Josh: After weeks of moviegoing, hard-core SIFF-goers deserve an adult beverage and a chance to gossip or compare notes with fellow devotees. As such, closing Weekend is overstuffed with special events for those who want to squeeze a little more “festivity” into their SIFF.
First up, the festival celebrates “actor, painter, poet” Viggo Mortensen with a tribute on Saturday afternoon (Egyptian, June 11, 1:30 PM), that includes an onstage interview, presentation of SIFF’s award for outstanding acting, and a screening of Captain Fantastic . If you miss the event, you can also catch Captain Fantastic on Sunday and can keep the Viggo flowing with weekend showings of Eastern Promises, the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and A Walk on the Moon.
On Saturday evening, Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots star in Vegas-set thriller Frank & Lola, follow it up with a party at the Monaco Hotel.
On Sunday afternoon, SIFF honors festival co-founder Dan Ireland with a reception at the Egyptian (June 12, 1:30 PM) who co-founded the festival and died earlier this year. Along with remarks about Ireland’s life and career, the the program will also include clips, short films, trailers, and the screening of a Dan Ireland favorite film: a rare 35mm CinemaScope collector’s print of a romantic comedy that won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The event is free to the public, passholders will get priority entry and, like SIFF’s Secret Festival, the titles of films shown will not be announced or acknowledged before or after this event.
The Dressmaker
The festival closes with The Dressmaker, which finds Kate Winslet returning to 1950s Australia to enliven small town couture and get past some pesky allegations about a murder. Along the way, Liam Hemsworth takes a break from the Hunger Games to help solve the twenty-five-year-old mystery that chased her off to Paris, possibly with a little love along the way. The screening is followed by the always delightful closing gala at MOHAI, which is both a great place for a party as well as for seeing the history of the Great Seattle Fire told in song.
Chicken People
Aside from all of these special events, there are plenty or regular screenings to fill this final weekend of SIFF:
Chicken People. A documentary about the aficionados who aim to breed, show, and claim the prize for the perfect chicken. Best in Show parallels abound. Director Nicole Lucas Haimes and Producer Terry Leonard are scheduled to attend and rumor has it that some prize hens might show up for the Q&A.
June 10, 2016 SIFF Cinema Egyptian 7:00 PM
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown Festival 3:30 PM
Creepy. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s new psychological thriller finds a retired police detective adjusting to life in the suburbs. Just as he gets pulled back into an unsolved missing persons case, he also begins to suspect that his strange next door neighbor may be harboring a secret. When the trailer played before another movie, it seemed utterly terrifying until the the interjection of “CREEEEEEPY” as the only piece of english-language narration broke the spell.
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Egyptian 8:45 PM
Americana
Tony: True to SIFF form, the fest is sneaking in several screenings in the last few days that are totes worth catching:
Americana. Zachary Shedd’s debut, in which an alcoholic film editor researches his sister’s murder, has garnered a lot of positive buzz for its neo-noir in paranoid thriller’s clothing setup. Along with the director, lead actor David Call and other members of the film’s production (Daniel Carbone, Matthew Petock, Lisa Kjerulff) are scheduled to attend.
June 10, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown 4:00 PM
All the Birds Have Flown South. I’m always happy to see Joey Lauren Adams get a chance to shine, and this thriller reputedly delivers the goods.
June 10, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown 6:30 PM
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown 11:30 AM
The Greasy Strangler. I feel like the phrase ‘batshit crazy’ has become so cliché in my lexicon that it’s lost it impact. That said, this trash film about body functions, creepy fashions, and an eyeball-eating, skull-crushing murderer richly earns that label. If it’s one-tenth as nutty as its hype suggests, this could be the, yes, batshit crazy cult movie we’ve been waiting to see all SIFF long. (NSFW Warning for this here trailer.)
June 10, 2016 SIFF Cinema Egyptian 11:55 PM
June 12, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown 8:30 PM
The General. As per usual, SIFF’s unspooled some terrific reissues, so seeing an impeccable new restoration of Buster Keaton’s astonishing 1927 knockabout comic masterpiece par excellence is an absolute must.
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Egyptian 11:00 AM
Chris: Are we really in the last 3 days of this behemoth? When this is over, I’ll have seen over 60 movies, conducted 10+ interviews, and drunk quantities of Sparkle Donkey Tequila only @TheTweetOfGod can comprehend. Here’s a few recommendations I can churn out for the final weekend of SIFF.
The Fits
The Fits. One of SIFF’s very best movies. This movie follows a young, African American tomboy as she joins a prestigious after-school dance class and wants to fit in. Things get confusing when girls on the squad bizarrely start getting convulsions and fainting spells.
June 8, 2016 Ark Lodge Cinema 6:30 PM
June 10, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown Festival 4:30 PM
The Love Witch. This late addition to the SIFF schedule sounds just like it’s in my language. “A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in a vivid tribute to ’60s Technicolor thrillers.”
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown Festival 9:00 PM
Coconut Hero. A 16 year old boy named Mike Tyson attempts suicide repeatedly until he starts to appreciate the joy that is life when he realizes things could be much, much worse for him; he could have been named “Johnny Manziel.”
June 11, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown Festival 2:30 PM
June 12, 2016 SIFF Cinema Uptown Festival 4:30 PM
Keep track of the SunBreak’s SIFF coverage on our SIFF 2016 page, plus news updates and micro-reviews on Twitter @theSunBreak.