (widow of underground film legend Stan Brakhage) and Workman will be attending. (May 28, 4:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)

Wheedle’s Groove  Seattle’s long-overlooked 1970s funk/soul scene gets some overdue props in this documentary, with everyone from Quincy Jones to Mark Arm to Sir Mix-a-Lot weighing in. (May 28, 4:30 p.m. @ Everett Performing Arts Center; May 30, 9:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema–the latter screening is sold-out, but rush tickets may still be available)

Farewell  In SIFF’s Centerpiece Gala film, an unassuming French engineer working in Moscow gets pulled into big time international espionage, thanks to a high-level comrade disaffected with the course of communism. The spycraft hovers on the edge of untrained sloppiness, infusing the whole endeavor with a growing sense of dread as the consequences of their subterfuge take a toll on their personal lives. The build to the suspenseful finale is a slow burn, but well earned. (May 29, 6:30 p.m. @ The Egyptian; May 31, 3:00 p.m. @ Everett; June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Uptown)

Cane Toads: The Conquest–in 3D  They’re louder, they’re fatter, they’re wartier, they’re peskier…and they’re in eye-popping 3D, for God’s sake! (May 28, 7:00 p.m. @ The Neptune)

Restrepo  Described as a non-fiction companion piece to The Hurt Locker, this doc follows the progress of several U.S. soldiers doing battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan’s peril-fraught Korengal Valley. (May 28, 6:30 p.m @ Harvard Exit; May 29, 3:45 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)

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Southern District  Director Juan Carlos Valdivia tells a Bolivian Upstairs, Downstairs tale with languid circular shots and a largely amateur cast. The trailer portends a most visually stunning feature. (May 28, 6:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place; May 29, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)

The Hedgehog  Cute but imperfect film version of the popular novel about a twelve-year-old French girl with a video camera and a suicide pact with herself, the apartment building’s reclusive janitor, and a mysterious new neighbor. [spoiler: attempts to gain gravitas with a surprise death] (May 28, 7:00 p.m. @ Uptown; May 30, 4:00 p.m. @ Uptown)

Senior Prom  World premiere of Mountlake Terrace high school student’s feature film; take that, Shoreline/Shorecrest lipdubbers! (May 28, 7:00 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; June 1, 4:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)

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Ride, Rise, Roar  David Byrne and Brian Eno present their musical stylings in a live setting. Given that Byrne’s last foray into feature-length concert films was one of the greatest ever made, it’s understandable that expectations run high. (May 28, 9:30 p.m. @ The Egyptian; May 29, 1:30 p.m. @ The Egyptian)

Winter’s Bone  A young girl searches for her ne’er-do-well dad in the Missouri Ozarks and discovers lies, secrets, and peril in this much-buzzed-about, Sundance-winning drama-thriller. (May 28, 7:00 p.m. @ The Egyptian; May 30, 1:30 p.m. @ The Egyptian)

RoboGeisha  Sibling rivalry between mechanically-augmented Geisha Girls; enough arterial spray to put the Icelandic volcano to shame; Japanese robo-chicks with circular saws popping from their mouths; swordfights by the score; and acid-spurting mammaries? If that doesn’t read MUST-SEE in bold letters, you’ve stumbled into the wrong SunBreak columnist’s SIFF recommendation list by mistake, Bucky. (May 28, midnight @ The Egyptian; June 8, 10:00 p.m. @ The Neptune)

Life During Wartime  Todd Solondz gilds his sixth film (a semi-sequel to 1998’s Happiness) with an interesting cast (Allison Janney, Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reubens, Ally Sheedy) and a reportedly more-accessible timbre; though with Solondz, “accessible” is likely a relative term. (May 29, 8:30 p.m. @ Uptown; May 31, 8:45 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)

Amer  It’s hard to figure how this strange art-film disguised as a giallo will play with a Midnight Adrenaline crowd. It’s likely too deliberately-paced and arty for cheap-thrill-seeking midnighters, yet too odd and gruesome for the arthouse set. If you’re in the right mindset, though, it’s utterly captivating. (May 29, midnight @ The Egyptian; May 30, 9:30 p.m. @ The Egyptian)

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls  The one-sentence description on the SIFF website pretty much clinches it: “Finally, a documentary film about yodeling lesbian twins.” (May 30, 7:00 p.m. @ The Egyptian; May 31, 11:00 a.m. @ The Egyptian)

Gerrymandering  The time-(dis)honored political tradition of carving out voting districts to favor specific candidates is put under the magnifying glass in this documentary. (May 30, 6:45 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; May 31, 11:00 a.m. @ Harvard Exit)

Marwencol  Truth is stranger–and more emotionally resonant–than fiction in this documentary about a man who works through a memory-destroying and nearly fatal assault by constructing dioramas with GI Joe figures. (May 30, 4:15 p.m. @ The Egyptian; May 31, 6:15 p.m. @ The Egyptian)

Some Days Are Better Than Others James Mercer (the Shins) and Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney) make their surprisingly successful acting debut in this mildly mumblecore meditation set in Portland. He slacks between terrible temp jobs; she volunteers at an animal shelter and dreams that a reality television audition might salvage her from obscure heartbreak. These plots tangentially linger along with those of an elderly experimental filmmaker and a quiet thrift store employee shaken by a particular donation. (May 31, 9:00 p.m. @ The Egyptian; June 1, 4:00 p.m. @ The Egyptian)