Here’s hoping that the weekend’s mixed weather provided you ample opportunities to get a first taste of #SIFForty, but perhaps not so many that you’ve already memorized the full series of three to five SIFFvertisements that precede every screening. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. There will be plenty of time for that in the remaining twentyish days still ahead.
This week starts off with a tribute to Chiwetel Ejiofor at the Egyptian followed by a screening of Half of a Yellow Sun. If this event even holds half a candle to the exceptional conversation between Laura Dern (the other recipient of this year’s SIFF Award for Outstanding Acting) and Elvis Mitchell on Saturday, it should be a real treat for all.
On Thursday, ShortsFest opens at SIFF Cinema and Megan Griffith’s Lucky Them is the opening selection for the Renton contingent. The film is followed by a party and SIFF hangs out at the IKEA Performing Arts Center through Wednesday the 28th.
Below, a few other picks for your weekday film agendas:
Last Year at Marienbad : Alain Resnais time-space puzzle in a grand hotel won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1961, probably confused and intoxicated you on DVD, and is now available in newly-restored 35mm print. Fall under its spell again and dissect the hypnotic logic of the film with fellow fans over cocktails.
- May 20, 2014 6:30 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
Mirage Men : Unpack your “I WANT TO BELIEVE” poster, don your Lone Gunmen t-shirt, and fire-up your tin-foil helmet for this documentary that alleges that the government wasn’t covering up UFOs, but instead was planting and encouraging stories to distract from other more secretive affairs. Conspiracy theorists and counter intelligence officers try to make sense of the origins and consequences of UFO mythology.
- May 20, 2014 9:30 PM AMC Pacific Place
- May 21, 2014 4:00 PM Egyptian Theatre
A Brony Tale : Meet the dudes who unironically love “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” as they meet one of its voice actress stars (Ashleigh Ball)without the trouble of attending BronyCon yourself. Director Brent Hodge will be there to answer all of your pony-related questions.
- May 22, 2014 9:30 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
- May 24, 2014 11:00 AM Egyptian Theatre
Chris’s picks:
Razing the Bar : A documentary from director Ryan Worsley that pays loving tribute to the Funhouse, the great dive bar/rock club across the street from Seattle Center that was torn down to make way for another apartment building. The film examines gets musicians and bar staff to rhapsodize about what its closure means for the direction of Seattle’s music scene.
- May 20, 2014 9:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
- May 27, 2014 9:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
My Last Year with the Nuns : Local theater bigwig Bret Fetzer’s very funny feature debut reminds viewers who are nostalgic for “Old Capitol Hill” are reminded of a time when Catholics controlled the neighborhood. This story is told as a memoir of a year in monologist Matt Smith’s childhood of teenage rebellion.
- May 21, 2014 6:30 AM Egyptian Theatre
- May 26, 2014 11:00 AM Egyptian Theatre
Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory: In this doc, technology helps elderly Alzheimer’s and dementia patients reclaim pieces of their souls, as social worker Dan Cohen introduces iPods to a nursing home.
- May 19, 2014 7:00 PM Pacific Place
Rags and Tatters: A fugitive in revolution-spattered Egypt scrambles to get horrific cell phone footage of police brutality out to the rest of the world in this critically-lauded Egyptian drama.
- May 20, 2014 6:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
- May 24, 2014 11:00 AM Harvard Exit
Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus: Think this country treats its subversive artists crappily? The Belarus Free Theatre’s endured KGB bullying and exile for thumbing a nose defiantly at the implacable monster that is the Communist dictatorship strangling their homeland.
- May 21, 2014 9:30 PM Pacific Place
- May 23, 2014 4:00 PM Pacific Place
Rigor Mortis: If you’re the right kind of nightcrawling cinephile, the prospect of a new Hong Kong hopping-vampire shocker will fill your soul with much joy.
- May 23, 2014 Midnight Egyptian
- May 24, 2014 10: 00 PM Pacific Place
- May 25, 2014 8:30 PM Renton IKEA Pac
If your weekend was overcrowded, these previously recommended films have additional screenings this week: Tom at the Farm : (May 20, 2014 4:00 PM Harvard Exit); Witching and Bitching (May 20, 2014 9:30 PM Egyptian); Ida (May 21, 2014 7:00 PM Harvard Exit)
Keep track of the SunBreak’s SIFF coverage on our SIFF 2014 page, plus news updates and micro-reviews on Twitter @theSunBreak.
