A Word on the 2023 Seattle International Film Festival

Hi all! The Seattle International Film Festival starts today and runs through Sunday, May 21 for in-person screenings, while streaming runs from May 22-28. As I've been a bit busy planning a wedding (mine) and will be using all my vacation time for that event, I won't be covering it this year, and since it …

Final Thoughts

Changes Many changes separated this festival from past ones. Besides it being a hybrid festival, it was a shorter festival, lasting for 11 days (14 with press screenings) as opposed to the usual 25 days (30 or so with press screenings). Here are other differences I noticed: Press screenings were at the Uptown this year, …

Closing Night Film and Gala — Sunday, April 24

Despite this being my 11th SIFF, I've never been to the Closing Night Film. Unlike Opening Night, where there's often been room for staff to attend, Closing Night tends to sell out early in the festival, so while I've often gone to the Gala, I've always skipped the movie. If there was any year that …

Final Weekend Round-Up

Note: The Closing Night Movie & Gala will be covered in a separate post. Friday, April 22 The Passenger (Raul Cerezo, Fernando Gomez, 2021, Spain, 90 min) -- 9:30PM @ Pac Place 11 Photo courtesy of SIFF Of all the venues I've been to, Pac Place is the hardest to take pictures in. So, since …

Mid-week Roundup

Tuesday, April 19 Phantom of the Open (Craig Roberts, 2021, United Kingdom, 106 min) -- 4:00PM @ Egyptian Photo courtesy of SIFF The positives of Phantom of the Open are that it's funny and features strong acting from Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins. The negatives are that the plot follows familiar beats in this tale …

Monday Mayhem

If I told you I saw three great films in one day, would you believe me? And yet the riches reaped on Monday dwarfed the amount of rain that fell that afternoon. The King of Laughter (Mario Martone, 2021, Italy/Spain, 133 min) -- 12:30pm @ Uptown 1 Photo courtesy of SIFF First we start with …

Weekend Roundup

Saturday, April 16 Children of the Mist (Hà Lệ Diễm, 2021, Vietnam, 92 min) -- 9:30pm @ Pac14 Photo courtesy of SIFF This movie disturbed me so much that I accidentally ripped through the wrong number when voting on it. This documentary starts with a young girl named Di, walking through a cucumber patch and …

Opening Night — Thursday, April 14 @ 7:00pm

the Red carpet With the return of an in-person Seattle International Film Festival, I decided to say "yes" to new experiences. And that is how I ended up taking photos on the Red Carpet. Beth Barrett, SIFF Artistic DirectorMarried couple: Ben Camp and director Megan Griffiths (I'll Show You Mine)Director Daniel Roher and Beth BarrettThe …

Press Screenings: Day Four

For people who were hoping to hear about day two and three of the press screenings: sorry, I wasn't there. But I was there for day four, and while I was hoping for Aloha Thursday vibes, only a few of us brought the love. Sublime (Mariano biasin, 2022, argentina, 100 min) Photo courtesy of SIFF …

Press Screenings: Day One

Along with other changes to the 2022 Seattle International Film Festival from past years is that, instead of press screenings starting a couple weeks early and ending the final week of the festival, they’re only running April 11-14, while the festival proper begins the night of the 14th and runs through the 24th. Due to …