Remember, the Seattle International Film Festival is a marathon three weeks, not a sprint. Heck, there are enough parties to exhaust the heartiest partier (Saturday night’s party following the screening of The Trip to Spain will be the second SIFF fete in only three days!).
Somewhere amidst the bacchanalia, however, you’ll want to squeeze in some films. Here are the SIFF selections we’re especially excited to see this weekend.
Special Events
- The Trip to Spain. The third installation in Michael Winterbottom’s ongoing collaboration with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon finds the friends reuniting for even more eating, drinking, and talking, this time in Spain. The screening is followed by the “First Saturday” Party at the new SIFF Lounge in their new home at the Pan Pacific Hotel. (May 20, 2017, Pacific Place 7:00 PM; with a regular non-party screening on May 21 at SIFF Cinema Uptown – 11:00 AM already on standby)
Josh’s Picks
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Beach Rats. Harris Dickinson makes his debut in Eliza Hittman’s coming of age story about a Brooklyn teen who’s heteronormative by day but cruises explicit gay chat rooms by night. The film made a splash at Sundance this year where critics praised the lead perfomer’s screen debut and Eric Kohn at Indiewire called it “Quite possibly the best movie set in Coney Island since Little Fugitive.”
- SATURDAY, MAY 20 – SIFF Cinema Egyptian – 7:00 PM
- SUNDAY, MAY 21 – SIFF Cinema Egyptian – 1:30 PM
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Give Me Future. Although I’m not really a huge fan of reggae-tinged electro trio Major Lazer, this documentary about Diplo and friends playing a concert for half a million fans in Havana sounds like it uses an EDM show as a fascinating window on Cuba’s youth, politics, and the somewhat delayed arrival of the 21st century on the island nation.
- FRIDAY, MAY 18 – 19 SIFF Cinema Uptown – 8:30 PM (Director Austin Peters scheduled to attend)
- SATURDAY MAY 20 – Majestic Bay – 3:30 PM (Director Austin Peters scheduled to attend)
- FRIDAY JUNE 2 – Ark Lodge Cinemas – 9:00 PM
Also on my radar: A Dragon Arrives (Iran mocku-noir), The Farthest (Voyager spacecraft documentary), and The Force (Multi-year look inside the troubled Oakland police department)
Chris’s Picks
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Entanglement. Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch stars as a suicidal man who discovers his parents have been keeping a secret from him for his entire life: that they adopted, and subsequently gave up, a baby girl, and it’s the same woman he met-cute the day before learning the lie of omission. It all happened before he was born, so maybe it never came up in conversation?
- FRIDAY, MAY 19 – Majestic Bay – 9:15 PM (Director Jason James, writer Jason Filiatrault, actress Diana Bang, producer Amber Ripley scheduled to attend)
- SATURDAY, MAY 20 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 2:00 PM (Director Jason James, producer Amber Ripley scheduled to attend)
- WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 – Lincoln Square (Bellevue) – 9:15 PM
Tony’s Picks
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Animal Crackers. The Pre-Code movies of the Marx Brothers sport enough establishment-trashing wit to make ’em darn near ageless. So it reputedly goes with this restoration of their 1930-vintage sophomore feature. This is one Marx Brothers movie I haven’t seen, and it still sports quips that elicit guffaws (“There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to do before I quit: Retire.”).
- SATURDAY, MAY 20 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 1:30 PM
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Chavela. I’m a sponge for music docs, so this study of Mexican folk singer Chavela Vargas–a cigar-chomping, feisty lesbian with a truly unearthly voice–sounds like catnip to me.
- FRIDAY, MAY 20 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 6:00 PM (standby only: Director Catherine Gund scheduled to attend)
- SATURDAY MAY 21 – Pacific Place – 11:00 AM
Odawni’s Picks
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Time Trap. An attractive cast spelunking in mysterious caves and a rift in the space-time continuum – what’s not to like? If you’re familiar with The Goonies references and have been biting your nails in wait for Stranger Things, Season 2, you must watch this. Filmmakers Ben Foster and Mark Dennis collaborate again to create a fun sci-fi/suspense film.
- FRIDAY, MAY 19 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 9:00 PM (Directors Mark Dennis & Ben Foster, Producer Zachary Matz and select cast/crew scheduled to attend)
- SATURDAY, MAY 20 – AMC Pacific Place – 4:00 PM (Directors Mark Dennis & Ben Foster, Producer Zachary Matz and select cast/crew scheduled to attend)
- TUESDAY, MAY 30 – Shoreline – 6:30 PM
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Crazywise. Directors/Producers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson’s second project take a peek into the lives of two young Americans, Adam and Ekhaya, who live with psychosis and depression, respectively. Each explores alternative treatments for what Western medicine has labeled as mental “illness.” Interviews with Western mental health professionals unearth a growing tendency toward healing through non-clinical, spiritual means.
- SUNDAY, MAY 21 – Majestic Bay – 1:00 PM (Directors/Producers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson scheduled to attend)
- MONDAY, MAY 22 – AMC Pacific Place – 7:00 PM (Directors/Producers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson scheduled to attend)
Also on my radar: Tea Pets (Chinese Pixar-esque animated adventure), Lake Bodum (Finnish teen slasher set at a lake), Moka (French psychological thriller about a vengeful Mom whose son dies in a hit-and-run).
Keep track of the SunBreak’s SIFF coverage on our SIFF 2017 page, plus news updates and micro-reviews on Twitter @theSunBreak.
