Keep track of all The SunBreak’s festival coverage on our SIFF 2013 page.

We’ve made it through two full weeks of the Seattle International Film Festival, which means that we’ll reach the halfway point of the film fest this weekend. If you’re looking for a brief respite from cinema, might we suggest drinks, DJs, and modern art, care of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection at SAM Remix next Friday night?

A momentary pause during a month-long film festival is allowed. Keep yourself hydrated and remember to pace yourself, for SIFF is a marathon, not a sprint. With that in mind, allow us to help you take a closer look at what’s showing the next few days.

The weekend’s special event is Saturday’s Centerpiece Gala at the DAR Hall in association with Twenty Feet from Stardom: Morgan Neville brings four singers — Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, and Judith Hill — “out from the shadows of superstardom” to track the contributions and sacrifices of backup singers in shaping the sound of modern pop music. Although the film focuses on these musicians, it gets a dose of celebrity through interviews with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonderand , Mick Jagger, who recount magic moments from legendary recording sessions. (Director Morgan Neville and backup singers Merry Clayton and Tata Vega scheduled to attend; singers will perform songs following the Centerpiece Gala screening.)

• June 1, 2013 5:30 PM Egyptian Theatre, followed by Gala at DAR Hall
• June 2, 2013 4:00 PM Egyptian Theatre

The Otherside: Also on the music tip, a filmed chronicle of the current Seattle hip-hop has been long overdue, and first-time feature-film director Daniel Torok’s filled that void. The meteoric rise of Macklemore is reputedly a key focus, but expect live footage from some of this town’s finest crews, including Blue Scholars, Fresh Espresso, Massive Monkees, Champagne Champagne, and more, more, more. Tonight’s World Premiere tickets are sold out, but tickets for the screening on Sunday, June 2, are still available.

• May 31, 2013 7:00 PM, SIFF Cinema Uptown
• June 2, 2013 8:30 PM, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Blackfish: Watch killer whales live up to their nickname. Gabriella Cowperthwaite employs shocking footage of bull orca Tilikum, who caused the death of three people while in captivity, to launch a conversation about the ethics of keeping whales in theme parks to amuse audiences with silly orca tricks.

• June 1, 2013 11:00 AM AMC Pacific Place 11

Town Hall: Tonight marks the premiere of this documentary, which captures a couple years in the lives of two Tea-Party wingnuts in Pennsylvania.

• May 31, 2013 7:00 PM AMC Pacific Place 11
• June 1, 2013 2:30 PM Kirkland Performance Center

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a 2006 horror flick whose mystique has grown over the years, partially because of its elusiveness (it’s never seen the light of day stateside), and partly because of its pedigree (director Jonathan Levine’s since helmed the dramedy 50/50 and the recent adaptation of Isaac Marion’s rom-zom-com novel, Warm Bodies). Overlooked gems are a relatively rare species in horror cinema, so seeing it before it gets an overdue U.S. release late summer should be a real treat for genre fans.

• May 31, 2013 Midnight, Egyptian Theatre
• June 2, 2013 8:00 PM Kirkland Performance Center

SOMM: The rank of Master Sommelier has only been bestowed on 200 people in the last forty years, and SIFF continues its documentary winning streak with SOMM, a strong doc that follows a handful of candidates studying to become the wine-world equivalent of a Black Belt.

• June 2, 2013 4:00 PM, SIFF Cinema Uptown
• June 4, 2013, Kirkland Performance Center

The Guillotines: SIFF has nabbed a couple of solid slices of Hong Kong action cinema this go-around, but tomorrow night at midnight looks to be your only chance during SIFF 2013 to catch the latest from Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau. Any movie that combines lavish historic detail with, um, head-lopping flying guillotines deserves a look.

• June 2, 2013 4:00 PM, SIFF Cinema Uptown

The Danish are coming! This weekend brings a duo of Danish films featuring a painter’s wife and teenage thugs.

Northwest: Danish director Michael Noer’s newest crime thriller isn’t quite R, his — criminally? — under-appreciated earlier film, but this new outing, set in a crime-ridden Copenhagen of the same name, is praised as tough and absorbing. A teenage petty thief gets caught up in a rivalry between two gangs — one from his ‘hood, one from a neighboring area. Noer cast a non-actor, Gustav Dyekjær Giese, as the lead, along with his real-life younger brother.

• June 3, 2013 9:30 PM Egyptian Theatre
• June 9, 2013 11:00 AM Harvard Exit

Marie Krøyer: Bille August returns with the story of Marie (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen), an artist and muse of the painter P.S. Krøyer, whose mental illness makes him increasingly unsuitable husband material. We’re told Denmark has never looked so beautiful, even though Krøyer’s story isn’t exactly upbeat.

• May 31, 2013 4:00 PM Egyptian Theatre
• June 4, 2013 9:30 PM Egyptian Theatre