We’ve passed the halfway point in the Seattle International Film Festival. To celebrate making it this far, get yourself all prettied up and head to the Centerpiece Gala on Saturday night. Following a screening of Landline — which reunites the Obvious Child team for a 90s-set comedy in which sisters try to expose their father’s mysterious affair — the party will move to the always-lovely D.A.R. Chapter House on Capitol Hill. Director Gillian Robespierre and actors Jenny Slate & Abby Quinn scheduled to attend; tickets are currently on standby so show up early if you haven’t already scored a ticket. The film gets another screening on Sunday afternoon, also on dreaded standby.
Some other picks to consider for the weekend below:
Chris
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Infinity Baby. This sounds like a hilarious concept, with a bunch of very funny people in the cast who could pull it off: Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, Noël Wells, the guy who plays Gilfoyle on “Silicon Valley” and Mr. James from “Newsradio.” It’s the not-too-distant dystopian future where adults who don’t want to put in the effort of child-raising can purchase an “infinity baby,” which never ages past 3 months and never cries. I want to watch the movie to find out why that’s a bad thing.
- FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – AMC Pacific Place – 9:30 PM
- SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – Ark Lodge Cinema – 3:30 PM
(Director Bob Byington scheduled to attend both screenings)
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The Dumb Girl of Portici. If you only have time for one female-directed, lost-for-nearly-100-years, romance, be sure to make it this legendary film from 1916 by director Lois Weber and starring ballerina Anna Pavlova in her only film role.
- SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – AMC Pacific Place – 11:30 AM
Also on my radar: Chameleon (Chilean thriller where an uninvited guest causes some torment to a wealthy lesbian couple), May God Save Us (Things are bad in Madrid in 2011: austerity is sweeping through Europe, a serial killer is killing old ladies, and they’re preparing for a visit from the modern era’s worst Pope in this Spanish thriller), and The Truth About Love Is… (because there’s no “Saved You a Click” for film, yet).
Josh
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I, Daniel Blake. 2016 Ken Loach Palme d’Or winner navigates the British welfare system through the intersection of a struggling single mother and a recuperating carpenter forced by the system to seek work despite the advice of his cardiologist.
- FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – AMC Pacific Place – 7:00 PM
- MONDAY, JUNE 5 – AMC Pacific Place – 4:30 PM
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Bad Influence. In the remote Chilean mountain community, an unlikely friendship develops between a city boy on parole for petty crimes and an indigenous teen whose community is threatened by the encroachment of a local mill.
- SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 6:30 PM
- SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 2:00 PM
(Actor Andrew Bargsted scheduled to attend both screenings)
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My Journey Through French Cinema. Spend a little over three hours with Bernard Tavernier as he navigates fifty years of film by way of the actors, directors, and collaborators who made contributions across decades and genres.
- SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – SIFF Film Center – 3:00 PM
- FRIDAY, JUNE 9 – SIFF Film Center – 7:00 PM
Also on my radar: A look behind the scenes at The Paris Opera and competition film My Happy Family (a Georgian woman finally gets some peace from her oppressive family). Plus, repeat screenings of a few of my current festival favorites: Cuba documentary Give Me Future (Friday); Iranian supernatural noir A Dragon Arrives! (Saturday); Italian factory dama 7 Minutes (Saturday).
Odawni
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Chronicles of Hari. SIFF says: “Hari lives in a coastal town in southern India, where he is renowned for his work playing female characters in traditional yakshagana theatre, but as the performance begins to seep into his daily life, Hari finds himself trapped between genders amid a prejudiced society”
- SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 7:30 PM
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At the End of the Tunnel. SIFF says: “Wheelchair user and computer geek Joaquin is thrust into a dangerous game of survival, double-cross, and redemption when he discovers his new neighbors, including a single mother whom he has feelings for, are planning a bank heist by tunneling below his home.”
- FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 4:00 PM
- SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – SIFF Cinema Egyptian – 9:00 PM
- SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – Ark Lodge Cinemas – 8:00 PM
(Director Rodrigo Grande scheduled to attend all three screenings)
Also on my radar: American Folk (strangers on the road, healing after 9/11); plus the aforementioned 7 minuti (7 Minutes) and The Dumb Girl of Portici.
Tony
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Lane 1974. I’ve been following SJ Chiro’s evocative period drama ardently since it made a splash at SxSW last march. I’ve elaborated at greater length about it elsewhere, but long story short, I think it’s (maybe) the strongest NW feature I’ve seen all SIFF.
- FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – SIFF Cinema Egyptian – 7:00 PM
- SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 2:30 PM
(Director/Screenwriter S.J. Chiro and Producer Jennessa West scheduled to attend both screenings)
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Without Name. Lorcan Finnegan’s reputedly creepy Irish eco-horror movie has stirred some buzz around the horror-geek campfire, so obviously I need to be jumping on it.
- FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – SIFF Cinema Uptown – 9:30 PM
- SUNDAY, JUNE 4 – SIFF Cinema Egyptian – 9:30 PM
Also on my radar: The last screening of the previously-recommended A Dragon Arrives!; this weekend’s midnight offering, Jungle Trap, a low-fi (and reportedly nuts) shot-on-video oddity about homicidal, head-lopping jungle ghosts; Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey (doc about legendary NW mountaineer Fred Beckey)
Keep track of the SunBreak’s SIFF coverage on our SIFF 2017 page, plus news updates and micro-reviews on Twitter @theSunBreak.
