41st Seattle International Film Festival (2015)

Connecting Our Community

Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC has been lucky to connect with and cultivate partnerships with other businesses that value the same things we do: customer service, superior quality, and giving back to our community. It’s a privilege to work alongside them as sponsors of events and organizations, especially SIFF, one of our city’s most creative and valuable nonprofits. We are proud and grateful to partner with organizations that value our community as much as we do, including Alaska Airlines and Loulay Kitchen & Bar. Next time you travel or dine out, do it with an airline or restaurant that’s as passionate about the Northwest as we are.

VISIT US ON FACEBOOKTO SEE HOW THIS AD QUALIFIES YOU FOR GIVEAWAYSTICKET CONTESTS!AND

Photos courtesy of dougbetzold.photoshelter.com and SIFF

FROM SIFF’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

So much has changed since the first inaugural Seattle International Film Festival back in 1976 and so much has stayed the same as SIFF continues to provide an intimate opportunity to come together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. I often wonder how the next edition can be any better than the previous year, and every single year my excitement is renewed. The late, extraordinary writer and humanist Stewart Stern used to say his current class of students was his best, and I can honestly say this year features our best class of films to date. I am proud that we will be honoring Stewart’s memory with a live staged reading of his screenplay Rebel Without a Cause, along with a rare screening of the recently restored film. We are also celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, which preserves our film heritage by saving some of the world’s best films. We’ve also taken a cue from the Berlin and San Sebastián Film Festivals by adding a program, Culinary Cinema, celebrating all things film, food, and drink, along with some delectable dinner and movie pairings from Seattle’s best restaurateurs. At the risk of repeating myself, I’m in awe of what we have prepared for the next 25 days. And for those that can’t get enough, we have an exciting summer planned at SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Uptown, and the SIFF Film Center.

Carl Spence, SIFF Artistic Director

FROM SIFF’S MANAGING DIRECTOR

Last year was an epic milestone for SIFF, and I continue to relive the 40th year celebration of this remarkable Festival. It was an honor to celebrate our deep roots in the Seattle community as I experienced magnificent films, met compelling guests, and attended so many fun parties. I also was grateful to have been able to meet so many of our patrons and supporters, without whom none of this would be possible.

In addition to this tremendous milestone, we completed our purchase of the iconic Uptown Theatre (Queen Anne) and saved the beautiful Egyptian Theatre (Capitol Hill) in order to preserve both as film venues in each of these vital Seattle neighborhoods. With these new opportunities, we are looking forward to creating stronger community connections through many more future shared experiences. This year’s festival will bring together a new collection of talented filmmakers, enthusiastic audience members, and committed supporters. It is this combination that propels SIFF into unexpected realms and creates thought-provoking conversations, often with unexpected conclusions, among people who may never have otherwise even met.

I look forward to seeing you at the concessions stand (what’s a movie without snacks?), in the lobby, or at one of our many parties so I can say hello. It is really all of you that drive this Festival and inspire all of us to push forward, always thinking of new and creative ways to build on our foundation, and to solidify our place in the artistic landscape of Seattle. You are our inspiration. Keep it up—and don’t forget the popcorn! Mary

Mary Bacarella SIFF Managing Director

TRIUMPH BAR

THANK

YOU SIFF MEMBERS THANK YOU SIFF MEMBERS

for your year round support to SIFF! (All 6,000 of you!)

SIFF 2015

A great film is more than entertainment. It’s a chance to see the world from a di erent perspective.

For over 40 years SIFF has challenged, stimulated, and served our audiences by bringing them a vast variety of films from around the world. What’s more, we offer classes, panels, and special events to help create and serve a community of cinema enthusiasts who are informed, aware, and alive.

SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

SIFF is the largest film festival in the United States, with more than 150,000 people attending each year. The 25-day event is also the region’s most accessible and critically acclaimed festival, renowned for presenting over 450 features, short films, and documentaries gathered from over 90 countries.

SIFF CINEMA

Over 150,000 people attend SIFF Cinema each year to see the best new feature films, one-of-a-kind special events, and mini-festivals, celebrating such diverse subjects as French and Italian cinema, as well as women filmmakers.

Our classic movie houses, SIFF Cinema Egyptian and SIFF Cinema Uptown, are the perfect venues for movie lovers that enjoy a wide array of studio, independent, foreign language cinema, documentaries, and restored classics. Recent favorites include Snowpiercer, Selma, Citizenfour, Ida, The Imitation Game, Interstellar, and Two Days, One Night

The SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center is an intimate state-of-the-art venue, where we showcase new discoveries in independent feature and documentary filmmaking from around the world.

SIFF Cinema also features unique programs that take you behind the screen, including filmmaker and panel discussions: “Stage to Screen” theatre events, the Deconstructing the Beatles lecture series, and interactive presentations like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Princess Bride Quote Along, and Willy Wonka in Smell-O-Vision. That’s right! Smell-O-Vision!

SIFF EDUCATION

Our education programs are designed to train and strengthen the community of Seattle film lovers and filmmakers. FutureWave provides free access to films and filmmakers, hands-on-training, and exceptional cinematic experiences for more than 13,000 students and educators a year. The Catalyst program offers training, forums, and workshops for aspiring filmmakers. Film4All offers information and enlightening behind-the-scenes discussions and classes for cinema lovers of any age.

FROM SIFF’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

On behalf of the Board of Directors and sta of SIFF, welcome to the 41st Seattle International Film Festival. This has been an exciting year for SIFF. One year ago, SIFF completed the purchase of the Uptown Theatre in Lower Queen Anne and signed a long-term lease with Seattle Central College to operate the Egyptian Theatre in Capitol Hill, which SIFF re-opened last fall. Now, with SIFF Cinema Uptown, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, and our SIFF Film Center theater, we operate five screens on which SIFF provides year-round programming for our community. Programming at our three facilities mirrors that of the Festival itself, and together our Festival and SIFF Cinema operations now serve about 300,000 patrons over the course of a year. SIFF has also seen a significant increase in membership over the past year and we now have over 6,500 members.

SIFF brings the best of the world of cinema to Puget Sound. Over the next 25 days, the 41st Festival will screen over 450 films from over 90 countries plus host numerous filmmaker panels, educational programs, and special events. Our annual Festival is the largest in the United States both in terms of length and the number of films we screen, and it is with your generous support that SIFF is able to produce the Festival. We are very grateful to our sponsors, donors, and members for their continuing support of SIFF and the Festival. SIFF is also very thankful for the many volunteers who help us with Festival and throughout the year; during the last year over 800 people volunteered for SIFF and together donated over 23,500 hours of time to SIFF events.

Finally, this Festival marks the end of the Harvard Exit as a theater and Festival venue. I want to extend a special thank you to Scott Shapiro of Eagle Rock Ventures, Landmark Theatres, McRae Theatrical, and Rosichelli Design for working with SIFF to help make this final Festival outing happen at the Harvard Exit, and I encourage everyone to attend some screenings there during Festival in order to say farewell to this historic theater.

Best wishes to everyone for a great Festival!

Brian LaMacchia President, SIFF Board of Directors

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Brian LaMacchia, President

Seán Kreyling, Vice President

Ian MacNeil, Vice Treasurer

Richard von Riesen, Treasurer

Katherine De Bruyn, Secretary

Jim Angelo William Belickis

Kyle Cable Sharon Conner

Christopher Conrad Rich Fassio

Craig Friedson Elizabeth Hubbard Donna James Scott Lipsky

Darryl Macdonald Kraig L. Marini-Baker

Mary Metastasio Richard Meyer Billy O’Neill

Deborah Person

Michelle Quisenberry Rick Rasmussen

Mark Rosencrantz Keith Simanton

Carl Tostevin Edwin Weihe Sheree Wen Peter Wilson

Dan Ireland

Tom Skerritt Rick Stevenson

BOARD EMERITI

FROM THE GOVERNOR

I am pleased to extend warm greetings to all of those attending the 41st annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). For those of you visiting us, it is a privilege to welcome you to the beautiful Evergreen State.

At 25 days, SIFF is the largest film festival in the United States and o ers more than 450 feature films, shorts and documentaries from over 90 countries. Attracting many visitors from around the world, attendance continues to reach unprecedented numbers, growing each and every year.

Cinema is more than entertainment; it is also a wonderful medium for exploring the human condition and the world around us. This celebration of the international language of film can only serve to enlighten us and enhance the diversity of our people, and I applaud the participating filmmakers and the many SIFF organizers and volunteers who have worked hard to make this special event possible.

Thank you for coming, and please accept my best wishes for a memorable festival and many years of continued success.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee Governor

FROM THE MAYOR

On behalf of the City of Seattle, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival!

Each year SIFF brings together filmmakers and fans from all over the world to celebrate the creativity and diversity of cinema at the largest film festival in the nation. The impressive work of the festival’s volunteers, filmmakers, and sta celebrates cinema and a rms the value of a film festival in today’s society.

In addition to the hundreds of film screenings, I encourage you to take advantage of the festival’s speaker panels, forums, and discussions. Be sure to visit SIFF and enjoy their programming year round at the SIFF Film Center, Uptown, and Egyptian Theatres.

I am proud to be Mayer of a city with such an outstanding film festival and film community. Thank you for joining SIFF and the entire city during the best 3 ½ weeks of film all year. Enjoy!

Mayor Edward B. Murray City of Seattle

FROM THE MAYOR OF RENTON

Welcome to the fifth annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) held in Renton. We are pleased to host SIFF for what will be yet another great festival of captivating films from around the world. Renton is proud to celebrate the diversity in our city and hosting SIFF gives us the opportunity to showcase Renton’s thriving arts and culture scene and foster cross-cultural understanding.

SIFF-Renton is hosting a weeklong screening of films at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center from May 21 to 27, 2015. Whether you like action flicks, dramas, thrillers, or anything in between, the film screenings at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center are sure to catch your eye.

SIFF is the largest and most highly-attended film festival in the United States. The City of Renton has hosted SIFF for five years and each year it has been a great success. SIFF provides us an opportunity to enjoy arts and cultures from the region and around the world through mediums of creativity and innovation.

I would like to thank SIFF, the SIFF-Renton Host Committee, Renton’s hard-working city sta , our event volunteers and the generous donors; these individuals go out of their way to contribute their time, talent, and experience to make this festival the success that it is. We hope you will take advantage of Renton’s a ordable hotels, diverse dining opportunities, entertainment, and shopping options while you are here. For more information about exploring Renton, the city that is “Ahead of the Curve,” please visit rentonwa.gov.

So, as they say in the movies... Lights! Camera! Action!

FROM THE MAYOR OF KIRKLAND

The City of Kirkland is pleased to welcome the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) to Kirkland for the seventh year. We look forward with great anticipation to enjoying what is always a treasure trove of diverse and provocative films at the Kirkland Performance Center in the heart of downtown Kirkland. As a city that prides itself on its commitment to the arts and education, the festival is one more o ering that we are pleased to provide to our citizens and to visitors.

While in Kirkland I encourage you to explore our vibrant downtown with an unparalleled blend of outdoor recreation, art, dining and boutique shopping. Located just east of Seattle, Kirkland is the only downtown on the shores of Lake Washington. I especially invite you to visit our newly remodeled Park Lane, a vibrant festival street that is home to many restaurants, galleries and shops.

Kirkland has an array of dining options within walking distance of the Kirkland Performance Center including Volterra, Trellis (at the Heathman Hotel), Bottle & Bull, Lady Yum, Wyraqocha Peruvian Kitchen and many more that can be found at www.explorekirkland.com

Ample parking for your visit is located at the Library Parking Garage, right next door to the Kirkland Performance Center. The Heathman Hotel and nearby Woodmark Hotel and Yacht Club provide elegant accommodations for those interested in overnight stays.

For more information on where to stay, dine and shop in Kirkland, visit www.ExploreKirkland.com

Sincerely,

Denis Law, Mayor of Renton

Amy Walen Mayor of Kirkland

FROM THE MAYOR OF BELLEVUE

On behalf of the City Council and residents of Bellevue, we are happy to welcome the return of the Seattle International Film Festival to Lincoln Square Cinemas, May 15-28, 2015.

Hosting SIFF gives us the opportunity to showcase Bellevue’s thriving arts and culture scene and a diverse community that fosters cross-cultural understanding.

Bellevue is a vibrant, modern and growing city that o ers great shopping, dining and cultural attractions – all within easy strolling distance of the movie theaters downtown. For example, less than two blocks south of the cinemas is the Bellevue Arts Museum, one of the finest museums of art, craft and design in the nation.

I also encourage you to get out and explore Bellevue’s natural beauty, our many parks and public art located throughout the city. A short walk from Lincoln Square is Bellevue’s Downtown Park. It’s a great place to get away from the bustle of meetings, walk a half-mile loop, or just enjoy people watching, with the sound in the background of a waterfall splashing into a large pool.

I hope you enjoy this great festival, and return to Bellevue to enjoy its many other attractions.

Claudia Balducci Mayor of Bellevue

Denis Law

Mayor of Renton

BE WATCHING

FRIDAY JUNE 12 - SUNDAY JUNE 14

bestofsiff

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

OFFICIAL AIRLINE OF SIFF

PRODUCING SPONSORS

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

INSTITUTIONAL SPONSORS

MEDIA SPONSORS

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Academy of Interactive Entertainment

Ace Parking Inc

ACLU of Washington

American Romanian Cultural Society

Canada-America Society

Center for Global Studies UW

Center for West European Studies UW

Consulate General of Canada

Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest San Francisco

Consulate General of Poland in Los Angeles

Dante Alighieri Society of Washington

East Asia Center UW

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

8 Limbs

Agave Cocina & Tequilas

Aladdin

Alaffia

Alchemy Goods

AV Factory

Baleen

Baltic Room

Barre3

Black Rock Spirits

DeGruv Liquid Catering

DJ Almond Brown

DJ General Meow

DJ Verse

Dry Soda

Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe

Emerald City Soul Club

The Essential Baking Company

Glass Distillery

Heart Washington

Heavy Restaurant Group

Hollywood Lights

Homewood Suites By Hilton Seattle

Downtown

MEDIA SPONSORS

Advantage Graphics

AlphaGraphics

Art Access

Bellevue Reporter

Greater Seattle Business Association

Ellison Center UW

Filmic Pro

Gamma Ray Games

Greater Seattle Vietnam Association

Istituto Italiano di Cultura San Francisco

Latin American and Caribbean Studies UW

Seattle - Christchurch Sister City Association

Seattle - Kobe Sister City Association

Seattle - Nantes Sister City Association

Seattle - Perugia Sister City Association

Seattle - Reykjavik Sister City Association

Hotel Max

Incentive Solutions

Inn at Queen Anne

Kaleo Quenzer

Kaspar’s Special Events and Catering

KIND Snacks

KuKuRuZa

Lagunitas Brewing Company

Les Boulangers Associes

Lululemon Athletica

Lyft

MarQueen Hotel

The Maxwell Hotel

Mediterranean Inn

Mistral Kitchen

Music Man

New Zen Japanese

Northern Lights Food & Beverage

Northwest African American Museum

Nuflours A Gluten Free Bakery

Pan Pacific Hotel

Partners Crackers

Pel’meni Dumpling Tzar

Peyrassol Cafe

IMDb.COM

Issaquah Press, Inc.

KNHC 89.5 FM

KUOW 94.9 KVOS

Seattle Composers Alliance

Seattle Film Institute

Seattle Polish Film Festival

Shred-It

Silver Platters

South Asia Center UW

Southeast Asia Center UW

SubSeattle Tour

TheFilmSchool

Tumbleweed Film Festival

Underground Paranormal Experience

Underground Tour

Underworld Tour

Write Brothers

Piper O’Neill

POP! Gourmet Popcorn

Poppy

Poquitos

Rain City Catering

Red Carpet Valet

Saint John’s Bar and Eatery

Salumi

San Pellegrino/Acqua Panna

Savor Catering

Sazerac

Seattle Candle Company

Sephora

Shaker+Spear

Solo Bar

Sorrento Hotel

Ste Michelle Wine Estates

Sweet Iron Waffles

Theo Chocolate

Triumph Expo & Events, Inc.

Votiv Inc

Wild Ginger

Woodland Park Zoo

Nordstrom

Renton Reporter

Stephen Mellander and Daniel Herda

Thomas Creative Solutions

DONORS

THANK YOU to all of our donors for making the art of film so vital in Seattle.

SIFF donors make the festival the first-rate annual event we all love. They provide thought-provoking yearround programming through SIFF Cinema, and create a vibrant community for filmmaking and student learning.

YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS. You help SIFF share the very best in world film culture and education throughout the region. Great storytelling is vital to our community, connecting us, one story at a time.

To make a donation today, please contact Roger Johnson, director of individual giving at (206) 315 –0664 or roger.johnson@si .net

INDIVIDUAL DONORS | DONATIONS MADE TO THE ANNUAL FUND BETWEEN MARCH 15, 2014 AND MARCH 14,

Carla

Leela Sasaki

Jonas Simonis

Lynette Skinner & Brad Fringer

Cydly Smith Daniel Stockman

Matt Storm Daniel Strommen

Michele Sullivan

Andrew Tischaefer

Kathryn Torimoto

Keith Tyler

Debra Wood

Sara & Ted Woolsey

Joyce & Christian F Zobel

$100 - $249

Anonymous

Keetje Abbenhuis

Oscar Abello

Glenda Ahn

Mitch Allen

Walter & Melinda K Andrews

James & Cecilia Baca

Allison & John Bauman

Jonathan Bauman

Laurie Bauman Arnold

Robin Best

Richard Bevan

Emily & Robert Bingham

Diane & Gordon Bisset

Kerstin Bjork

Gerald Blomgren

Kristen Bonnalie

Nathan Box

Anita Braker & Dave Olsen

Collin Bramhall

Monte Bridges

Michel Brotman

Carol Brown

Edward Brown

Kristi Bucklin

Steven Burdick & Carol Ann Davis

David Burroughs

Isabelle Burton

Pamela Burton

Sergey Bykov

Pamela Cardone

Cathy Carlson

Caron Carlyon

Sharon Carmody

Katherine Carson & Michael Healy

victoria chipps

Erica Chow

Phil Clapham

Cynthia Clark

Martha Clarkson & James Carpenter

Celeste Cleveland

Ann Colowick & Mike Harbour

Gilberto Colunga

Karl Compton & John Abrams

Ari Consul & Siyu Lu

Gregory Cooper & Melissa Chase

Rachel Corella

Alice Cunningham & Blair Osborn

John & Leslee Currie

Rick Dailey

John Davis & Beth Wooster

Nancy Debaste

Carol Deckelbaum

Jennifer Deger

Lynn Dissinger

Nancy Donier

Michael Dryfoos & Ilga Jansons

Renee Engelking

GeorgeJean Erickson

Andrew Estes

Kimberly Fauquenot

William Ferris & Marsha Donaldson

Bruce Finlayson

Steven Fiore

Randall & Betty Fisher

Eric Frost

Alison Fujino

Robert Gannan

Ashlyn Gehrett

Natalie Gendler

Shelley Gibson & Clyde Haglund

Daniel Glasser

Michelle Goldberg

Jill Goodnight & Jeff Collum

Randolph Gordon & Bridget Donovan

Judith Gowdy

Jess A Grant

Anke Gray

Amiya Gupta

Timothy Hale

Mia Hannula & Mel Kang

John Hansman

Deborah Harrison

Amanda Harryman & Daniel Hagedorn

Alan Hart

Karen Harvey & Steve Shelton

Carolyn Hayek

Elizabeth & David Helber

Kathy Herigstad

Lloyd Herman

William C Hibler

Marilyn Hitchcock Jeff Homme

Peter Hon

Julie Hungar

Angela Hwang

Lowell “Doug” Ing

Cheryl Ingle-Olsen & Chuck Olsen

Nat Irons

Rosemarie & Jonathan Ives

Quinlyann Jackins

Janelle Jacobs

Christina Jarchow

Paula Jenson & Robin Waples

Darlene Johnson

Jean Johnson

Alexandra Kamenz

Jonathan Karakowski & John Bottum

Bill Kaye

Andrew Keeler

Barbara Kempf

Daniel Kerlee & Carol Wollenberg

Julie Ketter

Diana Knauf

Keiko Koizumi

Stephen Komadina

Judy Koven

Todd Krinke

Jill Kurfirst

Tracey LaPierre

A S Larsen

Dave LeCompte

Sharon Leishman

CJ Lennon

Marjorie Levar

Carla Lewis

Tim Lewis

Hyun Lim

Jaisri Lingappa & Patrick Tompkins

Patricia L Linn & Robert Grubbs

Deron Lord

Shirley Lorentz

James Louie

Yuan Ma

Kristine Mainz

Maria Marabella

Jeremy Marez

Teresa Marks

Laura Martin

Steven Matsumoto

Louise H McAllister

Kimberly McCollim

Morgan McGinn

Sherry & Miles McRae

Stephen

Perla

Tristan Mounsey

Jon Newman

Sayuri Nishizawa

George & Dick O’Connor

June Ogawa

Gary Olson

Philip Palaveev

Carmen Palomera

MEMBERSHIPS AS OF MARCH 14 , 2015

Anonymous

Nicole

LUMINARY

Richie Meyer & Susan Harmon

CELEBRITY

Seán Kreyling

Christopher Newell

Braiden Rex-Johnson & Spencer Johnson

PRODUCER

Kraig Baker & Lora Marini-Baker

Harold Matzner

Lynn Hubbard & David Zapolsky

Mary Ann & Thomas Kofler

DIRECTOR

Alec Brindle Jr.

Steve Burnham

Linda and David Cornfield

William Donnelly

Lyn and Jerry Grinstein

Donna & Michael

Sharon McCallum, PT, DPT

Miles & Sherry McRae

Blue Resnick

Joshua Rosen

Bob & Kathryn Spence

Thom Votteler

Michael Weidemann

Thomas Zimmermann ADVOCATE

Susan Allen

Jonathan Bauman

Anita Braker & Dave Olsen

Luther F Black Charles F. Rose III

Andy Greeley

Michael Hampton

Heidi Kauffman

Clark Kokich & Lisa Strain

Bjorn Levidow

Gregory Lytle

Kathryn M. Shields

Ellen Maxson

Dawn Nelson

John Pruitt

Marion Rose

Greg Schatzman

Brian

Douglas

Brent

Erik Torgerson

Paul Baczewski

Anifat Balogun

Kara Baskett

Allison Bauman Paul Bekins

Robert Brajkovich

Sydne Brewer James Broadus

Garrett Bull

Stacy Campbell

Corinne Campbell

Pamela

Elizabeth Rummage

Shelby &

Elizabeth

Laurent Sayer

Carol &

Jennifer &

Bob Schoonmaker

Barbara

Lynn

Shideh

John Simmons

Chris Smith

Kathleen

Liza,

Dorothy

Lisa

Karen

Meredith Potochnic

Jessica Prince Wilborn &

Rachel

Jennifer

Mark

Steven

Donna

Mary

Nancy

Donna

Shilpa

Nathan

Luann

Kathy

Courtney

Becky

Dean

Josh

Wally

Caroline

Christopher

Andrea

Rick

Susan

Nancy Dean

Darren Dean

Steve Dean

David Dean

Robin Dearling

Nancy Debaste

Brian Debroux

Carol Deckelbaum

Kathleen Deiley

Drew Dellinger

Marianna Delsing

Samantha Demboski

Kasey DeMelo & Casie Dietrich

Conor Dempsey

William Dennis the 2nd & Scott Gould

Joseph Derr

Jay Dertinger

Scott Devore

Stephen DeVore

Carla DewBerry

Tanar Dial

Bernardo Dibildox

Anthony DiCola

Wynton Dillard

Janice Dilworth

William Disney

Kristin Distelhorst

Jennifer Divine

Mike Doane

Celeste Dobropolski

John Dobrosielski

Shannon Doherty

Michaela Donahoe

Marsha Donaldson & William Ferris

Sandy Donnen

Aaron Donny-Clark

Nicholas Dorsey

Bronson Dowd

Barrett Dowell

Ellen Downey

Kimberly Drake

Olivera Dresevic

Don Driftmier

Christos Droukas

Ricardo Drouyn

Bill Dubay

Frederic Dubut & Adrianne Grondahl

Eddy Dughi

Carolyn Duncan

Matt Durak

Frances & Stephen Durako

Miguel Duran

Matthew Dy

JoAnne Dyer

Josh Dykstra

Jared Dykstra

Nancy E Emery

Stephen E Lovell

Sean Eagen

Kimberly Earles

Amanda Ebbert

Andrea Eberly

John Eddy

Michiko Edwards

Brittany Eisenegger

Anne-Marie Eitreim

Claire Elam

Tarek Elbanhawy

Eva Elliott

Jordan Elsas

John Elsbree

Nadia Eng

Deborah England

Ted England

Ersev Samim Erdogan

Kara Ernst

Andrew Espe

Brian & Jill Estes

Jaq Evans

Alisha Evans-Goldie

Hans Ewaldsen

Izumi & Woods Fairbanks

Carolyn Fairbanks

Rachel Fairbanks

Michael Falcone

Kevin Fansler

Alayne & Michael Fardella

Aaron Farmer

Dona Farmer

Ross Farr

John Fearnside

Priscilla Featherstone

Susan Feeney

Edward Felt

Janice Findley

Adam Finn

Brian Fioca

Karin Fischer

Barbara Fitzgerald

Kevin Fitzpatrick

Wilhelm Fitzpatrick &

Lynn Rosskamp

Rob Foley

David Fontenot

John Frady

Laura Francisco

David Franklin

Julie Fraser

Jessica Frederick & Seneca Garber

Ryan Frederick &

Joe Freeman

Christopher Frick

Zach Frimmel

Kate Frisbie

Dorothy Fuller

John Fulton

Gayle & Richard Funk

Hilary Gaddis

Shane Gaiesky

Raxit Gajjar

Jason Galep

Elizabeth Gallagher

Celestino Gallegos

Janet Galore & Demian Raven

Mimi Gan

Elise Garbey

Deborah Gates

Kyle Gatti

Mark Gau & Maura G Fallon

Wendy Geldien

Natalie Gendler

Justin Gentry

David George

Toraj Ghofrani

Anastasia Giannoulas

Annette Gililland

Michael Gillespie

Jeanne Givens

Cheryl Goehrs

Ben & Rochelle Goffe

Laurie Gogic

Juan Carlos Gonzalez

Chirino Gonzalo

Krista Goodman

Terry Goodman

Brien Gorham

Didier Gottofrey & Faith Wilson

Suneel Goud

Allen Gown

Virginie Grange

Grant Granger

Alex Graves

Nathan Gray

Jan & Linda Gray

Thomas Grechis

Marsha Green

Phillip Greenblatt

David Greenwood

Amy Gregory

Jean Greif

Elaine Grenier

Susan Griffith

Josh Griffith

Sharon Griggins Davis

Mary Kay Grossblatt

Carol Grossmeyer

Candy Gruber

Kurt Guenther

Tracey Guice

Mark Gurley

Linda Gwilym

Louise H McAllister

Barbara & Paul Haas

Marcia Hadley

Megan Hagar

Evelyn Hager

Jinna Hagerty

Harrison Hakes

Timothy Hale

Kristin Hall

Lauren Hall-Stigerts

Chris Hammersley

Carl & Dana Hamry

Michelle Hanes

Jeffrey & Rosario Hanna

Charles

Richard Hansen

Craig Hanson

Laura Hanson

Mitchell Harada

Brian Hargus

Aneesh Hariharan

John Harlow

Rich Harmon

Chris Harmon

JS Harop & Christophe Smith

Kirsten Harper

Ann & Kevin Harrang

Laura Harrington

Andrea

Bernice

Martha

Daria

Bill

Kristina

Callie

Ellen

Ann

Renee

John

Jill

Naomi

Winnie

John

Katie

Keats

Nora

Maria

Jessica

Tracey

Susan

James

Kate

Steven

Dorothy

Barbara

Ronald

Eleni

Mincks

Margaret Minnick

Alan Minsk

Asha Elizabeth Miranda

Cecily Mitchell

Diana Mivelli

Roy Mock & Nancy Monelli

Heidi Modica

Tim Mohler

Alexis Mohr

Leah Moise

Amy Molocznik

Justin Molocznik

Erik Mona

James Montemagno

Rosie Moore

Shawn Morgan

Amy Morgan

Vicki Morgan-Stevenson

Amy Morgenstern

Geraldine Morris

Elizabeth Morris

Jeffrey Morrow

Gregory Moss

Belinda Moutray

Paul Muesegades

Cristofer Munson

Asaph Murfin

Hanifah Murfin

Jessica Murray

William Muto

Richard Myers

Kim Naranjo

Neha Nariya

Maggie Nascimento

Bridget Natale

Darcy Nebergall

Erin Neff

Robert Nellams

William Nelson

James Nesbitt & Sandra Vigil

Gregory Nettleton

Gail & Wes Neuenschwander

Monica Neumann

Bozhi Nevada

Jon Newman

Marjorie Newman

Diana Nguyen

Elise Nicholl

Brice Nichols

Christina Nichols

Louis Nick

Jesse Nickell

Harvey Niebulski

Danielle Noah

Katherine Nolte

Charles Nordhoff & Angela Wu

Warren Northrop

Vincent Noto

Margaret Lynn Nowelati

Laura Nuechterlein

Michelle Nuzman

Daniel O’Connell

Matthew O’Connor

Tim O’Connor & Jeff Stolz

Kimberly O’Neill

Omer Ocak

Lindsey Oehlerking

June Ogawa

Margaret Ohashi

Alexis Olieslager

Margaret Olsen

Stephanie Olson

Annette Olson

Mark OÕKelly

Michele Orr

Dennis Ostgard

A.J. Ostman

Victoria Ou

Maria Ovalles

Lauri Owen

Jessica Owens

Nicole Page

Jarrett Pahinui

Michael Palamuso

Ashley Palar

Helen Palumbarit

Ryan Pangrle

Katie Paradis

Marcy Pareira

Jane Park

Donte Parks

Linda Paros

Constance Parsons & Sanford Pitler

Patricia Patterson

Tamara Pavlova

Jason Peacock

Amie Pease

Chad Pemberton

Lori Pender

Kiki Penoyer

Alison Perkins

Lisa Peters

James Peterson

Eric Peterson

Jefferson Petrey

Beth Pfost

Dwight Phillips

Kerry Phillips

Lynne Phillips

Lorraine Phillips

Ruby Phillips

Chelsea Phipps

Elizabeth Pilati

Heather Pilder Olson

Joseph Pillow

Helaina Piper

Natasha Platin

Harriet Platts

Rebecca Platzner

Simon Poile

Janet Polata

Matthew Polzin

Rebecca Pomering

Kimberly Pontius

Donna Poppe

Karen Prell

Michelle Pressman

Rachel Price

Olivia Price

Nancy Price

DeAne Price

Chris Prigmore

Joanne Primavera

Joseph Prusa

Donald & Wendy Pugnetti

Lucy Purcell

Tom Putnam

David Querubin

Jamie Quinlan & Marge Malkin

Mike Quinlan

Steven Quinn

Ajay Radhakrishnan

Teresa Rafael

Neave Rake

Matthew Ralston

Elizabeth Rambus

Elena Ramirez-Coque

Lana Ramsey

Leah Rapalee

Christian Rapp

Greg Rasalan

Justin Rastelli

Colby Ray

Amy Rayburn

Grace Reamer

Dale Rector

Chas Redmond

Catherine Reed

Steve Reeder

Brian Regan

Rachel Rein

Ralph Reinert

Debra & Peter Rettman

Ross Reynolds

Donna Reynolds

Tim Rhodes

Anna Rhodes

Jennifer Rice

Victoria Richardson

Leah Richmond

Ingrid Rickerd

Traci Riley

Genifer Ritter

Tracy Roberts

Linda Roberts

Michelle Robeson

David & Valerie Robinson

Linda Robinson

Adrian Robles

Alexander Rodriquez

Vicki Roe

Travis Rogers

James Rogers

Daniel Roman

Monica Romano

Nick Rooney

Eric Rose

Casey & Douglas Rosenberg

Ann Rosenstock

Patricia Rosenstrom

Becky Rosenthal

Jessica Roshan

Elizabeth Rossi

Cole Rottweiler

William Rowden

Randy Rowland

Arup Roy

Ron Rubin

Judy Ruliffson

Gail Runnfeldt

Alex Russo

Daniel & Jennifer Rustan

Deborah Rustin

Winn Ryman

Alexandr Saar

Thomas Sackett

Marice Sacoman

Elizabeth Salinas

Dennis Saller

Lynn Salvati

Landon Salyer

Brittany Sanchez

Rene Sanchez

Emilia Sanchez

Stacia Sander

Cathy & Max Sarkowsky

Heather Saunders

Kenneth Saunderson

Kenneth Saville

Alicia Sawers

Alla Sazonova

Frederick Schleich

Ferdinand Schober

Kathleen Schofield

JD Scholten

Mark Schroeder & Gale Shinozaki

Glenn Schwantes

Benjamin Schwartz

Steve Schwartzman

Andrea Sciaudone

Alan Scott

Carrie Scott

Sidney Scully

Carla Segurola

Michael Seiwerath

Babs & Bill Selig

Alexandra Serpanos

Stephanie Shadbolt

Nesib Shamah

Brianna Sharkey

Nathan Sharpe

Marcy Shaw

Katja Shaye

Ian Shelton

Lorene Sheppard

Linda Sherran

Ashley Shiner

Lanell Shirai

William Shook

Jonathan Shultz

Ashley Shumaker

Larry Silber

Pamela Silimperi

Lynn Simmons

John Simmons

Melinda Simon

Jonas Simonis

Elizabeth Simpson-Kuhlmann

Neeraj Singh

Krishna Sivaranjan

Carol Skvorak

Joseph Slagle

Nathan Slingerland

Greg & Mimi Slyngstad

Dave Smith

Erin Smith

Carol Smith

Anne Smith

Jeffrey Colin Smith

Veronica Smith

Bethany Smith

Jim Smith II

Anna Smoak

Don Sneesby

Mary Sobczyk

Dustin Somers

Judi Sorensen

Eric Soulvie

Rachel Speaks

Ali Stalarow

Bradley Steele

Michael Steiner MD

Betsy Steinke

Sheri Stephens

Delphine & Charles Stevens

Eliza Stevens

David Stevenson

Ian Stevenson

Christopher Stewart

John Stimberis

Stone

Brion & Kristin

Ken Stoner

Elizabeth N Stoner

Matt Storm

Kristin Storm

Poppy Storm

Ben Storm

Kate Stratton

Dahli Strayer

Emily Strom

Michele Sullivan

Michael Sullivan

Greg Sullivan

Liz Sullivan

Jessica Sullivan

Dianna Sumabat

Shelly Sundberg

Eddie Sung

Susan Susor

Ryan Suter

Craig & Sian Suthers

Thomas Sutton

Judy Swanson

Terri Swier

Lara Swimmer

Susan Swope

Sebastian Sylvan

Ben Szwabowski

SIFF

MEET THE PROGRAMMERS

SIFF is more than just an annual festival of world’s greatest films; it’s a community of creating passionate people who live and breathe cinema. This section is dedicated to our talented team of 23 programmers. These are the people who work and watch movies all year long to prepare the best films possible for the continually growing Seattle festival. We asked them what film they’d like to see again and again –and why. Here are their answers:

CARL SPENCE

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Lars Von Trier’s Zentropa (Europa). I saw it at the Egyptian at SIFF ’92 and was irreparably changed. A modern cinematic noir masterpiece that playfully blurs the lines between truth, fiction, and reality. The striking images of Barbara Sukowa, Jean-Marc Barr, and Udo Kier are forever burned into my mind.

BETH BARRETT DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING

West Side Story. The music, the dance, the story—it is both comforting and invigorating every time!

ANGELO ACERBI

FILM PROGRAMMER

I would watch Women by George Cukor. I am a fan of sophisticated comedy and classic Hollywood films, and this one beats them all.

MARYNA AJAJA

FILM PROGRAMMER

I love the wicked humor of America in the late ’60s in Milos Forman’s satire, Taking Off Forman’s non-linear storytelling keeps you guessing and laughing the whole time.

JUSTINE BARDA

FILM PROGRAMMER

As a film professor, I end up teaching the same films over and over. One recent film that holds up particularly well to repeat viewing is Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation. That is one meticulously constructed piece of cinema.

SOPHIE CABON

FILM PROGRAMMER

I fell in love with cinema when I discovered To Have and Have Not by Howard Hawks. I have seen it dozens of times and am still absolutely fascinated by Humphrey Bogart’s mysterious charm and Lauren Bacall’s strange look.

CLARE CANZONERI

FILM PROGRAMMER

Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Dripping with cynicism and sarcasm, as well as sweeping dreaminess, I could watch it again and again. And Christopher Walken’s hilarious and creepy-as-hell driving scene is unforgettable. La-di-da.

DAN DOODY

FILM PROGRAMMER

I think the film I’ve seen most in my life is probably my favorite film, Bride of Frankenstein, though Jaws, Star Wars, and Creature from the Black Lagoon may give it a run for its money. These are all movies I could happily watch time and again, always fresh, always new.

CRAIG DOWNING

FILM PROGRAMMER

Evil Dead 2. This was the first film that really dragged me across genres showing me that the rules hadn’t really been finished and you could still do whatever you wanted with film.

ANDREW ESPE FILM PROGRAMMER

Todd Hayne’s I’m Not There –it’s not necessarily a warm and cozy film, no, but it sure is a puzzle. To uncover the layers, experience those performances, and lose yourself in Bob Dylan’s music again and again is a cinematic treat.

LUCIE GUERIN

PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats is the kind of film I can watch again and again because it’s refreshing and light. I love the soundtrack, the retro atmosphere and Dolan’s stylish aesthetics. It inspired me to seek out all his other movies!

BRANDEN HAWKINS

FILM PROGRAMMER

A film that I will continue to watch over and over is Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express. The story is simple and deeply human, but the film’s seductive visual style is the real reason to watch the film more than once.

RUTH HAYLER FILM PROGRAMMER

Singin’ in the Rain. Gene Kelly dances divinely, and Donald O’Connor is not far behind him. Lots of laughs and a smart screenplay with surprising insight into the perils of the early days of the talkies, eye-candy color and wall-to-wall hummable music.

DUSTIN KASPAR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS MANAGER

I will never tire of watching Airplane. The movie is regularly quoted (or subversively thought) in conversations and even when watching it, I start giggling incessantly in advance of the jokes.

MEGAN LEONARD PROGRAMMING COORDINATOR

I could watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit on endless repeat— each time I become more amazed by the interactions between live-action and animation in a pre-computer animation era. Whether it’s a bartender octopus mixing drinks or Bob Hoskins duking it out with Roger, I lose it every time.

CLINTON MCCLUNG

DIRECTOR OF CINEMA PROGRAMMING

When I need some movie comfort food nothing works better than Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. The story of this ebullient man-child and his bicycle still speaks to me in so many ways, from Tim Burton’s groundbreaking visual style, to Paul Reuben’s absurdly juvenile humor. “Paging Mister Herman!”

DALE NASH

FILM PROGRAMMER

2001: A Space Odyssey—this film is 47-years-old and continues to hold film audiences spellbound. I see something new and astounding every time I watch it.

ANGELE PANCRAZI

PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

If I had to pick a movie to watch again and again it would be Little Miss Sunshine. Every time I watch it I just want to be myself, dance, and have a good time with my friends and family!

CORY RODRIGUEZ PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

I have to say that the film that I watch again and again has to be Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. From the depiction of Chicago as a neo-noir Gotham City to Heath Ledger’s disturbingly perfect portrayal of the Joker to the grandeur in chaotic action, this is my go-to film.

STAN SHIELDS

FILM PROGRAMMER

Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter, not just because it’s a great film, but because it is a truly singular film experience, and I have never seen a cinematic world like it—neither before nor since.

ANDY SPLETZER

FILM PROGRAMMER

If I were stuck on a deserted island with just one movie, I would put Groundhog Day on endless repeat. With its looping structure it’s the perfect movie to pop in and out of, in between visits to the beach. When can I book my ticket?

HEBE TABACHNIK

FILM PROGRAMMER

Kurosawa’s Rashomon is the one that comes to my mind. A masterpiece of cinema with simple and effective storytelling, exquisite cinematography and arresting performances. BEST OF CINEMA with capital letters, no doubt.

BRAD WILKE

FILM PROGRAMMER

The movie I return to again and again most often is Halloween III: Season of the Witch. It’s a fun genre orphan that delivers the requisite horror “goods,” but also paints a chilling picture of consumerism run amok. It’s pretty much the Wild Strawberries of ’80s horror.

WHAT SORT OF FILM DO I FEEL LIKE SEEING TONIGHT?

QUICK GUIDE TO MOODS

Romance and love in all its forms, pleasures, and idiosyncracies.

With our handy moods groupings, we’ve made it easy to find the type of cinematic experience you’re in the mood for. Instead of using traditional categories, we’ve aimed to connect films with you, the audience, by organizing them into 10 areas that match your mood.

Films that make you chuckle and tickle your funny bone.

Revealing films and documentaries revolving around history, politics, and contemporary events.

Suspense, thrills, and action. Films with a faster pace that might also surprise you when you least expect it.

Mesmerizing dramas and documentaries that explore thought-provoking questions, realities, and topics.

Prepare to be taken to another place— from exotic, far-o lands, to vibrant experiences outside of everyday life.

Science, technology, environment, the future—and beyond!

Explore the outer limits with films that go beyond the edge.

The exploration of artistic endeavors from all disciplines: literature, film, art, dance, and performance.

Films that intersect the world of music on all fronts: from biopics and concert films, to musicals and live events.

A living legacy of community support

Wells Fargo Private Bank is proud to continue our tradition of strong community partnership by saluting Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Wells Private Bank is proud to continue our tradition of strong community partnership saluting Seattle International Film Festival.

Since 1852, Wells Fargo has helped families build, manage, preserve and transition their wealth. To learn more about how The Private Bank can help you achieve your financial goals, contact Marco Abbruzzese, Regional Managing Director at (206) 340-4647.

THURSDAY MAY 14 7:00

Spy USA 2015

Director: Paul Feig

Producers: Peter Chernin

Jenno Topping

Paul Feig

Jessie Henderson

Screenwriter: Paul Feig

Cinematographer: Robert D. Yeoman

Editors: Brent White

Melissa Bretherton

Music: Theodore Shapiro

Cast: Melissa McCarthy

Jude Law

Jason Statham

Rose Byrne

Morena Baccarin

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: 20th Century Fox

Film Website: foxmovies.com/movies/spy

Selected Filmography: The Heat (2013)

Bridesmaids (2011)

Unaccompanied Minors (2006) I Am David (2003)

Life Sold Separately (1997)

Emmy-winning and Oscar®-nominated comic tour-de-force Melissa McCarthy brings her unique blend of slapstick and wit to this side-splitting, action-packed, globetrotting spy comedy from the mind of Paul Feig, director of Bridesmaids and co-creator of NBC’s cult television show “Freaks and Geeks.” McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a frumpy desk-bound CIA operative and analyst responsible for the safety of partner and secret agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes). But when Fine suddenly succumbs to a bullet courtesy of Bulgarian assassin Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne, Neighbors), Cooper is galvanized into action, convincing her agency chief (Allison Janney, “The West Wing”) to allow her to go undercover, travel to Europe, and avenge her partner’s death with the help of excitable colleague Nancy (Miranda Hart, “Call the Midwife”), a lecherous Italian agent (Peter Serafinowicz, Guardians of the Galaxy), and her two fists—Cagney and Lacey. With a superb ensemble cast that includes Morena Baccarin (“Homeland”), Bobby Cannavale (“Boardwalk Empire”), 50 Cent, and a game Jason Statham hysterically spoofing the tough guy image he’s cultivated since Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Spy plays off the tried-and-true tropes of espionage thrillers with an unbridled glee, combining big laughs with even bigger action sequences into an overwhelmingly entertaining secret mission.

Director: James Ponsoldt

Producers: David Kanter

Matt DeRoss

James Dahl

Mark Manuel

Ted O’Neal

Screenwriter: Donald Margulies

Cinematographer: Jakob Ihre

Editor: Darrin Navarro

Music: Danny Elfman

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg

Jason Segel

Anna Chlumsky

Joan Cusack

Mamie Gummer

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: A24

Selected Filmography: The Spectacular Now (2013) Smashed (2012)

End of the Tour USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 30 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

ENCORE SCREENING: SUNDAY, MAY 31 2:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Days after the 1996 publication of David Foster Wallace’s other-worldly novel “Infinite Jest,” young novelist-turnedjournalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) embarks on a five-day interview with the enigmatic author for “Rolling Stone” magazine. In awe and humbled by the brilliant, massive 1,079 page book that brought unprecedented fame to the down-to-earth Wallace (Jason Segel), Lipsky boarded a plane from New York to the Midwest to get the scoop. Over those five days the two became close friends, sharing stories and exposing vulnerabilities neither of them had shared before. The interview touched upon Wallace’s discomfort with his newfound celebrity and transcended from a formal interview to a kinetic exchange of ideas between two very different personalities. Based on David Lipsky’s critically-acclaimed memoir “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace” that he wrote after Wallace’s suicide in 2008, End of the Tour is a profoundly emotional and insightful film boasting fantastic performances by both Eisenberg and Segel.

ALL WATERS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and Acqua Panna®

Natural Spring Water are far from ordinary waters. S.Pellegrino flows from thermal springs in the foothills of the Italian Alps, while Acqua Panna emerges from the Tuscan Apennine Mountains. Their long journeys to the surface infuse each of these waters with its own special combination of minerals. The result?

Great-tasting waters that complement fine dining, refresh the palate and bring a myriad of flavors to life.

American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition was created by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor

Director: Patrick Brice

Producer: Naomi Scott

Screenwriter: Patrick Brice

Cinematographer: John Guleserian

Editor: Chris Donlon Music: Julian Wass

Cast: Adam Scott Taylor Schilling Jason Schwartzman

Judith Godrèche

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: The Orchard

Selected Filmography: Creep (2014)

Recent transplants from Seattle, Alex (Adam Scott, “Parks and Recreation”) and Emily (Taylor Schilling, “Orange is the New Black”) are eager to find a social life for themselves and their son RJ in their new Los Angeles neighborhood. It’s tough to make new friends as adults so they’re thrilled when, at the park one day, RJ breaks the ice for them by meeting another child whose father Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) invites them over for family pizza night with his wife (Judith Godrèche). But after the kids go to bed the night becomes very revealing for the four adults. There’s great chemistry between the four actors, who peel back the layers of their characters as the night spirals into the strangest of play dates. Writer/director Patrick Brice set out to play with the tone of broad comedies of the recent past while also keeping his story grounded in realism. In The Overnight, that combination becomes a mix of hilarity, tension, and surprising tenderness as the characters bat around subjects like marriage, parenthood, and of course, sex.

proud sponsor of the seattle international film festival

r ecognizing the best movies with a special appeal to the 50-plus moviegoer. d on’t miss the Movies for Grownups ® selections screening at the film festival.

v isit www.aarp.org/seattle for special aarp m ember discounts on select siff showings

Tuesday | May 19 | 7:00pm

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Producers: Steven Rales

Dan Fogelman

Jeremy Dawson

Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews

Cinematographer: Chung-Hoon Chung

Editor: David Trachtenberg

Music: Brian Eno

Cast: Thomas Mann

RJ Cyler

Olivia Cooke

Nick Offerman

Connie Britton

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Fox Searchlight

Selected Filmography: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl USA 2015

SATURDAY MAY 16 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

ENCORE SCREENING: SUNDAY MAY 17 2:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A Sockwork Orange. Pooping Tom. Senior Citizen Kane. These are just some of the titles of the spoof films awkward high-school student Greg and his best friend Earl work on making every day after school—a hobby that saves them from agonizing social interaction with their peers. It’s their senior year, and they believe in staying as far below the radar as possible. Greg’s over-worried mom has other things in mind however, when she pushes the boys to befriend Rachel, a fellow classmate who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Begrudgingly they start visiting her at home, all parties equally embarrassed by the parentally constructed meet-ups. Rachel, a headstrong and easy going girl, wants anything but pity, and soon finds that Greg’s self-deprecating humor and easy wit is something she can really connect with. All three teens become inseparable, but as Rachel’s treatment gets tougher reality sets in. A big winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl celebrates the multi-layers of teenage relationships (both platonic and romantic), bursting with sarcastic humor and poignancy.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, US Dramatic Audience Award)

Director: Anna Muylaert

Producers:

Fabiano Gullane

Caio Gullane

Debora Ivanov

Anna Muylaert

Screenwriter: Anna Muylaert

Cinematographer: Bárbara Alvarez

Editor: Karen Harley

Music: Fabio Trummer

Cast: Regina Casé

Michel Joelsas

Camila Márdila

Karine Teles

Lourenço Mutarelli

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Film Website: the-match-factory.com/films/ items/the-second-mother.html

Selected Filmography: Collect Call (2012)

É Probido Fumar (2009)

QUE HORAS ELA VOLTA? The Second Mother Brazil 2015

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

Durval Discos (2002) ENCORE

Val has been the perfect live-in maid to Carlos and Barbara, the wealthy São Paulo couple who employ her to take care of their son, Fabinho, and tending to the house’s every need with warmth and care. She’s content in her daily routine, pleased to provide a maternal affection towards Fabinho, and understanding the basic ‘rules’ of the household. When her estranged daughter, Jessica, calls to tell her she’s coming to São Paulo to take a college entrance exam, Val is thrilled. Yet when Jessica starts sitting at the family’s table, jumping in their pool, and spending too much time with Carlos, it’s clear her progressive and modern lifestyle is shifting the power balance in the household immensely. This emotional and darkly comic film illustrates the inevitable collision of old and new worlds with a tight script and a perfectly endearing, natural central performance by Regina Casé.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting) Berlin Film Festival 2015 (CICAE Art Cinema Award, Panorama Audience Award)

When the Food Matters

KASPARS

SPECIAL EVENTS & CATERING

Award-winning cuisine using local and sustainable products

Chef-owned and operated by Chef Kaspar Donier

Private venue and off-site catering

Extensive selection and customizable menus

206-298-0123 catering@kaspars.com kaspars.com

SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

We applaud your dedicated sta , the filmmakers you showcase, the stories you share—and most of all, the avid attendees who make it all possible. Thanks for another amazing year!

Director: James C. Strouse

Producers: Michael B. Clark

Alex Turtletaub

Screenwriter: James C. Strouse

Cinematographer: Chris Teague

Editor: Colleen Sharp

Music: Mark Orton

Cast: Jemaine Clement

Regina Hall

Stephanie Allynne

Jessica Williams

Gia Gadsby

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Visit Films

Print Source: The Film Arcade

Film Website: peopleplacesthingsfilm.com

Selected Filmography: The Winning Season (2009) Grace is Gone (2007)

People, Places, Things USA 2015

SATURDAY MAY 23 6:00 PM SIFF

CINEMA UPTOWN

ENCORE SCREENING:

SUNDAY MAY 24 1:30

PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Breezy and warm, James C. Strouse’s romantic comedy combines levity and honesty as it explores life after a major breakup. A year after graphic novelist Will Henry (Jemaine Clement, “Flight of the Conchords,” What We Do in the Shadows) catches his wife with another man during their twin daughters’ fifth birthday party, he finds himself putting his personal art aside to teach cartooning. After one of his talented students, Kat (Jessica Williams, “The Daily Show”), invites him to dinner in order to meet her mother Diane (Regina Hall, Think Like a Man), Will finds himself forging a connection with her while attempting to balance his life as a father and an artist. Clement’s charming, understated performance imbues Will’s story with genuine gravitas while Hall and Williams also hold the screen, bringing nuanced and holistic interpretations of a woman forging on from past mistakes with men and her artistically ambitious daughter. Strouse utilizes the colorful background of New York City, composer Mark Orton’s score, and Will’s heavily featured illustration to create a pleasant and airy feel upon which the film expertly soars.

Good Ol’ Boy USA 2015 World Premiere

Director: Frank Lotito

Producers: Anjul Nigam

Frank Lotito

Steve Straka

Screenwriters: Anjul Nigam

Paul Quinn

Gregory Scott Houghton

Cinematographer: Thomas Scott Stanton

Editor: Joshua Rathmell

Music: Michael Lira

Cast: Jason Lee

Anjul Nigam

Brighton Sharbino

Hilarie Burton

Roni Akurati

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Brittany House Pictures

Film Website: goodolboythemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Smith is a 10-year-old boy born in India but growing up in ’70s suburban America. His favorite television show is “Happy Days,” and he idolizes John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. All he wants is to taste a little bit of Kentucky Fried Chicken, play with his Star Wars figurines, and spend time with Amy, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl next door. But things aren’t that easy when he has to deal with his overbearing father pushing his Indian heritage at him from every angle. What if he doesn’t want to be a neurosurgeon, or marry a stranger when he turns 22? And there’s no doubt that everyone in his class will laugh at him if he brings a yellow gourd to school to carve instead of a pumpkin on Halloween. Smith’s strong urge to be one of America’s “good ol’ boys” begins to create a growing gap between him and his family, until a hunting adventure with Butch, Amy’s all-American cowboy of a father, tips things over the edge. This sweet, humorous coming-of-age story illustrates the fight we all take part in to reconcile where we came from with where we’re going.

Director: Sean Baker

Producers: Darren Dean

Shih-Ching Tsou

Marcus Cox

Karrie Cox

Sean Baker

Screenwriters: Sean Baker

Chris Bergoch

Cinematographers: Radium Cheung

Sean Baker

Editor: Sean Baker

Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez

Mya Taylor

Karren Karagulian

Mickey O’Hagan

Alla Tumanyan

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: magpictures.com/tangerine

Selected Filmography: Starlet (2012) Prince of Broadway (2008)

Take Out (2004)

Four Letter Words (2000)

Tangerine USA 2015

THURSDAY JUNE 4 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

ENCORE SCREENING: SUNDAY JUNE 7 6:15 PM HARVARD EXIT

Transgender besties Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor) are having a reunion. Sin-Dee has just returned from a 28-day stint in prison and is on the hunt for her boyfriend (and pimp) Chester, last rumored to be sleeping with a girl who has “like, vagina and everything.” Alexandra doesn’t need this drama, as she is busy trying to drum up an audience for her big cabaret debut. Meanwhile, an Armenian cab driver (Karren Karagulian) patrols the neighborhood, picking up fares, and maybe a little something extra. Yep, it’s just another Christmas Eve in West Hollywood. Tangerine is a bubbly, sassy slice of life that is part John Waters and part Duplass Brothers (who co-produced). Director Sean Baker’s innovative production was filmed entirely on an iPhone 5s, which not only looks astounding, but allowed for unobtrusive, street-level intimacy. Tangerine is fierce and sweet, farcical and tender, and features fully realized transgender characters that are complex, real, and able to toss off classic dialogue that will be repeated for years. Merry Christmas, bitch.

ACADEMYA

IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE

Director: Amr Salama

Producers: Hani Osama

Mohamed Hefzy

Hady El Bagory

Screenwriter: Amr Salama

Cinematographer: Islam Abdelsamie

Editor: Baher Rasheed

Music: Hani Adel

Cast: Ahmed Dash Hani Adel

Kinda Allouch Ahmed Helmy

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English

subtitles

International Sales: FilmRise

Print Source: FilmRise

Film Website: film-clinic.com

Selected Filmography: Made in Egypt: Soneia Fe Misr (2014)

Asmaa (2011)

Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician (Doc, 2011)

On A Day Like Today (2008)

LAMOAKHZAA

Excuse My French Egypt 2014

FRIDAY JUNE 5 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

ENCORE SCREENINGS: SATURDAY JUNE 6 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY JUNE 7 8:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

In this family comedy and Egyptian box office smash, twelve-year-old Hany, a precocious kid from a privileged Coptic Christian family seems to have it made: He’s got his Mac, his Nintendo, and doting parents who send him to a fancy private school. But things change dramatically after his father’s sudden death. With their income drastically reduced, Hany’s mother is forced to send him to the local public school. Hany is in for a shock—His new school, in a working-class neighborhood, is a rough-and-tumble environment where bullies rule the roost and brainy kids are a popular target. After a teacher wrongly assumes that he is Muslim like the majority of the other students, Hany opts to play along, simply to fit in. When he enters and wins a Koran-recitation contest, his popularity soars, but figuring out how to be himself and find his place is another matter entirely.

Director: Peter Greenaway

Producers: Bruno Felix

Femke Wolting

San Fu Maltha

Christina Velasco L.

Screenwriter: Peter Greenaway

Cinematographer: Reinier van Brummelen

Editor: Elmer Leupen

Music: Sergei Prokofiev Cast: Elmer Bäck

Luis Alberti

Rasmus Slatis

Jacob Öhrman

Maya Zapata

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Strand Releasing Film Website: submarine.nl

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Netherlands/Mexico/Belgium/Finland 2015 North American Premiere

SATURDAY JUNE

6 7:00

PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Selected Filmography: Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012)

Rembrandt’s J’Accuse (Doc, 2008) Nightwatching (2007)

A Life in Suitcases (2005)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases (2003-4) 8½ Women (1999)

The Pillow Book (1996)

The Baby of Mâcon (1993)

Prospero’s Books (1991)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

Drowning by Numbers (1988)

The Belly of an Architect (1987)

A Zed & Two Noughts (1986)

The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) The Falls (1980)

In 1931, the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein drove from California to Mexico in order to make a film privately funded by the likes of Upton Sinclair and Vladimir Lenin. What occurred over the next week and a half is nothing any film student reads about while studying the Odessa steps scene in Battleship Potemkin. Eisenstein immediately developed a strong fascination with the country, as well as with the handsome Canedo, a tour guide assigned to show him around his new environment. Eisenstein in Guanajuato illustrates the eccentric director’s personal, sexual awakening, and symbolic rebirth over 10 days in Guanajuato, Mexico. Peter Greenaway stylishly combines black-and-white and color, new and archival footage, slapstick comedy, and jaw-droppingly beautiful baroque sets in this peculiar biopic of one of cinema’s earliest auteurs.

WE

THE STUDIO 54 EXPERIENCE

Go beyond watching a film—experience it live and be part of the magic. The Neptune Theatre will become Club Studio 54 for one night only. Disco lessons start at 9 PM sharp under glitterballs, lights, thumping tunes, and a humongous motion picture screen. At 10 PM Impresario Mark Siano, our Master of Ceremonies, will begin his live time-machine performances with his Studio 54 dancers performing to scenes from Flashdance, Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Pulp Fiction, and more. Dance contests, flash mob performances, and Videoke. Wear your disco duds as your favorite star and party until 1 AM. This is SIFF like you’ve never experienced it before.

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 9:00 PM PARTY: NEPTUNE THEATRE

54: The Director’s Cut

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

USA 2015

54 was primed to turn the art house film world into a disco inferno when it was scheduled for release on August 28, 1998. A chronicle of the booze-soaked, drug-fueled bacchanalia of New York City’s infamous Studio 54, the film was chock-full of mainstream actors hoping to prove their mettle in a dramatic ensemble setting, including Salma Hayek (Desperado), Breckin Meyer (Clueless), Neve Campbell (the Scream movies), Mark Ruffalo (Safe Men), and lead performances from up-and-comer Ryan Phillippe (Nowhere) as a Jerseyborn bartender who gets caught up in the madness of the scene, and Mike Myers (one year removed from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), in his first dramatic role, as corrupt club co-owner Steve Rubell. But after test screenings went south, Miramax sent in a team of editors to recut the film and forced first-time writer/director Mark Christopher to reshoot nearly 40 minutes of material, excising nearly all of the film’s edgier content. Now, 17 years later, Christopher has recut the film to its original form—retaining the original film’s moral ambiguity as well as the bisexual love triangle between Phillippe, Hayek, and Meyer that test audiences balked at—wrote a brand-new voiceover, and sent it onto the film festival circuit with nearly 40 minutes of unseen material. 54 lives again. Hit the dance floor and show us your moves.

Director: Mark Christopher

Producers: Mark Christopher

Jonathan King

Dolly Hall

Ira Deutchman

Richard Gladstein

Screenwriter: Mark Christopher

Cinematographer: Alexander Gruszynski

Editors: David Kittredge

Lee Percy

Music:

Marco Beltrami

Cast:

Ryan Phillippe

Salma Hayek

Breckin Meyer

Neve Campbell

Mike Myers

Sela Ward

Mark Ruffalo

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Park Circus

Film Website: www.miramax.com/movie/54

Selected Filmography: Pizza (2005) 54 (1998)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Director: Pete Docter

Producer: Jonas Rivera

Screenwriters: Pete Docter

Meg LeFauve

Josh Cooley

Music: Michael Giacchino

Voices: Amy Poehler

Mindy Kaling

Bill Hader

Lewis Black

Phyllis Smith

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP 3D

Print Source: Disney Pixar

Film Website pixar.com/features_films/

Inside-Out

Selected Filmography: Up (2009) Monsters, Inc (2001)

THURSDAY JUNE 4 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY JUNE 6 10:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

From the tepuis of South America to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In 2015, he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all—inside the mind of an 11-year-old named Riley. Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley (voice of Kaitlyn Dias), who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions–Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.

Director: Bill Condon

Producers: Anne Carey

Iain Canning

Emile Sherman

Screenwriter: Jeffrey Hatcher

Cinematographer: Tobias Schliessler

Editor: Virginia Katz

Music: Carter Burwell

Cast: Ian McKellen

Laura Linney

Milo Parker

Hiroyuki Sanada

Hattie Morahan

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Roadside Attractions

Film Website: see-saw-films.com/film/mrholmes

Selected Filmography: The Fifth Estate (2013)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 & 2 (2011, 2012)

Dreamgirls (2006)

Kinsey (2004)

Gods and Monsters (1998)

The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1994) Sister, Sister (1987)

Mr. Holmes United Kingdom 2015

FRIDAY MAY 29 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY MAY 31 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

An elderly man sits in a cinema with scenes from his life unfolding upon the silver screen. However, this is not his life as he knew it but a fictionalized adventure based upon the memoirs of his former assistant, Dr. Watson. Having long ago retired to an anonymous life in the Sussex countryside, Sherlock Holmes spends his days indulging his twin hobbies, honey bees and botany; his only two companions being his housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), and her 14-year-old son, Roger (Milo Parker). But as his once brilliant mind falters, Holmes struggles to remember the details of his final case, involving an aggrieved married couple and a mysterious musical instrument, which may or may not have occult properties. What went so wrong with the investigation that it made the great detective retire? And how is it connected to his recent trip to post-WWII Japan? Based on Mitch Cullin’s acclaimed novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind,” Mr. Holmes reunites Bill Condon, the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker of Gods and Monsters, with Ian McKellan, giving a career-best performance, to create a uniquely iconoclastic chapter in the life of pop culture’s most famous detective.

Directors: Richard Starzak

Mark Burton

Producers: Julie Lockhart

Paul Kewley

Screenwriters: Mark Burton Richard Starzak

Cinematographers: Charles Copping

Dave Alex Riddett

Editor: Sim Evan-Jones

Music: Ilan Eshkeri

Voices: Justin Fletcher

John Sparkes

Omid Djalili

Richard Webber

Kate Harbour

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Studio Canal

Print Source: Lionsgate Films Film Website: shaunthesheep.com/movie

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Shaun the Sheep United Kingdom 2015

FRIDAY JUNE 5 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY JUNE 7 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Shaun the Sheep and his flock are determined to get a day off to relax, so they come up with a genius plan to keep Farmer sleeping through his alarm. Things go awry when Farmer gets knocked out and his trailer is sent careening down the winding road to the big city. When he finally comes to, he can’t remember anything, not where he came from and definitely not Shaun or his friends. The herd and sheepdog Bitzer set off by bus to the chaotic streets of downtown to find Farmer and bring him back home, but mix-ups and shenanigans ensue, and Bitzer and Shaun find themselves sharing a jail cell at the world’s most fearsome stray animal pound. This laugh-a-minute comedy comes from Aardman Animation, the creators of the “Shaun the Sheep” television show, which originated as a “Wallace and Gromit” spin-off. Providing impressive slapstick and a genuinely heartfelt plot, Shaun the Sheep will delight both young and old.

PAN SI DONG

Cave of the Spider Women

CHINA 1927

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM

A Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, is sent on a mission from Buddha to travel west and bring back special texts. On his journey, he is accompanied by several characters, Pigsy, Sandy, Monkey, and the Dragon Prince, who are ordered to go with him to atone for their past sins. The journey is treacherous and challenging, and Xuanzang must constantly avoid evil demons who try to eat him and his party, apparently in the hopes of gaining mortality. Their strength and courage are really tested when they come upon a mysterious cave where seven beautiful women live. The women, secretly flesh-eating spider spirits in disguise, seduce and capture the convoy, leaving Xuanzang scrambling to escape and finish his Buddhist mission. Recently found in the National Library of Norway, Cave of the Spider Women, also known as Cave of the Silken Web, kickstarted several re-imaginings of this beloved Chinese story from the Ming Dynasty fable Journey To the West, and is full of elaborate costumes, beautiful women, and suspenseful action. Screens with The Cave of Silken Web

Live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin

Director: Dan Duyu

Screenwriter: Guan Ji’an

Cinematographer: Dan Ganting

Cast: Yin Mingzhu

He Rongzhu

Jiang Meikang

Zhou Hongquan

Running Time: 60 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, Silent, with English intertitles

Print Source: Norwegian Film Archive

Selected Filmography: Playboy (1952)

Panther-Head Hero Lam Chong (1950)

The Pangs of Love (1946)

Modern Spider Cave (1938)

The Graduate (1936)

An Innocent Girl (1933)

South Seas Beauty (1932)

Stranger in the Old House (1931)

The Spider Cave II (1929)

Yang Guifei (1927)

Didi (Younger Brother) (1924)

The Sea (1922)

PAN SI DONG

The Cave of Silken Web

HONG KONG 1967

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM

Few names are more synonymous with martial arts cinema than the Shaw Brothers Studio. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s their films helped to popularize Wuxia swordplay and Kung Fu action in American grindhouses and on Saturday afternoon television, and with The Cave of Silken Web, the studio produced one of their most fantastical films. The third film of four based on the classic Chinese novel “Monkey,” and a remake of Dan Duyu’s 1927 film epic, it follows a traveling monk, Xuanzhang, and his three companion-protectors—Monkey, Pig, and Friar Sand—in their search for a missing scripture. However, this merry band soon wanders into the titular cave, which so happens to be inhabited by seven sexy spider demons. Spying the monk, this legion of lethal ladies concocts a plan to devour the monk’s flesh—a feast that will grant them eternal life. Soon enough, both Xuanzhang and Pig are captured within the spider demon’s web, leaving it up to Monkey and Friar Sand to rescue the hapless pair before the spider women can make their final banquet preparations. Exquisitely crafted, the film is a gorgeous fantasy filled with lush color cinematography, massive martial arts action, and an unforgettable musical number. Screens with Cave of the Spider Woman.

Director: Ho Meng Hua

Producer: Run Run Shaw

Screenwriter: Cheng Kang

Cinematographer: Lin Kuo-Hsiang

Editor: Chiang Hsing-lung

Music: Wang Fu-ling

Cas: Ho Fan

Angela Yu Chien

We Wei

Helen Ma

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shaw Brothers

Print Source: JAM Inc.

Selected Filmography: The Mighty Peking Man (1977)

Vengeance Is a Golden Blade (1969)

The Land of Many Perfumes (1968)

Susanna (1967)

The Monkey Goes West (1966)

Princess Iron Fan (1966)

Between Tears and Laughter (1964)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Saved From the Flames –A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips Through Time and Space

FRANCE 2014

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

For years and years, Serge Bromberg has been sifting through attics, flea markets, and abandoned houses in order to salvage lost and forgotten films. His collection, boasting around 120,000 nitrate film reels, has literally saved cinematic gems from flammable destruction. Touring since 1992, Bromberg breathes new life into these films, providing eye-opening and jaw-dropping experiences for audiences around the world. Saved From the Flames—A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips Through Time and Space is a mustsee program, a collection of movies from the dawn of cinema, including a restored version of George Melies’ A Trip to the Moon (1902), animated masterpiece Balloon Land (1936), and Buster Keaton’s The Love Nest (1923)— plus several other surprises.

Director: Serge Bromberg

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital

International Sales: Lobster Films

Print Source: Lobster Films

Film Website: lobsterfilms.com/retour_ de_flamme.6.htm

Selected Filmography: The Extraordinary Voyage (2012) Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Doc, 2009)

The Alley Orchestra Performs The Son of the Sheik

USA 1926

TUESDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM

This 1926 silent film revels in its moonlit rendezvous, knife fights, kidnapping, horseback racing, betrayal, and love. The Son of the Sheik is one of the most thrilling adventures and romances of its time, featuring heartthrob Rudolph Valentino in his final, and what some call his best, starring role. Valentino plays both the Sheik, and his son, Ahmed, the latter of which falls in love with a beautiful dancer Yasmin, played with soft sensuality by Vilma Banky. When he is kidnapped and held for ransom after one of their midnight trysts, Ahmed believes that she was the one to betray him, and seeks revenge. Every element of this film excels in craftsmanship and beauty, from the lighting to the desert location, from the glorious costuming to the passionate chemistry between Valentino and Banky. Featuring an all new live score by the notable Alloy Orchestra that uses instruments native to the Middle East, and a beautiful restoration from Box 5 distribution company, The Son of the Sheik is a remarkable triumph of filmmaking and is not to be missed on the big screen.

Director: George Fitzmaurice

Producer: John W. Considine, Jr.

Screenwriters: Frances Marion

Fred de Gresac

Cinematographer: George Barnes

Cast: Rudolph Valentino

Vilma Banky

George Fawcett

Montagu Love

Agnes Ayres

Running Time: 68 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Selected Filmography: Adventure in Diamonds (1940)

Vacation from Love (1938)

Arsne Lupin Returns (1938)

Suzy (1936)

Mata Hari ([1931)

Raffles (1930)

Lilac Time (1928)

The Dark Angel (1925)

To Have and to Hold (1922)

Witness for the Defense (1919)

The Avalanche (1919)

The Hunting of the Hawk (1917)

Kick In (1917)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

STEWART STERN – LIVE SCREENPLAY READING REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Stewart Stern was an exceptional screenwriter, a giving mentor, and a genuine human being. Over the years, he wrote screenplays for many feature films from the 1950s through the 1970s. His work was well-known through projects with Paul Newman (Rachel, Rachel, 1968), Marlon Brando (The Ugly American, 1963), Sally Field (Sybil, 1976) and Dennis Hopper (The Last Movie, 1971), but his most well known contribution was Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, which put James Dean on the cinematic map and remains a timeless portrait of rebellious youth. In addition to writing screenplays, Mr. Stern was an exemplary teacher and mentor, working for years with University of Southern California, University of Washington, and was a Founding Faculty of Seattle’s TheFilmSchool. Mr. Stern generously mentored many screenwriters over the years, and several of them are now writing and directing for major Hollywood projects. SIFF and one of Mr. Stern’s mentees, Ryan Piers Williams (X/Y, SIFF 2014), are excited to pay tribute to Stewart Stern’s legacy with a live screenplay performance of his seminal masterpiece, Rebel Without a Cause. With three incredible roles for a trio of young actors and countless well-drawn supporting roles, this reading will feature a mixture of strong talent from Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles. Check the SIFF website for casting announcements and plan to join us for this special live event to celebrate a treasured member of our Seattle Film Community.

Rebel Without a Cause USA 1955

SUNDAY, MAY 31 4:00 PM

This past February when award-winning screenwriter Stewart Stern passed away, the film world lost one of its great craftsmen and teachers. In honor of his talent and generosity, SIFF presents what has become his most iconic film. James Dean stars as troubled, misunderstood teenager Jim Stark. Dragged into the police station for public drunkenness, Jim meets John “Plato” Crawford (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood), and the trio quickly form an uneasy acquaintance as each one recounts their unhappy home life. Soon afterward, Jim attends his first day of high school, where he runs afoul of “Buzz” Gunderson, Judy’s boyfriend, an event that sets the stage for a tragic Chicken Run between the two boys. More than any other film, Rebel Without a Cause forged James Dean’s onscreen persona and subsequent legend—a brutally intense figure with unfathomed depth, both reveling in yet struggling against innate feelings of overwhelming angst—and Natalie Wood’s Academy Award®-nominated performance is widely credited as a pivotal moment in her transition from child star to adult actress. While the ’50s were awash in films about juvenile delinquents, Stern and director Nicholas Ray crafted the genre’s apogee, a timeless comingof-age drama guaranteed to tear you apart.

Restored by Warner Bros. in collaboration with The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by Warner Bros., Gucci, and The Film Foundation.

Director: Nicholas Ray

Producer: David Weisbart

Screenwriters: Stewart Stern

Irving Shulman

Cinematographer: Ernest Haller

Editors: William Ziegler

James Moore

Music: Leonard Rosenman

Cast: James Dean

Natalie Wood

Sal Mineo

Jim Backus

Dennis Hopper

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Warner Bros.

Selected Filmography: We Can’t Go Home Again (1976)

55 Days at Peking (1963)

King of Kings (1961)

The Savage Innocents (1960)

Party Girl (1958)

Bitter Victory (1957)

The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

Hot Blood (1956)

Run for Cover (1955)

Johnny Guitar (1954)

The Lusty Men (1952)

Androcles and the Lion (1952)

Macao (1952)

On Dangerous Ground (1952)

The Racket (1951)

Flying Leathermecks (1951)

Born to be Bad (1950)

In a Lonely Place (1949)

Roseanna McCoy (1949)

Knock on Any Door (1949)

They Live by Night (1949)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

CONGRATULATIONS ON ANOTHER YEAR OF CINEMATIC EXCELLENCE IN SEATTLE.

–DALE, LESLIE AND TEAM CHIHULY

Dale Chihuly, Silvered Piccolo Venetian with Ripple Blue Handles, 2009, 11 x 9 x 5"

KEVIN BACON

With his sly grin, boyish handsomeness, and mischievous energy used to perfect e ect in a wide range of film roles—from teen movie heroes and scenery-chewing supervillains to sadistic guards and emotionally crippled FBI agents—actor and musician Kevin Bacon has carved out a unique career as a captivating character actor working with movie star charisma, a performer who can flow easily from lead to supporting role. On Wednesday, May 27, SIFF will welcome him to the stage for an interview featuring film clips from his career and to receive the Seattle International Film Fetival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. Aferwards, there will be a screening of Bacon’s latest film, Cop Car, directed by Jon Watts.

Wednesday, May 27, 8:00 PM SIFF Cinema Egyptian

Kevin Norwood Bacon was born in Philadelphia on July 8, 1958, the youngest of six children of elementary school teacher Ruth Hilda Holmes and architect Edmund Bacon. Encouraged to embrace the arts and having understood fame at an early age— his father worked as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and graced a 1964 cover of “Time Magazine”—Bacon attended the Manning Street Actor’s Theatre as well as the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts at Bucknell University, the latter on scholarship at the young age of 16. The following year, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in theater.

After appearing in productions at the Circle in the Square Theater School, he went on to appear in a film that would change the face of comedy forever—National Lampoon’s 1978 fraternity romp Animal House. Bacon played the smarmy ROTC soldier and Omega Theta Pi pledge Chip Diller with aplomb, but was but one member of the film’s large cast, and he returned to New York with little fanfare and went back to waiting tables. While continuing to do occasional onscreen work—he played one of the final victims in the first Friday the 13th film, as well as a teenage alcoholic on the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light” Bacon made a name for himself both on and off-Broadway, earning the 1982 Obie Award for his performances as a street hustler in Alan Browne’s “Forty Deuce” and a Yale student in Paul Rudnick’s “Poor Little Lambs.”

That year, Bacon appeared alongside a who’s who ensemble of young and talented up-and-comers—Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly, Daniel Stern, Paul Reiser, Ellen Barkin— in Diner, the directorial debut of screenwriter Barry Levinson. Based on Levinson’s memories of growing up in 1950s Baltimore, the sleeper hit would go on to earn an Oscar® nomination for its screenplay and influence a generation of writers. (Judd Apatow and Nick Hornby, for example, consider it among their favorite films.) It was in 1984, however, that Bacon’s career skyrocketed with the release of Herbert Ross’ Footloose, about a Chicago teenager who learns that his newly adopted Bible Belt town has forbidden dancing and rock music. A box office smash boasting a nine-times-platinum soundtrack, it turned Bacon into a pop culture sensation.

Unimpressed with the roles offered to him post-Footloose 1986’s Quicksilver, 1988’s She’s Having a Baby, 1990’s Flatliners—Bacon turned his attention away from lead roles and remade himself as a character actor. “The only way I was going to be able to work on ‘A’ projects with really ‘A’ directors was if I wasn’t the guy who was starring,” he told the New York Times. “You can’t afford to set up a $40 million movie if you don’t have your star.” Bacon received unanimous raves for his small but vital role as gay prostitute Willie O’Keefe in Oliver Stone’s 1991 conspiracy theory-laden JFK, marking the first in a line of characters that challenged audiences to accept him as more than the guy who “kicked off his Sunday shoes.”

Over the next several years, Bacon would relish his mid-career shift, playing a prosecuting attorney in Rob Reiner’s military courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992), a backwoods criminal in Curtis Hanson’s whitewater adventure The River Wild (1994), an Alcatraz prisoner undone by solitary confinement in Marc Rocco’s Murder in the First (1995), a sadistic detention center guard in Barry Levinson’s harrowing drama Sleepers (1996), a corrupt Miami police detective in John McNaughton’s erotic thriller Wild Things (1998), a

Chicago father haunted by ghostly visions in David Koepp’s psychological drama Stir of Echoes (1999), and a mad scientist in Paul Verhoven’s high-tech invisible man horror film Hollow Man (2000).

Among the films he appeared in over the next 15 years— 2003’s Mystic River, 2007’s Death Sentence, 2008’s Frost/ Nixon, 2010’s Super, 2011’s X-Men: First Class—arguably his greatest role came in 2004’s The Woodsman. Directed by Nicole Kassell and based on the play by Steven Fechter, Bacon (who also acted as executive producer) plays Walter, a convicted child molester struggling to find redemption after an extended prison sentence. “There’s nothing I won’t play,” he told Total Film. “I won’t draw the line at anything. Worrying about image is for celebrities, not actors.” The film earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Five years later he’d win Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards (and garner an Emmy nomination) for his turn as Marine Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl in the HBO television movie “Taking Chance,” reigniting his interest in television work just as the medium’s second Golden Age was gaining steam. Currently, Bacon stars on Kevin Williamson’s FOX detective drama “The Following,” now in its third season, as a former FBI agent with a single-minded purpose—track down an escaped serial killer while contending with the psychopath’s fanatic followers.

Bacon has been happily married to actress Kyra Sedgwick (Emmy winner for TNT’s “The Closer”) since 1988 and have two children together, Travis and Sosie. The two met while performing in Lanford Wilson’s 1987 play “Lemon Sky” and its subsequent PBS television movie version. They live on the Upper West Side of New York City.

Cop Car

USA 2015

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Director:

Jon Watts

Producers:

Cody Ryder

Alicia Van Couvering

Sam Bisbee

Andrew Kortschak

Jon Watts

Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford

Jon Watts

Cinematographers: Matthew J. Lloyd

Larkin Seiple

FILMOGRAPHY SELECTED

Animal House (1978)

Friday the 13th (1980)

“Guiding Light” (1980-1981)

Diner (1982)

Footloose (1984)

Quicksilver (1986)

Lemon Sky (1988)

She’s Having a Baby (1988)

Tremors (1990)

Flatliners (1990)

Queens Logic (1991)

JFK (1991)

A Few Good Men (1992)

The River Wild (1994)

Murder in the First (1995)

Apollo 13 (1995)

Balto (1995)

Sleepers (1996)

Telling Lies in America (1997)

Wild Things (1998)

Stir of Echoes (1999)

Hollow Man (2000)

Mystic River (2003)

In the Cut (2003)

The Woodsman (2004)

Loverboy (2005)

Where the Truth Lies (2005)

Death Sentence (2007)

Frost/Nixon (2008)

“Taking Chance” (2009)

Super (2010)

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

“The Following” (2013-Present)

Cop Car (2015)

Two mischievous 10-year-old boys are playing in the Colorado wilderness when they stumble upon an abandoned police cruiser. With no owner in sight, they hop in for an impromptu joyride. But it turns out the owner of the car, Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon, sporting a truly menacing mustache), was in the woods for a reason that he wants kept secret, and he will do whatever it takes to retrieve his cop car. This humorous and tense modern noir from director Jon Watts plays out like a Coen Brothers version of childhood innocence lost: starting out lighthearted, though felonious, but leading to increasingly twisted results. Newcomers James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford capture the spirit of male adolescence, needling and teasing each other into increasingly reckless behavior (and one priceless exchange of dirty words), while Kevin Bacon takes his corrupt lawman from classic Midwestern stoicism to unhinged desperation with remarkably little dialogue. Building in tension and surprises to a hard-boiled final chapter, the film ultimately offers one vital lesson for all ages: leave sleeping cop cars be!

Editors:

Megan Brooks

Andrew Hasse

Music: Phil Mossman

Cast: Kevin Bacon

James Freedson-Jackson

Hays Wellford

Shea Whigham

Camryn Manheim

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Memento Films International

Print Source:

Focus World

Film Website: international.mementofilms.com/now/cop-car-3

Selected Filmography: Clown (2014)

Footloose

TUESDAY, MAY 26 6:30 PM

In Footloose, a great hero named Kevin Bacon teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing is the greatest thing there is. At least that’s how Star Lord describes the story in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy—showing that Footloose isn’t just a seminal ’80s film, but a timeless classic. This story of big city teen Ren shaking up the small Midwestern town of Beaumont, a place where rock music and dancing are illegal thanks to a misguided reverend, is filled with rollicking and relatable dance sequences set to a soundtrack of non-stop hits: from the literally toe-tapping opening credits featuring Kenny Loggins’ Oscar®-nominated title song, to an iconic and acrobatic rage dance montage. But the film’s staying power is thanks to the very real portrayal of teenage life performed by a young and talented cast lead by the unstoppable Kevin Bacon, whose charismatic performance made him a cinema icon. Let’s hear it for the boy!

Director: Herbert Ross

Producers: Lewis J. Rachmil

Craig Zadan

Screenwriter: Dean Pitchford

Cinematographer: Ric Waite

Editor: Paul Hirsch

Music: Kenny Loggins

Jim Steinman

Tom Snow

Cast: Kevin Bacon

Lori Singer

Dianne Wiest

John Lithgow

Chris Penn

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Paramount Pictures

Selected Filmography: Boys on the Side (1995)

Undercover Blues (1993)

True Colors (1991)

My Blue Heaven (1990)

Steel Magnolias (1989)

The Secret of My Succe$s (1987)

Max Dugans Returns (1983)

Nijinsky (1980)

The Turning Point (1977)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)

Diner USA 1982

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM

“You ever get the feeling there’s something going on that we don’t know about?” Set at the end of 1959, Diner mixes bittersweet comedy and realistic repartee as it follows a circle of male friends who reunite for their friend’s wedding. Spending most nights huddled in a booth at their favorite Baltimore hangout, the Fells Point Diner, these old pals bust each other’s chops, ruminate on the women in their lives, and argue the finer points of sharing roast beef sandwiches. Ultimately, they find that they share similar problems of, as Roger Ebert put it, “growing up at an age when they are supposed to have already grown up.” Barry Levinson’s semi-autobiographical film received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay and made stars out of a remarkable cast of then unknowns, including Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Paul Reiser, Steve Guttenberg, Ellen Barkin, and Kevin Bacon. Diner also influenced a generation of screenwriters and is a rare treat on the big screen. Just don’t have an “accident” with your popcorn box.

Director: Barry Levinson

Producer: Jerry Weintraub

Screenwriter: Barry Levinson

Cinematographer: Peter Sova

Editor: Stu Linder

Music:

Bruce Brody

Ivan Král

Cast: Kevin Bacon

Steve Guttenberg

Mickey Rourke

Daniel Stern

Tim Daly

Ellen Barkin

Paul Reiser

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

Print Source: Warner Bros.

Selected Filmography:

The Humbling (2014)

The Bay (2012)

What Just Happened (2008)

Man of the Year (2006)

Envy (2004)

Bandits (2001)

Sphere (1998)

Wag the Dog (1997)

Sleepers (1996)

Toys (1992)

Bugsy (1991)

Avalon (1990)

Rain Man (1988)

Tin Men (1987)

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

The Natural (1984)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

AN EVENING WITH JASON SCHWARTZMAN

Jason Schwartzman has consistently infused his signature charm, deadpan humor, and quick-wit into such films as Rushmore, I Heart Huckabees, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. On Saturday, June 6, SIFF will welcome him to the stage for an interview featuring film clips from his career. Afterwards, there will be a screening of one of Schwartzman’s latest films, 7 Chinese Brothers directed by Bob Byington. There will also be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions following the screening.

7 Chinese Brothers

SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 5:30 PM, Harvard Exit Theatre

ENCORE SCREENING: SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 1:30 PM, Egyptian Theatre

In this very funny character study, Jason Schwartzman is Larry, a charming slacker aimlessly stumbling through low-end jobs, dates, and bars with his trusty, and even lazier scene-stealing companion, Arrow the French bulldog (Schwartzman’s own dog.) (d: Bob Byington, c: Jason Schwartzman, Olympia Dukakis, Tunde Adebimpe, Eleanore Pienta, USA 2015, 76 min)

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

For the documentarian, the world around us provides a seemingly inexhaustible source of material. Music, dance, art, sports, history, politics, the natural world— all of these offer an infinite number of stories that we’ve never heard, or think we know well but that might require another look. These stories expand our horizons and deepen our understanding of the world we live in, and the people and creatures we live among. From the ridiculous to the sublime and everything in between, documentary art is about showing the world how it is, how it was, and how it could be. SIFF is proud to present the 12 films in this year’s Documentary Competition, which explore everything from cooking (Cooking Up a Tribute, Sergio Herman, F**KING PERECT) to music (The Glamour & The Squalor, It’s So Easy and Other Lies), from troubled youth (License to Operate, Paper Tigers) to the man whose misinformation led to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq (War of Lies). The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $2,500.

Cooking Up a Tribute

Spain 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Directors Luis González, Andrea Gómez

Dreams Rewired

Austria 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Directors Martin Reinhart, Thomas Tode, Manu Luksch

The Glamour & The Squalor

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director Marq Evans

The Great Alone

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director Greg Kohs

In Utero

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director Kathleen Gyllenhaal

It’s So Easy and Other Lies

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director Christopher Duddy

License to Operate

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director James Lipetzky

Mountain Spirits

Taiwan 2014 US PREMIERE

Directors Singing Chen, Kuo-Liang Chiang

Paper Tigers

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director James Redford

Romeo is Bleeding

USA 2015

Director Jason Zeldes

Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT

Netherlands 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Willemiek Kluijfhout

War of Lies

Germany 2014 US PREMIERE

Director Matthias Bittner

that powers

NEW AMERICAN CINEMA COMPETITION

When we begin the film selection process in the fall, each film lover on SIFF’s programming team leaves the o ce with bags full of film screeners, each disc containing the hopes and dreams of filmmakers, casts, and crews from around the world. By far, we receive the largest volume of submissions from independent American filmmakers and, each Festival, we are only able to select a fraction of those that we love. However, the films we’ve chosen this year represent the collective output of U.S. independents we love very much, and hope that you will, too. Each of these films—all of which are world premieres!—has found a champion on the programming team. Someone who fought to have this or that particular film included in the group that we would eventually present to our audience as the best and brightest work of U.S. filmmakers. Spanning the range of genres and employing innovative storytelling devices, these are the films that you will be talking about long after the Festival has come to an end. These are the films that you will share with your friends to allow them to experience that same sense of wonder that accompanied your discovery of the character, story, or emotion that first spoke to you from the screen. Join us on our voyage into storytelling in its most modern, dynamic, and engaging form: the moving image.

Jury consists of members of the FIPRESCI. The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $2,500.

Chatty Catties

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Pablo Valencia

Circle

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Directors Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione

Fourth Man Out USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Andrew Nackman

Front Cover USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Ray Yeung

Good Ol’ Boy

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Frank Lotito

Happy 40th

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Madoka Raine

Me Him Her

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Max Landis

A Rising Tide USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Ben Hickernell

Those People

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

Director Joey Kuhn

NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION

Be at the cutting edge of world cinema and take a little risk in your viewing. This year, 12 new international voices have been selected for our SIFF’s New Directors Competition. To qualify, the films must be dramatic features, a director’s debut or second feature, and be without U.S. distribution at the time of SIFF selection. The films are selected for their original scripts, innovative cinematography, and unique insights into people, places, and story. A New Directors Award jury comprised of film industry professionals and journalists will choose the winning filmmaker during the Festival’s final weekend. The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $2,500.

A Blast

Greece/Germany/Netherlands 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Syllas Tzoumerkas

Bonifacio

Philippines 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Enzo Williams

Corrections Class

Russia/Germany 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Liza, the Fox-Fairy

Hungary 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Károly Ujj-Mészáros

Love, Theft and Other Entanglements

Palestine 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Muayad Alayan

A Matter of Interpretation

South Korea 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Kwang-kuk Lee

Morbayassa

Guinea 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Cheick Fantamady Camara

My Skinny Sister

Sweden/Germany 2015

AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Sanna Lenken

Short Skin

Italy 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Duccio Chiarini

Under Construction

Bangladesh 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

Director Rubaiyat Hossain

Vincent

France 2014

Director Thomas Salvador

Waterline

Poland 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Director Michal Otlowski

SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

Limited in length but never in creativity, short films have their very own energy, far removed from the financial constraints of a feature film and often the rules of cinema themselves. Whether they feature the start of an idea or the crystallization of one, shorts are one of the most consistently intriguing cinematic forms, a fascinating world unto themselves.

Each year, SIFF is proud to present a collection of short films we believe best represent the limitless imagination of the form. While these films may be onscreen for mere moments, they make lasting impressions.

Every short film at the Seattle International Film Festival is eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and the Grand Jury Award.

Our Shorts Competition jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each Grand Jury Prize winner will receive $1,000; winners may also qualify to enter their respective Short Film category of the Academy Awards® for the concurrent season without the theatrical run.

AFRICAN PICTURES

In 2013, SIFF launched African Pictures, thanks to a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The program was a terrific success, giving SIFF audiences unique access to some of the best work from and about Africa being made today. Films in African Pictures have won the Golden Space Needle for both Best Film and Best Director.

This year’s lineup is no less exceptional: Beats of the Antonov, winner of the Toronto 2014 Documentary Audience Award, explores the vibrant musical culture of South Sudan’s refugee camps. Run trains its focus on an assassin reflecting upon the tumultuous history of Ivory Coast. Challat of Tunis is a genre-bending mockumentary about sexist attitudes in Arab culture, following a masked assailant through the streets of the capital city. Beti and Amare, meanwhile, is a dreamy sci-fi fantasy about a imaginative Ethiopian teenager hiding from Mussolini’s troops. Breathe Umphefumlo updates “La Boheme” through a uniquely South African lens. And the African Pictures Party celebrates Excuse My French, Egypt’s box office smash comedy about a Coptic Christian boy sent to a majority-Muslim public school.

Best of all, we’re bringing many of these filmmakers to the Festival with their work. So come and meet them, see their films, and hear them talk about this new hotspot of filmmaking activity.

Alyam, Alyam

Beats of the Antonov

Beti and Amare

Black Girl

The Boda Boda Thieves

Breathe Umphefumlo

Challat of Tunis

Décor

Excuse My French

I Am the People

The Malagasy Way

Morbayassa

Run

Surgarcane Shadows

ALTERNATE CINEMA

This year’s Alternate Cinema program takes forms that seem familiar, like “documentary” or “musical,” and spins them into something entirely new. Anyone looking for a sample need look no further than the Alternate Worlds Shorts program, with its surreal stories and the formal experiments that are sure to blow your mind. After that, we encourage you to explore the feature-length picks.

natural history (the lowercase intentional) uses a complex theory based on the digits of Pi to give a look at the life of inanimate objects in Vienna’s Museum of Natural History. The Royal Road combines nostalgia, California’s urban landscapes, the pursuit of an impossible lesbian relationship, and the Mexican-American War into one autobiographical poem. Dreams Rewired combines clips from nearly 200 films and newsreels with a Tilda Swinton commentary on our eternal love/hate relationship with a hyper-mediated world. Beyond Zero: 1914-1918 is an exclusive archival look at the fire and fury of WWI through previously unseen 35mm nitrate footage from the Great War, featuring music by Aleksandra Vrebalov performed by the Kronos Quartet. And 2045 Carnival Folklore is a black and white fever dream of a science fiction story that resembles a noise rock combination of Brave New World and Alphaville

2045 Carnival Folklore

Alternate Worlds (Shorts program)

Beyond Zero: 1914-1918

Dreams Rewired natural history

The Royal Road

BLACK BOX 2.0 | MAY 5 - JUNE 7, 2015

Black Box is an international art, film, and technology festival that presents contemporary artists who expand the language of cinema. A multi-platform program of significant scope, Black Box is focused on experimental film, video, and new media art. Challenging our ideas about what art is and what art can be, the festival transmits energetic ideas across industries. It takes place during the Seattle International Film Festival and is organized independently by Aktionsart.

Black Box 2.0 is curated by Julia Fryett (Founder, Aktionsart) and Anne Couillaud (Independent Curator), exhibiting over 50 emerging and established artists from around the world. It is organized thematically throughout diverse community locations, including movie theaters, living rooms, art galleries, museums, public spaces, commercial properties, and shipping containers. An online channel premieres new work to audiences in Seattle and beyond.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

May 5: Opening Night, Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park

May 6 - June 7, 2015: Citywide exhibitions in arts venues and shipping containers

May 10: SAM Screening I

May 30: Special Performance

May 31: SAM Screening II

June 6: Black Box fête

Black Box 2.0 is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Please visit www.blackboxfestival.org to view the full program and RSVP.

Partners: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle International Film Festival, Cornish College of the Arts, Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media at the University of Washington

Pierre Huyghe. Untitled (Human Mask). 2014-Film (still). Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; Hauser and Wirth, London; Esther Schipper, Berlin, Anna Lena Film, Paris.

AMBIENTE: NEW SPANISH FILMS

To make the perfect Valencian paella, you need more than vegetable and meats. An exceptional paella is built with short grain rice, sweet pimenton, and sa ron—just a few of the flourished that careful cooks include. In progress, the dish is observed using all the senses, as the rice begins to caramelize, crackle, and smell sweetly toasted.

While actors and directors are fundamental in a movie’s construction, they’re supported by cinematographers to achieve the most pleasing look; by composers to enhance the visual moods; and by editors to bring it all together. Are you now hungry for established as well as emerging Spanish films? Then SIFF is the place. Satisfying Spanish filmmaking makes up one of SIFF’s favorite showcases each year.

Cooking Up A Tribute

Flowers

Marshland

Messi

Not All Is Vigil

Paco de Lucía: A Journey

Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado

Shrew’s Nest

Spanish Affiar

ARCHIVAL FILMS

Time travel may still just be a dream in the scientific world, but in cinema it is practically inevitable, as every film captures several distinct moments in time: the period of the story, the era of the film’s creation, and the instance of discovery and even rediscovery by the filmgoer.

Released only two weeks after his death, Rudolph Valentino gives the performance of his career in the silent 1926 adventure film The Son of the Sheik, a National Film Registry preservation selection. In another unfortunate instance of a film being released after its star’s death, 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause finds James Dean and his iconic red motorcycle jacket in a classic teen angst narrative guaranteed to tear you apart. In honor of our screening of Bill Condon’s Mr. Holmes, we’re showing 1916’s Sherlock Holmes, starring William Gillette in one of the earliest film appearances of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective. Another archival feature linked to a SIFF 2015 film is Sergei Eisenstein’s Que Viva Mexico, the landmark Russian director’s unfinished 1932 film and focus of Peter Greenaway’s raunchy and over-the-top biopic Eisenstein in Guanajuato. From overseas, our offerings include Senegalese author/director Ousmane Sembène’s feature debut Black Girl (1966), Sergey Parajanov’s Armenian avant-garde masterpiece Color of the Pomegranates (1969), and Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy, considered by many to be three of the greatest works in cinema history. And for our short film program, archivist and documentarian Serge Bromberg presents Saved from the Flames, a series of previously lost and unknown films restored from deteriorating nitrate reels.

Alyam, Alyam

The Apu Trilogy: Song of the Little Road

The Apu Trilogy: The Unvanquished

The Apu Trilogy: The World of Apu

The Astrologer

Black Girl

Caught

The Cave of Silken Web

Cave of the Spider Women

Color of the Pomegranates

The Dark Mirror

The Old Dark House

Que Viva Mexico

Rebel Without a Cause

The Red Shoes

Saved From the Flames—

A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips

Sherlock Holmes

The Son of the Sheik

Trudell

TO OUR OPENING NIGHT GALA

CATERING PARTNERS

ASIAN CROSSROADS

Exploring the rich diversity of Asia, SIFF has brought together a carefully curated collection of films for 2015. Representing a wide array of styles and themes, the selection this year highlights 36 films from 15 countries including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Tibet, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. From a samurai drama (Snow on the Blades) to Pakistan’s first road trip thriller (Dukhtar) to a comedic documentary about courtship (Meet the Patels) and everything in between, there’s something for everyone.

Take in the neon lights and sweltering slums of Saigon with Phan Dang Di’s Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories. From there, head west to Thailand for a haunting ghost story with an LGBT twist (The Blue Hour) or an unconventional romantic comedy (The Teacher’s Diary). Head into the mountains for Nepal’s The Golden Hill and Tibet’s The Sacred Arrow, or down to the Philippines for two biopics—one about a heralded nationalist (Bonifacio), the other glimpse into Manny Pacquaio’s youth (Kid Kulafu). Over in China, witness a trio of tales revolving around a mysterious death (The Coffin in the Mountain) and a documentary about the mayor of the country’s most polluted city (The Chinese Mayor). Among our Hong Kong offerings, there’s The Golden Era, a bold, beautiful epic about author Xio Hang, and Dearest, a kidnapping drama that unravels some startling truths about the adoption industry in China. In Japan, we have a mouthwatering quartet of hour-long culinary chamber pieces (Little Forest) and the latest from Studio Ghibli (When Marnie Was There). Explore the best and brightest of new Asian cinema at SIFF.

Angkor’s Children

Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories

The Birth of Saké

The Blue Hour

Bonifacio

The Chinese Mayor

The Coffin in the Mountain

Dearest

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

Dukhtar

Gentle

The Golden Era

The Golden Hill

Haemoo

A Hard Day

How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)

Kid Kulafu

Little Forest — Summer / Autumn

Little Forest — Winter / Spring

The Look of Silence

Margarita, with a Straw

A Matter of Interpretation

Meeting Dr. Sun

Meet the Patels

Mountain Spirits

Overheard 3

Paradise in Service

Partners in Crime

Revivre

The Sacred Arrow

Snow on the Blades

The Teacher’s Diary

Temporary Family

Under Construction

When Marnie Was There

Where I Am King

CATALYST

Each year, the SIFF Catalyst program presents some of the most unique narrative feature films produced by American filmmakers. Pushing beyond the typical indie fare vetted by major festivals occurring earlier in the year, SIFF Catalyst has a mandate to take curatorial risks and make adventurous programming choices. And this year, the program’s fourth, may just be its most adventurous yet.

Chatty Catties

Circle

Fourth Man Out

Front Cover

Happy 40th

A Rising Tide

Not only are all six of this year’s Catalyst films world premieres, but four of them are also from directors making their feature film debuts, which means that you’ll have a front row seat for the next wave of U.S. film directors right here in Seattle. With a growing network of Catalyst alums with films playing on screens of all sizes across the country, our program is fast becoming a launchpad for U.S. indie film.

In addition to the six films—Chatty Catties, Circle, Happy 40th, Fourth Man Out, Front Cover, and A Rising Tide (produced by two filmmakers that met during SIFF Catalyst weekend three years ago!)—we also have a two full days of panels covering everything from production, distribution, workflow, and current trends in Indigenous Cinema. Plus, this year’s Catalyst Keynote State of the Indie Industry will be delivered by Independent Filmmaker Project’s Deputy Director and Head of Programming, Amy Dotson.

Up with indies! Up with SIFF Catalyst!

CULINARY CINEMA

Popcorn is no longer king as the phenomenon of food culture has exploded into cinema. We’ve selected 11 extraordinary films that explore di erent aspects of taste and the senses for the cinematically inclined.

Take a sip and inform yourself on the cultural history and careful creation of some of the world’s oldest libations in The Birth of Saké and Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado. Fire up the grill and prepare to learn all the tricks of the trade when it comes to one of the most mouthwatering carnivorous treats in Steak (R)evolution, and watch a man take some dangerous and jaw-dropping risks in the name of health awareness in That Sugar Film.

Ever wonder what it’s like to travel across continents to try out different foods and create your own multi-cultural dishes? Join the Roca brothers and their restaurant crew as they honor the importance of global food culture in Cooking Up a Tribute Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathon Gold will help with that too—showing you the subtle beauty and massive deliciousness of taco trucks and small family-run diners representing L.A.’s vast melting pot of identities in City of Gold

Documentaries aren’t the only types of film that illustrate the importance of food culture and get our stomachs growling, as shown in Junichi Mori’s savory quartet of films that follow a young woman who drops everything to cultivate a garden and live off the land, eating only what’s in season in Little Forest - Summer/Autumn and Little Forest – Winter/Spring.

Bon appetit!

The Birth of Saké

City of Gold

Cooking Up a Tribute For Grace

King Georges

Little Forest - Summer / Autumn

Little Forest - Winter / Spring

Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT

Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado

Steak (R)evolution

That Sugar Film

To expand our offerings beyond the cinema, we have paired films with a selection of Seattle’s most delectable restaurants into a spectacular evening of food & film. Purchase a ticket for one of these pairings that will include a film screening followed by dinner and drink with a specially prepared menu. Visit SIFF.net to learn more.

Sunday, May 17

For Grace with Bookstore Bar & Café

Wednesday, May 20

King Georges with Loulay

May 21, 24

Messi with Vude

Tuesday, May 26

Steak (R)evolution with Manhattan

Sunday, May 31

City of Gold with the Dunbar Room

Tuesday, June 2

Cooking Up a Tribute with Poppy

FACE THE MUSIC – LIVE EVENTS

The intersection of film and music illuminate each medium in their own way, whether through a shared sense of dramatic storytelling or via the less predictable pathways of history, home, and reinterpretation.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 8:30PM – NEUMOS

THE GLAMOUR & THE SQUALOR PARTY

To celebrate the world premiere of The Glamour & The Squalor we have lined up an amazing show to immediately follow the film screening at Neumos with performances by special surprise guests.

About the Film

The Glamour & The Squalor provides an apt title for this unflinching profile of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame disc jockey Marco Collins, who became a radio star in the 1990s and battled drug addiction in the 2000s (the film’s title comes from a show he did on San Diego’s 91X). Collins served as the inaugural music director at Seattle’s commercial alternative station, 107.7 The End, and helped to break world-renowned acts like Nirvana and Beck. In the film, he travels back to Southern California, where his lack of interest in sports attracted bullying from classmates and disappointment from his father, a narrow-minded policeman, but where he found punk rock, which led him to radio. In 1991, he found his way to the Seattle radio station KNDD just as grunge was starting to rise to the surface. Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), and numerous others credit him for getting the word out about their bands. He was also gay at a time when the music scene wasn’t quite as accepting. After leaving The End, Marco plunged into a less glamorous world of odd jobs, stints in rehab, and profound losses. In this stirring portrait, he emerges bloodied but not unbowed.

Film Screening:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 7:00 PM, SIFF Cinema Egyptian

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 4:15 PM, Harvard Exit

THE FILM FOUNDATION

Established in 1990 by Martin Scorsese, The Film Foundation is dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history, and has helped to restore over 620 films in the last 25 years. SIFF is proud to partner with The Film Foundation to celebrate their 25th Anniversary with 12 restoration titles, eight screened during the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival, and four in partnership with STG and their Trader Joe’s Silent Movie Mondays at the Paramount in June.

Alyam, Alyam, d: Ahmed El Maanouni (Morocco 1978)

Black Girl, d: Ousmane Sembène (Senegal 1966)

Caught, d: Max Ophüls (USA 1949)

The Color of the Pomegranates, d: Sergei Parajanov (Armenia 1969)

The Dark Mirror, d: Robert Siodmak (USA 1946)

The Old Dark House, d: James Whale (USA 1932)

Rebel Without a Cause, d: Nicholas Ray (USA 1955)

The Red Shoes, d: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (United Kingdom 1948)

STG Presents Trader Joe’s Silent Movie Mondays

The Mark of Zorro, d: Fred Niblo (USA 1920)

My Best Girl, d: Sam Taylor (USA 1927)

The Unholy Three, d: Tod Browning (USA 1925)

Snow White, d: J. Searle Dawley (USA 1916)

Learn more at stgpresents.org

LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA

Feature films and art-house films from Latin America will again play to packed movie houses at SIFF. It helps that Latin American filmmaking continues to be vibrant, at least if this year’s o erings from Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina are any indication. However, new voices from countries such as Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Cuba will play alongside the Latin American film establishment, widening the region’s voice with new themes and styles, providing more stories and new inventive ways to communicate the rich Latin American cultures.

Behavior

Blue Blood

The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime

Ciudad Delirio

The Fire

The Games Maker

Gente de Bien

Güeros

In the Grayscale

Murder in Pacot

The New Man

NN

The Second Mother

Tea Time

Venice

We at the Lagunitas Brewing Co. hope you enjoy these genuinely handmade ales. A lot hard work and enthusiasm go into every aspect of brewing this Mondo Ultra Mega Super Premium Ale. From building the brewery itself to putting the cap on each and every bottle, virtually every step was done by hand. Thanks for your trust, and as always: Think Globally, Drink Locally!... “And you’re full of ragwater bitters and blue ruin and you’re spilling out over the edge to anyone who’ll listen.” These are the words of our favorite Sonoma songsmith. They describe a cocktail of romantic despair wrapped in red flock wall paper and marinated in a soulful yearning. On the rocks. With a twist. We’ve all been there. The beer in this bottle, however, is none of that. So maybe Ragwater is a crappy name for the beer but we liked it, and so whatever. It’s always better to be happy than right. Mostly, anyways. Whatever. Forget it. Never mind... Anyway, we were going out to, uh, the, uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, uh, the dude was like-“whoa man! I mean, and we were all, uh, you know- whoa! And stuff, and when I said to him, like you know, hey man and all, they, I mean he, was all “what?” and stuff- and I just told him what you said and all, and they were all man- “not cool dude”, but whatever- so uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just Such a bummer and all but you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it’s cool and you know, but what’s up with the “blah blah blah”? Whatzit got to do with beer and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever… There I was, sweaty and strung out, holed up for the third day in a cheap hotel with a genuine Juanita on my lap. On the lamb was more than a way of life. It had a smell, and it stunk like hops. Juanita shrieked something about an “Escoba grande con queso en mota para la pelicula…”, but I wasn’t listening. For now I was focused on the undercover Ale clenched between jaunita’s knees and also how good it would taste later while she cooled out in the soon to be locked shed out back of Palmdale where the turkey farmers still run. Ale is thicker than even blood. I already knew this and I also knew that the dicks were not far behind and that ever at their distance they could smell everything and would never let up on me. Flip the dicks. Here come the bastards… Here they come…It has been broughten to our attrition that they're have been numberous spelling errors on hour various lables. From the cureous (as in 'steet') too the sublime (as in 'redempetion'). As a soulution to this problem we have retrained an imminent linguist from Stanford and have invested in a spel checker computter utilitiy. For now however, the thing I want to know is: Who are these werd police? Anyway? Who is the boss, ewe or the words? Huh? And besides, what dew words, let alone speling, have to do with beer anyway. I mean, who ever herd of some namby pamby pale lexiphile curling up buy a warm fire with a good book and a cold beer. This hole bussiness has gone plenty far enouph, don't you think?... Like Adam and Eve, Issac and Ishmael, Mao and confuscious, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Hittites and Visigoths, John and Lorena, or Groucho and Moe, Ales and Lagers are as different as can be. Still we must love each for who they are, separately but equally, with liberty, and justice for all. Cheers!... Those among you who have visited a brewery already know. Those who have not can not imagine. It is said that it takes a lot of beer to make great wine. What then does it take a lot of to make great beer? Answer: Human flesh, and lots of it. Not in the beer, of course, but on the blisteringly hot sides of the whirlpool tank, or on the spinning shaft of a pump head. If you should see one of our club footed, three-fingered, cycloptic albino brewers on the street, you might be inclined to give them a quarter. But don't! These individuals are highly paid professionals. Masters of their craft, and committed to their trade with little or no regard for their own personal safety or physical appearance. Beer is a cruel master. Masters are cruel, and beer is no exception. Just don't picture their twisted forms as you enjoy their fine ales... Well, well, well. The head brewer stood opposite the massive brewing vessels that were his to command. His mind raced through the possibilities. What is the temperature of the malt in the grist case overhead? Was the hot liquor tank up to temp? Would the ambient temperature affect the final mash temperature? Should he compensate for the delta temp by running a little higher mash-in temperature? A single degree in either direction would have a life changing effect on both the brewer and the brewee. The beer could be too sweet if a degree high, or too mild and dry if a niggling degree too low. The character of the future beer that this batch would be hung in the balance. The brewer drew a bead on the temp-probe, the mash tun waited, and the world held its

MIDNIGHTADRENALINE

WARNING: MIDNIGHT ADRENALINE IS HERE WITH NON-STOP GENRE CINEMA THAT WILL SHATTER YOUR SENSES UNTIL YOU HAVE NO SENSE AT ALL!

Open your ears to the riotous, demon-fighting, heavy metal mania of Deathgasm. Smell the musk of an awakening teenage werewolf about to loose her wild side in When Animals Dream. If you are hungry for a midnight snack, we’ve got the perfect junk food: the classic ’80s action cinema of Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films. Quench your thirst for blood with Turbo Kid, a tasty tribute to classic post-apocalypse action films. Stare into the face of horror on trips into the forest where you will see vengeful mystical creatures (The Hallow) and sinister Cub Scouts (Cub). Or for terrors so real you can touch them, simply close your eyes and welcome the visions of The Nightmare. We’re even ready to turn on your sixth sense with The Astrologer, a film so weird and unpredictable that you can’t possibly guess what will happen next.

Midnight Adrenaline is more than just movies—it’s a total mind and body experience that will grab you by the collar and drag you into the wee hours only to leave you gasping with sensory overload!

The Astrologer

Cop Car

Cub

Deathgasm

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

The Hallow

The Nightmare

Turbo Kid

When Animals Dream

NORTHWEST CONNECTIONS

DISCOVERING A TREASURE TROVE OF CINEMA IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

Seattleites see more films per capita than the residents of any other American city, and a growing number of these selections have their roots in the fertile Pacific Northwest film community. Each year, SIFF honors the many ways in which the Puget Sound region contributes to the world of cinema, whether it acts as an evocative location for outside filmmakers or as inspiration for local filmmakers ready to strut their stuff.

Erik Hammen coaxes the sun out from behind those Seattle clouds in his rock ‘n’ roll hangout movie Beach Town. Billy Zane stars in West of Redemption, a thriller set in Eastern Washington about a farmer and his wife who embark on a tense interrogation session with a stranger they decide to take hostage. Valley of the Sasquatch and The Hollow One are both bone-chilling debut features—one of which follows a father and son who come face to face with a tribe of very angry, and very hairy, monsters in the Pacific Northwest woods—and the other throwing you right into the dark and twisted riddle of one family’s evil past.

Feel like something a little more reality-based to open your eyes? The debut documentary Uncertain paints a beautiful and heartbreaking portrait of a town along the Texas and Louisiana state lines; a safe haven for folks who want to start a new life. Seattle DJ Marco Collins stars in The Glamour & The Squalor, a sobering peek at the effect of media fame and addiction on one of the ’90s number one radio stars. Podcast director and pop culture writer David Chen gives audiences a front row seat to actor and storyteller Stephen Tobolowsky’s one man show (The Primary Instinct), and John Forsen gives a history lesson on the most important glass art centers in the world, Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA, in Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire.

3 Minute Masterpieces (Shorts package)

Beach Town

Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana

Faces of Yesler Terrace (Shorts package)

The Glamour & The Squalor

The Hollow One

Northern Exposure (Shorts package)

Paper Tigers

Personal Gold: An Underdog Story

Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire

The Primary Instinct

Uncertain

Valley of the Sasquatch

West of Redemption

AT SEATTLE’S CLOSEST CASINO, WINNING IS NEVER FAR AWAY.

Elevate your game at Snoqualmie Casino. World-class dining, once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime entertainment and games that are always hot. Just 30 quick minutes from downtown Seattle. Come find Seattle’s closest casino. And turn up the night.

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT WAS FOUND AMONG THE BELONGINGS OF A JOHN DOE, DECEASED; HIS REAL IDENITY HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED. FOR YOUR SAFETY, SELECTED WORDS AND PHRASES HAVE BEEN REDACTED.

TO: Keith Gilroy Stevens Executive Director, fadskfdsafhjdsakfhsdajkhsadfhsadj

FROM:

fdsafdsahjhjh Field Agent

SUBJECT: SIFF Secret Festival

Greetings: sadklghsagkjlashdlasgd. Since 1973, SIFF has held a festival within a festival for its audiences. The exact content of this “Secret Festival” is never disclosed. I have spent the past dsahjfkhfd attempting to uncover what films have played, but an exhaustive search has revealed only a miniscule amount of intelligence. Previous films include: fdsafsdafadsfadsfasdfasd starring fdsag dasfdsafdsaga; an ultra-rare screening of dsafdsafasdf dfsas, a film once believed to have been lost; and fdsafd gsdagsdagsa, a fdasfdsaf that nominally premiered at the fdsafdsa Film Festival.

Unfortunately, all of the above information is based on conjecture; no first-hand accounts are available. All Secret Festival attendees sign Oaths of Silence before acquiring their passes. Advanced “information coercion techniques” have been attempted to corroborate these findings but, so far, such methods have yet to yield satisfactory results.

As you can plainly see, the matter requires further investigation. Please wire $50 ($45 for SIFF members) so I may covertly obtain a Secret Festival Pass. After attending the four Secret Festival screenings, held at SIFF Cinema Egyptian on Sunday mornings throughout SIFF, I will be able to fully reveal what clandestine cinematic mysteries are involved.

EDUCATION

SIFF Education expands and strengthens the community of film lovers and filmmakers in Seattle. Our programs include FutureWave (for youth and educators), Catalyst (for filmmakers), and Film4All (cinema education for everyone).

FUTUREWAVE

FutureWave and Films4Families Programming

SIFF has two programs curated to make the Festival more accessible to younger audiences. FutureWave features films chosen for our film-savvy teen audience to explore new cinematic worlds, and Films4Families is the perfect way for the young (and young at heart) to find new favorite films at SIFF. Both programs feature juries comprised of young people who watch all of the films and present the Youth Jury Awards in their respective categories.

Our year-round FutureWave programming includes: Filmmakers in the Schools, an integrated media-literacy program in schools throughout Seattle; the Crash Kids and Crash Student non-competitive movie production challenge for ages 9-20; educator media trainings; school screenings and filmmaker visits; and transmedia workshops.

CATALYST

Catalyst offers professional development trainings, workshops, and forums created for filmmakers. The aim of Catalyst programs is to support local independent filmmakers in getting to the next level in their career and in their art.

FILM4ALL

Film4All is a program that offers cinema education, discussions, classes, and workshops for the public. Many of the films we screen at SIFF start a conversation, inspire an action, or pose a question. Film4All provides a platform for cinema audiences to discuss these issues, as well as learn the basic skills to make a film themselves.

FESTIVAL FORUMS

Our Festival Forums set the stage for engaging discussions, extraordinary demonstrations, and hands-on workshops for a variety of ages and experience levels. Deepen your connection to the art of cinema. Visit siff.net for further information and see page 117 for a complete list of forums dates and times.

Highlights include:

ShortsFest Keynote with Jason Sondhi

Co-Founder of Short of the Week and curator at Vimeo explains why short films have graduated to the big leagues.

Filmmaking Across the African Continent

Visiting African filmmakers share their experiences bringing their visions of Africa to an international audience.

Making Provocative Documentaries presented by Vulcan Productions

Join visiting documentary filmmakers for an illuminating discussion on the art of inspiring audiences through compelling stories.

Filmmaker MBA – Documentary Distribution Masterclass

Unlock the secrets to the new world of direct marketing and distribution.

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

A FREE professional development workshop for teachers (available for clock hours).

Screenwriting is All About Rewriting

Once the first draft is completed, there is a lot more to be done.

SIFF Catalyst Panels

A full weekend of outstanding panels and discussions on co-creation and collaboration in the new digital scope.

Film Critics Revisited: How to Talk About Movies in the 21st Century

FILMS4FAMILIES FEATURES AND PROGRAMS

Join SIFF each weekend morning throughout the Festival for extraordinary matinees of both international and new American films created for children and the young at heart.

Films4Families is a celebration of the whole family coming together to share the moviegoing and filmmaking experience at SIFF. We are proud to present our outstanding 2015 line-up featuring some of the best children’s features and shorts from around the world. Seattle families will be among the first audiences to enjoy a select few of these creative treasures. In addition, SIFF is proud to be creating opportunities for expanded filmmaking activities for our younger audiences at the SIFF Film Center throughout the Festival.

SIFF is also delighted to have the Films4Families Youth Jury back for SIFF 2015. Comprised of five elementary and middle school youth, the jury will watch all of the features to determine their favorite, and crown the winner with the Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature at the Golden Space Needle Awards on June 7, 2015.

Films4Families Jury: Ava Etheredge, Danielle Lavitt, Lily Flynn, Margot Lavitt, Otto Loidhamer, Rebekah Drummond, Sophia Hoffman

Crash Kids

Make it in a day film workshop for students aged 9 – 12 on May 16, 2015. Visit page 117 for more information.

The Family Picture Show

Bring the whole family to the cinema for a playful set of animated, live action, and documentary short films curated for the young and the young at heart. See page 128.

*Fiddlesticks

Germany, 2014

Directed by Veit Helmer

In German with English subtitles. Recommended for all ages.

*The Games Maker

Argentina/Canada/Italy, 2014

Directed by Juan Pablo Buscarini In English. Recommended for ages 8+.

Inside Out USA, 2015

Directed by Pete Docter

In English. Rated PG.

*Maya

the Bee Movie

Germany/Australia, 2014

Directed by Alexs Stadermann

In English. Rated G.

*Molly Moon

United Kingdom, 2015

Directed by Christopher N. Rowley

In English. Recommended for ages 6+.

*Paper Planes

Australia, 2014

Directed by Robert Connolly

In English. Recommended for ages 6+.

*Eligible for the Films4Families Jury Award.

*Satellite Girl and Milk Cow

South Korea, 2014

Directed by Hyung-Yun Chang

In Korean with English subtitles. Recommended for ages 8+.

Shaun the Sheep

United Kingdom, 2015

Directed by Richard Starzak and Matt Burton

In English.

*When Marnie Was There

Japan, 2014

Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

In Japanese with English subtitles. Rated PG.

FUTUREWAVE

Since its inception in 2010, the SIFF FutureWave Committee has grown into an exceptionally active and exciting aspect of SIFF programming and outreach.

Comprised of 12 diverse students from across the Seattle metro area, the committee makes film more accessible for young film enthusiasts by planning events, hosting screenings, and promoting awareness of exciting programming for their age group. The FutureWave committee keeps cinephile teens in-the-know with engaging content and conversations on SIFF FutureWave’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

SIFF is a participating TeenTix organization. TeenTix are available on the day of any regularly priced film in the Festival as well as SIFF Cinema throughout the year.

SIFF selects a jury of seven high school students to view FutureWave feature films and award their favorite with the Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature.

FutureWave Jury: Eirik McGrady, John Hutchins, Lana Nguyen, Melissa Takai, Miles Anderson, Naomi Klinge, Sophia Gates

*A Brilliant Young Mind

United Kingdom, 2014

Directed by Morgan Matthews

Appropriate for teens 13 and up.

FutureWave/Best of NFFTY

Short Film Program. See page 111.

*Guidance

Canada, 2014

Directed by Pat Mills

Appropriate for teens 17 and up. Contains language, partial nudity, and drinking.

*The Invisible Boy

Italy, 2014

north american premiere

Directed by Gabriele Salvatores

Appropriate for teens 13 and up.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

USA, 2015

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Rated PG-13 (for sexual content, drug material, language and some thematic elements).

*My Skinny Sister

Sweden/Germany, 2015

north american premiere

Directed by Sanna Lenken

Appropriate for teens 13 and up. Contains language.

*Romeo

is Bleeding

USA, 2015

Directed by Jason Zeldes

Appropriate for teens 13 and up. Contains strong language.

*Seoul Searching

USA/South Korea, 2015

Directed by Benson Lee

Appropriate for teens 15 and up. Contains language, teen drinking, sexuality.

*Wet Bum

Canada, 2014

Directed by Lindsay MacKay

Appropriate for teens 13 and up. Contains language and sexuality.

*The Wolfpack

USA, 2015

Directed by Crystal Moselle

Appropriate for teens 13 and up.

*Eligible for the FutureWave Jury Award.

FUTUREWAVE SHORTS AND BEST OF NFFTY

SIFF is proud to present FutureWave Shorts 2015, a program of new films created by talented filmmakers younger than 19 years old who celebrate the art form’s creative possibilities.

For the third year, we are showcasing a selection of the best films from Seattle’s annual National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), the largest youth film festival in the world.

These inspiring original short films represent some of the best short filmmaking from around the world. Also included in the program will be the J. Michael Award winner from the “Seattle Times” Three-Minute Masterpieces digital film contest.

The WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking will be presented to a film chosen in recognition of its artistic and technical achievement. In addition to the recognition award, the Prodigy Camp will also be providing a full scholarship to their weeklong, immersive overnight film camp for youth ages 12-18 held in July.

3-Minute Masterpieces Youth Winner

USA 2015, 3 minutes

How hard could it be to make a three-minute film? We challenged you to find out.

Audio Input

USA 2015, 7 minutes,

Director: Sho Schrock-Manabe

Local Seattle Podcasters share their experiences with podcasting and audience feedback.

Chongming

Singapore 2015, 6 minutes,

Director: Zhe Yi Lee

A raw and intimate portrait of a day in the life of a rural crab farmer.

Confetti

USA 2014, 5 minutes,

Directors: Elizabeth Cassell, Rico Vigliotti, Tilden Lexa, Eli Hall

Dave wakes up to find his house full of balloon animals and confetti. A mystery that only a private investigator can unravel.

Copy That*

United Kingdom 2015, 13 minutes,

Director: Kingsley Hoskins

A photocopier with slightly special powers transforms the lives of two young office workers.

Eloise, little dreamer*

Canada (Québec) 2014, 5 minutes,

Directors: Myriam Obin, Vincent L Pratte, Emily Laliberté

When she follows her sister into the city, a little girl is amazed by the ambiance but soon she sees strange things happening.

Ginger & Flynn

USA 2015, 5 minutes,

Director: Audrey Thomas Friendship overcomes communication barriers in the unique world of Ginger and Flynn.

I’m Not Here

South Africa 2014, 9 minutes,

Director: Jack Markovitz

After his calls are repeatedly ignored, a young man turns to Facebook to tell a girl what he thinks.

It’s a Thing

USA 2014, 5 minutes,

Directors: Meredith Morran, Sage McCommas, Sebastian Crank Two quirky high school students with irrational fears find each other and the power of love.

Minimum Max

USA 2014, 4 minutes,

Director: Joshua Ovalle

Max navigates through the world of ADD and all the medications that come along with it.

Neverland*

USA 2015, 4 minutes,

Directors: Max Retik, Hailey Burns

A teenage girl browses a shoebox of old photographs, trying to understand the strong feelings of nostalgia she experiences.

Pip the Cup*

USA 2014, 5 minutes,

Director: Adam MacArthur

Pip, a Styrofoam cup, deals with the struggles of having an infinite life, with finite friendships.

Social Suicide

Tunisia 2013, 5 minutes,

Director: Mahdi Khmili

A stark commentary on online bullying and how it is claiming more and more lives across the globe.

Ways To Go

USA 2014, 6 minutes,

Director: Jessenia Cantillo

As the youngest sibling in her family, Jessenia feels like she’s always been told where to go and what to do. It’s time for that to change.

Will I Scatter Away

USA 2015, 6 minutes,

Director: Emma Penaz Eisner

Danger threatens a man seeking himself in a dream-like landscape.

THIS IS HOME MY

“The beauty of the Pacific Northwest extends to the hearts of the people who live here. Neighbors taking care of neighbors. There’s no other place on Earth quite like it. “

Saint Bryan, Michael King, Kim Holcomb, Jim Dever Team Evening

FUTUREWAVE: IN SCHOOL AND BEYOND…

FutureWave o ers youth and educators a direct link both to the Festival and the local filmmaking community. Celebrating two complementary activities—film viewing and filmmaking— FutureWave includes compelling, relevant, and enjoyable films alongside meaningful workshops for youth. Together, these components advance SIFF’s leadership role in creating an audience that is more informed, aware, and alive.

For more information on any of these programs, email education@SIFF.net

Filmmaker Visits:

SIFF sees the arrival of more than 200 international filmmakers to the Festival and throughout the school year. SIFF brings many of these artists into classrooms across the Puget Sound Region to share their real-world experiences.

School Screenings:

Films are carefully selected from a broad range of content areas and learning levels to engage students and teachers. Screenings may occur at SIFF Cinema and occasionally screened in a theatrical setting at schools.

Filmmakers in the Schools:

SIFF Education provides 2- through 6-week filmmaking workshops to schools and community-based organizations throughout Seattle. This program is designed to bolster academic classwork and student involvement.

Teacher Trainings:

SIFF Education provides technical training to educators throughout Washington. In addition, we collaborate with organizations such as Adobe Youth Voices in providing year-round media literacy workshops and support to teachers.

Crash Kids / Crash Student:

Crash is a movie production challenge, taking participants from concept to screening in one day. Crash Kids/Student is open to anyone 9-24 years of age and each group of five students is connected with a more experienced mentor. The objective of the Crash program for young filmmakers is to engage local schools, youth, and their families in a more meaningful and hands-on way with cinema.

4TH WORLD –INDIGENOUS MEDIA LAB AND EVENTS

For Indigenous communities, media-making can be many things: a form of self-expression, a method of empowerment, an education in leadership and teamwork, a way of learning about and preserving culture, a way of connecting communities and elders, and a skill that can lead to a satisfying career in the media industries. Indigenous media adds a new voice to the debate on Native, First Nations, and Indigenous issues, what some call “diversifying dialogue.” As many of these new filmmaker’s skills and commitment strengthen, they are increasingly seen as “emerging” filmmakers, a term that reflects their own determination to pursue filmmaking as a profession. This year in partnership with Longhouse Media, Sundance Institute, and ITVS we are launching a new training program for emerging and early stage adult filmmakers, which will connect them to industry professionals and one another via a cohort model... 4th World—Indigenous Media Lab.

SIFF has a long history in supporting innovative indigenous film, education, and workshops, most notably SuperFly Filmmaking Experience in partnership with Longhouse Media and area tribes. We have remained committed in nurturing and highlighting diverse talent with the creative and administrative support of Seattle filmmaker Tracy Rector. This year we launch 4th World—Indigenous Media Lab as the next step in showcasing and strengthening the film talent across the borders within First People communities. In this inaugural year, we will work with eight fellows over a 12-month period. Our mission is to help them to realize their productions and to take their skills to the next level.

The 2015 Fellows are: Peshawn Bread, Gisella Bustillos, Paul Collins, Lulu DeBoer, Arlan George, Steven Paul Judd, Dallas Pinkham, Susan Balbus, and Melissa Woodrow.

2015 4TH WORLD EVENTS

May 29, 2015 ITVS Producer’s Training

In this inaugural cohort training, emerging and seasoned filmmakers join together in this creative platform.

May 30, 2015 | 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Seattle Center

Spirit of Indigenous People Festival

Celebrates American Indian and Alaska Native culture with Native performers, film, music, food, speakers, workshops, health & wellness information, a Native art exhibit, and a Pow Wow.

May 30, 2015 | 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM | SIFF Film Center

Contemporary Indigenous Cinema Panel

Visiting and local Indigenous filmmakers from the US and Canada discuss the contemporary trends and challenges of creating a vibrant media community. See page 119.

May 30, 2015 | 4:00 PM | SIFF Cinema Uptown

Trudell – Sundance Native Lab 20th Anniversary Screening

An impressionistic portrait of legendary Native American activist and spoken-word artist John Trudell that weaves history and politics with personal and poetic musings to find the man behind the icon. (d: Heather Rae f: John Trudell, Robert Redford, Kris Kristofferson, USA 2005, 80 min).

Trudell screens with two shorts:

Neil Discovers the Moon

Neil Armstrong gets a surprise on his first moonwalk. (d: Steven Paul Judd, USA 2012, 1 min)

Bihttoš US premiere

Bihttoš is an unconventional documentary that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter. (d: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers c: Duncan Ollrenshaw, Laura Wilson, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Canada 2014, 15 min)

May 30, 2015 | 6:30PM | SIFF Cinema Uptown

The Dark Horse

Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider) gives a stunning and inspirational performance as New Zealand legend Genesis Potini, a bipolar speed chess champion who helps turn around the lives of some 15,000 Maori children by teaching them the intricacies the game. (d: James Napier Robertson c: Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston, Kirk Torrance, New Zealand 2014, 124 min).

FESTIVAL FORUMS

SATURDAY, MAY 16 Crash Kids

9:00am-5:30pm | $50 / $40 SIFF Members

Crash Kids is a non-competitive movie production challenge that takes participants (ages 9-12) from movie concept to movie screening over the course of a day with professional mentorship.

SATURDAY, MAY 16 Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: A Professional Development Workshop for Teachers

10:00am-1:00pm

In this FREE workshop participants will get an overview of best practices in teaching digital media in the classroom. Clock hours will be available for participating educators. Space is limited and registration is required.

SUNDAY. MAY 17 How to Correctly Pitch Your Project

11:00am-12:00pm

TheFilmSchool presents the most effective strategies for pitching and selling your media project.

SUNDAY, MAY 17 Screenwriting is All About Rewriting 12:30pm-1:30pm

Women in Film Seattle is hosting a rewriting panel bringing you through the process of table reads, utilizing or dismissing critique, and just how many drafts does it take to be ready to shoot.

SUNDAY, MAY 17 The Reel Deal: How to Market Your Face and Your Film

2:00pm-3:30pm

A panel of distinguished casting directors from Seattle and Portland will help aspiring actors and filmmakers learn the ins and outs of their reel and how to present themselves in the best possible light.

Our Festival Forums set the stage for engaging discussions, extraordinary demonstrations, and hands-on workshops for a variety of ages and experience levels. Don’t miss these great opportunities to deepen your connection to the art of cinema!

Festival Forums are held at the SIFF Film Center. All panels are $10 / $5 for SIFF members unless stated otherwise. Visit SIFF.net for expanded descriptions and panelists announcements.

FRIDAY, MAY 22 Short Film Happy Hour and Networking Panel

4:30pm–6:00pm

Join us for important tips from fellow filmmakers that will make your experiences at any festival an exceptional one. Happy Hour beverages provided.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 Jason Sondhi ShortsFest Keynote: New Frontier of Short Films

1:30pm–2:30pm

Short films have graduated into the big leagues. No longer just an amateur’s first try at movie making, today cinematic short form storytelling is valuable content. SIFF is pleased to welcome back Seattle’s own Jason Sondhi, co-founder of the online mega-success Short of the Week and a curator at Vimeo.

SUNDAY, MAY 24 Finding the Short Film Gatekeepers

4:30pm–5:30pm

When the game is ‘it’s who you know’ and you don’t know a soul, how do you bust down the gates that could make a difference in your career? This panel offers tips, tricks and types you’ll expect to meet as you grow your professional film career.

FESTIVAL FORUMS

MONDAY,MAY 25 Marketing Short Films

11:00am–12:00pm

The basic rules of marketing don’t always apply to short films, or do they? Do you need to spend money on postcards or websites, or both? When and how should you begin marketing your work?

SATURDAY, MAY 30 Catalyst Keynote with Amy Dotson, IFP

10:00am-11:00am

The 2015 Catalyst Keynote will be covering everything from new modes of film funding, disruptive distribution models, the value of mentorship, and emerging trends in the ever-changing world of indie film. Presented by Amy Dotson, Deputy Director and Head of Programming for the Independent Filmmaker Project.

SATURDAY, MAY 30 Making Provocative Documentaries

Presented By Vulcan Productions

11:15am-12:30pm

Join visiting documentary filmmakers for an illuminating discussion on the art of inspiring audiences through compelling non-fiction storytelling.

SATURDAY, MAY 30 Contemporary Indigenous Cinema

12:45pm-1:45pm

Visiting and local Indigenous filmmakers from the US and Canada discuss the contemporary trends and challenges of creating a vibrant media community.

SATURDAY, MAY 30 Communication between Directors and Composers

2:00pm–3:00pm

In this Catalyst Panel several local Directors and Composers will discuss the process of creating dialogue between each other, pitfalls of the arts, and how to even the odds of this potentially daunting task.

SATURDAY, MAY 30 Catalyst Filmmaker Panel

3:30pm-5:00pm

Six directors. Their producers. Assorted cast and crew. These ingredients, live and in person, are what make our annual Catalyst Filmmaker Panel an unfiltered conversation and indispensable resource on what it takes to be an independent filmmaker today. Moderated by IFP’s Amy Dotson.

SUNDAY, MAY 31 The $6000 Layover: Rethinking Indie Film

10:30am-11:30pm

Director Joshua Caldwell discusses making his debut feature film Layover for only $6000 and how filmmakers need to rethink their role in the ever shifting paradigm of independent filmmaking.

SUNDAY, MAY 31 Creating the Hyper-Engaged Fan

11:00am-12:00pm

In this workshop, the team from NationBuilder will develop, live and in-person, an engagement model plan of action for an independent film.

SUNDAY, MAY 31 Filmmaker MBA: Documentary Distribution Masterclass

12:00pm-2:00pm

Unlock the secrets to the new world of direct marketing and distribution. In this inspiring masterclass, filmmakers Christopher Rufo and Keith Ochwat will cover how to structure your business, secure distribution, build your audience, and monetize your work.

SUNDAY, MAY 31 Workflow: The Importance of Planning Ahead

12:30pm-2:00pm

Workflow on set and in post is a vital part of the creative process. Cinematographer and G-TEAM Ambassador Eve M. Cohen, Documentary Filmmaker Sachi Cunningham and WW Senior Product Line Manager for G-Technology Greg Crosby share experiences and best practices and answer questions.

SUNDAY, MAY 31 Crowdfunding to Build Independence

2:30pm-4:30pm

This workshop for film-related projects will provide the crowdfunding action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with your audience. With Seed & Spark’s Emily Best.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Expanding the New Media Horizon

11:00am–1:30pm

Experience some of the best transmedia pieces currently being made around the world. In the first half Cornish professors will illuminate some of the best cross platform projects while in the secod half real projects will share their plans and open up the floor to expanded ideas from the audience.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Filmmaking Across the African Continent

12:00pm-1:00pm

Join our attending filmmakers from across Africa for an in depth exploration of the trends and challenges in creating films for both local and international audiences.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Will You Distribute My Movie? How To Deal With the Market Place for Indie Film

2:00pm-3:00pm

This panel will bring together filmmakers and distributors for a candid discussion of the best (and worst) options available for distribution today.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 Film Critics Revisited: How to Talk About Movies in the 21st Century

3:30pm-4:30pm

The role of the critic has evolved to meet the demands of a new marketplace filled with a more varied set of movies than ever before. Join veterans of the field working for a diverse set of publications as they discuss how today’s cinematic climate differs from earlier eras and why it’s still an exciting time to talk about moving images.

SHORTSFEST WEEKEND

SHORT FILMS

Too often, short films are viewed as apprentice works, a practical workshop for the filmmaker to ply his or her craft before embarking upon a career in feature films. And while there is certainly some truth in this observation, it belies the fact that feature and short films are two very different cinematic forms. With short films, the filmmaker is freed from most, if not all, commercial constraints. Indeed, the only constraint is time—less than 30 minutes, please. In exchange for this freedom, short film practitioners must distill their creative vision to its most vital essence, without wasting a single frame of film, and take deliberate care to achieve a certain unique, singular effect. Year after year, the most original cinematic work emerges in these fleeting, yet no less intense, flashes of inspiration.

Every short film at the Seattle International Film Festival is eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and Jury Award. The Golden Space Needle prizewinner will be determined by audience balloting.

Our Shorts Competition will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each jury winner will receive $1,000 and also qualify to enter their respective Short Film category for the Academy Awards®.

It starts with a ripple and becomes a wave of change.

Alternate Worlds ShortsFest Opening Night

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM

It is our great pleasure to open our ShortsFest weekend with this collection of superb short films from around the world that exemplify the art of storytelling in all its variety. Comedy and drama, live action and animation-these films prove that short is truly sweet.

Amélia & Duarte

Portugal/Germany 2015, 8 minutes, Directors: Alice Guimarães, Mónica Santos

North American Premiere

Explore the archive of Amélia and Duarte’s relationship from first sight to final good-bye.

Hand Job: Portrait of a Male Hand Model

USA 2014, 10 minutes, Director: Josh Miller

An in-depth, behind-the-scenes exposé into the grueling, high-stress, but often under-appreciated profession of male hand modeling.

Live Fast Draw Yung

USA 2014, 15 minutes, Directors: Anthony Mathile, Stacey Lee

The story of rap’s most prolific (7-year-old) artist.

A Passion of Gold and Fire

Belgium 2014, 7 minutes, Director: Sebastien Pins

An elderly beekeeper muses upon the future of his apiary school.

So You’ve Grown Attached

USA 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Kate Tsang

Ex, an imaginary friend, ponders retirement when his beloved Izzy starts to mature.

World of Tomorrow

USA 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Don Hertzfeldt

A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.

The Youth

USA 2015, 16 minutes, Director: Dehanza Rogers

World Premiere

A recent college graduate is frustrated that his life is going nowhere until an old friend offers him the opportunity to make a difference.

Sponsored by Christopher Newell

THURSDAY, MAY 21 8:30 PM

Found footage, animation, and oddball experiments create a way to look at our modern world.

Cams

Sweden 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Carl-Johan Westregård

North American Premiere

Slow burn sci-fi that captures an abandoned environment and exposes the reason why.

Flegetone

USA 2015, 4 minutes, Director: Steve Demas

World Premiere

A family from a 1950s gas commercial has no idea about the post-apocalyptic world to come.

Fragments untitled #2

Serbia 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Doplgenger

North American Premiere

Old Yugoslav soap opera footage is re-cut to reveal conventions and creepy neighbors.

It Goes

USA 2014, 4 minutes, Director: Brandon Doherty

Looking at the world through multiple film frames and between sprocket holes.

Lucky

USA 2014, 5 minutes, Director: Salise Hughes

Imagine Dirty Harry as a political assassin.

Meandering

USA 2015, 5 minutes, Director: Jon Behrens

World Premiere

It’s like a walk in the park, in a beautifully hand-painted and abstract park.

ODESSA/STAIRS/1925/2014

Croatia 2014, 7 minutes, Director: Dalibor Martinis

Sounds from the 2014 conflict in the Ukrainian city of Odessa support a constructionist projection of Eisenstein’s famous “Odessa steps” sequence.

Salomé

USA 2015, 20 minutes, Director: Abigail Child

Abigail Child’s jazzy and poetic recontextualization of the classic silent film.

Surface Waves

USA 2015, 4 minutes, Director: Reed O’Beirne

A cinematic dance, with the emphasis on cinema.

Utoe

Germany 2014, 8 minutes, Director: David Buob

Looping and loopy story about adolescence and growing up.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

As the World Turns Animation4Adults

SUNDAY, MAY 24 9:00 PM

From horny hares to road rage, these animated shorts create unique visions out of the ordinary.

Automatic Fitness

Germany 2015, 20 minutes, Directors: Alejandra Tomei, Alberto Couceiro

Welcome to the stranglehold of everyday automated madness in which society is forced to live, work, breathe, think, and exist.

Bonnie & The Loricat

France 2014, 4 minutes, Directors: Nicolas Bourgard, S. Kaspy, B. Laurent, Y. Zhang

US Premiere

The Loricat must escape its greatest tormentor—a human child named Bonnie.

Driving

USA 2014, 4 minutes, Director: Nate Theis

A satirical look at people in their cars. With explosions.

Francis

USA 2015, 8 minutes, Director Richard Hickey

He won’t be going camping any time soon. Not after what happened to Francis….

Limbo Limbo Travel

France/Hungary 2014, 16 minutes, Directors: Zsuzsanna Kreif, Borbála Zétényi

A group of lonely, disillusioned women journey to an exotic, faraway land.

The Lost Mariner

Netherlands 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Tess Martin

Based on an Oliver Sacks case study, photographs and animation visualize the rare memory condition of patient Jimmie G.

Louis Riel for Dinner

USA 2015, 3 minutes, Director: Drew Christie

A family dinner gets deep.

Pop-Up Porno: f4m

Canada 2014, 4 minutes, Director: Stephen Dunn

A breast cancer survivor tries to reclaim her sexuality.

Port Nasty

United Kingdom 2014, 11 minutes, Director: Rob Zywietz

A young man must prove himself in a port town at the edge of the world.

Tupilaq

Denmark 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Jakob Maqe

Alone in a city, a drunken man longs for home.

FRIDAY, MAY 22 12:30 PM

These global shorts range from double lives and childhood intrigue to natural wonders and spiritual phenomena – but are all consistently insightful and entertaining.

The Answers

USA 2014, 8 minutes, Director: Michael Goode

Immediately after his death, a man gets the answers to every question he’s ever had about life.

Day One

USA 2014, 25 minutes, Director: Henry Hughes

On her first day as an interpreter in Afghanistan, a young woman must go beyond the call of duty.

Gloria

Mexico 2014, 17 minutes, Director: Luis Hernández de la Peña

North American Premiere

In Mexico City, a man drives public transportation by day and sings the hits at drag shows by nights.

In Overtime

Jordan 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Rami Yasin

A man visits his ailing father in the hospital, only to have their dysfunctional relationship unravel.

Object

Poland 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Paulina Skibinska

A creative portrait of an underwater search told from the point of view of a diver, rescue team, and ordinary observers.

Patterns

Belgium 2013, 20 minutes, Director: Miklos Keleti

A deaf-mute little girl suddenly hears a mysterious noise in a park. What is it, and where will it lead?

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Faces of Yesler Terrace Different Strokes

SUNDAY, MAY 24 6:00 PM

Whether it’s meeting new people, working through a relationship, or just growing up, you’ll see that “different strokes for different folks” is validated in these illuminating and touching stories.

Abrase

USA 2014, 7 minutes, Director: Toshadeva Palani

Memories of a fading love between two men are revealed through a gorgeous pairing of word and image.

All Good Things

Canada 2014, 9 minutes, Director: Ian Tang

US Premiere

A romantic evening leads to unexpected results for two young men.

Coming Home

Taiwan 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Steven Liang

Despite his mother’s objection, a well-behaved teenager takes a precarious road trip with his rebellious, foreign boyfriend.

Pop-Up Porno: m4m

Canada 2014, 4 minutes, Director: Stephen Dunn

On a business trip to New York, a lonely traveler finds himself in a heated Grindr chat with his worst nightmare.

San Cristóbal

Chile 2015, 29 minutes, Director: Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo

North American Premiere

When their Chilean village rebels against their growing love for one another, Lucas and Antonio are forced to make a momentous step in their adulthood.

Stealth

USA 2014, 22 minutes, Director: Bennett Lasseter

Born a boy, 11-year-old Sammy knows she’s a girl and is determined to live her life as one.

The Typist

USA 2014, 8 minutes, Director: Kristine Stolakis

A gay Korean War Veteran reflects on his time as the office clerk tasked with writing the discharges of outed gay seamen.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 11:00 AM HARVARD EXIT

The gentrification of Yesler Terrace is highly controversial in the changing landscape of the city of Seattle. These films depict and address this important ongoing cultural discourse.

Even the Walls

USA 2015, 29 minutes, Directors: Sarah Kuck, Saman Maydání

World Premiere

An elegiac journey inside the homes and memories of nine Yesler Terrace residents as they wait to see what will become of their neighborhood.

Hagereseb

USA 2015, 39 minutes, Director: Zia Mohajerjasbi

It’s 1997 in Seattle’s Yesler Terrace, and 10-year-old Abai is on a quest to find fresh batteries for his Casio keyboard for one last music lesson with his older brother Sam before seeing him sent back to their native Eritrea indefinitely.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Family Matters Facts of Life

SATURDAY, MAY 23 3:00 PM

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...

Body Team 12

Liberia/USA 2015, 13 minutes, Director: David Darg

The heroes of Body Team 12 share their philosophies while tasked with collecting the deceased from the Liberian ebola outbreak.

The Chicken

Croatia/Germany 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Una Gunjak

When six-year-old Selma gets a chicken for her birthday, she must save her ‘pet’ from becoming dinner.

Hole Canada 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Martin Edralin

A daring portrait of a disabled man yearning for intimacy in a world that would rather ignore him.

Hotel 22

USA 2014, 9 minutes, Director: Elizabeth Lo

Each night in Silicon Valley, the 22 transforms from a public city bus into an unofficial shelter for the homeless in one of the richest parts of the world.

One Minute Time Machine

United Kingdom 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Devon Avery

Every time Regina rejects his advances, James pushes a red button and tries again, unaware of the reality and consequences of his actions.

Treat

Kenya 2014, 12 minutes, Director: Richard Card

In the Kenyan slums of Kibera, a ten-year-old boy hustles to provide for his family, taking him away from his crush on her birthday.

The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer

Canada 2014, 10 minutes, Director: Randall Lloyd Okita

Two brothers with conflicting memories of their common past take very different paths.

Your Hands

USA 2015, 11 minutes, Director: Georgia King

World Premiere

After Iris and her boyfriend mutually decide to break up, she gets on the subway to have a good cry, only to find her now-ex onboard with a smile on his face along with a strange group of other passengers.

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

We all fight with family, whether it’s little brother troubles, aging daughter angst, or parent’s fading love, but we’re still held together by blood.

The Breatharians

USA 2014, 27 minutes, Director: Marc Turtletaub

August’s parents have separated and his mom now lives on another property on their family farm. Navigating the distance between his parents’ homes, August grapples with whether he can complete the grisly job his father has assigned him.

The Call

South Africa 2014, 11 minutes, Director: Zamo Mkhwanazi

North American Premiere

An emotionally disconnected taxi driver realizes that he does not want his prostitute girlfriend to abort the child that could be his.

Go Daan Go!

Netherlands 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Mari Sanders

US Premiere

Nine-year-old Daan discovers he has a passion and talent for swimming but his mother fears he may have inherited her own, potentially dangerous, cardiac ailment.

Merry Xmas

USA 2014, 7 minutes, Director: Boman Modine

A father (Dick Van Dyke) breaks the news of his impending divorce to his super busy children just in time for the holidays.

Mike

United Kingdom 2014, 8 minutes, Director: Petros Silvestros

Waiting in the car for his younger brother, Mike starts to get worried when it takes too long for Jack to return.

Personal Development

Ireland 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Tom Sullivan

Fintan’s already fragile relationship with his youngest daughter is put to the test with the arrival of some unexpected news.

Tumble Dry Low

USA 2015, 7 minutes, Director: Jefferson Stein

A little girl and her father come together to cope with loss.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FutureWave/Best of NFFTY The Family Picture Show

SATURDAY, MAY 23 11:00 AM

Bring the whole family to the cinema for a playful set of animated, live action, and documentary short films curated for the young and the young at heart.

Bunny New Girl

Australia 2015, 6 minutes,

Director: Natalie van den Dungen

On her first day at a new school, a self-conscious young girl learns that friendship can overcome difference.

The Elephant and the Bicycle

France/Belgium 2014, 9 minutes,

Director: Olesya Shchukina

An elephant falls in love with having a bicycle and will find a way to purchase one.

Ghost Hour

Latvia/Estonia 2014, 7 minutes,

Director: Nils Skapans

A working ghost encounters a girl who isn’t afraid.

Larisa Can Fly

Russia 2014, 7 minutes,

Directors: Elizaveta Manokhina, Polina Manokhina

US Premiere

Welcome to a world where granny can fly and any fantasy comes alive.

Lila

Argentina/Spain 2014, 9 minutes,

Director: Carlos Lascano

Armed with her sketchbook, Lila walks off to the world convinced that she has the power to make it a better place.

Oblò, Amazing Laundrette

Italy 2014, 7 minutes,

Directors: Martina Carossa, Ilaria Giacometti, Mathieu Narduzzi, Eura Pancaldi

North American Premiere

The creative sci-fi imagination of childhood takes flight in the porthole of the washing machine.

One, Two, Tree

France/Switzerland 2014, 7 minutes,

Director: Yulla Aronova

One day, a tree like any other jumps into a pair of boots and goes off for a walk inviting everyone it meets to follow.

Pik Pik Pik

Russia 2014, 4 minutes,

Director: Dmitry Vysotskiy

When the woodcutter comes to remove their tree an army of ants and a bird band together to drive him away.

Ray’s Big Idea

United Kingdom 2014, 4 minutes,

Director: Steve Harding-Hill

Meet Ray, a prehistoric fish with a plan to improve his life.

So Many Forests

France 2014, 5 minutes,

Directors: Burcu Sakur, Geoffrey Godet

A beautifully stylized tome to the beauty of the forest and the transformation of our modern world.

Submarine Sandwich

USA 2014, 2 minutes, Director: PES Nostalgia and creativity make a tasty sandwich.

The Trumpeteer

Mexico 2014, 10 minutes,

Director: Raúl Robin Morales Reyes

A trumpeteer trapped in the rigidness of a marching band finds freedom in his originality.

Water Path

Colombia 2014, 8 minutes,

Director: Carlos Felipe Montoya

North American Premiere

Young Nicole is sent by her mother to fetch water, inviting her to experience responsibility and also adversity all by herself.

MONDAY, MAY 25 3:00 PM

SIFF is proud to present FutureWave Shorts 2015, a program of new films created by talented filmmakers younger than 19 years old who celebrate the art form’s creative possibilities. *Denotes Best of NFFTY Selection.

3-Minute Masterpieces

Youth Winner

USA 2015, 3 minutes

How hard could it be to make a three-minute film? We challenged you to find out.

Audio Input

USA 2015, 7 minutes,

Director: Sho Schrock-Manabe

Local Seattle podcasters share their experiences with podcasting and audience feedback.

Chongming

Singapore 2015, 6 minutes,

Director: Zhe Yi Lee

A raw and intimate portrait of a day in the life of a rural crab farmer.

Confetti

USA, 2014 5 minutes,

Directors: Elizabeth Cassell, Rico Vigliotti, Tilden Lexa, Eli Hall

Dave wakes up to find his house full of balloon animals and confetti. A mystery that only a private investigator can unravel.

Copy That*

United Kingdom 2015, 13 minutes,

Director: Kingsley Hoskins

A photocopier with slightly special powers transforms the lives of two young office workers.

Eloise, little dreamer*

Canada (Québec) 2014, 5 minutes,

Directors: Myriam Obin, Vincent L Pratte, Emily Laliberté

When she follows her sister into the city, a little girl is amazed by the ambiance but soon she sees strange things happening.

Ginger & Flynn

USA

2015, 5 minutes,

Director: Audrey Thomas

Friendship overcomes communication barriers in the unique world of Ginger and Flynn.

I’m Not Here

South Africa 2014, 9 minutes,

Director: Jack Markovitz

After his calls are repeatedly ignored, a young man turns to Facebook to tell a girl what he thinks.

It’s a Thing

USA

2014, 5 minutes, Directors: Meredith Morran, Sage McCommas, Sebastian Crank

Two quirky high school students with irrational fears find each other and the power of love.

Minimum Max

USA 2014, 4 minutes,

Director: Joshua Ovalle

Max navigates through the world of ADD and all the medications that come along with it.

Neverland*

USA 2015, 4 minutes,

Directors: Max Retik, Hailey Burns

A teenage girl browses a shoebox of old photographs, trying to understand the strong feelings of nostalgia she experiences.

Pip the Cup*

USA 2014, 5 minutes,

Director: Adam MacArthur

Pip, a Styrofoam cup, deals with the struggles of having an infinite life, with finite friendships.

Social Suicide

Tunisia 2013, 5 minutes,

Director: Mahdi Khmili

A stark commentary on online bullying and how it is claiming more and more lives across the globe.

Ways To Go

USA 2014, 6 minutes,

Director: Jessenia Cantillo

As the youngest sibling in her family, Jessenia feels like she’s always been told where to go and what to do. It’s time for that to change.

Will I Scatter Away

USA 2015, 6 minutes,

Director: Emma Penaz Eisner

Danger threatens a man seeking himself in a dream-like landscape.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Northern Exposure Growing Pains

Between the sweet and the sporty, love and doppelgangers, growing can bittersweet.

The Bad Boy of Bowling

USA 2015, 18 minutes, Director: Bryan Storkel

Pete Weber, the self-declared ‘bad boy of bowling’ and the first rock star of the sport. Is he the greatest show or a giant black eye on Saturday afternoon bowling?

Crooked Candy

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Andrew Rodgers

Kinder Surprise eggs are enormously popular all around the world except in the United States, where they’re considered a choking hazard and are illegal. This is the story of a Kinder smuggler.

Cupcake

Sweden 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Jane Magnusson

Lena and Karin have known each other for six years. They are extremely close, but due to their pasts and various external circumstances their relationship must end, forever, today.

Impact, A Boxer’s Story

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Keith Rivers

Though a tragic incident stalled his boxing career, Malagamali’i D’hue draws inspiration from his idol Muhammad Ali to persevere.

OMW

USA 2014, 9 minutes, Director: Daryle Conners

World Premiere

A woman confronts her doppelganger in a most surprising way.

Saturday

United Kingdom 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Mike Forshaw

Liam’s life changes forever when the whistle blows on the Hillsborough Stadium pitch.

Sugar

USA 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Christian Grier

World Premiere

Terry, a high school senior, confronts his future after his girlfriend confesses her love for him.

The Trophy Thief

Australia 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Dave Edwardz

World Premiere

Ben is the best player on his soccer team, but when he misses out on the MVP award, he takes matters into his own hands.

Celebrating the voices, hopes, dreams, and possibilities of Seattle.

3 Minute Masterpieces Winner

USA 2015, 3 minutes

How hard could it be to make a threeminute film? We challenged you to find out. The overall winner of the 2015

3 Minute Masterpieces.

El Camino Solo

USA 2015, 11 minutes, Director: Shawn Telford

Stranded in the desert, a man is forever changed by a random act of kindness.

Drift

USA 2014, 9 minutes, Directors: Aaron Wheetman, Dallas Artz, Trans Alley

A journey and “life” of a branch as it travels between the San Juan Islands, the odyssey of what it takes to find our place in the world, and our interconnectivity with nature.

The Gift

USA 2015, 26 minutes,

Director: Mardig Sheridan

World Premiere

In 1970 during the height of the Vietnam War, a career army officer faces a crisis when his 19-year-old son draws a low number in the military draft lottery.

Luchadora

USA 2015, 8 minutes,

Director: Amber Cortes

The story behind the unlikely rise of Avispa, the only fully debuted female professional luchadora to come out of the Pacific Northwest’s Lucha Libre Volcanica academy.

Mother’s Song

USA 2015, 5 minutes,

Director: Matty Brown

World Premiere

A woman strolls the street singing opera, sometimes under her breath, sometimes loud enough for the block to hear, singing in honor of those lost.

Refraction

USA 2015, 11 minutes,

Director: Bruce Stead

World Premiere

After his wife deserts him, a broken man makes the questionable decision to clone her. But when she unexpectedly returns, he’s caught between ethics and desire.

The Things We Keep

USA 2015, 5 minutes,

Director: Rosalie Miller

World Premiere

Grounded in nostalgia, this is a glimpse of one man’s yearly sojourn into the Coconino Forest to collect firewood and reconnect with his roots.

Tomgirl

USA 2014, 15 minutes,

Director: Jeremy Asher Lynch

Jake, a gender non-conforming seven-year-old, invites us into his world.

SUNDAY, MAY 24 11:30 AM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 25 12:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Sábado Gigante One Step Beyond

FRIDAY, MAY 22 9:45 PM

Beyond the placid everyday is a nightmarish realm of the bizarre, beautiful, and horrific.

August Heat

USA 2014, 11 minutes, Director: Matthew James Thompson

Seeking relief from his sweltering apartment, James wanders the streets of Manhattan only to encounter a mason carving a tombstone with his name on it.

Invaders

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Jason Kupfer

A pair of home invaders makes some necessary preparations just prior to their planned invasion.

Meat Locker

USA 2014, 5 minutes, Director: Malcolm Badewitz

North American Premiere

What is the stench coming from Charlie’s school locker? The school bully is determined to find out.

The Mill at Calder’s End

USA 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Kevin McTurk

Nicholas Grimshaw returns to his childhood home intent on breaking a generations old family curse, featuring the voices of Barbara Steele and Jason Flemyng.

Pickman’s Model

Mexico 2014, 11 minutes, Director: Pablo Ángeles

Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s classic tale, an art collector seeks to unravel the mystery behind the macabre work of painter Richard Pickman.

Polaroid

Norway 2015, 16 minutes, Director: Lars Klevberg

North American Premiere

Sarah and Linda discover an old Polaroid camera while clearing the house, only to discover its pictures reveal a horrible past.

Primrose Lane

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Nick Phillips

Two teenage sisters take an 8mm camera into an abandoned house at the end of their block.

Scary Larry

USA 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Greg Ivan Smith

In 1952, four New England college students play a seemingly innocent card game which holds a horrifying ulterior motive.

Sea Devil

USA 2013, 9 minutes, Directors: Brett Potter, Dean C. Marcial

A Cuban man and his daughter spend a strange night on the sea trying to reach American shores.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 6:30 PM

Let’s get entertained with a mix of what Spain is the best at!

At Home

Spain 2014, 9 minutes, Director: Alfonso Nogueroles

North American Premiere

Bored in class, Alberto yearns for an afternoon at his house with the lovely Beatriz.

The Red Folio

Spain 2014, 7 minutes, Director: Mauro Tracco

North American Premiere

A red sheet of paper radically disrupts the working routine of a man.

Say Nothing

Spain 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Silvia Abascal

North American Premiere

What do you steal when there is nothing to take?

Turnaround

Spain 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Alfonso Díaz

North American Premiere

Ana and Andres meet at a rural hotel. Maybe it is time for a turnaround in their life.

Walls

Spain 2014, 10 minutes, Director: Miguel López Beraza

North American Premiere

A building in Budapest tells the story of its two favorite tenants.

We Are Friends

Spain 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Carlos Solano Perez

Julio finds himself in an awful situation: he has to fire his best friend.

With Good Intentions

Spain 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Virginia Romero

US Premiere

In a Spanish restaurant, a British father and his arguing daughter face language barriers.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Shoot to Thrill Saved By the Bell

SUNDAY, MAY 24 2:30 PM

Eight short films that explore how a life can be changed by a single moment.

First Love

Ireland 2014, 12 minutes, Director: Brian Deane

Two best friends embark upon a friendly rivalry in pursuit of their mutual first crush.

Full-Windsor

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Faraday Okoro

A 10-year-old boy battles his mother in order to wear his estranged father’s tie to school.

Juliet Juliet - The Sound of Love Musical

Japan 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Ken Ochiai

Two rivals bid for the lead role in their all-girl high school’s annual musical production, but things get even more complicated when a male transfer student arrives.

Maurice

Canada 2014, 14 minutes, Director: François Jaros

US Premiere

Maurice has made a list: pick a date, announce his retirement, sell the car, see old friends, clean the garage, die with dignity.

Obituaries

USA 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Ryan Moody

A chronicle of lives lost in a school shooting. In the wake of another tragedy, we get a glimpse of each victim and see who they were, who they loved, who they hurt, and who they wanted to be.

Rosa - These Storms

USA 2015, 12 minutes, Directors: Sean Kusanagi, Hannah Gregg

Nothing in Rosa’s life has been easy, but her inspiring story defines the promise of the American dream.

Share

USA 2014, 13 minutes, Director: Pippa Bianco

A 15-year-old girl returns to school after someone shares an explicit video of her.

Wurst

USA 2014, 6 minutes, Director: Carlo Vogele

A sophisticated white sausage wants to enjoy her bottle of Chardonnay on the beach, but her plans are ruined by the raunchy meat around her.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 9:00 PM

A riveting collection of shorts that ride an emotional edge as they aim to intrigue, excite and surprise us with unique cinematic and story-telling tension.

Aden

Taiwan/USA 2014, 11 minutes, Director: Gary Lee

A powerful multi-national corporation, Aden, must deploy a bounty hunter in order to stop a powerful, unseen creature.

Artificio Conceal

USA 2014, 18 minutes, Director: Ayoub Qanir

US Premiere

A man who awakens in an Interpol interrogation room to find his mind ‘hacked,’ his memories replaced, and his identity lost.

Hardwire

United Kingdom 2014, 12 minutes, Director: Rankin

A lone surveillance operative watches and records the meeting between the ex-mistress of powerful corporate CEO and a cynical freelance journalist in a cramped London flat.

MayDay

United Kingdom 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Natalie Abrahami

May fights to ‘keep up the glamour’ despite a recent accident rendering her an invalid, but a freak disaster will test her resolve.

The Spirit That Comes

Canada 2014, 16 minutes, Director: Scott Brachmayer

US Premiere

Isolated in the harsh wilderness of the Arctic, a hunter follows the survival teaching passed on to him by his grandfather, but when a taboo is broken he must face the spirits of the land.

Stiletto

USA 2015, 6 minutes, Director: Matt Steinauer

World Premiere

A cryptic note leads to a world of Nazis, spies, and a sexy femme fatale, all vying for a prize that can change the course of World War II.

Unleaded

United Kingdom 2014, 8 minutes, Director: Luke Davies

Three thugs attempting to rob a petrol station are interrupted by three stoners with a severe case of the munchies.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

ShortsFest Closing Night Voices of Change

FRIDAY, MAY 22 4:00 PM

civil rights leaders and political activists to the keepers of lost languages and fermentation revivalists, nothing will stay the same for these voices of change.

Marie’s Dictionary

USA 2014, 10 minutes, Director: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Marie Wilcox is the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni Native American language but the words will never die as long as her dictionary exists.

Plamen

USA 2014, 21 minutes, Directors: Andre Andreev, Daniel Covert

In 2013, Plamen Goranov, a 37-year-old construction worker and artist from Varna, made the ultimate political protest against the Bulgarian government.

Romka

USA/Ukraine 2015, 12 minutes, Director: Evgeny Afineevsky

The story of a 12-year-old kid who became a hero during the current Ukrainian revolution.

Sandorkraut

USA 2014, 12 minutes, Directors: Emily Lobsenz, Ann Husaini

Meet the man whose personal obsession with salt and cabbage has inspired the fermentation movement.

This Was My Son (Emmett Till)

USA 2014, 8 minutes, Director: Rob Underhill

Mike Wiley channels the Civil Rights heroine, Mamie Till, in a reenactment of 1950s interviews.

The Trials of Constance Baker Motley

USA 2015, 25 minutes, Director: Rick Rodgers

Baker Motley fights prejudice with elegance and becomes the first black female to be named federal judge.

PM

SIFF’S annual celebration of the short subject finishes off with a dynamically varied program examining the breezy joy and tremendous complexity found in the best short films.

The Best Driver in the County

USA 2015, 16 minutes, Director: Marcus McCollum

While tending his garden one morning, Joe’s tranquil world is randomly ambushed at gunpoint by two bipolar escaped convicts.

Best Man Wins

USA 2015, 20 minutes, Director: Stéphane Dumonceau

When a celebrated chef suspects his wife of having an affair with his best man, revenge is a dish best served...

German Shepherd

Sweden 2014, 10 minutes, Director: Nils Bergendal

Growing up as an American Jew with a Holocaust survivor mother, David Paul is haunted by ‘the Nazi thing,’ an irrational fear of Germans, and an obsession with Holocaust movies.

How to Get Rich in 13 Steps

USA 2015, 5 minutes, Director: Keith Bearden

Listen up if you want to get rich quick.

Listen

Denmark/Finland 2014, 13 minutes, Directors: Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni

When a woman wearing a burqa goes to a Copenhagen police station to file a complaint, she gets the impression her translator isn’t repeating what she’s saying.

Pant Suits

USA 2015, 9 minutes, Director: Saralyn Armer

World Premiere

In 1972, an ambitious female computer programmer must maneuver the minefield of a man’s world in order to make an unexpected change for the women in her office.

Sundays

Netherlands 2015, 15 minutes, Director: Mischa Rozema

World Premiere

In a dark futuristic world, Ben remembers his only love and questions his memories on his way toward learning the truth.

From

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN MONDAY, MAY 25 6:00

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Shorts Before Features

09:55-11:05 Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B

Sweden 2014, 15 minutes, Directors: Christine Berglund, Sophie Vukovic

67-year-old Ingrid has decided to deal with cancer on her own, retreating from the outside world. But home-care employee Frida knocks on her door and awakens feelings that Ingrid can’t shut out.

Screens before Tea Time

Back to the Soil

USA 2014, 18 minutes, Director: Bill Morrison

In 1924, the Soviet government offered parcels of land in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Crimea to former merchants, whose work had been outlawed under Communist rule. By 1938, more than 250,000 Soviet Jews would settle in 215 colonies, across 2.5 million acres of land. This is a story of their journey back to the soil.

Screens before Beyond Zero: 1914-1918

Big Boy

USA 2015, 5 minutes, Director: Bryan Campbell

Nine-year-old Dustin’s first solo adventure in a highway rest-stop bathroom.

Screens before Uncle Kent 2

Bihttoš

Canada 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

US Premiere

Bihttoš is an unconventional documentary that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter.

Screens before Trudell

Chasing the Sun

USA 2015, 12 minutes, Director: Jeremy Mackie

World Premiere

Caught in the middle of an ill-conceived road trip, two siblings face off with despair and hope about chasing answers to their long-buried family history.

Screens before Beach Town

Neil Discovers the Moon

USA 2012, 1 minute, Director: Steven Judd

Neil Armstrong gets a surprise on his first moonwalk.

Screens before Trudell

A Quiet Memory

Mozambique 2014, 14 minutes, Director: Inadelso Cossa

US Premiere

Langa dramatically details his history as a political prisoner in 1970s Mozambique. Screens before Beats of the Antonov

Somewhere in America

USA 2015, 4 minutes, Directors: Adobe Youth Voices Collaboration

World Premiere

A spoken word performance becomes a collage of animation styles by young animators worldwide.

Screens before Romeo Is Bleeding

Tennis Girl

Brazil 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Daniel Barosa

Ju is late for her tennis class. Even though she is stuck on her phone and her mother doesn’t realize it, she seems troubled by something...

Screens before Venice.

Through the Ground Glass

USA 2014, 5 minutes, Directors: Nick Bolton, Taylor Hawkins

Large format photographer Joseph Allen Freeman wanders the eastern Washington landscape in search of the perfect photo.

Screens before Mountain Spirits

SIFF is pleased to once again partner with The Seattle Times for the ninth annual 3-Minute Masterpiece contest.

SATURDAY MAY 16 10:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Each year we challenge filmmakers around Seattle to create short, family-friendly films that last no longer than a mere three minutes. Any subject matter may be explored as long as there is no sex, violence, or obscenities.

There are several opportunities for awards and recognition for contest participants. Filmmakers under 18 are eligible for the J. Michael Rima Award, celebrating young Seattle directors. The winner of this award will have his or her film featured during the Festival’s FutureWave Shorts Program. Other winning films will be featured on The Seattle Times website as well as at the Festival. The Grand Prize winner will also receive one Full Series pass to this year’s Festival.

Here is a list of 2014 winners:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Andrew Olivarez, Brandon Schlepp, and William Schlepp for Day of the Living Statues

J. MICHAEL RIMA WINNER

Abby Salmon, Jessica Salmon, and Phoebe Wall for Go Fish

OTHER WINNERS

Araignee, directed by Jeremy Jensen

Teenager Wrath, directed by John E. Williamson

Home Tastes Like Love, directed by Christopher L. Brown and Elsie Nelson Brown

A Heartless Gamble, directed by Matthew Waxman and Andrew Maschmann

The Vessel, directed by Colin Dawson

Angry Asian Girl Vs. Bully, directed by Deborah Tahara

Free Pile, directed by Liz Ellis

Sunday in the Car with Mom, directed by D. Wiley Jones

Drip, directed by Kyle Jensen and Asa Buehler

Phantom Friday, directed by Zach McIntosh

From its glittering downtown skyline, to its schools, neighborhoods and parks...

No one covers Bellevue like we do!

FEATURE FILMS FROM A TO Z

For 40 years, SIFF has had the honor of curating films from around the world, giving Seattle audiences the international cinematic experience they crave. This is the power of film, where an audience can be transported from a darkened theater in the Pacific Northwest to anywhere on Earth in just a few minutes. All you need is a ticket, a place to sit, and an open mind.

Elsewhere in this catalog, we have grouped our feature films by Film Program. On the following pages, however, we’re offering you the whole world of cinema at once with our listing of alphabetized feature films.

With a program that literally spans the globe, each page allows you to discover worlds both familiar and unknown, from the dusty deserts of the Australian outback to the mountain regions of Sudan and the coastal villages of the Netherlands. See what the process of an arranged marriage looks like in India, and accompany a samurai on a 13-year hunt for vengeance surrounded by a rapidly modernizing Japan. Join the Mexico City student protests of 1999, or throw caution to the wind for a hot and colorful evening enjoying Cuban nightlife. Explore the tricky social dynamics and breathtaking landscape of a small Icelandic fishing town, and whatever you do, when you embark on that camping trip to the Belgium woods, stay close to camp. Trust us.

With more than 280 films from 92 countries for 25 days every spring (and more year-round at SIFF Cinema!), we bring you the whole wide wonderful world, from A to Z!

1001 GRAM

1001 Grams

NORWAY 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 4:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 9:30 PM

In this deadpan, pseudo-scientific comedy from Norwegian master Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories), Ane Dahl Torp (Dead Snow, SIFF 2009) plays Marie, a recently divorced scientist who works with her father Ernst (Stein Winge) in the Mass Department of the Norwegian Metrology Service. Their task: to standardize and certify measuring devices of all kinds. When Ernst falls ill, Marie must take his place, traveling to Paris with the Norwegian national kilo prototype so it can be weighed beside kilos from other countries and recalibrated if necessary. At the convention, she meets the kind, French, tousled-hair Pi (Laurent Stocker, Sleepless Night), and discovers the possibility of love amid the beauty of the City of Lights. Influenced by the absurdist-observational style of Jacques Tati, Hamer crafts something wry, sweet, and unexpectedly poetic, positing that life’s heaviest burden is to have nothing to carry.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Chicago International Film Festival 2014 (Silver Hugo –Best Cinematography)

Nordic Film Days Lübeck 2014 (Interfilm Church Prize)

Sponsored by Brian LaMacchia

2045 Carnival Folklore

JAPAN 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 7:00 PM

Director: Bent Hamer

Producers: Bent Hamer

Christoph Friedel

Claudia Steffen

Marianne Slot

Screenwriter: Bent Hamer

Cinematographer: John Christian Rosenlund

Editor: Anders Refn

Music: John Erik Kaada

Cast: Ane Dahl Torp

Stein Winge

Per Christian Ellefsen

Laurent Stocker

Hildegunn Riise

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Norwegian, German, French, and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Norwegian Film Institute

Print Source: Kino International Film Website: filmsdulosange.fr

Selected Filmography: Home for Christmas (2010)

O’Horten (2007)

Factotum (2005)

Kitchen Stories (2003)

Water Easy Reach (1998)

Eggs (1995)

SIFF FILM CENTER

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

Inspired by the anarchic spirit of Japanese noise rock, 2045 Carnival Folklore is a fever dream of a science fiction story set after a worldwide nuclear disaster. The country once known as Japan has collapsed. Out of its ashes an authoritarian party called ANIKI has risen up, controlling the population through fear and feeding them human flesh. The story, however, follows a spy from the nether world, “Sun Ra,” who sneaks into the city; the movie is essentially his report. Themes of chaos and control run rampant, with a doctor and nurse team working for ANIKI and trying to control the sexual impulses of the patients in the psycho ward. Similarly, the control over the movie is often ceded to Japanoise interludes, like a performance from the Fukushima Mutant Gandja Turtles or Toshiji Mikawa and his influential noise rock band Incapacitants. Anarchy reigns in both story and style. This is a world where people will return to nuclear power, because six months after a major disaster they’ve already forgotten. Come to think of it, that’s a world much like our own. With live musical performance by Sierror!

Director:

Naoki Kato

Producer: Naoki Kato

Screenwriters:

Naoki Kato

Keisuke Masuda

Cinematographer: Yukibumi Josha

Editor:

Hiroshi Suzuki

Music:

Keisuke Masuda

Naoki Kato

Hiroyuki Nagashima

Cast: Junya Ishii

Misaki Oka

Ryosuke Hayashi

Hideyuki Okamoto

Ryo Hamamoto

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

Print Source: Naoki Kato

Selected Filmography: Abraxas (2010)

A Bao A Qu (2007)

Konjaku monogatari: The new edition (2007)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets USA 2015

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 6:00 PM

On the evening of November 23, 2012, Jordan Davis and his three friends, all African American teenagers, pulled up to the Gate Gas Station on the corner of Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road in Jacksonville, FL to purchase gum and cigarettes. In the parking spot next to them was Michael David Dunn, a 45-year-old Caucasian man in town with his fiancée for a wedding, who objected to the loud rap music they were playing. Three and a half minutes later, Dunn took a pistol out of his glove compartment and fired nine shots at the red SUV. Jordan Davis was pronounced dead later that night, and Dunn was taken into custody. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin tragedy and the controversy over Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, the case and legal battles attracted unprecedented attention and put crime-ridden Jacksonville on the international stage. This stunning documentary dives deep into every element of the shooting, seamlessly combining emotional interviews with Davis’ family and friends, exclusive footage of what the media dubbed the “Thug Music Murder Trial,” and, most chillingly, Dunn’s phone calls from prison to his fiancée Rhonda Rouer. By turns rousing, shocking, infuriating, and illuminating, 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets is an essential contribution to the everpresent conversation about race in America.

Awards:

Sundance 2015 (U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Social Impact)

54: The Director’s Cut USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

Director: Marc Silver

Producers: Minette Nelson

Carolyn Hepburn

Cinematographer: Marc Silver

Editor: Emiliano Battista

Music: Todd Boekelheide

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Participant Media Film Website: takepart.com/ three-and-a-half-minutes

Selected Filmography: Who is Dayani Cristal? (2013)

54 was primed to turn the art house film world into a disco inferno when it was scheduled for release on August 28, 1998. A chronicle of the booze-soaked, drug-fueled bacchanalia of New York City’s infamous Studio 54, the film was chock-full of mainstream actors hoping to prove their mettle in a dramatic ensemble setting, including Salma Hayek (Desperado), Breckin Meyer (Clueless), Neve Campbell (the Scream movies), Mark Ruffalo (Safe Men), and lead performances from up-and-comer Ryan Phillippe (Nowhere) as a Jersey-born bartender who gets caught up in the madness of the scene, and Mike Myers (one year removed from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), in his first dramatic role, as corrupt club co-owner Steve Rubell. But after test screenings went south, Miramax sent in a team of editors to recut the film and forced first-time writer/director Mark Christopher to reshoot nearly 40 minutes of material, excising nearly all of the film’s edgier content. Now, 17 years later, Christopher has recut the film to its original form—retaining the original film’s moral ambiguity as well as the bisexual love triangle between Phillippe, Hayek, and Meyer that test audiences balked at—wrote a brandnew voiceover, and sent it onto the film festival circuit with nearly 40 minutes of unseen material. 54 lives again. Hit the dance floor and show us your moves.

Director: Mark Christopher

Producers:

Mark Christopher

Jonathan King

Dolly Hall

Ira Deutchman

Richard Gladstein

Screenwriter: Mark Christopher

Cinematographer: Alexander Gruszynski

Editors:

David Kittredge

Lee Percy

Music: Marco Beltrami

Cast: Ryan Phillippe

Salma Hayek

Breckin Meyer

Neve Campbell

Mike Myers

Sela Ward

Mark Ruffalo

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Park Circus

Film Website: www.miramax.com/ movie/54

Selected Filmography: Pizza (2005) 54 (1998)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

7 Chinese Brothers

USA 2015

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 5:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 1:30 PM

Bob Byington teams up with Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Listen to Philip) for this observational, quirky comedy. Schwartzman stars as Larry who, along with his trusty sidekick French bulldog Arrow (Schwartzman’s real-life pet), goes through life as a misanthropic outcast who fails to retain employment or stable relationships - especially with his grandma, played with sharp timing and wit by Academy Award®-winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck). After getting fired from his last job, Larry talks himself into working as an auto-mechanic and finds himself falling for his new boss. Part absurdist comedy and part character portrait, 7 Chinese Brothers is a unique tale about people stuck within the confines of normalcy while they represent anything but. Co-starring Tunde Adebimpe from the band TV on the Radio and Alex Karpovsky from “Girls.”

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Bob Byington

Producers: Seana Flanagan

Molly Benson

Nancy Schafer

Screenwriter: Bob Byington

Cinematographer: Adam Ginsberg

Editor:

Leah Marino

Music: Chris Baio

Cast: Jason Schwartzman

Olympia Dukakis

Tunde Adebimpe

Eleanore Pienta

Alex Karpovsky

Running Time: 76 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: 7CB LLC

Film Website: facebook. com/7chinesebrothers

Selected Filmography:

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012)

Harmony and Me (2009)

RSO [Registered Sex Offender] (2008)

808

UNITED KINGDOM 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN MONDAY, MAY 25 1:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Where were you the first time that you heard the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer? You may not recognize the machine’s name, but you know its sound. Though only 12,000 808s were manufactured between 1980 and 1983, the 808 has become quite possibly the most influential musical instrument of the last 35 years. Director Alexander Dunn’s stylish first feature charts the evolution of the 808’s musical relevance, tracing how its syncopated rhythms and earthshaking beats revolutionized popular music. Using Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” as its launching point, 808 shifts between songs, genres, and countries to reveal this unique machine’s impact on the innumerable musicians and producers who fell under its spell. Dunn mixes these songs together with a treasure trove of rare archival footage, ’80s style animation, and interviews with dozens of 808 disciples and devotees, ranging from members of the Beastie Boys and Talking Heads to Pharrell Williams and Diplo. Combining musical knowledge, technical insight, and a genuine enthusiasm for the subject, 808 captures how vision, inspiration, and ingenuity could transform a small device with only 16 Sounds and 32 Patterns into the heartbeat of today’s music.

Director: Alexander Dunn

Producers: Alex Noyer

Alexander Dunn

Craig Kallman

Arthur Baker

Screenwriters: Alexander Dunn

Luke Bainbridge

Cinematographers: Claudio Rietti

Stuart Birchall

Danny Vecchione

Editors: Alexander Dunn

Matthew Jarman

Stuart Birchall

Featuring: Afrika Bambaataa

The Beastie Boys

Pharrell Williams

Questlove

Phil Collins

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Richard Abramowitz

Print Source: You Know Films

Film Website: 808themovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

LUCIA DE B.

Accused

NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM/SWEDEN 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 7:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

FRIDAY, MAY 22 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

This tense thriller is based on the true story of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Dutch history, the case of intensive care nurse Lucia de Berk, aka “The Angel of Death.” When de Berk, a woman with a complicated past, is present at one inexplicable death too many, her hospital alerts the police. Ambitious assistant district attorney Judith sees de Berk’s case as an opportunity to make her career, so she pieces together a prosecution based largely on circumstantial evidence. Eventually, though, the real evidence starts troubling Judith, and she discovers inconsistencies in witness statements, even the suppression of lab evidence. But can she turn back the wheels of justice? Director Paula van der Oest might be the Netherlands’ answer to Susanne Bier, equally comfortable writing her own screenplays and directing others’ scripts. She is also renowned for her subtle and sensitive direction of actors, her humor, and the foregrounding of strong, independent women in her work—all qualities to the fore here.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Director:

Paula van der Oest

Producers:

Reinier Selen

Jelle Nesna

Screenwriters:

Moniek Kramer

Tijs van Marle

Cinematographer: Guido van Gennep

Editor:

Marcel Wijninga

Music:

Adam Nordén

Cast:

Ariane Schluter

Sallie Harmsen

Fedja van Huêt

Barry Atsma

Annet Malherbe

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Dutch, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: fortissimo.nl

Selected Filmography:

The Domino Effect (2012)

Black Butterflies (2010)

Tiramisu (2008)

Moonlight (2002)

Zus & Zo (2001)

Alleluia

BELGIUM/FRANCE 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 23 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Loosely based on the gruesome case of the Lonely Hearts Killers, who murdered as many as 20 women in the 1940s, Alleluia is not for the faint-hearted. Gloria (Lola Dueñas, Volver), a single mother and morgue attendant, reluctantly goes on a dinner date with shoe salesman Michel (Laurent Lucas, In My Skin) after her friend sets up an online dating profile on her behalf. The night turns into one of smoldering passion, but after Michel disappears with some of her money, she tracks him down and learns the truth: He is a con artist who seduces and robs women. Instead of admonishing him or demanding her money back, though, lovestruck Gloria asks if she can accompany him on his next grift. Soon, the two are working as a pair, posing as siblings and fleecing widows, but when Gloria’s jealous tendencies turn obsessive and violent, the game becomes something far more sinister, savage, and psychotic. Alleluia is a hypnotic and bloodsoaked psychological thriller, the latest bit of squirm-inducing horror from Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire, also starring Lucas) that refuses to loosen its grip even after its sublime final moments.

Awards:

Fantastic Fest 2014 (Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor)

Director: Fabrice Du Welz

Producers: Vincent Tavier

Clément Miserez

Matthieu Warter

Screenwriters: Fabrice du Welz

Vincent Tavier

Cinematographer: Manu Dacosse

Editor: Anne-Laure Guégan

Music: Vincent Cahay

Cast: Lola Dueñas

Laurent Lucas

Helena Noguerra

Edith le Merdy

Anne-Marie Loop

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: SND Films

Print Source: Music Box Films

Film Website: alleluia-lefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Colt 45 (2014)

Vinyan (2008)

Calvaire (2004)

All Things Must Pass

SATURDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 3:00 PM

Tower Records was the biggest success story in record store history. Over forty years, founder Russ Solomon transformed it from a few modest shelves inside a Sacramento drugstore into a global chain that spanned 14 countries. In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. Five years later, the company filed for bankruptcy. To find how this happened, firsttime director (and Sacramento native) Colin Hanks starts by exploring what made the store a success in the first place. He discovers a fun-loving company that maintained a tightknit family atmosphere and promoted from inside, filling its executive ranks with former store clerks and managers. Solomon and his boisterous clan are happy to regale us with tales of their heady rise— and even headier parties— as well as those of their heartbreaking end. Hanks intersperses these employee interviews with rare archival footage and testimonials from celebrity insiders, ranging from Elton John and David Geffen to Bruce Springsteen and ex-Tower clerk Dave Grohl. But the real star of this disarmingly affectionate tribute is Russ Solomon himself. With a raconteur’s gift for detail, he and Hanks spin a story of dreams and drive that just happens to be the story of the record industry itself.

Alyam, Alyam MOROCCO 1978

MONDAY, MAY 25 4:30 PM

Director: Colin Hanks

Producer: Sean Stuart

Screenwriter: Steven Leckart

Cinematographer: Neil Lisk

Nicola Marsh

Bridger Nielson

Editor:

Darrin Roberts

Music: Bill Sherman

Cast: Russ Solomon

Heidi Cotler

Mark Viducich

Bruce Springsteen

Elton John

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Company Name

Film Website: http://www.towerrecordsmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Following his father’s death, young Abdelwahad is expected to take his place as head of the family. This role is especially crucial as he has a mother and seven brothers to provide for. But faced with the cycle of poverty that rural farmers seem doomed to repeat, he dares to hope for something better. He applies for papers that would allow him to live and work in France, a country that he imagines offers more opportunities than his own. As he waits to receive them, he dreams of earning enough money to return home and establish his own business. His more traditional and practical mother, however, disapproves of Abdelwahad’s plan and tries to talk him out of it. Meanwhile, rural life continues, with its slow pace, hard work, and long days. Director Ahmed El Maanouni captures both the harsh reality and the nobility of the land and its people in this exquisite blend of fiction and poetic documentary.

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with Ahmed El-Maanouní. Restoration carried out at Cineteca dí Bologna/L’ímmagíne Rítrova Laboratory; 4k scan performed at Eclaír Laboratories.

Awards: Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival 1978 (Grand Prize)

Director: Ahmed El Maanouni

Producer: Ahmed El Maanouni

Screenwriter: Ahmed El Maanouni

Cinematographer: Ahmed El Maanouni

Editors: Martine Chicot Emile Caporal

Music: Nass El Ghiwane

Cast: Ben Brahim

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

Print Source: Cineteca di Bologna

Film Website: film-foundation.org

Selected Filmography: Burned Hearts (2007) Moroccan Goumiers (Doc, 1993)

Trances (Doc, 1981)

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

Angkor’s Children

CAMBODIA/FRANCE/USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 31 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

In a country ravaged by the Khmer Rouge regime, which killed over two million people during its four-year reign in the 1970s, Cambodia’s wounds are still fresh. But what of the generation that was born after the genocide? In a land where half the population is under 20 years old, how can they rebuild the spirit of the nation to “not just a country of tears, but a country of dreams,” to quote one of this film’s subjects? Angkor’s Children tells three stories of young women hoping to heal through the arts: Phunam, a “vagabond child” who now goes to Phare Ponleau Selpak, “a school founded to help children express the trauma of war,” where she studies circus arts and performs as an acrobat; Sreypov, a performer of smot (an ancient form of Buddhist poetry sung at funerals), who travels and teaches internationally with the organization Cambodian Living Arts; and the women of the Messenger Band, an all-female pop group that performs protest songs for the downtrodden and disenfranchised. Through injuries, hardships both personal and political, and the horrors of the past, these young women and their mentors emerge as beacons of a brighter future.

Director:

Lauren Shaw

Producers:

Paul Feinberg

Mimi Edmunds

Screenwriter: Mimi Edmunds

Cinematographers: Chris Kelly

Todd Brown

Editor:

Bernice Schneider

Music:

Josh Peck

Running Time: 68 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Khmer, with English subtitles

Print Source: Great Pond Productions, Inc.

Film Website: angkorschildren.com

Selected Filmography: Maine Women: Living on the Land (Doc, 2005)

PATHER PANCHALI

The Apu Trilogy: Song of the Little Road

INDIA 1955

SUNDAY, MAY 17 3:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

The release of Satyajit Ray’s debut Song of the Little Road, also known as Pather Panchali, in 1955 introduced to the world an eloquent and important new cinematic voice. A depiction of rural Bengali life told in a style inspired by Italian neorealism, this realistic yet poetic evocation of a number of years in the life of a family introduces us both to little Apu (Subir Banerjee) and, just as essentially, the women who will help shape and define him: his independent older sister, Durga (Uma Das Gupta); his harried mother, Sarbajaya Sarbajaya (Karuna Banerjee), who, with her husband often away, must hold the family together; and his kindly and mischievous elderly “Auntie,” Indir (Chunibala Devi) Ñvivid, all multifaceted characters. With resplendent photography informed by its young protagonist’s constant sense of discovery, the Cannes-awarded Song of the Little Road is an immersive cinematic experience and a film of elemental power. A stunning new 4K restoration of this masterpiece of Indian cinema.

Awards:

Cannes Film Festival 1956 (Best Human Document)

San Francisco Film Festival 1957 (Best Film, Director)

National Board of Review 1958 (Best Foreign Film)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Producer: Satyajit Ray

Screenwriter: Satyajit Ray

Cinematographer: Subrata Mitra

Editor: Dulal Dutta

Music:

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Cast:

Kanu Banerjee

Karuna Banerjee

Subir Banerjee

Uma Das Gupta

Runki Banerjee

Running Time: 125 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Bengali, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Films

Selected Filmography: The Stranger (1991)

Kingdom of Diamonds (1980)

The Chess Players (1977)

Days and Nights in the Forest (1969)

Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1968)

The Hero (1966)

The Lonely Wife (1964)

The Big City (1963)

The Goddess (1960)

The World of Apu (1959)

The Music Room (1958)

The Unvanquished (1956)

The Apu Trilogy: The Unvanquished

SUNDAY, MAY 24 2:00 PM

Satyajit Ray had not planned to make a sequel to Pather Panchali, but after the film’s international success he decided to continue Apu’s narrative. The Unvanquished, also known as Aparajito, picks up where the first film left off, with Apu (Pinaki Sengupta) and his family having moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As Apu progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager (now played by Smaran Ghosal), eventually studying in Kolkata, we watch the formation of a life that grows ever richer in moral and emotional complexity, in regards to both his studies and his relationship with his mother (Karuna Banerjee). This tenderly expressive, often heart-wrenching film, which won three top prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, not only extends but also spiritually deepens the tale of Apu. A stunning new 4K restoration of this masterpiece of Indian cinema.

Awards: Venice Film Festival 1957 (Golden Lion) National Board of Review 1959 (Best Foreign Film)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Producer: Satyajit Ray

Screenwriter: Satyajit Ray

Cinematographer: Subrata Mitra

Editor: Dulal Dutta

Music:

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Cast:

Kanu Banerjee

Karuna Banerjee

Pinaki Sen Gupta

Smaran Ghosal

Running Time: 109 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Bengali, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Films

Selected Filmography: The Stranger (1991)

Kingdom of Diamonds (1980)

The Chess Players (1977)

Days and Nights in the Forest (1969)

Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1968)

The Hero (1966)

The Lonely Wife (1964)

The Big City (1963)

The Goddess (1960)

The World of Apu (1959)

The Music Room (1958)

Song of the Little Road (1955)

The Apu Trilogy: The World of Apu

SUNDAY, MAY 24 4:30 PM

By the time The World of Apu, also known as Apur Sansar, was released, Satyajit Ray had directed not only the first two Apu films but also the masterpiece The Music Room, and was well on his way to becoming a legend. This extraordinary final chapter brings our protagonist’s journey full circle. Apu is now in his early twenties, out of college, and hoping to live as a writer. Alongside his professional ambitions, the film charts his romantic awakening, which occurs as the result of a most unlikely turn of events, and his eventual, fraught fatherhood. Featuring soon-to-be Ray regulars Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore in star-making performances, and showing Ray’s ever more impressive skills as a crafter of pure cinematic imagery, The World of Apu is a breathtaking conclusion to this monumental trilogy. A stunning new 4K restoration of this masterpiece of Indian cinema.

Awards: National Board of Review 1960 (Best Foreign Film)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Producer: Satyajit Ray

Screenwriter: Satyajit Ray

PLACE

Cinematographer: Subrata Mitra

Editor: Dulal Dutta

Music:

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee

Sharmila Tagore

Swapan Mukherjee

Alok Chakravarty

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Bengali, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Films

Selected Filmography: The Stranger (1991) Kingdom of Diamonds (1980)

The Chess Players (1977) Days and Nights in the Forest (1969)

Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1968)

The Hero (1966)

The Lonely Wife (1964)

The Big City (1963)

The Goddess (1960)

The Music Room (1958)

The Unvanquished (1956)

Song of the Little Road (1955)

PACIFIC PLACE

PACIFIC

The Astrologer USA 1975

SUNDAY, MAY 24 MIDNIGHT

In 1975, astrologer to the stars Craig Denney embarked on his passion project to write, direct, and star in an ambitious biopic about his life. The resulting film faded into obscurity but was recently rediscovered in the collection of the American Genre Film Archive, and has been hailed as a newfound classic of WTF cinema. The Astrologer follows a carnival con man who discovers that he has genuine psychic powers, a story that unspools in a manner that, as fan Nicolas Winding Refn describes it, “pushes ‘auteurism’ to a whole other level.” The film jumps between continents and races through time, usually in a single startling edit; features absurd yet ironyfree dialogue (“You’re not an astrologer...you’re an asshole!”); has a lengthy dinner scene inexplicably filmed in slow motion; and ends with a head-scratching meta-cinema moment in which “the astrologer” watches a film of “The Astrologer” as we watch The Astrologer. It is safe to predict that The Astrologer is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. New 2K scan DCP print, provided courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive. Visit americangenrefilm.com for more info.

Director: Craig Denney

Producer: John William Abbott

Screenwriter: Dorothy June Pidgeon

Cinematographer: Allan Gornick Jr.

Music: Zubin Mehta

The Moody Blues

The Los Angeles Philharmonic

Cast: Craig Denney

Darrien Earle

Arthyr Chadbourne

Florence Marly

Rocky Barbanica

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: American Genre Film

Archive

Film Website: drafthouse.com/movies/ the-astrologer/austin

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Atlantic.

NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM/ GERMANY/MOROCCO 2014 US PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

“Who are you? You, who live beyond the horizon. Why do you have such power over me? Sometimes I feel you in the wind. Your spirit.” So narrates Fettah, a Moroccan fisherman who has set out on a windsurfing journey across 300 kilometers of ocean connecting Northern Africa to the southern tip of Europe. But what compelled this poor man from near Essaouira to attempt such a dangerous solo voyage into an unknown land? What losses have befallen him? We flash back to life in his native village, where each summer he moonlights as a windsurfing instructor to European and American tourists hoping to catch the coast’s famed waves. Still mourning the loss of his late mother, Fettah takes a liking to a repeat visitor’s girlfriend, Alexandra, contributing to a growing sense of confusion about his own life, loves, and family. Writer/director Jan-Willem van Ewijk and cinematographer Jasper Wolf film the beautiful and terrifying expanse of the sea in glorious widescreen, capturing the transcendence and violence of Mother Nature, while simultaneously engaging with the subtle nuances of Fettah’s home life. “Freedom. What is it?” Fettah asks. “How much love? How much pain?” Through his physical and emotional journey, Fettah will have his answer.

Director: Jan-Willem van Ewijk

Producer: Bero Beyer

Screenwriters: Jan-Willem van Ewijk

Abdelhadi Samih

Cinematographer: Jasper Wolf

Editor: Mona Bräuer

Music: Piet Swerts

Mourad Belouadi

Cast: Fettah Lamara

Thekla Reuten

Mohamed Majd

Boujmaa Guilloul

Hassna Souidi

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic and French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: www.fortissimo.nl

Selected Filmography: Nu (2006)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

The Automatic Hate

SUNDAY, MAY 24 8:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 11:30 AM

Nature and nurture battle for supremacy in this riveting mystery from Girlfriend director Justin Lerner. Davis Green (Joseph Cross, Running with Scissors), a Boston chef, grew up thinking he knew everything about his father, Ronald (Richard Schiff, “The West Wing”), a psychology professor. One day, a young woman named Alexis (Adelaide Clemens, “Rectify”) introduces herself to Davis as his cousin, the daughter of his dad’s brother. Since Davis had always assumed Ronald was an only child, he sends this odd, jittery character on her way, but then he stumbles upon a hidden artifact that proves she was telling the truth. With things at home tense between Davis and his girlfriend, Cassie (Deborah Ann Woll, “True Blood”), and with Ronald refusing to talk about the past, Davis drives to a farm in upstate New York where he finally connects with his long-lost uncle, Josh (Ricky Jay, House of Games). But Josh isn’t talking either, so Davis and Alexis launch their own investigation to figure out what split the family apart. Davis began this journey feeling confident about his capacities, but fate has other plans.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Justin Lerner

Producers:

Lacey Leavitt

Justin Lerner

Alix Madigan-Yorkin

Screenwriters:

Justin Lerner

Katharine O’Brien

Cinematographer: Quyen Tran

Editor:

Jeffrey J. Castelluccio

Music:

Hunter Brown

Cast:

Joseph Cross

Adelaide Clemens

Richard Schiff

Yvonne Zima

Vanessa Zima

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: WME Global

Print Source:

WME Global

Film Website: theautomatichate.com

Selected Filmography: Girlfriend (2010)

Banana ITALY 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

What is the nature of happiness? Young Banana (Marco Todisco), nicknamed so because of his fruit-shaped foot, believes that getting the girl of his dreams will make him happy. He also bases his whole philosophy on Brazilian soccer, and sees himself as a bold offensive player in the game of life, while his classmates see him as a weird and awkward child who messes up every chance he has to score on and off the field. This doesn’t stop Banana from trying and sometimes failing along the way. Director Andrea Jublin lets us know that life isn’t always straightforward or easy, but that there are some charming moments as we all try to figure out what we really want and what might be good enough if we can’t have everything. This delightful Italian comedy is a refreshing coming-of-age story of a boy who goes to great lengths for the girl he loves.

Director: Andrea Jublin

Producer: Olivia Musini

Screenwriter: Andrea Jublin

Cinematographer: Gherardo Gossi

Editor: Esmeralda Calabria

Music: Michelino Bisceglia

Cast:

Marco Todisco

Beatrice Modica

Anna Bonaitu

Giorgio Colangeli

Camilla Filippi

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Premium Films

Print Source: Premium Films

Film Website: premium-films.com/en/ film/banana

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Beach Town

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 6:30 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 4:00 PM

In this rock ’n’ roll beach movie of the mind (shot entirely within the Seattle city limits), love and music intertwine over one lazy summer in a ramshackle coastal town. Noelle (Sarah Winsor) has just moved to the unnamed community and immediately catches the eye of Arthur (Ahren Buhmann), a local musician and record store employee. But as she acclimates to her new surroundings—surfboard yoga, experimental film festivals, jam sessions—Noelle considers her past mistakes and fears becoming another “rocker’s chick.” Arthur and his bandmate Pete (Riley Neldam), meanwhile, cross in and out of the orbit of a fairy-synth band fronted by the kooky Farrah (Kenna Kittrick), only to see their musical careers go in different directions. Featuring a killer summertime soundtrack and filmed in a warm, laconic 16mm style—the Ballard shoreline has never looked more retro—Beach Town is a laid-back hangout film with local flair and alternative rhythms.

PRECEDED BY:

Chasing the Sun

USA 2015, 12 minutes, Director: Jeremy Mackie World Premiere

Caught in the middle of an ill-conceived road trip, two siblings face off with despair and hope about chasing answers to their longburied family history.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Erik Hammen

Producer: Erik Hammen

Screenwriter: Erik Hammen

Cinematographer: Erik Hammen

Editor: Erik Hammen

Cast:

Sarah Winsor

Ahren Buhmann

Riley Neldam

Kenna Kettrick

William Poole

Running Time: 72 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Groton Bridge Films

Film Website: beachtownmovie. blogspot.com

Selected Filmography: Time of the Robots (2012) Love My Guts (2000)

Beats of the Antonov

SUDAN/SOUTH AFRICA 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 22 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Crafted from extended time in refugee camps in South Sudan, Beats of the Antonov, features the extraordinary music that is made in the region by any means necessary. North Sudan’s racist war against Southern ethnic groups has displaced 1.5 million people living in fear of regular bombings from the Ukranian-made Antonov planes. The heart-stopping attacks are contrasted with the communities remarkably coming together to celebrate life. Sudanese director Hajooj Kuka’s film treats his subjects as people, giving them a humanity rarely afforded in outsider-crafted docs. The music they create responds to their situation in deeply affecting ways with homemade instruments as the cornerstone of community gatherings. This music functions as diversion, but also solidifies a sense of cultural identity and instills a hope for what the future may bring. Beats of the Antonov is an exceptional documentary that effectively celebrates the evolving ethnomusicology in the Sudanese refugee camps and becomes an uplifting portrait of the resilience of oppressed communities.

Awards: Toronto International Film Festival 2014 (Documentary Audience Award)

PRECEDED BY:

A Quiet Memory

Mozambique 2014, 14 minutes, director: Inadelso Cossa US Premiere Langa dramatically details his history as a political prisoner in 1970s Mozambique.

Director: Hajooj Kuka

Producers: Steven Markovitz

Hajooj Kuka

Screenwriter: Hajooj Kuka

Cinematographer: Hajooj Kuka

Editors: Hajooj Kuka

Khalid Shamis

Music: Sudanese refugees

Featuring: Jodah Bujud

Insaf Awad

Sarah Mohamed

Abunama-Elgadi

Seif Alislam

Running Time: 65 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Big World Cinema

Print Source: Big World Cinema

Film Website: beatsofantonov.com

Selected Filmography: Darfur’s Skeleton (Doc, 2007)

Before We Go

USA 2014

US PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 23 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger) stars in and makes his directorial debut with this two-hander about strangers who, after meeting at Grand Central Station, spend one long Manhattan night assessing their tumultuous present and an unknown future. Nick (Evans) is a trumpet player practicing the night before a big audition in the corridors of Grand Central Station. Brooke is a frantic young woman who just got mugged and missed the last late night train home. The two meet and immediately connect, and Nick decides to set off with Brooke through the Manhattan streets to get her home safe and perhaps try and find the culprits who stole her bag. As late night becomes dawn, the couple passes through dimly lit alleyways and streets lined with neon, engaged in witty backand-forth, deep conversation, and inevitable, flirtatious banter. This charmingly romantic character study takes the right all the right tips from Delpy and Hawke’s Before Sunrise films.

Director:

Chris Evans

Producers:

Chris Evans

Mark Kassen

McG

Mary Viola

Karen Baldwin

Howard Baldwin

William J. Immerman

Screenwriters:

Ron Bass

Jen Smolka

Chris Shafer

Paul Vicknair

Cinematographer: John Guleserian

Editor:

John Axelrad

Music:

Chris Westlake

Cast:

Chris Evans

Alice Eve

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales:

Sierra/Affinity

Print Source:

RADiUS - TWC

Film Website: sierra-affinity.com

Selected Filmography:

Debut Feature Film

Behavior

CUBA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE SUNDAY, MAY 17 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN TUESDAY, MAY 19 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

One of the biggest sensations in Cuban cinema for quite some time, Behavior represents an exciting new chapter in its candor and courage in exposing flaws in the system. Directed with swagger and sensitivity by Ernesto Daranas, it charts the relationship between an impoverished 11-year-old boy, Chala (newcomer Armando Valdés Freire), and the septuagenarian teacher (Alina Rodríguez) who sees something in him that no one else has. Living with his single, alcoholic mother, Chala is forced to exist on his wits—to keep food on their table he sells carrier pigeons and trains mutts for a neighbor’s illegal dogfights. The authorities don’t approve and send him off for what is euphemistically referred to as “re-education.” But his teacher is willing to fight to get him back in school, where he belongs.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Goya Awards 2015 (Best Foreign Film in the Spanish Language Nominee) Malaga Film Festival 2014 (Best Latin American Film, Director, Actress, Audience Award)

Havana Film Festival New York 2014 (Best Film, Actress)

Lima Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Director: Ernesto Daranas

Producers: Isabel Prendes

Danilo León

Joel Ortega

Adriana Moya

Screenwriter: Ernesto Daranas

Cinematographer: Alejandro Perez

Editor: Pedro Suárez

Music: Juan Antonio Leyva

Magda Rosa Galbán

Cast: Armando Valdés Freire

Alina Rodríguez

Silvia Águila

Yuliet Cruz

Running Time: 108 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Latido Films

Print Source: Latido Films

Film Website: latidofilms.com

Selected Filmography: Fallen Gods (2008) ¿La vida en rosa? (2004)

Being Evel

THURSDAY, MAY 28 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 2:30 PM SIFF

Evel Knievel is the most famous daredevil in history, the top sports star of the ’70s, and an inspiration to a generation of children. But the same outsized ego that made him the ultimate showman also led to a mess of contradictions: he was hero and an outlaw, a groundbreaker and a huckster, a saint and a cad. Propulsive and rambunctious, Being Evel jumps head-on into the larger-than-life story of Robert “Evel” Knievel, a rebellious youth from Butte, Montana, who captured the world’s imagination with his one man franchise of daring-dos and crash-landing-don’ts. In 1967, Knievel made headlines for his boneshattering motorcycle spill while attempting to jump the fountains at Caesars Palace, launching a decade-long career as, to quote Johnny Carson, “the only man in history who has become very wealthy by trying to kill himself.”

Narrated by Johnny Knoxville, Being Evel follows Knievel’s meteoric rise with unbelievable vintage film clips and candid interviews with family and friends, yet doesn’t shy away from the very real human failings of the man inside the red, white, and blue jumpsuit— making this the first documentary to stare into the face of pure Evel.

Director: Daniel Junge

Producer: Johnny Knoxville

Jeff Tremaine

Mat Hoffman

Brendan Kiernan

Justin Moore-Lewy

Daniel Junge

Screenwriter: Daniel Junge

Davis Coombe

Cinematographer: Robert Muratore

Editor: Davis Coombe

Music: John Jennings Boyd

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: HeLo

Film Website: twitter.com/BeingEvel

Selected Filmography: Beyond the Brick: A LEGO® Brickumentary (Doc, 2014)

Fight Church (Doc, 2014)

They Killed Sister Dorothy (Doc, 2008)

Iron Ladies of Liberia (Doc, 2007)

Best of Enemies USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

During the summer of 1968, ABC’s struggling news division, dead last in the ratings, made an audacious programming decision that would change the course of network news coverage forever hiring William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal for a series of televised debates to air during the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Buckley was a leading light of the new conservative movement, the founder and editor-in-chief of its ideological masthead, “National Review.” His polar opposite, Gore Vidal, was a leading leftist polemicist and a bestselling novelist, whose recently published novel “Myra Breckinridge” had become a controversial sensation. Neither man much cared for the other’s reputation or politics, but when they finally met before the cameras this distrust became a vitriolic enmity. Live and unscripted, the pair’s bombastic exchanges, which often degenerated into vicious ad hominem attacks, made for compelling viewing, and the ratings skyrocketed. Co-directed by Robert Gordon and Academy Award®-winner Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet From Stardom, SIFF 2013), Best of Enemies vividly recounts the pair’s debates—a highbrow blood sport that would serve as inspiration for the pundit television of today, influencing such programs as “Crossfire,” “Hardball,” and even “Siskel & Ebert.”

Directors: Morgan Neville

Robert Gordon

Producers: Robert Gordon

Morgan Neville

Cinematographer: David Leonard

Editors: Aaron Wickenden

Eileen Meyer

Music: Jonathan Kirkscey

Featuring: Gore Vidal

William F. Buckley Jr. Howard S. Smith

Kelsey Grammer

John Lithgow

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: bestofenemiesfilm.com

Selected Filmography:

NEVILLE:

Twenty Feet From Stardom (Doc, 2013)

Johnny Cash’s America (Doc, 2008)

The Cool School (Doc, 2008)

Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan (Doc, 2005)

Shotgun Freeway (Doc, 1995)

GORDON:

Johnny Cash’s America (Doc, 2008)

Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan (Doc, 2005)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

CINEMA UPTOWN

Beti and Amare

ETHIOPIA/GERMANY 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 29 1:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

That it even exists is a small miracle in itself, but the fact that Andy Siege’s Ethiopian fairytale/allegory—reputedly made for less than $7,000—is rife with visual invention and oddly affecting narrative tropes is further cause for celebration. It’s 1936 and the war between Italy and Ethiopia has forced young Beti (Hiwot Asres) to seek refuge with her elderly uncle in the latter’s shack in the middle of a desolate plain. When her uncle has to take a trip, she is left to fend off the three local thugs who threaten to rape her on her trips to the local watering hole. It is there, one day, she discovers a human-like form that has fallen from the sky. She cares for the injured alien, names him Amare and a strange relationship begins to develop…Siege alternates between black and white and color images, and puts the accent on the dreamlike aspects of his audacious tale. He has made a film that manages to stay with the viewer long after the lights have gone up.

Awards: Silent River Film Festival 2014 (River Admiration Award)

Director:

Andy Siege

Producer:

Andy Siege

Pascal Dawson

Mahdere Sisay

Screenwriter: Andy Siege

Cinematographer: Andy Siege

Editor:

Andy Siege

Music:

Alula Araya

Levin Karchner

Cast: Hiwot Asres

Pascal Dawson

Biniyam Kore

Yonas An Kidane

Delelegne Sharwe

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Amharic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Kalulu Entertainment LTD.

Print Source:

Kalulu Entertainment LTD.

Film Website: kaluluentertainment.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Beyond Zero: 1914-1918

USA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

SUNDAY, MAY 17 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

Sourcing original 35mm nitrate footage shot during the first World War, filmmaker Bill Morrison pieces together a unique visual exploration from footage that has never been viewed by modern audiences, and will never be seen again outside of this film. Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov created the score, commissioned by the famed San Francisco string combo the Kronos Quartet and inspired by anti-war writings, music, and art created during and immediately after WWI. “I intended to juxtapose historical accounts of war with the finest expressions of spirit and creativity occurring at the same time,” Vrebalov said, her score using speech recordings, military commands, air-raid sirens, and musical excerpts from Bartók, Huelsenbeck, and Byzantine hymns. Director Morrison (2002’s Decasia), who has built much of his experimental and prolific filmmaking career combining rare archival material with contemporary music, has made brand new HD scans of these deteriorating, 100-year-old films. This footage—training exercises, parades, troop movements—is not only “a record of war as a series of documents passed along to us like a message in a bottle,” as Morrison explains, but also a metaphor of film’s own materiality.

PRECEDED BY:

Back to the Soil

USA 2014, 18 minutes, Director: Bill Morrison

In 1924, in collaboration with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Soviet government offered parcels of land in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Crimea to former merchants, whose work had been outlawed under Communist rule. The JDC provided financial, legal, and agricultural support. Jewish families left the ghettos, and resettled in these new rural colonies, where they learned how to farm. In May 1927 the colonies were documented by James H. Becker of Chicago, my grandfather, who shot the 1000 feet of 16mm film that comprise this film. By 1938, more than 250,000 Soviet Jews would settle in 215 colonies, across 2.5 million acres of land. Their fate has been well documented elsewhere. This is a story of their journey back to the soil.

Director: Bill Morrison

Producer: Janet Cowperthwaite

Screenwriters: Bill Morrison

Aleksandra Vrebalov

David Harrington

Editor: Bill Morrison

Music:

Aleksandra Vrebalov

Cast: Kronos Quartet: David Harrington

John Sherba

Hank Dutt

Sunny Yang

Running Time: 41 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, No Dialogue, with English subtitles

Print Source: Hypnotic Pictures

Film Website: billmorrisonfilm.com/ short-films/beyondzero-1914-1918

Selected Filmography: The Great Flood (Doc, 2012)

Tributes: Pulse (Doc, 2011)

Spark of Being (Doc, 2010)

Decasia (Doc, 2002)

Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories

VIETNAM/FRANCE/GERMANY 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 9:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 12:30 PM

Set against the neon lights and sweltering slums of Saigon, Phan Dang Di’s follow-up to SIFF 2011 favorite Bi, Don’t Be Afraid! deftly captures the confusion and ennui of Vietnamese youth at the turn of the millennium. Vu (Le Cong Hoang), a fisherman’s son in his twenties, is in town to study photography, and as he wanders through the city’s alleyways and along the banks of the Saigon River for inspiration and camera fodder, he finds himself longing for his male housemate, a bartender and low-level drug dealer by the name of Thang (Truong The Vinh). Enter Van (Do Thi Hai Yen, The Quiet American), a ballerina by day and a crack cocaine-addicted nightclub performer by night, who herself has feelings for Vu. As this sexually ambiguous trio drift through their youthful disillusionment, they are confronted with the cold slap of modernity and impending adulthood—personified by Vu’s traditional father back in the Mekong Delta—in an overpopulated land whose government pays good money for sterilization. Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories is a lush, unhurried hangout film that channels “early Wong-Kar Wai and Tsai Ming-Liang, mixed with a touch of French New Wave and Thai arthouse”—Lee Marshall, “ScreenDaily.”

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Phan Dang Di

Producers: Ngoc Tran Thi Bich Claire Lajoumard

Screenwriter: Phan Dang Di

Cinematographer: Nguyen K’Linh

Editor: Julie Béziau

Music:

Vincent Denieul

Cast: Do Thi Hai Yen

Nguyen Ha Phong

Le Cong Hoang

Truong The Vinh

Mai Quoc Viet

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Vietnamese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Urban Distribution

International

Print Source: Urban Distribution

International

Film Website: urbandistrib.com/ ?film=big-father-smallfather-and-other-stories

Selected Filmography: Bi, Don’t Be Afraid! (2010)

The Birth of Saké USA 2015

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 6:30 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 28 4:00 PM

With as close an attention to detail as the sake-making process itself, this documentary on the creation of Japan’s oldest liquor is an absorbing behind the scenes look at an ancient tradition. The Yoshida Brewery is a small, family-owned establishment that has been making saké for 144 years. From October to April a small team of brewers, ranging in age but all with a shared love for the drink, leave behind their families and live communally at the brewery in order to tend the sake 24/7. Such a commitment is awe-inspiring, and reflective of their obvious passion. Many breweries have moved to automatic and machinerun ways of creating this beloved beverage, and the Yoshida Brewery is one of the only ones left that follow the handmade, tried and true, time-consuming way. Yet saké’s popularity has gone down in recent years, as a result of a younger generation shying away from its stiff taste. This documentary, filmed in a gorgeously cinematic way, explores not only the creation of the alcohol and the artisans behind it, but the conflicts and difficulties this field face every day.

Awards: Tribeca Film Festival 2015 (Special Jury Mention)

Director: Erik Shirai

Producer: Masako Tsumura

Cinematographer: Erik Shirai

Editors: Takeshi Fukunaga

Frederick Shanahan

Music: Ken Kaizu

Featuring: Yamamoto Toji

Yasuyuki Yoshida

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Film Sales Company

Print Source: The Film Sales Company

Film Website: birthofsake.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

Black Girl

SENEGAL/FRANCE 1966

MONDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM

Diouana is a young black woman who has accepted a job as a governess to a wealthy family in the French Riviera. Excited for her new job in glamorous France, her dreams of the cosmopolitan life are quickly dashed when her employers treat her more like a slave than hired help. Diouana tries to remain positive and keep her depression at bay, dressing up fancy to do chores and anticipating when the children will come back from their school abroad so she can focus on something other than tedious housework. Her employers, especially the lady of the house, begin to constantly berate her based on her race and her illiteracy, forcing her to wear shabby clothing while she does her work, and not allowing her to leave the house to enjoy time in the city. Diouana falls into a deep pit of despair as she comes to terms with her alienation and new life as a lowly servant to this posh French family. The first feature from acclaimed African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is this heartbreaking, observational drama that addresses the effects of colonialism on personal identity.

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Sembène Estate, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, INA and Centre National de Cinématographie, CNC. Restoration carried out at Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory; 4k scan performed at Eclair laboratories.

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Ousmane Sembène

Producer: André Zwoboda

Screenwriter: Ousmane Sembène

Cinematographer: Christian Lacoste

Editor: André Gaudier

Cast:

Mbissine Thérèse Diop

Anne-Marie Jelinek

Robert Fontaine

Running Time: 65 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project

Film Website: film-foundation.org

Selected Filmography: Moolaadé (2004)

Faat Kiné (2001)

Guelwaar (1992)

The Camp at Thiaroye (1988)

Outsiders (1977)

The Curse (1975)

Emitaï (1971)

The Money Order (1968)

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, JUNE 1 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Opening with the famous parable of blind men describing an elephant, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution acknowledges up-front there is no neat and tidy way to summarize the legacy of arguably the most visible and controversial of ’60s protest groups. The media-savvy image was deliberately, provocatively militant, but the programs that mattered offered free breakfasts for hungry children and medical clinics for the poor; when the end came at the literally murderous hands of cops and the FBI, violent internal schisms played their part as well. So were the Panthers dangerous poseurs or inspirational, committed revolutionaries? Employing a host of commentators, director Stanley Nelson rejects such easy judgments, managing to capture all the contradictions. From Eldridge Cleaver’s exile and Huey Newton’s isolation to Hoover’s paranoia, from the liberating exultation young members felt in the party’s embrace of black beauty and power (“we had swagger,” one interviewee proudly recalls, and indeed they did) to the bitter despair when their worst fears of the forces aligned against them were repeatedly, bloodily exceeded, the film emerges as the near-impossible—a definitive portrait of a story so large and complex you’d have thought it could never have one.

Director: Stanley Nelson

Producer: Laurens Grant

Screenwriter: Stanley Nelson

Cinematographers: Antonio Rossi

Rick Butler

Editor: Aljernon Tunsil

Music: Tom Phillips

Featuring: Kathleen Cleaver

Elaine Brown

Jamal Joseph

Running Time: 116 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Long Shot Factory

Film Website: theblackpanthers.com

Selected Filmography: Freedom Summer (Doc, 2014)

Freedom Riders (Doc, 2010)

Wounded Knee (Doc, 2009)

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (Doc, 2006)

A Place of Our Own (Doc, 2004)

The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (Doc, 1999)

A Blast

GREECE/GERMANY/

NETHERLANDS 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A road through the forest, a fire, arguments about the rights of man, bad economic news blasting from the radio, worry, heat, family hysteria, bankruptcy, always rushing, always waiting—this is the kind of tension that drives the rapid pace of A Blast. Flashing back and forth in time, we witness a woman, Maria, on the verge of a breakthrough, or alternately, a breakdown. Her life is told via flashbacks and memories, mixing the present in ever so carefully, to instill a sense of frenzied hurry and anticipation to her story. She stops her studies to run her wheelchair-bound mother’s store, and her husband is away at sea for long stretches of time for his job. Maria is left at home with three kids and a thousand obligations. Angeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth) gives an incredibly strong and heartbreaking performance, moving the drama along in this chaotic yet sensual story of people who have little control of their lives in contemporary Greece.

Director: Syllas Tzoumerkas

Producers: Maria Drandaki

Titus Kreyenberg

Ellen Havenith

Jeroen Beker

Screenwriters: Syllas Tzoumerkas

Youla Boudali

Cinematographer: Pantelis Mantzanas

Editor:

Kathrin Dietzel

Music: drog_A_tek

Cast: Angeliki Papoulia

Vassilis Doganis

Maria Filini

Themis Bazaka

Yorgos Biniaris

Running Time: 83 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Greek, with English subtitles

International Sales: EZ Films

Print Source: EZ Films

Film Website: ablastfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Homeland (2010)

Blind NORWAY/NETHERLANDS 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 9:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 3:30 PM SIFF

This inventive debut feature from director Eskil Vogt (co-writer of Reprise, SIFF 2007) suggests that one does not need eyes to be a keen observer of human behavior. Blind centers on Ingrid, a 30-something former school teacher who has recently gone blind and is still coping uneasily with her new world of darkness. Now fearful of the outside world, she spends her days concealed within her Oslo apartment and conversing only with Morten, her architect husband. At first, we see Ingrid trying to navigate her truncated environment via her other four senses; even the simplest of tasks, such as making a cup of tea, have become an ordeal. Later, we are introduced to other characters, described through Ingrid’s voiceover, including Elin, a single mother who becomes the object of obsession for Einar, a shy, pornaddicted neighbor. Soon, Morten becomes involved in the love-triangle story, blurring the line further between fantasy and reality. Ingrid begins altering the narrative, playfully following bizarre pop-culture tangents—from obscure films to the career of Leonard Nimoy—and casting doubt about whether any of these people exist at all. Blind, is a wry, provocative meta-meditation on creativity and the malleability of perception.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2014 (World Cinema Screenwriting Award)

Berlin Film Festival 2014 (Label Europa Cinemas)

Amanda Awards 2014 (Best Director, Actress, Editing)

HARVARD

Director: Eskil Vogt

Producers: Hans-Jorgen Osnes

Sigve Endresen

Screenwriter: Eskil Vogt

Cinematographer: Thimios Bakatakis

Editor: Jens Christian Fodstad

Music: Henk Hofetede

Cast:

Ellen Dorrit Petersen

Henrik Rafaelsen

Vera Vitali

Marius Kolbenstvedt

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Norwegian, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Versatile

Print Source: KimStim

Film Website: versatile-films.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

EXIT

CINEMA UPTOWN

SANGUE AZUL

Blue Blood

BRAZIL 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 9:30 PM

HARVARD EXIT

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A circus travels by ship to a dreamlike island paradise in Brazil, in this film’s gorgeously shot, black and white prologue. One of the main attractions is the handsome and seductive Zolah the Bullet Man (Daniel de Oliveira), who gets shot out of a cannon at every performance. Zolah happens to be a native of the island, and he’s reunited with the mother that sent him away 20 years earlier for mysterious reasons. When Zolah’s mentor Kaleb, a magician and the circus’ ringleader, disappears suddenly the order of things begins to rapidly collapse. Director Lirio Ferreira creates a visually stunning world in which the environment mirrors Zolah’s strange and contradictory destiny: his return to his birthplace is joyful, but also stirs up dark feelings that have been pushed aside for years. Blue Blood took the top awards at the most recent Rio Film Festival, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor.

Awards:

Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Director, Supporting Actor)

Director: Lirio Ferreira

Producer: Renato Ciasca

Screenwriter: Felipe Barbosa

Lirio Ferreira

Sérgio Oliveira

Cinematographer: Mauro Pinheiro Jr.

Editor:

Mair Tavares

Music: Pupillo

Cast:

Daniel de Oliveira

Caroline Abras

Sandra Corveloni

Rômulo Braga

Running Time: 119 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Picture Tree International

Print Source: Picture Tree International

Film Website: picturetree-international. com/films/details/blueblood.html

Selected Filmography: The Man Who Bottled Clouds (Doc, 2009)

Arido Movie (2005) Perfumed Ball (1997)

ONTHAKAN

The Blue Hour

THAILAND 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 9:45 PM

HARVARD EXIT SUNDAY, JUNE 7 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

“Have you heard about people being hidden by spirits? They will hide people they want to take. You will never find someone they hide until that person dies.” This is not your ordinary coming-of-age, puppy dog romance; this is The Blue Hour, a strange and haunting ghost story with an LGBT twist, a muted color palette, and unrelenting sequences of dread punctuated by bursts of violence. Tam (Atthaphan Poonsawas) is a teenaged Thai boy, bullied at school and beaten at home for his perceived otherness, who meets a mysterious young man, Phum (Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang), on the internet, agreeing to meet up at a local abandoned pool for a steamy tryst. But after his strange new friend tells him of the spirits haunting the pool, Tam’s life slowly unravels—figures begin following him, corpses cry out from under the ravages of a garbage dump on land once owned by Phum’s family—until it’s unclear what is and isn’t real.

Director: Anucha Boonyawatana

Producers: Donsaron Kovitvanitcha

Vijjapat Kojiw

Screenwriters: Anucha Boonyawatana

Waasuthep Ketpetch

Cinematographers: Chaiyapreuk

Chalermpornpanit

Kamolpan Ngiwtong

Editor: Anuphap Autta

Music: Chapavich Temnitikul

Cast: Atthaphan Poonsawas

Oabnithi

Wiwattanawarang

Duangjai Hirunsri

Chaowalit Teangsap

Nithiroj Simkamtorn

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Thai, with English subtitles

International Sales: Reel Suspects

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: reelsuspects.com/ portfolio-item/blue-hour

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

ABAABI BA BODA BODA

The Boda Boda Thieves

UGANDA/KENYA/SOUTH AFRICA/ GERMANY 2015 NORTH

AMERICAN PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 6:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 3:00 PM

Traffic in Kampala, Uganda is always gridlocked, and the fastest means of travel are motorbike taxis called ‘boda bodas’ that can efficiently weave in and out of traffic. City life has been challenging for Goodman, who has been hustling as a boda boda driver for years and still finds himself in debt to a local boss. When an accident befalls Goodman, the family turns its hope to aimless teen Abel to make enough to continue paying off the debt. On his first day driving, Abel and his crook buddy realize they can make a lot more money by stealing bags and cellphones off pedestrians than through honest rides. After the first day’s big take, though, Abel finds his boda boda stolen, setting him on a frantic scramble through the streets of Kampala to get the bike back before it is stripped and sold for parts. Ugandan director Donald Mugisha (The Kampala Story, SIFF 2013) has taken De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves as his inspiration to create a unique portrait of desperation filled with strong performances, a pulsing soundtrack, and an exceptional authenticity that makes audiences feel like they are amidst the calamity of this Ugandan metropolis.

Director: Donald Mugisha

Producer: James Tayler

Screenwriters: Donald Mugisha

James Tayler

Wanjiku S. Muhoho

Cinematographer: Carol Burandt von Kameke

Editor: James Tayler

Music: Peter Miles

Graeme Lees

Cast: Hassan Insingoma

Prossy Rukundo

Saul Mwesigwa

Michael Wawuyo

Peace Birungi

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Luganda and Acholi, with English subtitles

International Sales: Rushlake Media

Print Source: Rushlake Media

Film Website: bodabodathieves.com

Selected Filmography: The Kampala Story (2012) Yogera (2011)

Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana USA 2015

THURSDAY, MAY 21 9:30 PM

Ronald McFondle. Kiwanis Adonis. Eddie Van Glam. While you may have never heard these names before, the fans of Seattle SemiPro Wrestling’s shows definitely have. For six years, the stars of SSP honored and parodied professional wrestling with their boozy blend of burlesque and athleticism. Packing bars throughout the city with their profane, rowdy performances, they quickly developed an equally rambunctious following—audience members regularly hurl (mostly) empty beer cans at their villains. Somewhere amid the headlocks and half-nelsons, this troupe of outsiders slowly evolved into an unorthodox family, bound together by their love of performing. When new performer Paul (a.k.a. The Banana) joined their ranks, SSP had high hopes for their recruit. But each side had very different ideas of what his role should be, and when The Banana decided that they’d really slipped up, he went for the ultimate takedown. Suddenly, the wrestlers were forced to take on their biggest foe yet in an all-too-real fight for the future of their organization. Co-directors Ryan Harvie and John Paul Hortsmann follow the battle from Seattle’s dive bars all the way to the state capitol, with Seattle SemiPro Wrestling going to the mat to save their family.

Directors: Ryan Harvie

John Paul Hortsmann

Producers:

Kerri Borsuk

Glen Zipper

Ross Dinerstein

Cinematographer: Shea Vanderpoort

Editors: John Paul Hortsmann

Ryan Harvie

Music: Duncan Thum

Steven Gernes

Cast: Ronald McFondle

Eddie Van Glam

The Banana

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Content Media

Print Source: Campfire

Film Website: bodyslamfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

BONIFACIO: ANG UNANG PANGULO

Bonifacio

PHILIPPINES 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 25 5:30 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 29 4:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

Packed with action and romance, Bonifacio is a stirringly dramatic telling of the story of Andres Bonifacio, a leader in the movement to liberate the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule in the late 1800s. This controversial figure is presented as a fierce fighter and brave leader, a loving brother and husband who endured great personal tragedy and sacrificed himself, all for love of his homeland. Anchored in present-day Manila, three high school students learn from a museum curator that the history they’ve been taught is incomplete at best, inaccurate at worst. Objects in the museum become windows to the past while the mix of time periods shows how a historical figure can continue to inspire in the modern world. Robin Padilla, an established star in the Philippines, brings a quiet dignity to his role as the philosophical and charismatic leader and later displays his action film experience in expertly choreographed battle sequences. Featuring an emotional score and sweeping cinematography, Bonifacio illuminates a historic figure with passionate relevance to our modern world.

Awards:

Metro Manila Film Festival 2014 (Best Picture, Cinematography, Sound, and Music)

Director:

Enzo Williams

Producers:

Fernando Ortigas

Eduardo Rocha

Screenwriters:

Keiko Aquino

Carlo Obispo

Enzo Williams

Cinematographer:

Carlo Mendoza

Editor:

Benjamin Tolentino

Music:

Von De Guzman

Cast:

Robin Padilla

Vina Morales

Daniel Padilla

Eddie Garcia

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Filipino and Tagalog, with English subtitles

Print Source: Artikulo Uno Productions

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

EL PATRÓN, RADIOGRAFIA DE UN CRIMEN

The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime

ARGENTINA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 8:45 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM

This incredibly disturbing story, based on real events, follows the exploitation of newly hired butcher Hermógenes, and his trial after he murdered his boss in broad daylight. Having been filled with self-deprecation and feelings of uselessness ever since he was stamped “not apt” on his military papers because of his limp, Hermógenes finds promise when he moves to Buenos Aires and gets a job at a butcher shop. Sensing an opportunity to take advantage of his new hire’s naiveté, the owner of the shop, Don Latuada, puts Hermógenes in charge of another location, forcing him to work incredible hours, live in a tiny room in the back, and sell rotten meat by any means necessary. Latuada’s inhumane treatment eventually pushes him over the edge, and he ends up viciously murdering his boss in the middle of the day. This story is described via flashbacks during the controversial trial, where Hermógenes’ lawyer, Marcello Digiovanni, uses his investigation to reveal the horrible truths behind Argentinian worker/employer power imbalances, and exposes Latuada’s heinous mistreatment and manipulation. Bringing to the table a sense of his documentarian roots, director Sebastián Schindel crafts a neo-realistic drama with strong central performances that exposes a corrupt system.

Awards:

Guadalajara International Film Festival 2015 (Best First Feature, Actor) Busan International Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Director: Sebastián Schindel

Producer: Nicolás Batlle

Screenwriter: Claudia Muñiz

Cinematographers: Marcelo Iaccarino

Sebastián Schindel

Editors: Andrés Ciambotti

Sebastián Schindel

Music: Lucas Kohan

Cast: Joaquín Furriel

Mónica Lairana

Victoria Raposo

Andrea Garrote

Luis Ziembrowski

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Habanero Film Sales

Print Source: Habanero Film Sales

Film Website: habanerofilmsales.com/ portfolio/el-patron

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Boulevard USA 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM

HARVARD EXIT

THURSDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

Nolan Mack (Robin Williams) is, on the surface, happily married and professionally satisfied, living the American dream and content with his life. But what other don’t know, including his warm wife (Kathy Baker), is that Nolan is going through the motions of a life of tremendous sacrifice—closeted, isolated, unfulfilled, and lonely as can be. One night, Nolan meets a young hustler (Roberto Aguire) and, in a confrontation that fatefully changes his entire existence—comes face to face with the lie he’s been living. Powerful and entirely human, Boulevard tells the story of a man transcending patterns of pretending to embrace the person he truly is. Williams gives a fantastically subtle but stunning performance, heartbreaking in both the character’s nature and the fact it was one of the actor’s final roles. Boulevard is both a bittersweet swan song to Williams’ life and a reminder of the arsenal of beautiful talent he’s left behind.

Director: Dito Montiel

Producer: Monica Aguirre Diez Barroso

Ryan Belenzon

Mia Chang

Jeffrey Gelber

Screenwriter: Douglas Soesbe

Cinematographer: Chung-hoon Chung

Editor: Jake Pushinsky

Music: David Wittman

Cast: Robin Williams

Bob Odenkirk

Kathy Baker

Giles Matthey

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Paladin

Selected Filmography: Empire State (2013)

The Son of No One (2011)

Fighting (2009)

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

Breathe Umphefumlo

SOUTH AFRICA/UNITED KINGDOM/ GERMANY 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 16 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 18 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, MAY 19 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Puccini’s “La Boheme” is given the South African treatment by the team behind 2005’s international hit U-Carmen eKhayelitsha Transposed from 19th century Paris to a contemporary South African township and shifted from Christmastime to mid-June, Lungelo (Puccini’s Rodolfo) and his dormmates are dreaming of their big futures. During a frustratingly regular series of power outages, Lungelo is visited by a secretly consumptive Mimi who is in need of a candle light and their meeting sparks a deep and passionate love accompanied by some of Puccini’s bestknown music. The couple and their friends find themselves at a Youth Day celebration in which Zoleka (U-Carmen’s lead Pauline Malefane), a night club singer and femme fatale ignites an altercation which results in everyone being expelled from University. Director Mark Dornford-May and Cape Town’s Isango Ensemble have crafted another vividly entrancing opera tragedy with an African flair. The film production ably trades the Italian language for Xhosa and Puccini’s orchestra for a unique instrumentation of steel drums, voiced percussion, and vocal harmonies which flavor the drama and give the film a more intimate intensity. The excellent operatic cast is equally strong musically and dramatically with Malefane’s brassy performance of Musetta’s Waltz as a Jazz Trio is one of the film’s must-see scenes. Like U-Carmen, Breathe Umphefumlo brilliantly appropriates the cultural/political tradition of European opera while opening the international market to new African horizons.

Director: Mark Dornford-May

Producers: Vlokkie Gordon

Mark Dornford-May

Screenwriters: Mark Dornford-May

Pauline Malefane

Cinematographers: Matthys Mock

Clive Levin

Guilio Baccari

Editor: Tanja Hagen

Music: Giacomo Puccini

Mandisi Dyantyis

Cast:

Pauline Malefane

Sifiso Lupuzi

Zebulon Mmusi

Mhlekazi Moseia

Busisiwe Ngejane

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DPC, in Xhosa and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: fortissimo.nl

Selected Filmography: Son of Man (2006) U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005)

Capitol Hill | Seattle Center | Stone Way

hand rolled, honey water boiled, generously seeded, wood-fired bagels

Top 10 Bagels in AmericaEpicurious

The Joan Miró of Bagel BakeriesCity Arts

Best BagelsSeattle Weekly

A Brilliant Young Mind

UNITED KINGDOM 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 8:30 PM

CINEMA

THURSDAY, MAY 28 4:00 PM HARVARD

Hugo discovery Asa Butterfield is superb as the young protagonist—a teen math whiz whose behavior falls along the autism spectrum—in Morgan Matthews’ perceptive, intelligent, and entertaining debut feature. Drawing from his lauded documentary on teen math prodigies, Beautiful Young Minds, Matthews’ tale follows Butterfield’s Nathan, an isolated, proud, and occasionally arrogant kid with a genius for numbers, who is persuaded to enter the International Mathematical Olympiad, a journey that takes him from the UK to Taipei and results in his first romance. Sally Hawkins, Rafe Spall, and a funny Eddie Marsan are uniformly excellent in support.

Awards: Rome International Film Festival 2014 (Best Emerging Producer) Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2014 (Grand Prix) International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino 2014 (Children’s Jury Prize)

Director: Morgan Matthews

Producers: Laura Hastings-Smith David M. Thompson

Screenwriter: James Graham

Cinematographer: Danny Cohen

Editor: Peter Lambert

Music: Mearl

Cast: Asa Butterfield

Rafe Spall

Sally Hawkins

Eddie Marsan

Jo Yang

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Film Website: samuelgoldwynfilms.com

Selected Filmography: Shooting Bigfoot (Doc, 2013)

Britain in a Day (Doc, 2012)

Cartel Land

USA/MEXICO 2015

MONDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 4:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

In this surface zero documentary, filmmaker Matthew Heineman examines two vigilante groups involved in the Mexican drug cartel. Dr. Jose Mireles is the head organizer of a citizens’ paramilitary group against the violent cartels that have basically run their town of Michoacan with terror for years. The film’s second central focus is on Tim “Nailer” Foley, an American vet who heads another vigilante group called the Arizona Border Recon, who does their best to keep drug activity away from the US border. Neither group encompasses perfection however, with Mireles’ organization struggling not to succumb to the problematic forces they are fighting, and Foley leading what is being recognized as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Featuring jaw-dropping footage of the violence and gritty reality of the drug war, these two chilling portraits of involvement pose difficult questions on moral ambiguity, the unsettling similarities between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sides, and realization that there may not be a solution.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (US Documentary Directing Award, Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography)

Director: Matthew Heineman

Producers: Matthew Heineman

Tom Yellin

Cinematographers: Matthew Heineman

Matt Porwoll

Editors: Matthew Heineman

Matthew Hamachek

Bradley J. Ross

Pax Wassermann

Music:

H. Scott Salinas

Jackson Greenberg

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: The Orchard

Film Website: cartellandmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare (Doc, 2012) Our Time (Doc, 2009)

SIFF

UPTOWN

EXIT

CARICATURISTES - FANTASSINS DE LA DÉMOCRATIE Cartoonists: Foot Soldiers of Democracy

FRANCE 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 3:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 29 4:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Traveling five continents, Cartoonists: Foot Soldiers of Democracy profiles a dozen men and women whose job, obligation, and clear source of joy is to distill the chaos of world politics into a few vivid pen strokes and a pithy quip. The grand tradition of political cartoonists speaking (or rather drawing) truth to power is continued by these artists, from French cartoonist Plantu’s merciless portraits of Sarkozy’s anxious inefficiency to the plump, contentedly smiling cats with which Nadia Khiari satirizes the lazy arrogance of Tunisia’s leadership. Such caricatures haven’t sat well with all their targets, of course, and many of the interviewees have tales to share of censorship, imprisonment, or worse. Not one of which, happily, has led any of these cartoonists to despair or silence. Instead, their determination to call out corruption and hypocrisy only seems strengthened by such attacks. Perhaps because they realize, having to suffer such blows from both Left and Right, they’re not fighting ideologies so much as a simple inability to laugh at oneself. As one of the more pointed cartoons on display baldly puts it, “A government without a sense of humor isn’t democratic.”

Awards:

Cesar Awards 2015 (Best Documentary Nominee)

Caught USA 1949

THURSDAY, MAY 28 8:00 PM

Director: Stéphanie Valloatto

Producers:

Radu Mihaileanu

Cyrille Blanc

Screenwriters: Radu Mihaileanu

Stéphanie Valloatto

Cinematographer: Cyril Blanc

Editor:

Marie-Josée Audiard

Music:

Armand Amar

Featuring: Nadia Khiari

Michel Kichka

Baha Boukhari

Rayma Suprani

Jeff Danziger

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Kinology

Print Source: Kinology

Film Website: facebook.com/caricaturistes

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Young ingénue Leonora Eames comes to Los Angeles in search of a fairy tale life. She finds it, or so she thinks, in multi-millionaire Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan), whom she marries after a whirlwind courtship. But despite their lavish lifestyle together and relocating to a posh manor home on Long Island, the marriage quickly grows into an unhappy one—Leonora despondent and bristling beneath the overbearing Olhrig’s constant abuse. Unable to secure a divorce from Ohlrig, Leonora leaves, virtually penniless, for New York City, finding work eventually as a receptionist in a poor neighborhood medical clinic run by Dr. Larry Quinada (James Mason). However, after a brief reconciliation with her husband, she becomes pregnant, a situation Ohlrig exploits to force her to return to him despite Leonora’s intense and increasing love for Quinada. Director Max Ophüls’ sublime noir melodrama is a masterpiece of elegant craftsmanship, filled with his distinctive fluid camera work and signature interplay between shadow and light. 35mm preservation print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by The Film Foundation and the AFI/ NEA Film Preservation Grants Program.

Director: Max Ophüls

Producer: Wolfgang Reinhardt

Screenwriter: Arthur Laurents

Cinematographer: Lee Garmes

Editor: Robert Parrish

Music: Constantin Bakaleinikoff

Rudolph Polk

Frederick Hollander

Cast: James Mason

Robert Ryan

Barbara Bel Geddes

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

Print Source: UCLA Film & Television Archive

Film Website: Film-Foundation.org

Selected Filmography:

Lola Montès (1955)

The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)

Pleasure (1952)

La Ronde (1950)

The Reckless Moment (1949)

Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)

Sarajevo (1940)

The Tender Enemy (1936)

Everybody’s Woman (1934)

Liebelei (1933)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PAN SI DONG

Cave of the Spider Women

CHINA 1927

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3

6:30 PM

A Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, is sent on a mission from Buddha to travel west and bring back special texts. On his journey, he is accompanied by several characters, Pigsy, Sandy, Monkey, and the Dragon Prince, who are ordered to go with him to atone for their past sins. The journey is treacherous and challenging, and Xuanzang must constantly avoid evil demons who try to eat him and his party, apparently in the hopes of gaining mortality. Their strength and courage are really tested when they come upon a mysterious cave where seven beautiful women live. The women, secretly flesh-eating spider spirits in disguise, seduce and capture the convoy, leaving Xuanzang scrambling to escape and finish his Buddhist mission. Recently found in the National Library of Norway, Cave of the Spider Women, also known as Cave of the Silken Web, kickstarted several re-imaginings of this beloved Chinese story from the Ming Dynasty fable Journey To the West, and is full of elaborate costumes, beautiful women, and suspenseful action. Screens with The Cave of Silken Web

With live accompaniment by Donald Sosin.

Director: Dan Duyu

Screenwriter: Guan Ji’an

Cinematographer: Dan Ganting

Cast: Yin Mingzhu

He Rongzhu

Jiang Meikang

Zhou Hongquan

Running Time: 60 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, Silent, with English intertitles

Print Source: Norwegian Film Archive

Selected Filmography: Playboy (1952)

Panther-Head Hero Lam

Chong (1950)

The Pangs of Love (1946)

Modern Spider Cave (1938)

The Graduate (1936)

An Innocent Girl (1933)

South Seas Beauty (1932)

Stranger in the Old House (1931)

The Spider Cave II (1929)

Yang Guifei (1927)

Didi (Younger Brother) (1924)

The Sea (1922)

PAN SI DONG

The Cave of Silken Web

HONG KONG 1967

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM

Few names are more synonymous with martial arts cinema than the Shaw Brothers Studio. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s their films helped to popularize Wuxia swordplay and Kung Fu action in American grindhouses and on Saturday afternoon television, and with The Cave of Silken Web, the studio produced one of their most fantastical films. The third film of four based on the classic Chinese novel “Monkey,” and a remake of Dan Duyu’s 1927 film epic, it follows a traveling monk, Xuanzhang, and his three companion-protectors—Monkey, Pig, and Friar Sand—in their search for a missing scripture. However, this merry band soon wanders into the titular cave, which so happens to be inhabited by seven sexy spider demons. Spying the monk, this legion of lethal ladies concocts a plan to devour the monk’s flesh—a feast that will grant them eternal life. Soon enough, both Xuanzhang and Pig are captured within the spider demon’s web, leaving it up to Monkey and Friar Sand to rescue the hapless pair before the spider women can make their final banquet preparations. Exquisitely crafted, the film is a gorgeous fantasy filled with lush color cinematography, massive martial arts action, and an unforgettable musical number.

Screens with Cave of the Spider Women.

Director: Ho Meng Hua

Producer: Run Run Shaw

Screenwriter: Cheng Kang

Cinematographer: Lin Kuo-Hsiang

Editor: Chiang Hsing-lung

Music:

Wang Fu-ling

Cas: Ho Fan

Angela Yu Chien

We Wei

Helen Ma

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shaw Brothers

Print Source: JAM Inc.

Selected Filmography: The Mighty Peking Man (1977)

Vengeance Is a Golden Blade (1969)

The Land of Many Perfumes (1968)

Susanna (1967)

The Monkey Goes West (1966)

Princess Iron Fan (1966)

Between Tears and Laughter (1964)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

LE CHALLAT DE TUNIS

Challat of Tunis

TUNISIA/FRANCE/CANADA/QATAR/ UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2014

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 12:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 11:00 AM

Sexist attitudes in Arab culture get an ironic feminist send up in Kaouther Ben Hania’s genre-bending mockumentary. Based on real events, the film investigates a 2003 spate of knife attacks, in which a masked assailant rode through the Tunisian capital on a motor scooter slashing the backsides of women in jeans and short skirts. Nicknamed “Challat,” after the Gillette brand of razor, the attacker became a kind of folk hero to religious and social conservatives, punishing women for not dressing “respectfully.” As part of her exploration, Ben Hania interviews victims, prison guards, detectives, lawyers and ordinary citizens (some clearly fictionalized, others apparently real) and discovers technological innovations such as the Virgin-O-Meter and a videogame in which players must slash only women whose heads are uncovered. In a country where private and public life are still coming to terms with one other and with women’s search for emancipation, Challat of Tunis is the director’s powerful interrogation of the sexual politics of her newly democratic homeland.

Awards:

Beirut International Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Director)

Charlie’s Country

AUSTRALIA 2014

HARVARD EXIT

KIRKLAND PC

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Kaouther Ben Hania

Producer:

Habib Attia

Julie Paratian

Screenwriter:

Kaouther Ben Hania

Cinematographer: Sofian El Fani

Editor:

Nadia Ben Rachid

Music:

Si Lemhaf

Benjamin Violet

Cast:

Jallel Dridi

Moufida Dridi

Mohamed Slim Bouchiba

Narimène Saidane

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Tunisian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Jour2fête

Print Source: Jour2fête

Film Website: jour2fete.com/index.php

Selected Filmography: Immans Go to School (Doc, 2010)

FRIDAY, MAY 15 4:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 16 9:30 PM

Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil made his screen debut in Nic Roeg’s Walkabout at the age of 16. Since then, he has limned indelible characters in numerous films. Now 60, the actor has teamed with director Rolf de Heer for a third time (after 2002’s The Tracker and 2006’s Ten Canoes) to co-write and star in a hypnotically beautiful film that parallels his own troubled life and epitomizes the cultural dislocation that aboriginal people face in contemporary Australia. Title character Charlie lives in an alcohol-free community in Arnhem Land, Australia, and it is more than clear that his people’s traditional ways have been all but snuffed out by his country’s government, personified here by a friendly but literal-minded local cop Luke (Luke Ford). When Luke confiscates Charlie’s weapons (including a makeshift spear), however, the Indigenous Australian man boldly sets out for the Outback in an attempt to “go bush” and reclaim his roots, soon finding that the terrain and other fellow travelers and transients may be too treacherous for his aging body and spirit. Melancholy and unflinching yet lyrical and hopeful, Charlie’s Country is a semi-autobiographical tale about finding oneself, no matter what age.

Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film) Cannes Film Festival 2014 (Un Certain Regard Best Actor) Australian Academy Awards 2015 (Best Actor)

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Rolf de Heer

Producer: Nils Erik Nielsen

Peter Djigirr

Rolf de Heer

Screenwriter: Rolf de Heer

David Gulpilil

Cinematographer: Ian Jones

Editor: Tania Nehme

Music: Graham Tardif

Cast: David Gulpilil

Peter Djigirr

Jennifer Budukpuduk

Gaykamangu

Luke Ford

Peter Minygululu

Running Time: 108 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in English, Yolngu, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Monument Releasing

Print Source: Monument Releasing

Film Website: visitfilms.com

Selected Filmography:

The King is Dead (2012)

12 Canoes (2008)

Dr. Plonk (2007)

Ten Canoes (2006)

Alexandra’s Project (2003)

The Tracker (2002)

The Old Man Who Read Love

Stories (2001)

Dance Me to My Song (1998)

The Quiet Room (1996)

Epsilon (1995)

Bad Boy Bubby (1993)

Dingo (1990)

Encounter at Raven’s Gate (1987)

Tale of a Tiger (1984)

Chatty Catties

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 31 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Cat owners often feel like they can communicate with their pets, but imagine if you were able to have full conversations with your feline roommates about life, love, career, and household chores. Would you be able to see eye-to-eye with your fuzzy friend, or would you constantly be at each other’s throats, trading vicious barbs over the quality of that day’s flavor of Friskies or the frequency of litter removal? In this black comedy, sassy tabby Leonard (voice of John Autry II) is at odds with human Shelby (Megan Hensley), whose own emotional problems limit her abilities to provide for the most basic of Leonard’s needs. But when she begins a relationship with kindhearted musician Nate (Matthew Grathwol), Leonard sees a brighter future for both him and his owner. To emphasize the film’s themes of communication, every cat onscreen is voiced by a deaf or hard-of-hearing performer, making for a unique cinematic experience and a commentary on the roles not often available to hearing-impaired actors.

Director: Pablo Valencia

Producer: Cecilia Curran

Screenwriters: Pablo Valencia

Dicky Bahto

Cinematographer: Jeffrey Schneider

Editor: Lee Stobby

Music:

Adam Di Angelo

Carlo Cerati

Cast: Megan Hensley

Matthew Grathwol

John Autry II

Julia Holter

Jennie Russ Tamblyn

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Patron Saint Productions

Film Website: facebook.com/chattycatties

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

KIRSITUBAKAS

Cherry Tobacco

ESTONIA 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 17 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 21 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

17-year-old Laura (Maris Nōlvak) can’t wait for summer to be over. Her judgmental peers have empty inner lives, boys her age bore her to tears, and her mother won’t stop haranguing her about her eating habits. When her best friend Merit (Getter Meresmaa) offers her a respite from their provincial town life for an extended hike in the Estonian countryside, Laura jumps at the offer, hoping that it will assuage her teenage ennui. Enter Joosep (Gert Raudsep), their scruffy, fortysomething tour guide, whose rough-edged demeanor initially rubs Laura in all the wrong ways. But as their journey through the peat bogs extends over several days and they find common ground despite their dissimilar upbringings, the two let their guards down, and Laura starts to feel the first pangs of love. A tender drama about the complications of becoming an adult—few films so effortlessly capture the awkwardness and enhanced sensations of adolescence— Cherry Tobacco is a quiet gem whose delicate screenplay co-written by married directors Katrin and Andres Maimik, unobtrusive cinematography by Mihkel Soe, and naturalistic acting add up to a welcomingly low-key affair.

Directors: Andres Maimik

Katrin Maimik

Producer: Anneli Lepp

Screenwriters: Katrin Maimik

Andres Maimik

Cinematographer: Mihkel Soe

Editors:

Marta Pulk

Andres Maimik

Music: Sten Sheripov

Cast: Maris Nõlvak

Gert Raudsep

Getter Meresmaa

Anne Reemann

Maarja Jakobson

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Estonian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Kuukulgur Film

Selected Filmography:

KATRIN:

Old Fish (Doc, 2010)

ANDRES:

Farts of Fury (2011)

I Will Survive (Doc, 2011)

184 Kilometers (2006)

Art of Selling (Doc, 2005)

Living Force (Doc, 2003)

The Chinese Mayor

CHINA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 30 1:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 3:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 12:00 PM

Geng Yanbo is the mayor of Datong, the once-flourishing capital of Imperial China, whose failing coal mining industry has left it with few economic prospects and only one claim to fame: being the most polluted city in China. However, Geng has an audacious plan to revitalize his crumbling city by transforming it into a tourist destination, with a worldclass cultural center and a showcase for clean energy. But in order to do that, he’ll have to relocate 500,000 homes to make room for the restoration of the ancient city. Geng gives director Hao Zhou an unprecedented amount of access to this process, and Zhou takes full advantage of it, racing alongside the mayor as he calms protesters, chastises corrupt contractors, and fends off his wife’s increasing complaints about his workaholic ways. Shot in a breathless veritè style, The Chinese Mayor captures China’s hurtling rush toward modernism, while managing to be both small in scale and immense in scope; simultaneously an intimate character study and a panoramic glimpse of the challenges inherent in trying to navigate the deep divide between local Chinese politics and the party elite.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2015 (Special Jury Prize)

Chuck Norris vs. Communism

UNITED KINGDOM/ROMANIA/GERMANY 2015

PACIFIC PLACE

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Hao Zhou

Producer:

Qi Zhao

Screenwriters:

Qi Zhao

Hao Zhou

Cinematographers: Tianhui Zhang

Hao Zhou

Editors:

Tom Hsingming Lin Xiaochuan Yu

Music:

Jing Xiao

Featuring: Yanbo Geng

Hui Zheng

Suyin Ma

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

Print Source: Qi Films

Film Website: zhaoqifilms.com/thechinese-mayor

Selected Filmography: Cotton (Doc, 2014)

Emergency Room China (Doc, 2013)

The Transition Period (Doc, 2009)

Using (Doc, 2008)

Senior Year (Doc, 2006)

THURSDAY, MAY 21 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, JUNE 1 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Communist Romania in the 1980s was a time of cultural isolation and ideological censorship, but bubbling under the surface was a movement of disparate crowds who would gather for clandestine meetings to experience the most forbidden of fruits—bootleg VHS tapes of Western action movies. Behind it all was the shadowy figure of Teodor Zamfir, the Godfather of illegal VHS tapes, who smuggled thousands of Hollywood movies behind the Iron Curtain, primarily genre films featuring stars like Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. He hired a female translator, Irena Nistor, to watch the films and live dub them with Romanian narration, which she did with unprecedented speed and a growing infatuation with the art of cinema. Director Ilinca Calugareanu grew up attending these clandestine VHS nights, where friends would revel in stories of heroism and marvel at the lavish settings which featured such rarely seen symbols of freedom as fully stocked supermarkets and wild fashion trends. This nostalgic and thrilling documentary combines dramatic re-enactments, interviews, and scenes from the best (and worst) of ’80s cinema to tell an inspiring tale of how movies really can change the world.

Director: Ilinca Calugareanu

Producers: Mara Adina

Brett Ratner

Screenwriter: Ilinca Calugareanu

Cinematographer: Jose Ruiz

Editor: Per K. Kirkegaard

Music:

Anne Nikitin

Rob Manning

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Romanian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Vernon Films

Film Website: chucknorrisvscommunism.co.uk

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Circle

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 9:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 29 1:15 PM

Meet the 50 strangers trapped in a mystifying game that operates like a death clock. They wake up to find themselves stuck in a circular formation inside of a dark room, illuminated with a bright red circle. In the center of the room is a machine that slaughters one person once every two minutes. The strangers panic and discuss their situation as their numbers dwindle. Eventually, they realize that machine isn’t murdering at random, but rather, the surviving players can decide who dies next. Could you trust a jury of your peers with your life? This psychological thriller directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione boil players down to their ultimate survival instincts when they are subject to intense time limits and the most extreme stakes—their lives. These directors are no strangers to thrillers and games—previously, they worked on the web series, “The Vault,” where 150 contestants must solve live-action puzzles to receive prizes.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Directors: Aaron Hann

Mario Miscione

Producer: Brent Stiefel

Screenwriters: Aaron Hann

Mario Miscione

Cinematographer: Zoran Popovic

Editor:

Tom Campbell

Cast: Julie Benz

Mercy Malick

Carter Jenkins

Lisa Pelikan

Cesar Garcia

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Votiv Films

Film Website: whatisthecircle.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

City of Gold USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 30 6:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 4:30 PM

When Jonathan Gold worked as a proofreader for the Los Angeles Times, he made it a personal goal to eat at every restaurant on Pico Boulevard, a 15.5 mile stretch from downtown L.A. to Santa Monica. This, he says, is where he learned to eat. Now he’s a professional food critic, and the first individual to ever receive a Pulitzer Prize for restaurant reviews. City of Gold not only introduces us to Gold, but also introduces us to Gold’s Los Angeles, exploring different neighborhoods such as Hollywood, the San Gabriel Valley, Little Ethiopia, Tehrangeles, and Koreatown. In these places Gold establishes a focus not on overly trendy new restaurants, but on the overlooked gems hidden away in strip-malls and taco stands around the corner. His belief is that food is an essential tool to connect with the culture around you—and Los Angeles is a prime example of a place rich with coexisting cultures, especially from a food perspective. A poet championing the lyrical beauty of Ma-and-Pop diners and food trucks, this inspiring documentary shows Jonathan Gold as an important figure in L.A. food culture, giving a new value to reviews and shining a light on overlooked communities and their tasty delicacies.

Director: Laura Gabbert

Producers: Laura Gabbert

Holly Becker

Cinematographers: Jerry Henry

Goro Toshima

Editors: Greg King

Bill Haugse

Music: Bobby Johnston

Featuring: Jonathan Gold

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Sundance Selects

Film Website: cityofgolddoc.com

Selected Filmography: No Impact Man: The Documentary (Doc, 2009) Sunset Story (Doc, 2003)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

Ciudad Delirio

COLOMBIA/SPAIN 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 18 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Javier, a Spanish doctor attending a conference in Cali, Colombia, meets a beautiful dancer named Angie and they have a whirlwind romance. Back in Madrid, Javier can’t forget her and soon he returns to Colombia, where Angie is preoccupied with fending off her boorish ex-boyfriend and leading her dance troupe in their audition for “Delirio,” the world’s biggest salsa show. Ciudad Delirio is a rousing, romantic story of one man’s determination to win over the woman he loves, against a swirling backdrop of exuberant music and dance. A huge hit in its native Colombia, this is a departure for award-winning director Chus Gutiérrez: he grounds the film in a naturalistic sense of place but allows it to spin out into glittery, high-octane dance sequences, choreographed by Bianca Li (who has worked with Beyoncé, Almodóvar, and Gaultier amongst others). With swirling, gliding camera moves and energetic editing, the film captures the raw energy of salsa music, leaving audiences ready to get up and dance!

Director:

Chus Gutiérrez

Producers:

Diego F. Ramirez

Elena Manrique

Screenwriters:

Chus Gutiérrez

Elena Manrique

Cinematographer:

Diego Fernando Jimenez

Editor:

Nacho Ruiz Capillas

Music:

Tao Gutiérrez

Cast:

Carolina Ramírez

Julián Villagrán

Ingrid Rubio

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Media Luna Entertainment

Print Source:

Media Luna Entertainment

Film Website: ciudaddelirio.com

Selected Filmography:

Return to Hansala (2008)

El Calentito (2005)

Poniente (2002)

Insomnio (1998)

Alma gitana (1996)

Sublet (1991)

BINGUAN

The Coffin in the Mountain

CHINA 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 16 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 21 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

A charred corpse found atop the mountain of a remote Chinese village ties together three interlocking, time-hopping stories about the moral ambiguity and mortal fears inherent in humanity. In the first, young Zongyao (Xiaotian Wang) has returned to the village of his upbringing for a short visit, and after butting heads with his stern father Xio Weiguo (Weimin Huo) finds solace in an old lover. Claiming she is pregnant, their elation is shortlived after Zongyao accidentally kills a local thug. The two flee to a nearby city, but a guiltridden Zongyao considers confessing to his crime. In the second story, Baoshan (Shengjie Shao) and Liqin (Li Sun), who are carrying on an adulterous affair, conspire to murder Liqin’s abusive husband, only to learn that somebody may have already taken care of him. But is the body in the woods her husband, or a case of mistaken identity? In the final story, Xio Weiguo must pick up the pieces of his shattered village, leading to decisions that could irrevocably compromise his moral compass and his family forever. As these anecdotes collide into each other, the village emerges as a microcosm of our mad society.

Awards:

Warsaw Film Festival 2014 (Grand Prix) Venice Film Festival 2014 (Best Revelation)

Director:

Yukun Xin

Producer: Jiangzhou Ren

Screenwriters:

Yuanliang Feng

Yukun Xin

Cinematographer: Shan He

Editor: Yukun Xin

Music: Lei Zhang

Cast: Weimin Huo

Xiaotian Wang

Yun Luo

Yuzen Yang

Shengjie Shao

Li Sun

Running Time: 119 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Chinese and Mandarin, with English subtitles

Print Source: Intramovies

International Sales: Intramovies

Film Website: intramovies.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Color of the Pomegranates

ARMENIA 1969

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

When presenting this film at the Toronto Film Festival, Martin Scorsese called The Color Of Pomegranates “unlike anything in cinema history,” and he’s right. Four years after the completion of the film, director Sergei Parajanov was arrested and jailed, and his recently finished movie was hastily re-edited and tragically given a limited release. Now being presented with a new digital restoration by Cineteca di Bologna and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, his colorful and utterly avant-garde masterpiece can be seen for the first time as close as possible to the director’s original vision. This transformative and richly emotional film loosely follows the life of Sayat Nova, “King of Song”, an Armenian poet and musician born in the 18th century. Parajanov sets the tone of the film with experimental editing and cinematography, using static shots and jumps cuts and filling the screen with gloriously vibrant folk costumes and set design. Shot in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kyiv, Parajanov brings multicultural Transcaucasia together in this celebrated and timeless cinematic experience.

Restored by Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, in association with the National Cinema Centre of Armenia and Gosfilmofond of Russia. Restoration funding provided by the Material World Charitable Foundation and The Film Foundation.

Awards:

New York Film Festival 2014 (Gala Tribute Award)

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Sergei Parajanov

Screenwriter: Sergei Parajanov

Cinematographer: Suren Shakhbazian

Editor:

Maia Ponomarenko

Music: Tigran Mansuryan

Cast:

Sofiko Chiaureli

Melkon Alekian

Vilen Galustian

Giorgi Gegechkori

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, with English subtitles

International Sales: World Cinema Foundation

Print Source:

The Film Foundation

Selected Filmography: The Confession (1990)

Ashik Kerib (1988)

The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985)

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)

Flower on the Stone (1962)

Ukrainian Rhapsody (1961)

The First Lad (1958)

LA FRENCH

The Connection

FRANCE/BELGIUM 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 1:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Shot on 35mm film and starring Academy Award®-winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist), The Connection acts as an unofficial expansion to 1971’s The French Connection. However, while William Friedkin’s police thriller successfully told a thinly fictionalized account of New York detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso—renamed Popeye Doyle and Cloudy Russo for the film—as they took on the largest heroin operation in the world, that’s only one part of the decades—and continents-spanning story. On the other side of the pond, it’s 1975, and Marseilles-based magistrate Pierre Michel (Dujardin) has just been promoted out of juvenile court and into criminal investigations. First on his docket: take on the smuggling syndicate, known as “La French,” that is threatening to turn his town into a drug-ridden hellscape. His target: the seemingly untouchable Neapolitan crime lord Tany Zampa (Gilles Lellouche, Tell No One). Unfortunately, conventional manners of police work do little to further Michel’s case, and the magistrate must resort to legally questionable means to get his man. In contrast to Friedkin’s gritty procedural realism, director Cédric Jimenez has chosen a lush period technique, approaching the labyrinthine ensemble narrative with the panache of a Gallic Scorsese at the top of his game.

Awards: Cesar Awards 2015 (Best Costume Design Nominee, Best Production Design Nominee)

Director: Cédric Jimenez

Producers: Ilan Goldman

Genevieve Lemal

Screenwriters: Audrey Diwan

Cédric Jimenez

Cinematographer: Laurent Tangy

Editor:

Sophie Reine

Music:

Guillaume Roussel

Cast: Jean Dujardin

Gilles Lellouche

Mélanie Doutey

Céline Sallette

Benoit Magimel

Running Time: 135 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: Drafthouse Films

Film Website: drafthousefilms.com/film/ the-connection

Selected Filmography: Aux yeux de tous (2012)

Cooking Up a Tribute

SPAIN 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 4:15 PM

El Celler de Can Roca, voted best restaurant in the world by “Restaurant” magazine, is a Spanish establishment located in Catalonia whose commitment to connecting food with culture is astonishing. Cooking Up a Tribute is a documentary that follows the heads of this restaurant, brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, as they shut down El Celler for five weeks and take their entire staff on a culinary tour of six cities—Houston, Dallas, Mexico City, Monterrey, Bogota, and Lima. Their challenge was to prove that with connectivity and togetherness they would be able to learn how food and drink is approached in other cultures, and design 57 new and inspired dishes to pay tribute to the local flavor. The Roca brothers believe that through this extraordinary gastronomic experience, connecting products from their homeland with products unknown to them, they can connect each others cultures. El Celler also trained approximately 7,000 students during this tour, choosing 13 of them to receive a special training scholarship at their restaurant in Catalonia. Cooking Up a Tribute is a mouth-watering look at the importance of food as a tool and expression of cultural identity.

Cop Car USA 2015

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Directors: Luis González

Andrea Gómez

Producer:

Ignacio Moliner

Manuel de Mora-Figueroa

Screenwriter: Luis González

Andrea Gómez

Cinematographer: Jaime Rebato

Felipe Vara de Rey

Editor:

Nacho Ruiz Capillas

Music:

Esteban Testolini

Featuring: Joan Roca

Josep Roca

Jordi Roca

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Freak Independent Film Agency

Print Source: Freak Independent Film Agency

Film Website: agenciafreak.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Two mischievous 10-year-old boys are playing in the Colorado wilderness when they stumble upon an abandoned police cruiser. With no owner in sight, they hop in for an impromptu joyride. But it turns out the owner of the car, Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin Bacon, sporting a truly menacing mustache), was in the woods for a reason that he wants kept secret, and he will do whatever it takes to retrieve his cop car. This humorous and tense modern noir from director Jon Watts plays out like a Coen Brothers version of childhood innocence lost: starting out lighthearted, though felonious, but leading to increasingly twisted results. Newcomers James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford capture the spirit of male adolescence, needling and teasing each other into increasingly reckless behavior (and one priceless exchange of dirty words), while Kevin Bacon takes his corrupt lawman from classic Midwestern stoicism to unhinged desperation with remarkably little dialogue. Building in tension and surprises to a hard-boiled final chapter, the film ultimately offers one vital lesson for all ages: leave sleeping cop cars be!

Director:

Jon Watts

Producers: Cody Ryder

Alicia Van Couvering

Sam Bisbee

Andrew Kortschak

Jon Watts

Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford

Jon Watts

Cinematographers: Matthew J. Lloyd

Larkin Seiple

Editors:

Megan Brooks

Andrew Hasse

Music: Phil Mossman

Cast: Kevin Bacon

James Freedson-Jackson

Hays Wellford

Shea Whigham

Camryn Manheim

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Memento Films

Print Source: Focus World

Film Website: international.mementofilms.com/now/cop-car-3

Selected Filmography: Clown (2014)

SIMINDIS KUNDZULI

Corn Island

GEORGIA/GERMANY/FRANCE/CZECH

REPUBLIC/ KAZAKHSTAN/HUNGARY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 12:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

TUESDAY, MAY 19 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

The Inguri River forms a natural border dividing Georgia and Abkhazia, two nations whose tensions have not abated since the war of 1992-93. Every spring, the river brings fertile soil from the Caucasus down to the plains, creating tiny islands that act as havens for wildlife and for local peasants who find them perfect for the cultivation of a crop to supplement their income. This fable-like drama from George Ovashvili (winner of SIFF New Director Award 2009), shot on 35mm, captures the inexorable cycle of life in this harsh but stunning place as an old Abkhaz farmer and his teenage granddaughter plough the earth in preparation for a corn harvest. As his granddaughter blossoms into womanhood and the corn ripens, border patrol boats from the two feuding countries frequently pass, and when a fugitive on the lam finds refuge among the cornstalks, the farmer is reminded of the dangers—both natural and manmade—of cultivating in no man’s land.

Awards:

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014 (Grand Jury, Ecumenical Prize)

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Palm Springs International Film Festival 2015 (HP Bridging the Borders Award)

Athens Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Corrections Class

RUSSIA/GERMANY 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 5:00 PM

Director: George Ovashvili

Producers: Nino Devdariani

Eike Goreczka

Guillaume de Seille

Karla Stojáková Sain Gabdullin

Screenwriters: Nugzar Shataidze George Ovashvili

Roelof Jan Minneboo

Cinematographer: Elemér Ragályi

Editor: Sun-Min Kim

Music: Josef Bardanashvili

Cast:

Ilyas Salman

Mariam Buturishvili

Irakli Samushia

Tamer Levent

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Abkhazian, Georgian, and Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Ramonda Films

Print Source: Ramonda Films

Film Website: pascaleramonda.com/ corn-island/

Selected Filmography: The Other Bank (2009)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 25 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Corrections Class opens as Lena’s mom pushes her to her new school in her wheelchair. Lena is an attractive and bright teenager who has been homeschooled her entire life. Now for the first time, she is going to be a part of a classroom and maybe even have a group of school friends. Kids with disabilities are assigned to their own room, and it’s soon learned that a special commission will test them to determine if they are able to join a “normal” classroom. Lena fits in with her disabled peers right away, but when she and Anton (who has epilepsy) begin to form a romantic relationship, it deeply disturbs the class dynamic and outrages the school staff. Director Ivan Tverdovskii is a 26-year old filmmaker dubbed by the press an as “infant Lars von Trier.” Without cliché or pity, he presents an eye-opening portrait of the disabled in Russia. His documentary-style dramatic feature debut is a passionate attempt to not only show the handicapped as normal people, but to expose the injustices of the educational situation in this powerful and shocking drama.

Awards:

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014 (East of the West Grand Jury Prize)

Marrakech International Film Festival 2014 (Golden Star Grand Prix)

Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award, Human Values Award)

Director: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Producer: Natalia Mokritskaya

Mila Rozanova

Uliana Savelyeva

Screenwriter: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Dmitry Lanchikhin

Cinematographer: Fedor Struchev

Editor: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Cast: Maria Poezhaeva

Filipp Avdeev Nikita Kukushkin

Artem Markaryan

Irina Vilkova

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales: New People Film Company

Print Source: New People Film Company

Film Website: jomami.com/portfolio/ corrections-class/

Selected Filmography: Pianism (Doc, 2012)

KLASS KORREKZII

Cub

BELGIUM 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 29 MIDNIGHT

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

In this Belgian horror film, a Cub Scout troop makes its way into the woods for a teambuilding camping excursion. Ignoring the mildly terrifying warnings from local townsfolk on their way in, the only one who feels something’s amiss is the young outcast, Sam. Sam’s affinity towards tall tales and rebellious behavior doesn’t make him the most trustworthy scout, which is why he is the laughingstock of the group when he tells them all he saw a masked wolf-child in an abandoned tree house off the path. Soon no one’s laughing, however, when the kids and leaders start getting picked off one by one by mysterious and lethal booby traps set up around camp. Someone, or something, is hunting them. This nightmarish spin on the typical campingin-the-woods horror story is director Jonas Govaerts’ feature debut, and thrills us with creepy kid terror, creative and bloody murder devices, and a truly ominous atmosphere.

Director:

Jonas Govaerts

Producers:

Louis Tisne

Peter De Maegd

Screenwriters:

Jonas Govaerts

Roel Mondelaers

Cinematographer: Nicolas Karakatsanis

Editor:

Maarten Janssens

Music:

Steve Moore

Cast:

Stef Aerts

Evelien Bosmans

Titus De Voogdt

Maurice Luijten

Jan Hammenecker

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Dutch, Flemish, and French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Kinology

Print Source: Artsploitation

Film Website: welpdefilm.be

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Cut

GERMANY/FRANCE/POLAND/TURKEY/CANADA/RUSSIA/ ITALY 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin with co-writer Mardik Martin (Raging Bull, Mean Streets) turns his attention toward the 1915 Armenian genocide in this continent-crossing epic. Armenian Christian and blacksmith Nazareth is captured from his home and torn away from his wife and two daughters by Ottoman authorities who quickly turn him into a slave laborer. In a confrontation between the Ottomans, civilian Turks, and the prisoners, Nazareth gets his throat cut and becomes mute, yet in the chaos he escapes. When he learns his daughters are still alive Nazareth sets off on a harsh journey that will take him several years and thousands of miles. Akin delivers a compelling and visually extravagant film that expertly shows the historical horrors of the time and the extremes a man will go to in order to keep his family together.

Awards: Venice Film Festival 2014 (Special Mention)

Director: Fatih Akin

Producers: Fatih Akin

Karl Baumgartner

Reinhard Brundig

Screenwriters: Fatih Akin

Mardik Martin

Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann

Editor: Andrew Bird

Music: Alexander Hacke

Cast: Tahar Rahim

Simon Abkarian

Makram J. Khoury

Hindi Zahra

Kevork Malikian

Running Time: 138 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Spanish, and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source:

Strand Releasing

Film Website: strandreleasing.com/ films/cut

Selected Filmography: Polluting Paradise (2012)

Soul Kitchen (2009)

New York, I Love You (2008)

The Edge of Heaven (2007)

Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul (2006)

Head-On (2004)

In July (2000)

Short Sharp Shock (1998)

The Dark Horse

NEW ZEALAND 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 30 6:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 4:00 PM

Winner of six New Zealand Film Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Actor, James Napier Robertson’s superbly realized biopic traces the damaged but ultimately rewarding life of legendary speed chess champion Genesis Potini, a.k.a. “the Dark Horse.” Cliff Curtis (Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider) gives a staggering performance as Potini, a Maori man who due to his struggles with bipolar disorder has spent time in and out of institutions. When suddenly confronted with a nephew (James Rolleston, Boy) who’s but a hair’s breadth away from gang life, Potini buckles down and joins the Eastern Knights chess association, using chess to turn around the lives of some 15,000 at-risk Maori kids. Carefully balancing humor with a raw and unpredictable style, The Dark Horse transcends its tried-and-true genre—the troubled mentor who despite all odds raises the spirits of a ragtag group of disadvantaged youth— and emerges as a deeply felt, wildly inspirational drama with a bite.

Awards:

New Zealand Film Awards 2014 (Best Picture, Director, Actor) Rotterdam Film Festival 2015 (Audience Award)

Director: James Napier Robertson

Producer: Tom Hern

Screenwriter: James Napier Robertson

Cinematographer: Denson Baker

Editors: Peter Roberts Nicolas Chaudeurge

Music: Dana Lund

Cast: Cliff Curtis James Rolleston Kirk Torrance Xavier Horan

Miriama McDowell

Running Time: 124 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Maori, with English subtitles

International Sales: Séville International

Print Source: Séville International

Film Website: thedarkhorsefilm.com

Selected Filmography: I’m Not Harry Jenson. (2009)

The Dark Mirror

USA 1946

THURSDAY, MAY 28 6:00 PM

A newly restored psychological thriller from director Robert Siodmak, one of film noir’s master practitioners, The Dark Mirror opens with a murder, as many a film noir does. Two eyewitnesses place Terry Collins, a pretty, young woman who runs a magazine stand in the victim’s office building, at the crime scene within moments of the murder. But when the investigating officer Lieutenant Stevenson interviews her, she provides him with an ironclad alibi and three other witnesses who can place her four miles away. Stevenson soon discovers that Terry has a twin sister, Ruth, but their tight-knit sororal bond proves to be an investigative dead end. At Stevenson’s behest, Dr. Elliott, an expert on twins, agrees to interview the sisters, with his first cursory examination revealing, “One of our young ladies is insane, very clever, very intelligent, but insane.” Only which one? Olivia de Havilland gives a consummate performance as both twins Ruth and Terry, often playing against herself in extended scenes and instilling subtle nuances into each sister’s character. 35mm preservation print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by The Film Foundation, Paramount Pictures, and the Packard Humanities Institute.

Director: Robert Siodmak

Producer: Nunnally Johnson

Screenwriter: Nunnally Johnson

Cinematographer: Milton Krasner

Editor: Ernest Nims

Music: Dimitri Tiomkin

Cast: Olivia De Havilland

Richard Long

Thomas Mitchell

Lew Ayres

Charles Evans

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

International Sales: Paramount

Print Source: UCLA Film & Television

Archive

Film Website: film-foundation.org

Selected Filmography:

The Devil Strikes at Night (1957)

Deported (1950)

Criss Cross (1949)

Cry of the City (1948)

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

The Killers (1946)

The Suspect (1944)

Phantom Lady (1944)

Christmas Holiday (1944) Hatred (1938)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY JUNE 12SUNDAY JUNE 14

best of siff

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Dearest

HONG KONG/CHINA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 29 1:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM

Parents Tian Wenjun and Lu Xiaojuan tear through the city in search for their kidnapped son, who has gone missing after visiting the playground with his friends. Pengpeng is three years old and he has become a victim of the abduction industry in China, which the one-child policy has amplified. The abductors make money by adopting children out to wealthy families who wish to raise sons. The parents follow up on leads from friends who report seeing Pengpeng, and eventually track down their son years after his disappearance. However, the ties of kinship and childrearing become tangled when Wenjun and Xiaojuan meet the boy’s long-term guardian, Li Hongqin. She has been raising Pengpeng for most of his childhood and was unaware of his earlier abduction. Wenjun and Xiaojuan are startled to meet the person their son has become. Pengpeng’s parents and adoptive guardian must learn how to address his complex history, current identity, and future upbringing.

Awards: Chinese American Film Festival 2014 (Best Actress)

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2015 (Best Actress, Screenplay)

Hong Kong Film Awards 2015 (Best Actress)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Producers: Jojo Hui Yuet-chun

Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Screenwriter: Zhang Ji

Cinematographers: Shu Chou

Yang Zhenyu

Editor:

Derek Hui

Music: Leon Ko

Cast: Zhao Wei Huang Bo

Tong Dawei

Hao Lei

Zhang Yi

Zhang Yuqi

Running Time: 130 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Versatile

Print Source: Versatile

Film Website: versatile-films.com

Selected Filmography: American Dreams in China (2013)

Dragon (2011)

The Warlords (2007)

Perhaps Love (2005)

The Love Letter (1999)

Who’s the Woman, Who’s the Man (1996)

Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)

He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994)

Deathgasm

NEW ZEALAND 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 15 MIDNIGHT

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Get ready for a heavy metal storm of electric guitars, dildo fights, severed limbs, chainsaw duels, and fountains of blood. Deathgasm brings it full force with this rowdy splattercomedy about one band that save their asses from Satan, and also reluctantly save the souls of every snooze-ville square on Earth. Metalhead outcast Brodie moves in with his conservative aunt and uncle in a sleepy suburban neighborhood and is ultra-bummed until he meets like-minded Zakk. Together they form Deathgasm, the heaviest metal band on the block. Yet when Brodie and Zakk find a mysterious piece of sheet music that claims to bring whoever plays it the ultimate power, they don’t realize that it also means they’ll be summoning an evil demon known as The Blind One. This low-brow horror takes us on a ridiculous, shamelessly bloody ride filled with metal references and impressive visual effects. Think Lloyd Kaufman does Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Deathgasm is a must-see gore film with a crude sense of humor.

Prepare your eardrums: May 15 screening proceded by live metal from Seattle band Paralyzer.

Director: Jason Lei Howden

Producer: Ant Timpson

Screenwriter: Jason Lei Howden

Cinematographer: Simon Raby

Editors: Jeff Hurrell

Gareth Van Niekerk

Music: Chris van de Geer

Joost Langeveld

Cast: Milo Cawthorne

James Blake

Kimberley Crossman

Stephen Ure

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: MPI Media Group

Print Source: MPI Media Group

Film Website: deathgasmthemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Sponsored by Thomas Zimmermann

Décor

SUNDAY, MAY 31 6:45 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 4:00 PM

Young Egyptian filmmaker Ahmad Abdalla (Rags and Tatters, SIFF 2014) has gone from strength to strength in the past few years. The gorgeous black-and-white psychological drama Décor is his fifth feature and by far his most polished and engaging. Meet Maha (Horeya Farghaly), a film production designer and expert at creating imaginary worlds. Under immense pressure at work, including obstacles presented by difficult actors and an apathetic art house director hoping to broaden his appeal by catering to the lowest common denominator, she sets her sights another life and begins slipping between realities—one resembling the B-movie set she’s designed and the other her supposed real life. As she grows ever more entangled in each, the border between the real and imagined becomes blurred. Hailed by “Variety” as “a sophisticated reinvention of the classic ‘women’s picture,’” Décor is a clever and beautiful homage to the golden era of Egyptian film, while engagingwith the situation of Arab women today.

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Ahmad Abdalla

Producer:

Zein Kurdi

Screenwriters:

Sherin Diab

Mohamed Diab

Cinematographer: Tarek Hefny

Editor: Sara Abdallah

Music:

Khaled Al Kammar

Ahmad Mostafa

Cast: Horeya Farghaly

Khaled Abol Naga

Maged El Kedwany

Running Time: 116 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Visit Films

Print Source: Visit Films

Film Website: newcenturyproduction. com/decor/

Selected Filmography: Rags and Tatters (2013) 18 Days (2011)

Microphone (2010)

Heliopolis (2009)

Diner USA 1982

TUESDAY, MAY 26 6:30 PM

“You ever get the feeling there’s something going on that we don’t know about?” Set at the end of 1959, Diner mixes bittersweet comedy and realistic repartee as it follows a circle of male friends who reunite for their friend’s wedding. Spending most nights huddled in a booth at their favorite Baltimore hangout, the Fells Point Diner, these old pals bust each other’s chops, ruminate on the women in their lives, and argue the finer points of sharing roast beef sandwiches. Ultimately, they find that they share similar problems of, as Roger Ebert put it, “growing up at an age when they are supposed to have already grown up.” Barry Levinson’s semi-autobiographical film received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay and made stars out of a remarkable cast of then unknowns, including Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Paul Reiser, Steve Guttenberg, Ellen Barkin, and Kevin Bacon. Diner also influenced a generation of screenwriters and is a rare treat on the big screen. Just don’t have an “accident” with your popcorn box.

Director: Barry Levinson

Producer: Jerry Weintraub

Screenwriter: Barry Levinson

Cinematographer: Peter Sova

Editor: Stu Linder

Music:

Bruce Brody

Ivan Král

Cast:

Kevin Bacon

Steve Guttenberg

Mickey Rourke

Daniel Stern

Tim Daly

Ellen Barkin

Paul Reiser

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

Print Source: Warner Bros.

Selected Filmography:

The Humbling (2014)

The Bay (2012)

What Just Happened (2008)

Man of the Year (2006)

Envy (2004)

Bandits (2001)

Sphere (1998)

Wag the Dog (1997)

Sleepers (1996)

Toys (1992)

Bugsy (1991)

Avalon (1990)

Rain Man (1988)

Tin Men (1987)

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

The Natural (1984)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

PACIFIC PLACE

Do I Sound Gay?

USA 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM

HARVARD EXIT

FRIDAY, MAY 29 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

After a bad break-up with his boyfriend, journalist David Thorpe began down the destructive path of picking out all of his flaws, and sounding “too gay” was one of them. Bringing to the forefront a conversation rarely had in the gay community, Thorpe decides to explore the cultural history, insecurities, and anxieties surrounding the stereotypical. He finds out that others have had the same negative thoughts about the sound of their voice as he does. When individuals he approaches decline to participate because of embarrassment, it’s another reason to further his journey. Thorpe pushes on through video clips and interviews with linguists, celebrities, acting coaches, family, and friends to unpack the implications and internalized homophobia revolving around the “gay voice.” Featuring Tim Gunn, David Sedaris, George Takei, and Dan Savage, Do I Sound Gay? combines the right amount of humor and personal stories to finally give a gay voice to a societal taboo about not wanting one.

Director: David Thorpe

Producers: Howard Gertler

David Thorpe

Screenwriters: David Thorpe

Maeve O’Boyle

Cinematographer: Matt Bockelman

Editor: Maeve O’Boyle

Music:

John Turner

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source:

Sundance Selects

Film Website: doisoundgay.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

USA/CAMBODIA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 2:15 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In the 1960s, the increased American presence in the Vietnam War helped rock ‘n’ roll reach Cambodia, encouraging the emergence of a vibrant new sound like no other: a blend of Western grooves, traditional Eastern melodies, and hypnotic, often female, vocals. Just as this new Cambodian music scene was flourishing, the country underwent a drastic change, and on April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge began ruthlessly wiping out all traces of modernity and Western influence. But they couldn’t stop the music, which became treasured by record collectors around the world and would go on to inspire a new generation of musicians, including American indie band Dengue Fever. Filmmaker John Pirozzi spent a decade researching the twists and shouts of Cambodia’s lost pop music, tracking down surviving musicians and restoring recordings from rare vinyl pressings. Exposing the tragedy and heartbreak that occurred as clubs were closed, record collections were destroyed, and musicians were targeted and killed, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten is also a musical restoration of the country’s history, a celebration of art, and an homage to those who paid for it with their lives.

Director: John Pirozzi

Producers: Andrew Pope

John Pirozzi

Cinematographer: John Pirozzi

Editors: Daniel Littlewood Matt Prinzing

Greg Wright

Music:

Scot Stafford

Featuring: Sinn Sisamouth Ros Serey Sothea Baksey Cham Krong

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English, Khmer, and French, with English subtitles

International Sales: CAT&Docs

Print Source: Argot Pictures

Film Website: dtifcambodia.com

Selected Filmography: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (Doc, 2007)

MOBILISIERUNG DER TRÄUME

Dreams Rewired

AUSTRIA 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 23 12:00 PM

Tracing anxieties about technology back to the 1880s, Dreams Rewired makes the past seem present with archival films and commentary about the utopian hopes and moral fears of a hyper-connected world. In her narration, Tilda Swinton says, “Every age thinks it’s the modern age.” With digital innovations speeding up communication and making our world feel smaller, we may believe we are in uncharted territory. We would be wrong. Dreams Rewired looks at reactions to the inventions of the telegraph, telephone, and television to show how our ancestors had the same worries we do today. That new technology inspired a utopianism with its promise of total communication, the annihilation of distance, and increasing efficiency. The dark side included a fear of a surveillance state, of the erosion of privacy, and moral hazards like the spread of pornography. Using rare and often unseen archival material from nearly 200 films, Dreams Rewired mixes past and present; instead of plunging the audience into the past, it pulls history into the present.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Directors:

Martin Reinhart

Thomas Tode

Manu Luksch

Producers: Alexander Dumreicher-

Ivanceanu

Bady Minck

Linda Matern

Screenwriters: Manu Luksch

Mukul Patel

Martin Reinhart

Thomas Tode

Cinematographer: Martin Putz

Editor: Olivier Neumann

Music:

Siegfried Friedrich

Narrator: Tilda Swinton

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Austrian Film Commission

Print Source: Austrian Film Commission

Film Website: dreamsrewired.com

Selected Filmography: LUKSCH: Faceless (2007)

Carpe Diem (1995)

TODE:

Hafenstrasse Revisited (Doc, 2010)

REINHART:

Debut Feature Film

Dukhtar

PAKISTAN/USA/NORWAY 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, MAY 21 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

In the isolated mountains of northern Pakistan, 10-year-old Zainab (Saleha Aref) has been promised to Tor Gul (Abdullah Jaan), a cruel, aging tribal leader six times her age, in order to broker peace between two warring camps. On the eve of the nuptials, Zainab’s mother Allah Rakhi (Samiya Mumtaz)—who herself was married to an elderly man at the young age of 15—refuses to have her daughter meet the same fate, and the two make a harried escape, beginning an epic journey fraught with danger with both tribes are hot on their trail. Finding shelter, solace, and perhaps romance in the form of Punjabi trucker Sohail (Mohib Mirza), they set off for Lahore, hoping to create a new life away from their oppressive upbringing. Billed as Pakistan’s first road trip thriller, Afia Nathaniel’s directorial debut is a tensely shot, superbly told, emotional story that highlights the repressive patriarchal society still dominant in this part of the world.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film) South Asian International Film Festival 2014 (Best Director)

Director: Afia Nathaniel

Producers: Afia Nathaniel

Muhammad Khalid Ali

Screenwriter: Afia Nathaniel

Cinematographer: Armughan Hassain

Editor: Armughan Hassain

Music: Peter Nashel

Cast: Samiya Mumtaz

Mohib Mirza

Saleha Aref

Abdullah Jaan

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Urdu, with English subtitles

International Sales: Dukhtar Productions

Print Source: 3 Monkeys

Film Website: dukhtarthefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Eden

FRANCE 2014

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 9:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA

It’s 1992 in Paris and the rave scene is going strong when Paul, a young literature student, first encounters the garage music that will change his life. Immediately hooked, he forms a duo with his friend Stan and gradually makes his name as a DJ and nightlife promoter, attaining some local fame as well as a couple of big bookings in New York. Along the way, he falls into a circle of friends, girlfriends, and fellow artists, including American expat Julia (indie fixture Greta Gerwig), Parisian scenester Louise, even legends-in-the-making Daft Punk. Festival favorite Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, SIFF 2010) captures both the eternal challenges of the artistic life as well as a particular moment in the history of electronic dance music. Featuring a vibrant soundtrack that doubles as an introduction to the genre, Eden puts you not just at the center of the scene, but right there on the dance floor, where the turntables are spinning, the lights are flashing, and the crowd is united in a moment of ecstatic musical communion.

EGYPTIAN

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

Producer: Charles Gillibert

Screenwriter: Mia Hansen-Løve

Sven Hansen-Løve

Cinematographer: Denis Lenoir

Editor: Marion Monnier

Music:

Daft Punk

Joe Smooth

Frankie Knuckles

Terry Hunter

MK...

Cast:

Félix de Givry

Pauline Etienne

Vincent Macaigne

Greta Gerwig

Vincent Lacoste

Running Time: 131 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Kinology

Print Source: Broad Green Pictures

Film Website: broadgreen.com/films/ eden

Selected Filmography: Goodbye First Love (2011)

Father of My Children (2009)

All is Forgiven (2007)

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

NETHERLANDS/MEXICO/ BELGIUM/FINLAND 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 5:00 PM SIFF

In 1931, the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein drove from California to Mexico in order to make a film privately funded by the likes of Upton Sinclair and Vladimir Lenin. What occurred over the next week and a half is nothing any film student reads about while studying the Odessa steps scene in Battleship Potemkin. Eisenstein immediately developed a strong fascination with the country, as well as with the handsome Canedo, a tour guide assigned to show him around his new environment. Eisenstein in Guanajuato illustrates the eccentric director’s personal, sexual awakening and symbolic rebirth over 10 days in Guanajuato, Mexico. Peter Greenaway stylishly combines black-and-white and color, new and archival footage, slapstick comedy, and jaw-droppingly beautiful baroque sets in this peculiar biopic of one of cinema’s earliest auteurs.

Director: Peter Greenaway

Producers: Bruno Felix

Femke Wolting

San Fu Maltha

Christina Velasco L.

Screenwriter: Peter Greenaway

Cinematographer: Reinier van Brummelen

Editor: Elmer Leupen

Music: Sergei Prokofiev

Cast: Elmer Bäck

Luis Alberti

Rasmus Slatis

Jacob Öhrman

Maya Zapata

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in English and Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: submarine.nl

Selected Filmography: Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012)

Rembrandt’s J’Accuse (Doc, 2008) Nightwatching (2007)

A Life in Suitcases (2005)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases (2003-4) 8½ Women (1999)

The Pillow Book (1996)

The Baby of Mâcon (1993)

Prospero’s Books (1991)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

Drowning by Numbers (1988)

The Belly of an Architect (1987)

A Zed & Two Noughts (1986)

The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

The Falls (1980)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

CINEMA UPTOWN

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films

AUSTRALIA/USA/ISRAEL/UNITED KINGDOM 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 28 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In the 1980s, one small indie film studio made a big name for themselves with a juggernaut of cheesy, low-budget genre films with titles like American Ninja, Bloodsport, Breakin’, King Solomon’s Mines, Masters of the Universe, and a series of over-the-top showcases for their two biggest stars, Chuck Norris (Missing in Action, Invasion U.S.A., The Delta Force) and Charles Bronson (Death Wish II, III, and IV). Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus took over Hollywood’s fledgling Cannon Group in 1979, transforming it into a production company so prolific that in the year 1986 alone they released 43 films. Lifelong cinephiles, Golan and Globus also took financial risks on quality films like the Oscar®-nominated Runaway Train and John Cassavetes’ Love Streams. But Cannon’s meteoric rise was accompanied by notoriously circumspect business practices, and by the end of the decade Cannon Films faced bankruptcy. Director Mark Hartley, known for his cinephilic love letters Not Quite Hollywood and Machete Maidens Unleashed, injects Electric Boogaloo with a break-neck overview of over 100 feature films combined with in-depth interviews with the filmmakers and stars caught in the Cannon hurricane, revealing the wild behind-the-scenes tales that rival the action on screen.

Director: Mark Hartley

Producers: Veronica Fury

Brett Ratner

Cinematographer: Garry Richards

Editors: Mark Hartley

Sara Edwards

Jamie Blanks

Music: Jamie Blanks

Featuring: Franco Zeffirelli

Bo Derek

Dolph Lundgren

Molly Ringwald

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Celluloid Dreams

Print Source: RatPac Documentary

Films

Film Website: facebook.com/ElectricBoogalooTheMovie

Selected Filmography: Machete Maidens Unleashed! (Doc, 2010)

Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (Doc, 2008)

LA CHANSON DE L’ÉLÉPHANT Elephant

Song

CANADA (QUÉBEC) 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 3:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM

Psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence has suddenly gone missing, and the only one who might have information is a manipulative and severely disturbed patient, Michael (Xavier Dolan, Heartbeats, I Killed My Mother). But he won’t let out the truth without having a little fun of his own. Director of the psychiatric ward, Dr. Toby Green, attempts to take control in this mental cat-and-mouse game, questioning Michael about Dr. Lawrence’s whereabouts after their last appointment, but Michael will only comply if Green plays by his rules. Distracted by troubles at home and having avoided in-person interactions with any of the patients at his hospital for a long time, Green is already at a disadvantage, and when Michael says he will only agree to speak if Green doesn’t look at his case file, the doctor unintentionally falls into a tangled web of lies and an impossible power struggle. Adapted from the screenwriter Nicolas Billon’s original play, Elephant Song is an intense psychodrama exploring a mad battle of wit and manipulation.

Awards: Canadian Screen Awards 2015 (Best Adapted Screenplay)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Charles Binamé

Producers: Richard Goudreau

Lenny Jo Goudreau

Screenwriter: Nicolas Billon

Cinematographer: Pierre Gill

Editor: Dominique Fortin

Music:

Gaëtan Gravel

Patrice Dubuc

Cast: Bruce Greenwood

Xavier Dolan

Catherine Keener

Carrie-Anne Moss

Guy Nadon

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Séville international

Print Source: Séville international

Film Website: sévilleinternational. eonefilms.com

Selected Filmography: The American Trap (2008)

The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard (2005) Séraphin (2002)

La Beauté de Pandore (2000) Streetheart (1998) Eldorado (1995)

End of the Tour

SATURDAY, MAY 30 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 31 2:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Days after the 1996 publication of David Foster Wallace’s other-worldly novel “Infinite Jest,” young novelist-turned-journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) embarks on a five-day interview with the enigmatic author for “Rolling Stone” magazine. In awe and humbled by the brilliant, massive 1,079 page book that brought unprecedented fame to the down-toearth Wallace (Jason Segel), Lipsky boarded a plane from New York to the Midwest to get the scoop. Over those five days the two became close friends, sharing stories and exposing vulnerabilities neither of them had shared before. The interview touched upon Wallace’s discomfort with his newfound celebrity and transcended from a formal interview to a kinetic exchange of ideas between two very different personalities. Based on David Lipsky’s critically-acclaimed memoir “Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace” that he wrote after Wallace’s suicide in 2008, End of the Tour is a profoundly emotional and insightful film boasting fantastic performances by both Eisenberg and Segel.

Director:

James Ponsoldt

Producers:

David Kanter

Matt DeRoss

James Dahl

Mark Manuel

Ted O’Neal

Screenwriter: Donald Margulies

Cinematographer: Jakob Ihre

Editor:

Darrin Navarro

Music:

Danny Elfman

Cast:

Jesse Eisenberg

Jason Segel

Anna Chlumsky

Joan Cusack

Mamie Gummer

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: A24

Selected Filmography: The Spectacular Now (2013)

Smashed (2012)

LAMOAKHZAA

Excuse My French EGYPT 2014

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 8:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

In this family comedy and Egyptian box office smash, twelve-year-old Hany, a precocious kid from a privileged Coptic Christian family seems to have it made: He’s got his Mac, his Nintendo, and doting parents who send him to a fancy private school. But things change dramatically after his father’s sudden death. With their income drastically reduced, Hany’s mother is forced to send him to the local public school. Hany is in for a shock—His new school, in a working-class neighborhood, is a rough-and-tumble environment where bullies rule the roost and brainy kids are a popular target. After a teacher wrongly assumes that he is Muslim like the majority of the other students, Hany opts to play along, simply to fit in. When he enters and wins a Koran-recitation contest, his popularity soars, but figuring out how to be himself and find his place is another matter entirely.

Director: Amr Salama

Producer: Hani Osama

Mohamed Hefzy

Hady El Bagory

Screenwriter: Amr Salama

Cinematographer: Islam Abdelsamie

Editor: Baher Rasheed

Music: Hani Adel

Cast: Ahmed Dash

Hani Adel

Kinda Allouch

Ahmed Helmy

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: FilmRise

Print Source: FilmRise

Film Website: film-clinic.com/

Selected Filmography:

Made in Egypt: Soneia Fe

Misr (2014)

Asmaa (2011)

Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician (Doc, 2011)

On A Day Like Today (2008)

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

In the early 1960s, social psychology was about to change forever thanks to Stanley Milgram. In order to shake up the field and venture into uncharted territory on authority and control, Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) conducted “obedience experiments” in which lab technicians administered an exchange between two strangers—one, in control of a button sending electrical shocks despite painful pleas and, the other, on the receiving end of the shocks. The experiments controversially shook the field of social psychology, leading Milgram to be labeled as a monster. Obsessive, ambitious, yet ultimately human, Milgram proves to be a fascinating subject of this unconventional and kinetic biopic, a shocking and insightful look into the mind of a man who manipulated the professional world he lived in. Co-starring Taryn Manning and Winona Ryder, Experimenter boasts a career-best performance from Sarsgaard in a winning, compelling mindpuzzle of a film.

Director:

Michael Almereyda

Producers:

Uri Singer

Fabio Golombek

Aimee Schoof

Isen Robbins

Per Melita

Danny A. Abeckaser

Screenwriter: Michael Almereyda

Cinematographer: Ryan Samul

Editor: Kathryn J. Schubert

Music: Bryan Senti

Cast: Peter Sarsgaard

Winona Ryder

Jim Gaffigan

Kellan Lutz

Taryn Manning

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source:

Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: experimentermovie.com

Selected Filmography: Cymbeline (2014)

Paradise (Doc, 2009)

New Orleans, Mon Amour (2008)

Big River Blues (Doc, 2008)

William Eggleston in the Real World (Doc, 2005)

This So-Called Disaster: Sam

Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss (Doc, 2003)

Happy Here and Now (2002) Hamlet (2000)

The Eternal (1998)

Nadja (1994)

Another Girl Another Planet (1992) Twister (1989)

The Farewell Party

ISRAEL/GERMANY 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 2:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, MAY 21 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Leave it to Israeli director Sharon Maymon (2009’s A Matter of Size) and his cohort Tal Granit to find so much humor in a story about disease, euthanasia, and other end-of-life concerns. A narrative brimming with humanity and heart and starring a dream cast of septuagenarian comic talent, the film continually riffs on the theme of who has the right to play God. Yehezkel, an amateur inventor, lives in a retirement home and wants only to help his fellow residents ease their worries as they confront their own mortality, but none of his makeshift contraptions can help terminally ill Max, whose life is being achingly prolonged by uncaring doctors. As necessity is the mother of all invention, Max’s wife Yana asks Yehezkel to invent what many would deem unethical—a self-euthanasia that would allow her husband to die with dignity. Enlisting in the help of his dementia-stricken wife, a retired vet, and an ex-cop, Yehezkel meets her challenge, but when word of the “mercy-killing machine” spreads and requests start coming in, he and his cohorts question how far they can extend this illegal enterprise.

Awards: Israeli Film Academy 2014 (Best Actor, Cinematography, Makeup, Sound) Haifa International Film Festival 2014 (Best Actress)

Directors: Sharon Maymon

Tal Granit

Producers: Talia Kleinhandler

Osnat Keren

Haim Mecklberg

Estee Yacov-Mecklberg

Thanassis Karathanos

Screenwriters: Sharon Maymon

Tal Granit

Cinematographer: Tobias Hochstein

Editor: Einat Glaser Zarhin

Music: Avi Belleli

Cast: Ze’ev Revah

Levana Finkelstein

Alisa Rozen

Ilan Dar Rafael Tabor

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hebrew, with English subtitles

International Sales: Beta Cinema

Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Film Website: 2teamproductions.com/ en/productions/completed/the-farewell-partyfilm-page/

Selected Filmography: Summer Vacation (2012)

MAYMON: A Matter of Size (2009)

FASSBINDER - LIEBEN OHNE ZU FORDERN

Fassbinder –To Love without Demands

DENMARK 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 19 9:15 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:15 PM

Rainer Werner Fassbinder—enfant terrible, obsessive workaholic, and one of the major auteurs of the 20th century—is the subject of a comprehensive biographical portrait crafted from well-chosen excerpts of the director’s work and remarkable, previously unseen interview footage. Danish author-director Christian Braad Thomsen, whose 15-year friendship with Fassbinder spanned the exact length of the auteur’s career, explores the psychological underpinnings of such cinematic masterpieces as The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972) and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), as well as the more than sixty other feature films, telefilms, TV series, and shorts of a brief but incredibly prolific career. Equally prominent here are the actors with whom Fassbinder worked—and had scandalously torrid affairs—including Hanna Schygulla, Gunther Kaufmann, Ingrid Caven, Kurt Raab, Gottfried John, Irm Hermann, and Harry Baer—some of whom appear in present-day interviews. Sure to delight both longtime fans and a whole new generation of fans-to-be, Fassbinder: To Love Without Demands brings to life one of the most fascinating filmmakers of our time.

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Christian Braad Thomsen

Producer: Christian Braad Thomsen

Screenwriter: Christian Braad Thomsen

Cinematographer: Bente Petersen

Editor: Grete Meoldrup

Music: Peer Raben

Joachim Witt

Featuring: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Irm Hermann

Harry Baer

Running Time: 109 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

Print Source: Kollektiv Film

Film Website: fassbindermovie.com

Selected Filmography: Blues for Montmartre (Doc, 2011)

Marilyn Mazur: Queen of Percussion (Doc, 2006)

The Voice of Iran: Mohammed Reza Shajarian (Doc, 2003)

Svend Åge Madsen: To Testify People (Doc, 2002)

Morten Korch: You Are My Sunshine (Doc, 1999)

The Blue Monk (1998) Flowers of Memory (1991)

The One You Love (1980)

Dreams Don’t Make Noise

When They Die (1979) Children of Agony (1977)

CHAND METRE MOKA’AB ESHGH

A Few Cubic Meters of Love

IRAN/AFGHANISTAN 2014

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 9:30 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Afghanistan’s foreign-language Oscar® entry is truly a “Romeo and Juliet” for the globalized world. Set in a shantytown outside Tehran where a factory owner employs Afghan refugees not legally permitted to work in Iran, A Few Cubic Meters of Love tells the story of two young people who find each other, and a bit of happiness, in the most unlikely of circumstances. Saber, an orphaned Iranian teen who works at the factory, is like a son to the good-hearted owner, Mr. Sabahi, while Marona, a young Afghan asylum seeker, is closely guarded by her anxious father. Meeting secretly in a one of the shipping containers housed in the factory yard, the charm and delight of their courtship makes a dramatic contrast with the harsh realities that await just a few meters away. When police raid the encampment and her father decides they must return to Afghanistan, though, Marona and Saber face a critical decision about their future. A remarkable first work from director Jamshid Mahmoudi—for whom cinema provided a ray of hope during his own experience as an Afghan refugee—this star-crossed romance features captivating performances from an entirely nonprofessional cast, bringing freshness and realism to a story that is both urgent and timeless.

Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film) Fajr International Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Director in First Film Competition)

Director: Jamshid Mahmoudi

Producer: Navid Mahmoudi

Screenwriter: Jamshid Mahmoudi

Cinematographer: Morteza Ghafouri

Editor: Sepideh Abdolvahab

Music: Sahand Mehdizadeh

Cast: Saed Soheili

Hassiba Ebrahimi

Nader Fallah

Alireza Ostadi

Masoud Mirtaheri

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Persian and Dari, with English subtitles

International Sales: DreamLab Films

Print Source: DreamLab Films

Film Website: dreamlabfilms.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

QUATSCH UND DIE NASENBÄR-BANDE

Fiddlesticks

GERMANY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 12:00 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

SATURDAY, MAY 30 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 31 1:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

The colorful village of Bollersdorf lies directly between northern and southern Germany, earning it the nickname “the belly button of the world,” and by all accounts is considered 100% average. Due to the town’s overwhelming normalness, a consumer studies company named GFK has set up its headquarters in the village square, from which it tests out its increasingly bizarre new products such as Green Corn Flakes and Blutella on the easily influenced public. But to the group of resourceful, rambunctious young children known as the Coati Gang, average is a dirty word, and they bemoan the fact that their grandparents have all been unceremoniously dumped into nursing homes as a result of their youthful, overactive imaginations and past careers as stunt pilots, bold mountaineers, and rocket car inventors. When the Coati Gang happens upon a book of world records, they get inspired and decide to break the village of its monotony through whatever means necessary. Director Veit Helmer has elated audiences worldwide with such charmers as Tuvalu (1999) and Absurdistan (2007), and the fantastical, wild, candy-coated Fiddlesticks is no different, a film as endlessly inventive as the Coati Gang themselves.

Awards: Zurich 2014 (Audience Award)

Director: Veit Helmer

Producer: Veit Helmer

Screenwriter: Hans-Ullrich Krause

Cinematographer: Felix Leiberg

Editor: Vincent Assmann

Music:

Malcolm Arison

Cherilyn Macneil

Cast: Benno Fürmann

Fritzi Haberlandt Rolf Zacher

Alexander Scheer

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

Print Source: Veit Helmer

Filmproduktion

Film Website: fiddlesticksmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Baikonur (2011)

Absurdistan (2007)

Gate to Heaven (2003) Tuvalu (1999)

EL INCENDIO

The Fire

ARGENTINA 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 6:00 PM

An intimate drama that deftly hints at a broader canvas, The Fire maps the fault lines of a nation by exploring the fractures between a woman and a man. On the day that Lucia (Pilar Gamboa) and Marcelo (Juan Barberini) are to make the payment on their new apartment, the seller peremptorily declares a 24-hour delay. With no option beside waiting, the couple hides away the one hundred thousand dollars in cash they amassed for the purchase and attempt to go about their day as if it were any other, rather than the stressful disruption of their planned future. Forced into this holding pattern, both find their dissatisfactions with the relationship, barely concealed on the best of days, boiling to the surface. Quick-tempered Marcelo, resentful that he couldn’t afford their new living space on his schoolteacher’s salary, allows his insecurity over Lucia’s family’s wealth to tie his guts in knots. Lucia’s anxieties over her potentially violent partner twist her insides in more tangible fashion, her tension so high she’s coughing up blood. Schnitman suggests how specific the pressures at play are to modernday Argentina, all the while maintaining claustrophobic focus on his two remarkable actors.

Director: Juan Schnitman

Producers:

Bárbara Francisco

Fernando Brom

Diego Dubcovsky

Screenwriter: Agustina Liendo

Cinematographer: Soledad Rodriguez

Editor:

Andrés P. Estrada

Music: Santiago Fumagalli

Federico Esquerro

Cast: Pilar Gamboa

Juan Barberini

Luciano Suardi

Marcelo D’Andrea

Andrea Garrote

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: FiGa Films

Print Source: FiGa Films

Film Website: pastocine.com.ar

Selected Filmography: Grande Para la Ciudad (Doc, 2007)

Love (Part One) (2005)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

206 Western Avenue West Seattle, WA 98119 (�206)� 281 9393

Excellent Location

3 blocks from the Seattle Center, Key Arena and a Short walk to the Seattle Waterfront

Spacious one and two bedroom suites with full kitchens

Complimentary Suite Start® Breakfast daily

Complimentary Welcome Home® Dinner Reception Monday through Thursday including beer and wine

LOREAK

Flowers

SPAIN 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 4:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Ane lives a quiet life, trapped in a seemingly loveless relationship, until she suddenly starts to receive weekly, anonymous bouquets of flowers. Meanwhile Tere wants nothing more than a grandchild, but her only son Beñat and his second wife Lourdes have other plans. A sudden, tragic event jolts all of their lives into a new reality, and flowers start to appear anonymously once again, in a different context: they no longer represent passion but a deep emotional memory. With a deep compassion for their characters, directors Jose Mari Goenaga and Jon Garaño (For 80 Days) examine the lingering consequences of the simple gesture of giving flowers, and the power inherent in something so delicate. “Emotionally precise, subtle, and quietly gripping…This is cinema for grown-ups, made for viewers with the life experience making them capable of recognizing its truths - but at the same time accessibly structured, like a thriller.”

Jonathan Holland, “The Hollywood Reporter”

Awards:

Palm Springs Film Festival 2015 (Cine Latino Award)

Goya Awards 2015 (Best Picture Nominee, Best Original Score Nominee) San Sebastian International Film Festival 2014 (Special Jury Mention)

Footloose USA 1984

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM

Directors: Jon Garaño

Jose Mari Goenaga

Producers: Xabier Berzosa

Iñaki Gomez

Iñigo Obeso

Screenwriters: Jose Mari Goenaga Iñakí Gomez Iñigo Obeso

Cinematographer: Javi Agirre Erauso

Editor: Raúl López

Music: Pascal Gaigne

Cast: Josean Bengoetxea

Nagore Aranburu Itziar Ituño

Itziar Aizpuru

Egoitz Lasa

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Basque with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

Film Website: www.filmfactoryentertainment. com/ficha.php?id=127

Selected Filmography: For 80 Days (2010)

In Footloose, a great hero named Kevin Bacon teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing is the greatest thing there is. At least that’s how Star Lord describes the story in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy—showing that Footloose isn’t just a seminal ’80s film, but a timeless classic. This story of big city teen Ren shaking up the small Midwestern town of Beaumont, a place where rock music and dancing are illegal thanks to a misguided reverend, is filled with rollicking and relatable dance sequences set to a soundtrack of non-stop hits: from the literally toe-tapping opening credits featuring Kenny Loggins’ Oscar®-nominated title song, to an iconic and acrobatic rage dance montage. But the film’s staying power is thanks to the very real portrayal of teenage life performed by a young and talented cast lead by the unstoppable Kevin Bacon, whose charismatic performance made him a cinema icon. Let’s hear it for the boy!

Director: Herbert Ross

Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil

Craig Zadan

Screenwriter: Dean Pitchford

Cinematographer: Ric Waite

Editor: Paul Hirsch

Music: Kenny Loggins

Jim Steinman

Tom Snow

Cast: Kevin Bacon

Lori Singer

Dianne Wiest

John Lithgow

Chris Penn

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Paramount Pictures

Selected Filmography: Boys on the Side (1995)

Undercover Blues (1993)

True Colors (1991)

My Blue Heaven (1990)

Steel Magnolias (1989)

The Secret of My Succe$s (1987)

Max Dugans Returns (1983)

Nijinsky (1980)

The Turning Point (1977)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

The Forecaster

MONDAY, MAY 25 4:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 29 1:30 PM

In 1981, financial advisor Martin Armstrong founded Princeton Economics International. Using his mysterious Economic Confidence Model (based on a cryptic formula incorporating business cycles and the number Pi), the company became a financial juggernaut, predicting financial market crises and global conflicts with incredible precision. Armstrong’s lectures on the relationship between international finance and geopolitics garnered him a great deal of attention, first from the banking industry, and then from the FBI, who seized both his assets and his computer model, accusing him of running a three billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Though no judgment was passed against him, Armstrong spent the next twelve years in prison. Now he’s returned with his scariest prediction yet, the same warning that he made before his arrest— that a global debt crisis will begin in October 2015. Co-directors Marcus Vetter and Karin Steinberger use Georg Zengerling’s striking widescreen cinematography to transport us from the financial corridors of Wall Street to the beaches of Australia and hotel rooms in Bangkok. Together, they weave archival footage, insider interviews, and courtroom illustrations into an unapologetically partisan portrait of a man who is either a singularly gifted con man, or possibly one of the most important whistleblowers of the modern era.

PACIFIC PLACE

PACIFIC PLACE

Directors:

Marcus Vetter

Karin Steinberger

Producers:

Marcus Vetter

Ulli Pfau

Michael Heiks

Cinematographer: Georg Zengerling

Editor:

Marcus Vetter

Music: Sven Kaiser

Featuring: Martin Armstrong

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Autlook Filmsales

Print Source: Autlook Filmsales

Film Website: forecaster-movie.com

Selected Filmography:

VETTER:

The International Criminal Court (Michèle Gentile, Doc, 2013)

Cinema Jenin: The Story of a Dream (Doc, 2011)

The Heart of Jenin (Lior Geller, Doc, 2008)

STEINBERGER:

Debut Feature Film

For Grace USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 15 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SUNDAY, MAY 17 3:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

We often order a delicious item off the menu, but who’s the human behind the food?

Documentarians Kevin Pang and Mark Helenowski tell the real-life story of Curtis Duffy, an ambitious yet difficult chef mounting a new restaurant in Chicago. The Michelinstarred culinary artist is fixated on his eatery, Grace, becoming the most renowned in the country. Duffy certainly has his goals in sight, but his pride comes at a price—his ambition has cost him his family. Will his troubled drive get in the way of success? A shattering look at personal drive, accomplishment, family, and food, For Grace is the rare documentary that’s not cut around the edges—it goes right into the fire. Duffy is a fascinating, complex, and astounding subject whom Pang and Helenowski followed for three years, while also delving deep into his childhood and rise in the culinary world. Divisive and surprising while remaining delectable and tasty, For Grace is a main course of pure cinema.

Directors: Mark Helenowski

Kevin Pang

Producers: Mark Helenowski

Kevin Pang

Cinematographers: Mark Helenowski

Kevin Pang

Editors: Mark Helenowski

Kevin Pang

Music:

The Hudson Branch

Featuring: Curtis Duffy

Michael Muser

Ruth Snider

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Preferred Content

Print Source: For Grace Film

Film Website: forgracefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Fourth Man Out

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 2:30 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 2:30 PM

Adam (Evan Todd) lives an uneventful life in upstate New York, spending the majority of his time at the auto body shop where he works and pounding back shots at the local watering hole with his buddies Chris (Parker Young, “Enlisted”), Nick (Chord Overstreet, “Glee”), and Ortu (Jon Gabrus, “CollegeHumor”). Now it’s his 24th birthday, and he feels that this is the perfect opportunity to come clean and reveal his secret: he’s gay. His friends take the news in stride, and although they still find it difficult to refrain from inserting casual homophobia and gay panic into conversation, they go out of their way to set him up with local gay men regardless of compatibility. But for the rest of his working class small town, which includes a god-fearing, baking-friendly neighbor as well as an oblivious family insistent upon setting Adam up with one of his female high school flings, the truth may be too much for them to handle. Lighthearted and unexpectedly subversive, this is a refreshingly unique take on coming out of the blue-collar closet.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Andrew Nackman

Producers: Lauren Avinoam

Lauren Hogarth

Jed Mellick

Screenwriter: Aaron Dancik

Cinematographer: Damian Horan

Editor: Michael Shawver

Music: Herman Beeftink

Cast: Evan Todd

Parker Young

Chord Overstreet

Jon Gabrus

Kate Flannery

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Fourth Man Out LLC

Film Website: laurenavinoam.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Frame by Frame

AFGHANISTAN 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 10:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 17 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, MAY 18 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

While the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photograph was a crime. After the regime’s ouster from Kabul in 2001, a fledgling free press began to emerge, and a photography revolution was born. In Frame by Frame, directors Alexandria Bombach and Mo Scarpelli follow four photographers in the vanguard of that revolution: Massoud Hossaini, who received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography; his wife, Farzana Wahidy, who chronicles the lives of Afghan women; Wakil Kohsar, whose work focuses on the margins of society; and Najibullah Musafar, who teaches photography in addition to his own photojournalism. Believing that photographic images are integral to a country’s identity, these four seek to reframe their country for its citizens and for the world. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, the stakes are high, and the number of cases of violence against journalists is rising. Exquisitely crafted and emotionally powerful, Frame by Frame offers an exceptional illustration of the power of art, and its price.

Awards: Cleveland International Film Festival 2015 (ReelWomenDirect Award for Directing)

Directors: Mo Scarpelli

Alexandria Bombach

Producers: Mo Scarpelli

Alexandria Bombach

Jeff Orlowski

Screenwriters: Mo Scarpelli

Alexandria Bombach

Cinematographers: Alexandria Bombach

Mo Scarpelli

Editor: Alexandria Bombach

Music: Patrick Jonsson

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Dari, with English subtitles

Print Source: Frame by Frame LLC

Film Website: www.framebyframethefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SZABADESÉS

Free Fall

HUNGARY/FRANCE/SOUTH KOREA 2014

SUDAY, MAY 17 11:00 AM

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:00 PM

György Pálfi, an expert at the unexpected turn, won several international awards with his first, dialogue-less feature, Hukkle, and pushed the cinematic and conceptual envelope with the visceral Taxidermia four years later. In his next film, the entertaining Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen, presented in Cannes and at SIFF Cinema, Pálfi strung together hundreds of scenes from famous films to create his own version of romance Hollywood-style. This leading-edge director takes us on yet another wild ride in Free Fall, where a woman, ascending the stairs after a non-fatal fall from the top floor, leads us through the bizarre goings-on in a Hungarian apartment house. Between a couple who speak the same language without ever seeming to communicate, a sealed-in pair of germaphobes, and a woman who goes through an incredibly surreal reverse-birth, these seemingly unconnected (and somewhat unbelievable) stories show equally potent slices of contemporary Hungarian life. Part sci-fi and part social realism, the characters who fall are the ones who truly survive.

Awards:

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014 (Special Jury Prize, Best Director Award)

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

LINCOLN SQUARE

Director: György Pálfi

Producer: Ferenc Pusztai

Screenwriter: Zsófia Ruttkay

György Pálfi

Cinematographer: Gergely Pohárnok

Editor: Réka Lemhényi

Music:

Amon Tobin

Cast: Piroska Molnár

Zsolt Nagy

Tamás Jordän

Miklós Benedek

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hungarian, with English subtitles

Selected Filmography:

Final Cut - Ladies and Gentlemen (2012)

I Am Not Your Friend (2009)

Taxidermia (2006) Hukkle (2003)

Front Cover

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 29 3:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 9:30 PM

Ray Yeung’s sophomore feature film, Front Cover, is a mature, nuanced drama that explores the relationship between two Asian men as they battle the cultural norms that keep them from living an honest, authentic life. Ryan (Jake Choi) is a 29-year-old gay Asian American living in New York City and working as an assistant to a high-powered celebrity fashion stylist. Growing up the son of poor immigrants in NYC’s Chinatown, Ryan has worked to distance himself from his Asian heritage in order to seem more modern and hip. But when he receives an assignment to style Ning (James Chen), a visiting actor from Beijing, Ryan’s efforts to “Westernize” the production are rejected in favor of something that better reflects the “power of the new China.” As Ryan and Ning work together to prepare Ning’s wardrobe for the shoot, they grow closer, and Ning eventually reveals he is living a double life as a closeted homosexual in China, leading to a series of surprising decisions that each man must make in order to stay true to himself. Funny, warm, and overflowing with humanity, Ray Yeung’s Front Cover is a rare indie film that appeals to a wide audience without sacrificing any authenticity.

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Ray Yeung

Producer: Kaer Vanice

Screenwriter: Ray Yeung

Cinematographer: Eun-an Lee

Editor: Joseph Gutowsky

Music:

Paul Turner

Cast: Jake Choi

James Chen

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: fortissimofilms.com

Selected Filmography: Cut Sleeve Boy (2006)

EL INVENTOR DE JUEGOS

The Games Maker

ARGENTINA/CANADA/ITALY 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 1:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 11:00 AM HARVARD EXIT

MONDAY, MAY 25 1:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Sometimes tremendous adventure can spring from the most insignificant event. In the case of young Ivan Drago, it all begins with a simple competition in a comic book, a challenge to invent a game. This one action catapults Ivan to go on a complicated quest—from a spooky, sinking prep school to the charming town of his grandfather—every place tests his cleverness and creativity. With evil game maker Morodian always trailing just one step behind, Ivan’s life quickly transforms into a game more complicated than he could ever imagine. Boasting both beloved and shady characters, family secrets and a fantastical world not rooted in the familiar, the magic of this story lies in the eerie atmosphere that prevails. Based on the Argentine novel by Pablo de Santis, this film and its young star David Mazouz capture the wonder and strangeness of childhood with a carnival-esque charm that’s bound to delight children and adults alike. In English. Ages 8+

Awards:

Argentina Academy Awards 2014 (Best Art Direction, Costume, Make-up)

Director: Juan Pablo Buscarini

Producer: Pablo Bossi

Juan Pablo Buscarini

Jose Ibanez

Tina Pehme

Kim Roberts

Screenwriter: Juan Pablo Buscarini

Damon Syson

Lucinda Syson

Pablo De Santis

Cinematographer: Roman Osin

Editor: Austin Andrews

Music: Keith Power

Cast: David Mazouz

Joseph Fiennes

Ed Asner

Megan Charpentier

Tom Cavanagh

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: Cinema Management

Group

Print Source: Pampa Films

Film Website: thegamesmaker.com

Selected Filmography:

The Ark (2007)

The Hairy Tooth Fairy (2006)

Condor Crux (2000)

LES GAZELLES

Gazelles

FRANCE 2014

US PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 15 8:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 2:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM

Marie is facing a personal crisis. She has been with her boyfriend Eric for 14 years and they just bought an apartment and committed to a mortgage together. This is too much for her; she suddenly feels like she is suffocating. A sudden encounter with a handsome and audacious man forces her to make a decision—break up with Eric and embrace her freedom at any cost. Marie ends up living with her co-worker Sandra, a flirty single who introduces her to all of her nutty all-single girlfriends. In their company, Marie experiences how it is to be 30 and single for the first time. It starts with a lot of fun, with crazy parties and random guys. But she then discovers a tough reality: at her age, being single is quickly perceived as a suspicious defect. Nonetheless, thanks to a bunch of independent and hilarious women, Marie learns to consider her new life as a chance to learn a little bit more about a different side of herself. In her second feature, Mona Achache creates a fizzy comedy carried by a charismatic and comic female cast.

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Mona Achache

Producers: Mathias Rubin

Eric Juherian

Screenwriters: Camille Chamoux

Cécile Sellam

Mona Achache

Elodie Monlibert

Cinematographer: Patrick Blossier

Editor: Béatrice Herminie

Music: Eric Neveux

Cast: Camille Chamoux

Audrey Fleurot

Joséphine de Maux

Franck Gastambide

Anne Brochet

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Other Angle Pictures

Print Source:

Other Angle Pictures

Film Website: facebook.com/ LesGazelles

Selected Filmography: The Hedgehog (2009)

Gemma Bovery

FRANCE 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 3:30 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Adapted from Gustave Flaubert’s classic tale via Posy Simmonds’ popular graphic novel, this sexy, lighthearted take on everyone’s favorite housewife gone astray stars a delectable Gemma Arterton (Byzantium, SIFF 2013) and a hilariously hapless Fabrice Luchini (Intimate Strangers). When retired Paris publisher Martin Joubert moves back to his Normandy village to take over the family bakery with spouse and son in tow, he is surprised to discover the plot of Flaubert’s famous novel “Madame Bovary” unfolding in the present day, as British expat Charlie Bovery (Jason Flemyng, Layer Cake) and his gorgeous young wife, Gemma, move in next door. Captivated, Joubert starts snooping on his new neighbor, eventually striking up a flirty friendship only to watch helplessly as Gemma falls for Herve (Niels Schneider, Heartbeats), the dashing son of the local lord (Further eye candy is provided by the luscious, sundrenched French countryside.) Written and directed by SIFF favorite Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel), Gemma Bovery is a pretty, witty homage to a timeless masterpiece.

Director:

Anne Fontaine

Producer:

Philippe Carcassonne

Matthieu Tarot

Sidonie Dumas

Screenwriter:

Pascal Bonitzer

Anne Fontaine

Cinematographer: Christophe Beaucarne

Editor:

Annette Dutertre

Music:

Bruno Coulais

Cast:

Gemma Arterton

Fabrice Luchini

Jason Flemyng

Niels Schneider

Elsa Zylberstein

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English, French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: Music Box Films

Film Website: musicboxfilms.com/ gemmabovery

Selected Filmography: Adore (2013)

Coco Before Chanel (2009)

The Girl from Monaco (2008)

Nathalie (2003)

Gente de Bien

COLOMBIA/FRANCE 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 9:30 PM

HARVARD EXIT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Without warning, 10-year-old Eric (Brayan Santamaría) is sent to live with his estranged handyman father Gabriel (Carlos Fernando Pérez), whom he barely knows. Gabriel does odd jobs for the kindly Marie-Isabel (Alejandra Borrero), an upper middle class woman with children of her own. Over the Christmas holidays she tries to treat Eric like one of the family, but socio-economic differences can’t easily be ignored, and a series of uncomfortable incidents damages the trust between them. Gente de Bien (which can be translated as both “Good People” and “Rich People”) doesn’t sugarcoat class issues, but still manages to convey a child’s sense of joy and wonder alongside its bittersweet life lessons. Featured in the 2014 Critics’ week section of the Cannes Film Festival and winner of the Best Film Award at the prestigious Lima Film Festival, director Franco Lolli’s humanist debut feature is a powerful, poignant example of contemporary South American social realism, anchored by an effortlessly charming and natural central performance by Santamaría.

Awards:

Lima Film Festival 2014 (Best Film)

San Sebastian Film Festival 2014 (Horizontes Latinos Special Mention)

Director: Franco Lolli

Producer: Grégoire Debailly

Screenwriters: Franco Lolli

Catherine Paillé

Cinematographer: Oscar Durán

Editors: Nicolas Desmaison

Julie Duclaux

Cast:

Brayan Santamaría

Carlos Fernando Pérez

Alejandra Borrero

Santiago Martínez

Sofía Rivas

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Versatile

Print Source: Versatile

Film Website: versatilefilms.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

DIV DANG

Gentle

VIETNAM/USA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, MAY 25 8:00 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Linh (Nguyen Thanh Tu) has just committed suicide by silently, peacefully throwing herself off of the apartment roof. Her distraught husband Thien (Dustin Nguyen) stands over her lifeless body and in flashbacks recounts their initial courtship, marriage, and slow descent into melancholy. Thien, a pawnbroker in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, spends much of his days rejecting fake jewels from the townsfolk, but when beautiful Linh comes in with her own, he is smitten and lets hers slide. After assigning detective duties to a close friend, he gets the skinny on Linh, an orphan whose two cruel aunts have promised her hand to an abusive butcher, and decides to woo her in order to save her from her impoverished upbringing. Once married, however, Thien and Linh’s fondness for each other quickly dissolves; he is fastidious and patronizing, she is emotionally disconnected, and their mealtime habits, lovemaking sessions, and time spent together at the pawn shop take on an air of unbearable dread and malice. But it is her adherence to Christianity and desire to sing with the local choir that distresses Thien the most, as it threatens to expose a fraught incident from his troubled past. Adapted from Dostoevsky’s 1876 novella “A Gentle Creature” and featuring subtly restrained performances, this atmospheric slow-burn drama is by turns poetic and thrilling.

Director: Kiet Le-Van

Producers: Dan Tran

Nicole Kim Le

Screenwriter: Kiet Le-Van

Cinematographer: Laurent Machuel

Editor: Dan Quyen Luu

Music: Dang Tue Nguyen

Cast: Dustin Nguyen Thanh Tu Nguyen Kieu Trinh

Hong Thy

Bich Hang

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Vietnamese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Oration Films

Print Source: Oration Films

Selected Filmography: House in the Alley (2012) Dust of Life (2007)

Ghadi

LEBANON/QATAR 2014

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 6:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

FIDAY, JUNE 5 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

A warm-hearted and uplifting social satire about bigotry and redemption, Ghadi unfolds in a traditional Lebanese coastal town. After a difficult childhood growing up being teased for his stutter, Leba becomes a beloved music instructor and marries his childhood sweetheart, Lara. Eventually, they have two beautiful daughters, followed by their son, Ghadi, who is born with Down syndrome. Ghadi spends most of his time at the window of their house facing the street, making loud noises in imitation of his father’s singing. Without much understanding or empathy, the townspeople start complaining about his presence, spreading rumors that he is a demon, and creating a petition to evict him from the town. Horrified, and determined not to send his son away to an institution, Leba hatches a clever plan to convince his neighbors to change their minds and see Ghadi as a more benign, even heavenly being. Funny and lighthearted, but never losing sight of the issue at hand, Ghadi is a comedy with a conscience.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Busan International Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Fondacion Liban Cinema (Best Film, Best Actor)

Director: Amin Dora

Producer: Gabriel Chamoun

Screenwriter: Georges Khabbaz

Cinematographer: Karim Ghorayeb

Editor: Rana Sabbagha

Music: Nadim Mishlawi

Cast: Georges Khabbaz

Lara Rain

Emmanuel Khairallah Camille Salameh Rodrigue Sleiman

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: ghadithemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Glamour & The Squalor USA 2015

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 7:00 PM

EGYPTIAN

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 4:15 PM HARVARD

The Glamour & The Squalor provides an apt title for this unflinching profile of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame disc jockey Marco Collins, who became a radio star in the 1990s and battled drug addiction in the 2000s (the film’s title comes from a show he did on San Diego’s 91X). Collins served as the inaugural music director at Seattle’s commercial alternative station, 107.7 The End, and helped to break world-renowned acts like Nirvana and Beck. In the film, he travels back to Southern California, where his lack of interest in sports attracted bullying from classmates and disappointment from his father, a narrow-minded policeman, but where he found punk rock, which led him to radio. In 1991, he found his way to the Seattle radio station KNDD just as grunge was starting to rise to the surface. Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), and numerous others credit him for getting the word out about their bands. He was also gay at a time when the music scene wasn’t quite as accepting. After leaving The End, Marco plunged into a less glamorous world of odd jobs, stints in rehab, and profound losses. In this stirring portrait, he emerges bloodied but not unbowed.

EXIT

Director:

Marq Evans

Producers:

Marq Evans

Andy Mininger

Michelle Quisenberry

Jennifer Reibman

Screenwriters: Marq Evans

Jeff Gilbert

Cinematographer: Tadd Sackville-West

Editor:

Jeff Gilbert

Music:

Mike McCready

Featuring: Marco Collins

Shirley Manson

Macklemore

Ben Gibbard

Mike McCready

Matt Pinfield

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Oranje Films

Film Website: glamoursqualorfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Glassland IRELAND 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 30 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE MONDAY, JUNE 1 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

For John, a young Irish cabdriver, “Every day is the same day.” His nightly fares around the crime-ridden south Dublin neighborhoods barely pay the bills, a situation made worse by his alcoholic mother, Jean (Toni Collette), whose constant drinking makes her virtually unemployable, and his special needs younger brother, Kit. When John comes home one evening to find her near death, their subsequent emergency hospital visit reveals she needs expensive medical treatment, which includes a new kidney and an intensive rehab stint. In a desperate bid to save his mother from her addiction and unite his broken family, John skirts the fringes of the criminal underworld, searching for a job with a potential big payoff. But will he be prepared to act when the time comes knowing that whatever he decides to do, his life and family will be changed forever?

One of the most critically lauded films out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Glassland garnered raves for its two leads, Toni Collette and Jack Reynor, the latter’s performance earning him a Special Jury Prize, and in only his second feature film, director Gerard Barrett crafts an elegant and compassionate portrait of compromised lives.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting)

Director: Gerard Barrett

Producer: Ed Guiney

Juliette Bonass

Screenwriter: Gerard Barrett

Cinematographer: Piers McGrail

Editor: Nathan Nugent

Cast: Jack Reynor

Toni Collette

Will Poulter

Michael Smiley

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation

Format:

DCP

International Sales: Kaleidoscope Film

Distribution

Print Source: Kaleidoscope Film

Distribution

Film Website: kaleidoscopefilmdistribution.com

Selected Filmography: Pilgrim Hill (2013)

SIFF CINEMA

HUANG JIN SHI DAI

The Golden Era

HONG KONG/CHINA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 7:30 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

SATURDAY, MAY 30 9:00 PM

Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui follows up her international success A Simple Life with an audacious, illuminating, much-needed look into the life of Xio Hang (Tang Wei, Lust, Caution), a poet and essayist who despite her short life became one of China’s most influential writers of the 20th century. Structured to reflect Xio Hang’s writing and the perspective of those intellectuals who knew her, The Golden Era tells the story of an exceptional free thinker who was way ahead of her time in the politically turbulent China of the 1930s. Born in Manchuria in 1911, she ran away at age 20 to escape from an abusive father and an arranged marriage. Soon, her married lover abandons her, leaving her pregnant and in debt. When her landlord threatens to sell her to a brothel, she desperately turns to the local newspaper for help. It is an unlikely beginning for what Xio Hang was to call her “Golden Era.” With a sweeping narrative structure and exquisite you-are-there production design, this bold, beautiful biopic delves into the personal life of a landmark artist with aplomb.

Awards: Hong Kong Film Awards 2015 (Best Film, Director, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume & Makeup)

Asian Film Awards 2015 (Best Director, Supporting Actor)

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film) Golden Horse Awards 2014 (Best Director)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Ann Hui

Producers: Qin Hong

La Peikang

Bill Kong

Yuan Mei

Screenwriter: Li Qiang

Cinematographer: Wang Yu

Editor: Manda Wai

Music: Eli Marshall

Cast: Tang Wei

Feng Shao Feng

Zhu Yawen

Wang Zhiwen

Running Time: 179 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin and Cantonese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Edko Films

Print Source: China Lion Entertainment

Film Website: TheGoldenEraMovie.com

Selected Filmography:

A Simple Life (2011)

All About Love (2010)

Night and Fog (2009)

The Way We Are (2008)

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006)

Ordinary Heroes (1999)

The Secret (1979)

SERDHAK

The Golden Hill

NEPAL 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:00 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

The Golden Hill is set in the breathtakingly beautiful mountain region of Mustang, Nepal. When Lhakpa returns home to his remote village after a stint in the big city, he has trouble coping with his feelings about these two realities co-existing inside of him. On the one hand, he desperately desires to become an engineer in order to better the overall development of his village, but on the other hand recent troubles involving his family become a driving force for him to stay put and perhaps delay these aspirations. Mix in a romance with a childhood sweetheart and a lot of self-discovery, The Golden Hill is a warm yet complex tale that interweaves Lhakpa’s struggle to adapt with his relationships to the village people that mean so much to him and the rugged mountainscape that raised him.

Director: Rajan Kathet

Producers: Tsewang Rinzin Gurung

Min Bahadur Bham

Screenwriter: Tsewang Rinzin Gurung

Cinematographers: Ali Rasheed

Ngima Gelu Lama

Editor: Ali Rasheed

Music: Sangam Panta

Cast: Tsewang Rinzin Gurung

Yeshi Choeden

Kunga Tashi

Mentok Gurung

Running Time: 74 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Nepalese and Tibetan, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shooney Films

Print Source: Shooney Films

Film Website: facebook.com/SerdhakTheFilm

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Goodnight Mommy

FRIDAY, MAY 15 9:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 18 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Prepare to be creeped out! This discreetly warped Austrian chiller comes to us from the unsentimental, psychologically probing school of Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke, though it’s by no means sure the latter would approve of such macabre funny games. Seidl, on the other hand, signed on as producer for this first co-directing effort from one of his regular screenwriters, Veronika Franz, and his nephew, Fiala. Nine-year-old twins Lukas and Elias have the run of an isolated country house for the entire summer, all the more so since their mother is recovering from recent cosmetic surgery (she spends most of the film with her face wrapped in bandages). For reasons that are implied but never stated, she refuses to acknowledge the existence of one of her sons – a punishment that only inspires deeper and graver transgressions on his part, and which he repays in full when he persuades his brother that the cruel, severe woman under the bandages can’t possibly be their mom. This battle of wills mutates into something altogether nastier in the horrifying climax.

Awards: Thessaloniki Film Festival 2014 (FIPRESCI Prize)

Directors:

Veronika Franz

Severin Fiala

Producer: Ulrich Seidl

Screenwriters: Veronika Franz

Severin Fiala

Cinematographer: Martin Gschlacht

Editor: Michael Palm

Music: Olga Neuwirth

Cast: Susanne Wuest Elias Schwarz

Lukas Schwarz

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Distribution

Print Source: RADiUS-TWC

Film Website: ichsehichseh.at

Selected Filmography: Kern (Doc, 2012)

Good Ol’ Boy

MONDAY, JUNE 1 8:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Smith is a 10-year-old boy born in India but growing up in ’70s suburban America. His favorite television show is “Happy Days,” and he idolizes John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. All he wants is to taste a little bit of Kentucky Fried Chicken, play with his Star Wars figurines, and spend time with the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl next door, Amy. But things aren’t that easy when he has to deal with his overbearing father pushing his Indian heritage at him from every angle. What if he doesn’t want to be a neurosurgeon, or marry a stranger when he turns 22? And there’s no doubt that everyone in his class will laugh at him if he brings a yellow gourd to school to carve instead of a pumpkin on Halloween. Smith’s strong urge to be one of America’s “good ol’ boys” begins to create a growing gap between him and his family, until a hunting adventure with Butch, Amy’s allAmerican cowboy of a father, tips things over the edge. This sweet, hilarious coming-of-age story illustrates the fight we all take part in to reconcile where we came from with where we’re going.

Director: Frank Lotito

Producers: Anjul Nigam

Frank Lotito

Steve Straka

Screenwriters: Anjul Nigam

Paul Quinn

Gregory Scott Houghton

Cinematographer: Thomas Scott Stanton

Editor: Joshua Rathmell

Music: Michael Lira

Cast: Jason Lee

Anjul Nigam

Brighton Sharbino

Hilarie Burton

Roni Akurati

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Brittany House Pictures

Film Website: goodolboythemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Graziella

FRANCE 2014

US PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A projectionist (Denis Lavant, Holy Motors) who aches to be the creator behind the films he shows, and a nurse (Rossy De Palma, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) who is also a late-night dancer once formed an unspoken connection. Honest, but from a distance, their relationship was something special. Now, years later, they are reunited in the most unlikely of places— prison. Finishing up their heavy sentences and awaiting their inevitable release, they stay in adjoining cells and learn together to start picking up the pieces of their lives, holding on to each other when their families and the communities around them turn their backs. Drawing inspiration from his time working in the prison system, teaching inmates to read and write, director Mehdi Charef crafts a quiet drama about love, identity, and rebuilding your life.

Director: Mehdi Charef

Producer: Michèle Gavras

Screenwriter: Mehdi Charef

Cinematographer: Yorgos Arvanitis

Editor: Yorgos Lamprinos

Music: Eric Neveux

Cast: Rossy De Palma

Denis Lavant

Claire Nebout

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: KG Productions

Print Source: KG Productions

Film Website: kgproductions.fr

Selected Filmography: Cartouches Gauloises (2007)

Daughter of Keltoum (2001)

Marie-Line (2000)

In the Country of Juliets (1992)

Camomille (1988)

Miss Mona (1987)

Tea in the Harem (1985)

The Great Alone

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 3:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

If one could be said to have sled dog racing in his blood, it would be Lance Mackey. Born to hardy “musher” parents—his mother used to race while Lance was in the womb, kicking along with her—Lance watched his father, Dick Mackey, a co-founder of Alaska’s famed Iditarod Sled Dog Race, win the 1,200-mile trek in 1978; he’s been hooked ever since. As he was preparing to match his father’s feat, however, he was stricken with throat cancer in 2001, forcing him to sideline his lifelong quest to master one of the most challenging races in the world. After surgery and radiation, he was able to resume his sled dog training, winning progressively harder races while always keeping his eyes on the Iditarod prize. Shot in 2013 on location during one of Lance’s Iditarod attempts, The Great Alone every bonejarring bump and icy scrape Lance endured along the diabolically cruel route, while also flashing back to Lance’s childhood through archival footage and home movies made during his recovery. Viewers may almost feel the mind-numbing cold of Alaska’s icescapes, as viewed through director Greg Kohs’ keen documentarian eye, but they’ll never forget the warmth of Lance’s determination in one of the greatest true underdog stories in mushing history.

Director: Greg Kohs

Producer: Jonathan Hock

Screenwriter: Greg Kohs

Cinematographer: Ross Riege

Editor: Debbie McMurtrey

Music: Craig Minowa

Cloud Cult

Featuring: Lance Mackey

Dick Mackey

Kathie Smith

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Cinetic Media

Film Website: thegreatalone.com

Selected Filmography: Song Sung Blue (Doc, 2008) Cowtown (Doc, 2010)

PACIFIC PLACE

MIELENSÄPAHOITTAJA

The Grump

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 4:00 PM

After a bad fall, an old curmudgeonly farmer moves into the home of his son and daughter-in-law, where he is confronted with the modern age and leaving his ideas about “the good old days” behind. Donning a fur hat with ear-flaps and a frown, our titular protagonist is stubbornly intolerant of all the new changes happening around him. Even things like his uptight daughter-in-law’s lavender scented bathroom and the exorbitant amount of herbal teas in the kitchen pull at his patience. Struggling to exist in this new world, and so far away from his isolated farm on the outskirts of Helsinki, the old man’s antiquated views do nothing but clash with the self-involved, trendy attitude of everyone around him. When he ends up wrecking his daughter-in-law’s business deal with “those damn Russians,” whatever balance the household had comes crashing down. Based on the popular novel by Finnish author Tuomas Kyrö, The Grump is a charming and comedic social satire that somehow retains a harmonious level of both hate and compassion toward its extremely crotchety antihero.

Awards:

Jussi Awards 2015 (Best Actor)

RENTON IKEA PAC

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Dome Karukoski

Producers: Jukka Helle

Markus Selin

Screenwriters: Dome Karukoski

Tuomas Kyrö

Cinematographer: Pini Hellstedt

Editor: Harri Ylönen

Music: Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson

Cast: Antti Litja

Petra Frey

Mari Perankoski

Iikka Forss

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Finnish, Russian, and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: The Yellow Affair

Print Source: The Finnish Film Foundation

Selected Filmography:

Heart of a Lion (2013)

Lapland Odyssey (2010)

Forbidden Fruit (2009)

The Home of Dark

Butterflies (2008)

Beauty and the Bastard (2005)

Güeros

MEXICO 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 9:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 PM

Restless teen Tomas decides to spend an afternoon throwing water balloons off the roof of his apartment building, until one explodes in a baby stroller and his mom catches him. Completely fed up with her son’s trouble making, she sends him off to live with his older brother Fede, a college student in Mexico City. Soon Tomas finds himself dropped into a playful, freeform world where Fede and his flatmates laze about, having boycotted school for the past 163 days as part of a student strike. But Tomas and his brother have other concerns, mainly roaming the city in search of Epigmenio Cruz, the aging rock star they idolize. Director Alonso Ruizpalacios, one of the most exciting new Mexican directors, brings his debut feature to life with a specific sense of time and place, riffing on the French New Wave with wit and style and a great cast; he makes daring and imaginative choices both in the film’s editing and in its black and white, academy-ratio cinematography.

Awards:

Berlin Film Festival 2014 (Panorama Best First Feature)

Mumbai International Film Festival 2014 (Grand Jury Prize)

Tribeca Film Festival 2014 (Best Cinematography, New Narrative Director)

San Sebastian Film Festival 2014 (Festival Youth Award, Horizontes Latinos Award)

AFI Fest 2014 (New Auteurs Audience Award)

Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Producer: Ramiro Ruiz

Screenwriters: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Gibran Portela

Cinematographer: Damian Garcia

Editors: Yibran Asaud

Ana García

Music: Tomás Barreiro

Cast: Ilse Salas

Tenoch Huerta

Sebastian Aguirre

Leonardo Ortizgris

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Mundial

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: mundialsales.com/gueros

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

Guidance

CANADA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 9:30 PM

HARVARD EXIT

SATURDAY, MAY 16 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Packed with a plethora of drug-addled and troubled teens, Grusin High School is every teacher’s worst nightmare. Luckily, David Gold—former “Wacky Street” child star and self-destructive disaster—has just manipulated himself into the role of their guidance counselor. Determined to make a difference in students’ lives between slugs of tequila and cigarettes, David (flawlessly played by writer/director Pat Mills, “You Can’t Do That on Television”) offers them preposterous advice. But even as he’s fixing one girl’s shyness with vodka shots, advocating for increased promiscuity, and buying drugs from the school’s dealer, his aspirations to inspire confidence and self-love in students ring true. Though considered “pathologically immature” by many, David’s quirkiness and zest for life give Guidance a kick of color and originality. Peppered with laugh-out-loud moments and a remarkable supporting cast, this film puts a twist on the concept of “Hollywood redemption” by offering a protagonist that is anything but the usual hero.

Director:

Pat Mills

Producers:

Alyson Richards

Mike MacMillan

Screenwriter: Pat Mills

Cinematographer: Daniel Grant

Editor: Bryan Atkinson

Music:

Menalon Music

Cast: Pat Mills

Zahra Bentham

Kevin Hanchard

Alex Ozerov

Eleanor Zichy

Running Time: 81 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source:

Strand Releasing

Film Website: guidancethefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Secondary High (2002)

H.USA/ARGENTINA 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Part melodrama, part tragedy, part science fiction, H. is about nothing less than motherhood in the face of grand forces outside of one’s control. Helen (Robin Bartlett, Inside Llewyn Davis) is well into her 60s, and to offset her unremarkable marriage to Roy (Julian Gamble, “House of Cards”) is ensconced in the world of “Reborn Dolls,” wherein select women take care of lifelike plastic babies, even posting online videos of proper feeding and burping techniques. Across town lives a younger woman, also named Helen (Rebecca Dayan, Celeste & Jesse Forever), an experimental photographer who must balance her tenuous relationship with her philandering partner Alex (Will Janowitz, “The Sopranos”) and her second trimester. But when what appears to be a meteor falls out of the sky and explodes, bizarre things begin happening in the snowy town of Troy, NY: glasses shatter, the magnetic poles reverse, men hear piercing noises that turn their eyes bloodshot, and many townsfolk suffer from “temporary walking comas” and wander off into the woods. As the two Helens watch the events unfold on the local television news, each descends into madness in this eerie, surreal mix of myth and modern from co-writers/directors Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia.

Awards: Independent Spirit Awards 2015 (Someone to Watch Award)

Directors: Rania Attieh

Daniel Garcia

Producers: Pierce Varous

Ivan Eibuszyc

Matthew Thurm

Shruti Ganguly

Rania Attieh

Daniel Garcia

Screenwriters: Rania Attieh

Daniel Garcia

Cinematographer: Daniel Garcia

Editors: Rania Attieh

Daniel Garcia

Music: Kazu Makino

Alex Weston

Jesse Gelaznik

Daniel Garcia

Cast: Robin Bartlett

Rebecca Dayan

Will Janowitz

Julian Gamble

Roger Robinson

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Film Sales Company

Print Source: Nice Dissolve

Film Website: hthemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Recommended by Enrique (2014)

Ok, Enough, Goodbye (2011)

Haemoo

SOUTH KOREA 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 25 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

FRIDAY, MAY 29 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Co-written and produced by Bong Joon-ho, the brilliant Korean filmmaker responsible for Snowpiercer and The Host, this atmospheric and extremely tense thriller begins in social realist mode—with a sympathetic portrait of a rundown fishing trawler and the hardpressed crew trying to keep their heads above water—before plunging into murkier descents of greed, cruelty and psychosis. Faced with losing his boat to bankruptcy, skipper Kang (Kim Yoon-seok) agrees to a lucrative deal to pick up a group of Korean-Chinese migrants and smuggle them into the country. This pact goes tragically awry, as everything that could go wrong on this voyage, does tenfold. First-time director Shim Sung-Bo doesn’t just ratchet up the tension, he keeps turning the ethical screws on his beleaguered characters as well, as Kang’s first fateful misjudgment leads everyone down a long, foggy tunnel of horrible consequences and mounting suffering. Inspired by a notorious true story, Haemoo is not for delicate sensibilities or faint hearts!

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Blue Dragon Awards 2014 (Best New Actor, Art Direction)

Grand Bell Awards 2014 (Best New Actor)

Hawaii International Film Festival 2014 (Best Feature)

Director: Shim Sung-bo

Producers: Bong Joon-ho

Cho Neung-yeon

Lewis Taekwan Kim

Screenwriters: Shim Sung-bo

Bong Joon-ho

Cinematographer: Hong Kyeong-pyo

Editors:

Kim Sang-bum

Kim Jae-bum

Music: Jung Jae-il

Cast: Kim Yoon-seok

Park Yu-chun

Han Ye-ri

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Finecut

Print Source: Finecut

Film Website: finecut.co.kr

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Hallow

IRELAND/UNITED KINGDOM 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Happy couple Adam (Joseph Mawle) and Clare (Bojana Novakovic) have recently moved to an old house on the edge of a secluded forest in rural Ireland with their newborn son, Finn, in tow. Adam is a conservationist hired to patrol the woods looking for signs of dangerous tree rot. Despite threats from an unwelcoming neighbor (Michael McElhatton) and the mysterious warnings of a local police officer (Michael Smiley), the family is determined to settle into their new home. Then Adam discovers a strange parasitic plant on the decomposing corpse of a deer, and unwittingly stirs the Hallow, an ancient race of mythical creatures that don’t take kindly to human interlopers. Soon this small family, alone in the woods, must spend a terrifying night-long siege battling a horde of demonic forces. Director Corin Hardy uses a mixture of psychological horror, nature-fights-back nightmare, and good old-fashioned monster movie effects—including some of the most beguiling creature designs since Pan’s Labyrinth—to tell the dark fairy tale of The Hallow, slowly building the tension until it explodes in an action-packed finale that will leave you more than a little afraid of that which lurks within the woods.

Director: Corin Hardy

Producers: Joe Neurauter

Felipe Marino

John McDonnell

Brendan McCarthy

Screenwriters: Corin Hardy

Felipe Marino

Cinematographer: Martijn Van Broekhuizen

Editor: Nick Emerson

Music: James Gosling

Cast: Joseph Mawle

Bojana Novakovic

Michael McElhatton

Michael Smiley

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Altitude Film Sales

Print Source: IFC Midnight

Film Website: fantasticfilms.ie/filmography/the-hallow-2015

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Handmade with Love in France

FRANCE 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 4:15 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, MAY 25 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Behind the extravagant outfits and runway shows of fashion labels such as Chanel, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent are actual hard-working French artisans who hand make everything and are passionate about their craft. This documentary is a celebration of those individuals and also a sobering look at the unsure future of this small group of ateliers. Gérard Lognon specializes in handmaking pleats, Bruno Legeron is an expert at designing the perfect artificial flowers and feathers, and Lorenzo Ré is one of three remaining sculptures of hat blocks, which are wooden blocks carved by hand to design the shape of hats. Unfortunately, many consumers of high fashion products aren’t aware of their origins, as shown in a series of spontaneous interviews with models outside a show, who, when asked who crafted their dresses, couldn’t respond with anything other than “Dior.” Several factors threaten these ateliers, besides general ignorance, such as the increasing pressures of time as the number of collections by designers dramatically increase, and the dwindling interest in learning these intricate crafts. Handmade with Love in France is a fascinating peek at the magic that goes into the dazzling designs of haute-couture fashion and the very real individuals that make it happen.

Director:

Julie Georgia Bernard

Producer: Diane Jassem

Grégory Bernard

Screenwriter: Julie Georgia Bernard

Editor:

Julie Georgia Bernard

Music: Gregori Erman

Emmanuel Pothier

Running Time: 70 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Realitism Films

Print Source: Realitism Films

Film Website: handmadewithloveinfrance.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Happy 40th USA 2015 WORLD

FRIDAY, MAY 29 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 1:00 PM

Madoka Raine’s engrossing debut feature, Happy 40th, is a female-centric spin on the “best friends’ weekend,” but if you’re expecting The Hangover, you’re in for a big surprise. Sophia (Yvonne Woods) invites her three best friends for a weekend away at a cabin to help celebrate her 40th birthday. Though she’s been living in self-imposed isolation following an accident that left her in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down, Sophia is determined to re-enter society, using her 40th birthday as a way to help make it happen. Sophia’s husband, Ben (Brian Slaten), will be joining the party, too, as he’s taken on the role of caretaker, driven in part by duty and guilt, having been responsible for the car accident which forced Sophia into her wheelchair. Over the course of the weekend, an unthinkable betrayal forces the group of friends and lovers to re-evaluate long-held beliefs and re-examine assumptions that are, painfully, no longer valid. An assured and even-handed debut, Raine’s drama pokes and prods at fragile relationships to reveal uncomfortable truths about the secrets we keep from each other, and from ourselves.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Madoka Raine

Producer: Madoka Raine

Screenwriter: Madoka Raine

Cinematographer: John Wakayama Carey

Editor: John Wakayama Carey

Cast: Yvonne Woods

Brian Slaten

Madoka Raine

Jenni Blong

Robyn Cohen

Fernando Acosta

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Madoka Raine

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

A Hard Day

SOUTH KOREA 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 19 9:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 9:30 PM SIFF

South Korean homicide detective Ko Gun-soo could be having the worst day ever. While attending his mother’s funeral, he receives an urgent call from the police station—Internal Affairs is raiding his squad’s offices, searching for evidence of corruption. As he speeds back to the station down a dark highway, he narrowly avoids hitting a dog, but unfortunately hits and kills the dog’s owner instead. With few options, he hastily stashes the body in his car’s trunk. A possible solution presents itself to him at the funeral parlor, albeit one that puts his mother and the victim in tight quarters. But just as things look to be improving, Gun-soo receives a mysterious phone call from someone threatening to reveal what really happened on that lonely stretch of road—and it only gets worse from there. A superb blend of Hitchcockian tension, macabre slapstick, and pitch-black comedy, A Hard Day is one of the most exciting and inventive thrillers to emerge out of East Asian cinema since Infernal Affairs.

Awards: Grand Bell Awards 2014 (Best Director) Blue Dragon Awards 2014 (Best Editing)

Director: Seong-hun Kim

Producer: Cha Ji-hyun

Billy Acumen

Screenwriter: Seong-hun Kim

Cinematographer: Tae-sung Kim

Editor: Chang-ju Kim

Music: Young-jin Mok

Cast: Sun-kyun Lee

Jin-woong Choi

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Showbox

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: showbox.co.kr

Selected Filmography: How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men (2006)

Heaven Knows What

USA/FRANCE 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 2:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

New York filmmaking duo Josh and Ben Safdie (2009’s Daddy Longlegs) tell a deep, dark, and romantic story with their latest indie drama, Heaven Knows What. Set amidst the drug-addicted subculture of New York City, this harrowing tale unfolds between Harley (Arielle Holmes, a beguiling non-actor) and Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones), two addicts struggling to survive by scraping together whatever they can to get their next fix. After a bust-up, Harley meets dealer and fellow junkie Mike (Buddy Duress), and unpredictable and unexpected tension ensues. Piercingly creating and observing economically deprived characters, the Safdie Brothers continue to bring their insightful and sharply specific environments to the screen. Heaven Knows What presents a world we walk by and sometimes encounter, but one we rarely plunge ourselves into—until now. Featuring compelling performances from Jones and Duress and a truly dazzling lead turn by Holmes (who will hopefully continue taking on roles), the Safdie Brothers’ latest film is harrowing but heartfelt.

Awards:

Tokyo Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Director)

Venice International Film Festival 2014 (CICAE Award)

Directors: Josh Safdie

Ben Safdie

Producer: Oscar Boyson

Sebastian Bear-McClard

Screenwriter: Ronald Bronstein

Josh Safdie

Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams

Editor: Ronald Bronstein

Benny Safdie

Cast: Arielle Holmes

Caleb Landry Jones

Buddy Duress

Necro

Eleonore Hendricks

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Bart Walker (ICM)

Print Source: RADiUS - TWC

Film Website: radiustwc.com

Selected Filmography: Daddy Longlegs (2009)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

HEDI SCHNEIDER STECKT FEST

Hedi Schneider is Stuck

GERMANY/NORWAY 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 29 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Bright, grounded, yet undeniably kooky travel agent Hedi (Laura Tonke, Winter Sleepers), her husband Uli, and their son, Finn, have life sorted out. They take each day as it comes, all the while dreaming of the future. Then, suddenly: Hedi gets stuck. The elevator she’s in breaks down, and despite the Bridget Jones’ breeziness of her conversation with the elevator service operator, she starts to break down. Hedi and Uli try to hold onto each other, but their world spins out of control. While in the middle of a frisky encounter after their little one goes to bed, Hedi is seized by a drastic panic attack, played with stunning effect by Tonke, and the tone of the film shifts. With a light touch and extraordinarily tender humor dealing with clinical depression, Hedi Schneider is Stuck shows that, for the 30-something generation, love is what it has always been: a very fragile thing. With great affection for her characters, sophomore director Sonja Heiss explores what happens when “normal life” suddenly comes to an end.

Director:

Sonja Heiss

Producers:

Janine Jackowski

Jonas Dornbach

Maren Ade

Screenwriter: Sonja Heiss

Cinematographer: Nikolai von Graevenitz

Editor:

Andreas Wodraschke

Music:

Lambert

Cast:

Laura Tonke

Hans Löw

Leander Nitsche

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: The Match Factory Film Website: komplizenfilm.de/e/ hedi.html

Selected Filmography:

Hotel Very Welcome (2007)

Henri Henri

CANADA (QUÉBEC) 2014

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN THURSDAY, JUNE 4 8:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Reminiscent of Toto the Hero, Amélie and with a touch of Jacques Tati’s Mr. Hulot, this gentle, nostalgic comedy will have you leaving the theater with a smile and a lighter step. Henri Henri is in charge of the lamps and chandeliers of the orphanage where he has lived since he was a baby. When the convent is sold to a developer he receives the biggest shock of his life. Told to move out, he finds himself alone, lost in a strange and vast world. But Henri has a dream: to put light in the lives of others. This loveable innocent somehow finds his way to a light store, “The Genie of the Lamp” and the eccentric turbaned Indian owner hires him as his helper. With his naïve charm Henri immediately changes the lives of those he touches, befriends the king of pickles and falls in love with the luminous Helene, the cashier at the porno theater where he was sent to fix the marquee. Lighting a flame in her heart will become his biggest challenge.

Director: Martin Talbot

Producers: Christian Larouche

Caroline Héroux

Screenwriter: Martin Talbot

Cinematographer: Mathieu Laverdière

Editor: Arthur Tarnowski

Music: Patrick Lavoie

Cast: Victor Andrés Trelles

Turgeon

Sophie Desmarais

Marcel Sabourin

Michel Perron

Kenneth Fernandez

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Séville International

Print Source: Séville International

Film Website: henrihenri-lefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Hollow One

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 9:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 28 3:30 PM

Rachel and Anna don’t know anything about their mother’s past—it’s a well-kept secret that they’re careful not to bring up. So when their dad receives an envelope in the mail full of documents and strange artifacts that somehow tie into their mother’s background, the girls are thrilled and intrigued. What do all these strange symbols and this ancient-looking device have to do with their mom? Their curiosity is quickly extinguished when Rachel and her boyfriend Matt are driving home from a party one night in the middle of nowhere and accidentally hit and kill Rachel’s mother. It’s now a couple of years later and Rachel and Anna live in Seattle, having left the small farmtown they grew up in after their father suffered a nervous breakdown. They return home for the first time since their mother’s death and find the town virtually empty, their old house in a disgusting state of disarray, and the neighbors they once knew acting very strange. Paired with Rachel’s terrifying hallucinations and their missing father, they start thinking back to that mysterious envelope. This intense nail-biter combines truly horrifying imagery and sound effects with an authentically eery atmosphere that will have you jumping in your seat.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Nathan Hendrickson

Producer: Lorraine Montez

Sherry Floyd

Nathan Hendrickson

Tony Doupé

Brian Pamintuan

Screenwriter: Nathan Hendrickson

Cinematographer: Connor Hair

Editor: Nathan Hendrickson

Fred Beahm

Music: Nathan Grigg

Brian Pamintuan

Cast: Kate Alden

Jesse James

Chelsea Farthing

Tony Doupé

Tonya Skoog

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Compulsion Films, Inc.

Film Website: thehollowone.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

How to Win at Checkers (Every

Time)

THAILAND/USA/INDONESIA/ HONG KONG 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Set in the dusty, poverty-stricken outskirts of Bangkok, this Thai drama introduces us to Oat, a pre-teen orphan who lives with his aunt, little cousin, and openly gay older brother, Ek. Oat and Ek’s relationship is realistic and tender, focusing on Oat’s idolization of his older brother, Ek’s incessant good-natured bullying, and the important moments in between, like playing checkers and riding motorcycles. When Ek receives a notice in the mail to attend a military lottery, where if you draw a black card you stay home, with a red card you are drafted, the event looms heavily in Oat’s mind. Overhearing that Ek’s long-term and wealthy boyfriend Jai has bribed his way into securing a black card, Oat decides he’ll dip his foot into the criminal world to steal a bribe as well and save his brother from going away. How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) is a sensitive coming-of-age narrative that is careful to balance out its melancholic moments with plenty of humor, all the while opening eyes to Thailand’s Hunger Games-style military lottery and liberal views of homosexuality.

Director:

Josh Kim

Producers: Edward Gunawan

Chris Lee

Anocha Suwichakornpong

Screenwriter: Josh Kim

Cinematographer: Nikorn Sripongwarakul

Editor:

Kamontorn Eakwattanakij

Music:

Bodvar isb Jornsson

Cast: Thira Chutikul

Ingarat Damrongsakkul

Iirah Wimonchailerk

Arthur Navarat

Vatanya Thamdee

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Thai, with English subtitles

International Sales: m-appeal

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: winatcheckers.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

I Am Michael USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 23 4:15 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

As a young man, Michael Glatze, the out-andproud co-founder of the group Young Gay America and former managing editor of “XY Magazine,” was seen as a hero to a generation of gay teenagers in the early 2000s for his activism in support of same-sex relationships and his writings about queer theory and gender identity. In 2007, however, after a health scare, Glatze made a profound philosophical reversal by embracing fundamentalist Christianity. He alienated and enraged his friends by not only renouncing his own homosexuality but, by actively counseling teenagers against it, preaching that “homosexuality is death.” In I Am Michael, James Franco (127 Hours, Spring Breakers) stars as the conflicted and conflict-attracting Glatze, who today calls himself “cured” of his previous “lifestyle.” Despite the polarizing nature of the gayconversion subject matter, first-time director Justin Kelly (working with producer Gus Van Sant) tells Glatze’s story through the character’s eyes, portraying him even-handedly as a complex, genuine seeker of his own fluid sexual identity. Evincing strong reactions at both Sundance and Berlin, I Am Michael has been a magnet for controversy that’s guaranteed to inspire lively discussions long after you’ve left the theater.

Director:

Justin Kelly

Producers:

Vince Jolivette

Michael Mendelsohn

James Franco

Scott Reed

Ron Singer

Screenwriters:

Justin Kelly

Stacey Miller

Cinematographer: Christopher Blauvelt

Editor:

Aaron I. Butler

Music: Jason Sellards

Tim Kvasnosky

Cast: James Franco

Zachary Quinto

Emma Roberts

Charlie Carver

Avon Jogia

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: The Exchange

Print Source:

That's Hollywood

Film Website: theexchange.ws/films/ michael

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

I

SUIS LE PEUPLE

Am the People

FRANCE 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 29 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE SATURDAY, MAY 30 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

In the years since the 2011 revolution in Egypt, most of the media coverage has focused on the relatively small number of activists who led the struggle. I Am the People offers something different: the toppling of President Mubarak; the election of Mohamed Morsi; and his eventual ouster as seen from the perspective of the poor villagers in the country’s south. Filmmaker Anna Roussillon, who was born in Beirut and grew up in Cairo, developed relationships of remarkable intimacy with a farming family and the community in which they live over a period of more than three years, allowing her unusual access and insight into their ideas and opinions, hopes, and disappointments. Roussillon observes, and sometimes participates, as they watch events unfolding on television, read about them in the newspapers, and discuss them with friends and neighbors. The result is a depiction of world events that is refreshing in its warmth, wit, and humanity.

Awards:

Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2014 (Best World Documentary, Best Documentary Debut)

Director: Anna Roussillon

Producer: Karim Aitouna

Thomas Micoulet

Malik Menai

Screenwriter: Anna Roussillon

Cinematographer: Anna Roussillon

Editor: Saskia Berthod

Chantal Piquet

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Hautlesmains Productions

Print Source: Hautlesmains Productions

Film Website: hautlesmainsproductions.fr

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

JE

TOUTE PREMIÈRE FOIS

I Kissed a Girl

FRANCE 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 29 6:00 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 9:45 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 1:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

Waking up in an unknown apartment, next to a beautiful and charming Swedish woman could be the beginning of a perfect love story. But maybe not for Jérémie (Pio Marmaï. A Happy Event), who thought his life was already perfect, and was even about to get married—to his boyfriend. Jérémie seems to have everything in life, a loving relationship of ten years, a caring and supportive family, and a crazy ladies-man best friend. Yet his spontaneous meeting with the honest and funny Adna (newcomer Adrianna Gradziel) turns everything upside down. Charming Pio Marmaï gives an endearing interpretation of a man upset in his certainties, and co-directors and scriptwriters Noémie Saglio and Maxime Govare show off their talent for comic situations and biting dialogue in their debut feature. In this light and sentimental comedy, the question of “coming back in” when you already thought you came out sets the scene for a hilarious mixing of clichés.

Directors: Noémie Saglio

Maxime Govare

Producer: Renaud Chélélékian

Sidonie Dumas

Edouard Duprey

Screenwriter: Noémie Saglio

Maxime Govare

Cinematographer: Jérôme Alméras

Editor: Béatrice Herminie

Music:

Mathieu Lamboley

Cast: Pio Marmaï

Franck Gastambide

Adrianna Gradziel

Lannick Gautry

Camille Cottin

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: Gaumont

Film Website: www.gaumont.fr/fr/film/ Toute-premiere-fois.html

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

I’ll See You in My Dreams USA 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 17 5:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN MONDAY, MAY 18 4:15 PM HARVARD EXIT

You’re never too old to fall in love. Blythe Danner (“Will & Grace,” Meet the Parents) portrays Carol, an elderly retired schoolteacher who has settled into her age and shied away from new experiences since the death of her husband two decades before. When the passing of her beloved dog and the stern prodding from her sassy friends push her back out into the dating scene, she’s bewildered. As she tentatively ventures out of the house, she makes a connection with Bill, played with charm by Sam Elliott (“Justified”, The Big Lebowski), who shares some of her interests and anxieties. At the same time, Carol also forges an unexpected bond with the young man that cleans her pool (Martin Starr, “Freaks & Geeks”, Knocked Up). Learning that it’s never too late to begin again, she picks up old passions and rebuilds a life outside of her narrow comfort zone. The laughs are plentiful and the dynamic cast boasts a believable and warm on-screen chemistry. This funny and delightful romantic comedy will have you falling in love with its engaging lead and the message that endless possibilities are around the corner at any age.

Director: Brett Haley

Producer: Rebecca Green

Laura D. Smith

Brett Haley

Screenwriter: Brett Haley

Marc Basch

Cinematographer: Rob C. Givens

Editor: Brett Haley

Music: Keegan DeWitt

Cast: Blythe Danner

Martin Starr

Sam Elliott

Malin Akerman

June Squibb

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Preferred Content

Print Source: Bleeker Street

Film Website: bleeckerstreetmedia. com/#!ill-see-you-in-mydreams/cvk9

Selected Filmography: The New Year (2010)

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 10:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

From the tepuis of South America to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®winning director Pete Docter has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In 2015, he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all—inside the mind of an 11-year-old named Riley. Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley (voice of Kaitlyn Dias), who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions–Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.

Director: Pete Docter

Producer:

Jonas Rivera

Screenwriters:

Pete Docter

Meg LeFauve

Josh Cooley

Music: Michael Giacchino

Voices: Amy Poehler

Mindy Kaling

Bill Hader

Lewis Black

Phyllis Smith

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP 3D

Print Source: Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures

Film Website: pixar.com/features_films/ Inside-Out

Selected Filmography: Up (2009) Monsters, Inc (2001)

EN LAS GAMAS DE LOS GRISES

In the Grayscale

CHILE 2015

MONDAY, MAY 18 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Bruno, a handsome freelance architect, has just been assigned to plan a new monument for the Chilean capitol, a structure that is stable with an easy beauty. He finds himself stuck in a rut with the idea; after all, the structure of his life may be crumbling beneath him. Feeling an unease about his role as a husband and lover to his wife, Bruno moves out and stays in his grandfather’s workshop to clear his mind and focus on his work. It’s through this freelance assignment that he meets Fer, an outspoken and comfortable gay man who’s job as a history teacher makes him the perfect tour guide to assist Bruno in his work. As they bicycle through the sun-soaked streets of Santiago, their connection grows from teasing banter to a super-charged romance, and Bruno must decide if things really are as black and white as they seem. Director Claudio Marcone delivers a beautifully sensitive coming-out drama that delicately presents the struggles of a man torn between the safety of his past and the promise of a more genuine future.

Awards:

Miami International Film Festival 2015 (Best First Film)

Director: Claudio Marcone

Producers: Luis Cifuentes

Claudio Marcone

Screenwriter: Rodrigo Norero

Cinematographer: Andres Jordan

Editor: Felipe Galvez

Cast: Francisco Celhay

Emilio Edwards

Daniela Ramirez

Sergio Hernandez

Matías Torres

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay, in Spanish, with English subtitles

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: tantanfilms.cl

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

In Utero

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In Utero provides a thought-provoking exploration of the question “What makes us who we are, and how early do we become so?” As recently as the 1960s it was standard to perform surgeries on infants without anesthesia, the rationale being they would not remember—and thus be affected by—the experience. With increased awareness of infant development, however, that practice has fallen off, but recent research suggests that our understanding of how external forces can affect the growing child needs to be rolled back even further to the prenatal period. It’s becoming clearer that the growing fetus, intaking nourishment and protection from its mother, absorbs her difficulties as well. As our modern world piles stress and anxieties upon us, harm is passed down through generations—ever more people find themselves ill-fit for life’s obstacles, seeking such hollow fixes as drugs, gambling, and consumerism to ease the dissatisfaction they’ve always felt but could never explain. As the film’s range of scientific experts explain, the first step to ensuring a healthy, loving life for our children is securing one for the women who bear them.

Director: Kathleen Gyllenhaal

Producer: Stephen Gyllenhaal

Screenwriter: Kathleen Gyllenhaal

Cinematographer: Bennett Cerf

Editor: Kinga Orlikowska

Music:

Pinar Toprak

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: MRB Productions

Film Website: inuterofilm.com

Selected Filmography: Beauty Mark (Carla Precht, Doc, 2008)

Sita, a Girl from Jambu (Doc, 2006)

The Invisible Boy

ITALY 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM SIFF

Like many shy, sensitive teens, Michele is the subject of bullying at school. In an effort to evade his tormenting classmates, he often wishes he could just vanish from his Italian seaside town. During a Halloween party, when everyone is hiding behind masks of one form or another, Michele gets into another awkward situation, prompting him to wish he could become invisible. To his astonishment, his wish comes true. While he is amazed by his new superpowers, he soon notices he’s not alone in his predicament. Soon, other classmates begin to mysteriously disappear, right about the same time a stranger turns up, watching Michele’s every move, but from a distance. Unlike countless Hollywood blockbusters that overwhelm comic book stories with CGI and turn every fantasy character into a brooding anti-hero, The Invisible Boy remains resolutely grounded in Michele’s teenage world of high-school pressures, family squabbles, and teenage hormones—including the mortification he’d feel if Stella, his crush, ever found out his freakish powers. Director Gabriele Salvatores, who won an Academy Award® for Mediterraneo (1991), has removed the hyper-violence from the superhero genre and created a humanistic, family-friendly sci-fi story that allows its characters to experience true supernatural fantasy, but doesn’t let them stray too far from home.

Director: Gabriele Salvatores

Producer: Nicola Giuliano

Francesca Cima

Carlotta Calori

Screenwriter: Alessandro Fabbri

Ludovica Rampoldi

Stefano Sardo

Cinematographer: Italo Petriccione

Editor: Massimo Fiocchi

Music: Ezio Bosso

Federico de Robertis

Cast:

Ludovico Girardello

Valeria Golino

Fabrizio Bentivoglio

Christo Jivkov

Noa Zatta

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pathé international

Print Source: The Festival Agency

Film Website: ilragazzoinvisibile.it

Selected Filmography: Italy in a Day (Doc, 2014)

Deadly Code (2013)

Happy Family (2010)

As God Commands (2008)

I’m Not Scared (2003) Nirvana (1997) Mediterraneo (1991)

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

IL RAGAZZO INVISIBILE

STEPPEULVEN

Itsi Bitsi

DENMARK/SWEDEN/CROATIA 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 31 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

In this sweeping countercultural romance, the true story of events that led up to the creation of Danish psychedelic band Steppeulven are illustrated in a flourish of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. It’s 1962 and amateur writer Eik has just fallen in love with the beautiful, free-spirited peace activist Iben, bonding with her over a shared interest in music and literature. They leave stuffy, bourgeois Copenhagen behind to explore the world, traveling through Baghdad, Nepal, and the deserts of Afghanistan. The new couple’s exploration includes experimenting with music, their bodies, and of course, hallucinogenic drugs. As the drugs take a firmer hold on Iben, taking her further and further away from Eik, he spontaneously starts a psych-rock band, named Steppeulven, to prove his love and commitment to her. A Danish sort of Captain Beefheart, Steppeulven explodes in popularity overnight, bringing Eik instant fame and popularity, although not necessarily what he truly wants. Fueled by an emotional storyline and powerful chemistry between the two leads, Itsi Bitsi is more than a melancholic love story, providing a look at an outspoken generation in flux.

Director:

Ole Christian Madsen

Producer:

Lars Bredo Rahbek

Screenwriterx:

Bo hr. Hansen

Ole Christian Madsen

Cinematographer:

Jørgen Johansson

Editor:

Søren B. Ebbe

Music:

Henrik Lindstrand

Cast:

Joachim Fjelstrup

Marie Tourell Søderberg

Christian Gade Bjerrum

Johannes Nymark

Jakob Randrup

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Danish, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Film Website: dfi.dk

Selected Filmography: Superclásico (2011)

Flame & Citron (2008) Prague (2006)

Angels In Fast Motion (2005)

Kira’s Reason - A Love Story (2001)

Pizza King (1999)

It’s So Easy and Other Lies

USA 2015 WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Born and raised in Seattle, Duff McKagan fell in love with the city’s music scene at an early age, but left for Los Angeles in 1984 to pursue bigger dreams. It was there that he answered an ad looking for a bassist, written by someone named ‘Slash.’ Guns N’ Roses was formed, and the rest is history. As the media and fame rapidly consumed the band, their success skyrocketed out of control, leaving McKagan overwhelmed and disillusioned. Based on his NY Times best-selling memoir, “It’s So Easy and Other Lies,” this ultimate rock-doc is filled with wall-to-wall music, animated sequences, and neverbefore-seen archival footage chronicling not only McKagan’s time with Guns N’ Roses, but his experiences with early Seattle bands in the late ’70s and early ’80s rock scene. A beautiful and emotional authorized documentary, It’s So Easy and Other Lies traces the life and career of the Guns N’ Roses musician, from his humble beginnings to the heights, excess, and survival of his superstardom.

Director: Christopher Duddy

Producers: Daniel Zirilli

Duff McKagan

Christopher Duddy

Steven G. Kaplan

Screenwriter: Christopher Duddy

Cinematographer: Ryan Purcell

Editor: Keith Megna

Music: Duff McKagan

Featuring: Duff McKagan

Slash

Mike McCready

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Vision Films

Print Source: XLrator Media

Film Website: hvisionfilms.net

Selected Filmography: Cougar Club (2007)

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

CANADA/LEBANON/QATAR/USA 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 2:00 PM

Roger Allers’ (The Lion King) small studio production Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet follows the friendship of a girl, Almitra (Quvenhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild) and a poet, Mustafa (Liam Neeson, The Lego Movie) on the fictional island Orphalese. Almitra doesn’t speak, while Mustafa has a lot to say about life, death, and everything in between. Their story is an adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s essay poems in “The Prophet”, one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century in US history. Gibran’s verse comes alive through a kaleidoscope of whimsical animated segments woven throughout the story. The film is a tapestry of artistic mastery sewn together by an international crew of animators, artists, and voice actors (including producer, Salma Hayek). Drawing inspiration from the words of an early twentieth century Lebanese poet and philosopher, this creative collaboration is rife with textures and colors (some of which you did not know existed). Segments move from time-lapsed oil painted landscapes swept up in Van Gogh swirls to crayon scribbled images, psychedelic patterns, and dancing shadow puppets. They play like mini music videos set to a score by French-Lebanese composer Gabriel Yared (The English Patient). Tune up your sensory organs—this film is a love child of poetry, music, animation, and art.

Directors:

Roger Allers

Gaëtan Brizzi

Paul Brizzi

Joan C. Gratz

Mohammed Saeed Harib

Tomm Moore

Nina Paley

Bill Plympton

Joann Sfar

Michal Socha

Producers: Salma Hayek-Pinault

Clark Peterson

José Tamez

Ron Senkowski

Screenwriter: Roger Allers

Cinematographer: Bjarne Hansen

Editor: Jennifer Dolce

Music: Gabriel Yared

Voices: Salma Hayek

Liam Neeson

John Krasinski

Alfred Molina

Quvenzhané Wallis

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: GKids

Film Website: gibransprophet movie.com

NØGLE HUS SPEJL

Key House Mirror

DENMARK 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 3:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Legendary actors Ghita Nørby and Sven Wollter play the leads in this deeply moving film about love, memory, and aging. Lily moves into a retirement home with her stroke-ridden, unresponsive husband Max. As a fit and active senior, she feels like she doesn’t really belong, but stays there and keeps busy looking after husband. One night she runs into a playful charmer Erik, affectionately called “the pilot.” Initially rebuffing his Swedish charm, as her husband gets increasingly worse, erotic and romantic tension grows between Lily and the trumpet-playing, charismatic Erik. When she announces their burgeoning love affair over Christmas, Lily’s daughter reacts badly and blames her mother’s growing memory problems. By turns a romantic comedy for the over 60 crowd, and a tender portrait of aging, Nørby carries Lily’s determination, yearning for love, and bewilderment over why she can’t remember with stellar power and beauty. Noer’s previous films (Northwest, R) have been grounded in youth and violence, and he now tackles late-in-life love with the same sensitive and up-close sense of realism, in a drama capturing life at both its darkest and brightest.

Director: Michael Noer

Producers: Tomas Radoor

René Ezra

Screenwriters: Anders Frithiof August

Michael Noer

Cinematographer: Magnus Nordenhof Jønck

Editor:

Adam Nielsen

Cast:

Ghita Nørby

Sven Wollter

Trine Pallesen

Jens Brenaa

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Danish and Swedish, with English subtitles

International Sales: TrustNordisk

Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Film Website: dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/ en/87500

Selected Filmography: Northwest (2012) R (2010)

PACIFIC PLACE

HARVARD EXIT

Kid Kulafu

PHILIPPINES 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 8:45 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 23 5:00 PM

Before he won ten boxing titles, before he became the first—and only—eightdivision world champion boxer in history, Manny Pacquiao was just a little boy named Emmanuel in the Filipino village of Mindanao. Caught in the crossfire between the guerrilla rebels and paramilitary forces that seek to control the area, he and his poverty-stricken family struggle to survive from one day to the next. Kid Kulafu charts the transformation of Pacquiao as he discover his true talent: boxing. We are given front row seats to view the domestic turmoil of his childhood, his nomadic years spent fighting from town to town, and his determined move to Manila to make his name. Director Paul Soriano brings an intimacy to both Pacquiao’s boxing matches and his home life, peppering each with moments of organic humor. Buoyed by a talented cast, Filipino child star Robert (Buboy) Villar effortlessly transitions into his first teen role with a feisty and heartfelt performance that is both humble and tenacious. Together, the two combine to tell the tale of a remarkable young man, driven by love and honor to risk everything, even his own life, to become a champion.

HARVARD EXIT

RENTON IKEA PAC

Director:

Paul Soriano

Producer:

Marie Pineda

Screenwriter: Froilan Medina

Cinematographer: Odyssey Flores

Editor:

Mark Victor

Music:

Robbie Factoran

Ricardo Jugo

Mark Villar

Cast:

Robert Buboy Villar

Alessandra de Rossi

Cesar Montano

Running Time: 108 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Tagalog, with English subtitles

Print Source: TEN17P, Inc.

Film Website: kidkulafu.com

Selected Filmography: Thelma (2011)

A Journey Home (2009)

The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor

USA 2015

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 6:00 PM

KIRKLAND PC

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Haing S. Ngor (1984’s The Killing Fields) was a doctor and one of only two nonprofessional actors (the other being The Best Years of Our Lives’ Harold Russell) to win an Academy Award®. But it was the tragedy between those two achievements that he claimed defined him: “I am a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. That’s who I am.” Swept up in the Khmer Rouge’s blind fury at the educated classes, Ngor was sent to the countryside to dig ditches, where he suffered horrific torture for such crimes as scrounging a meager basket of vegetables from the surrounding fields. The story of his escape to America, unlikely stardom after being spotted at a wedding by a casting director, and death under still-mysterious circumstances spans half the world and even vaster reversals of fortune; but Arthur Dong’s documentary is all the more touching for being so intimate, down to the simple, understated animation used to illustrate Ngor’s life. The few interview subjects consist of Ngor’s niece and a family friend, while his nephew reads narration taken directly from Dr. Ngor’s own powerful memoir, a book written to ensure the horror his country endured would never be forgotten.

Director: Arthur Dong

Producer: Arthur Dong

Screenwriter: Arthur Dong

Cinematographer: Arthur Dong

Editor: Arthur Dong

Music:

Mark Adler

Featuring: Haing S. Ngor

Wayne Ngor

Sophia Ngor

Jack Ong

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: DeepFocus Productions, Inc.

Film Website: haingngorfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Hollywood Chinese (2007)

Family Fundamentals (2002)

Licensed to Kill (1997)

Coming Out Under Fire (1994)

Forbidden City, USA (1989)

King Georges USA 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 21 4:00 PM

Philadelphia, circa 2010, is about to lose its culinary treasure: Le Bec-Fin, one of the finest French restaurants in the country. The 67-year-old owner, Georges Perrier, nearly as iconic as his landmark eatery, is preparing to sell the restaurant after more than four decades in business. Filmmaker Erika Frankel, a native of the Philly suburbs, asks if she could film Perrier as an era-ending tribute. Perrier, however, has other plans. He decides to withdraw the sale and reinvent Le Bec-Fin by hiring a new protégé, Chef Nicholas Elmi, who achieved national fame on the “Top Chef” TV show. Perrier wants to pass the business to Elmi, but finds he has trouble letting go of the spatula. Over a three-year period, Frankel captures this mercurial, passionate, quixotic force of nature as he struggles to preserve his sumptuous Gallic dishes in an era where casual attitudes and lighter fare are taking hold. Spiced with archival footage and interviews from world-renowned chefs, such as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, and Eric Ripert, King Georges is a feast for the eyes, as well as a touching portrait of a master artist in the twilight of his career who realizes he is still hungry for seconds.

Director: Erika Frankel

Producer: Erika Frankel

Cinematographer: Frédéric Tcheng

Editors: Grace Kline

Amanda Larson

Music: Michael Montes

Featuring: Georges Perrier

Nicholas Elmi

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM

Print Source: 1500 Walnut Films, LLC Film Website: kinggeorgesfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Krisha USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 30 8:45 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 11:00 AM

As Krisha drags her suitcase into her sister’s home for a Thanksgiving holiday, the air is buzzing with energy, and not necessarily the good kind. It’s been over ten years since Krisha has seen her family—her drug and alcohol problems had kept her estranged over the years. But now she’s turning over a new leaf, and helping with the turkey dinner seems like the first appropriate step. The house gets more and more packed with family members, conversations become forced and awkward, and Krisha’s mood drops from confident to unraveled in a matter of hours. Shot over nine days at his parent’s house in Texas, director Trey Edward Shults created a film that draws from intensely personal experience, and delivers a heavy emotional impact. Krisha Fairchild presents the central character with a dizzying whirlwind of emotional highs and lows, gifting an amazing performance reminiscent of Gena Rowlands in Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence

Awards:

SXSW 2015 (Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, Audience Award)

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Trey Edward Shults

Producers:

Trey Edward Shults

Justin R. Chan

Wilson Smith

Chase Joliet

Screenwriter: Trey Edward Shults

Cinematographer: Drew Daniels

Editor: Trey Edward Shults

Music:

Brian McOmber

Cast: Krisha Fairchild

Bill Wise

Robyn Fairchild

Chris Doubek

Running Time: 83 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Hoody Boy Productions

Film Website: krishamovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

KURMANJAN DATKA

Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains

KYRGYZSTAN 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 26 8:30 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

When she was five years old, Kurmanjan was told by a mystic that, despite being an ordinary girl, she would soon rise up and band together the warring tribes of her Central Asian nation. Forced into an arranged marriage, Kurmanjan rejects her husband on their wedding night and runs back home, bringing shame on herself and both families. Alymbek Datka, ruler of the Alai highland country, resolves the conflict and frees Kurmanjan from her imposed marriage by taking her as his own wife instead. Tensions in the Central Asian highlands increase over the years, and eventually Kurmanjan’s husband is killed. Remembering the prediction in her childhood, the resourceful widow gathers together an army, and leads them against the forces out to conquer her people. Based on an inspiring true story, and the most expensive film ever to be made in Kyrgyzstan, this lush and colorful historical epic follows Kurmanjan Datka throughout her life, as she becomes a fiercely independent woman and courageous leader of her people.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Yakutsk International Film Festival 2014 (Special Jury Prize)

Eurasian Film Festival 2014 (Best Film)

Director: Sadyk Sher-Niyaz

Producer: Zhyldyzkan Dzholdoshova

Screenwriters: Sadyk Sher-Niyaz

Bakytbek Turdubaev

Cinematographer: Murat Aliyev

Editor: Eldiar Madakim

Music: Murzali Zheenbaev

Bakyt Alisherov

Cast: Elina Abai Kyzy

Aziz Muradilaev

Nazira Mambetova

Zhamal Seydakmatova

Mirlan Abdulaev

Running Time: 131 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Kyrgyz with English subtitles

International Sales: Aitysh Film

Print Source: Aitysh Film

Film Website: kurmanjan.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Lamb

TURKEY/GERMANY 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, MAY 18 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

THURSDAY, MAY 21 4:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Women hold their own (and then some) in this wry and witty tale of family life in a rural Anatolian village. Problems arise when little Mert is due to be circumcised and his struggling parents must scrape together the money for a celebration banquet as tradition demands. Unfortunately, father Ismail is out of work and mother Medine doesn’t make much gathering firewood for her neighbors. Even after Ismail lands a job, he has trouble keeping hold of what little he earns, especially after he is smitten with an alluring temptress in the city. Of more immediate concern to little Mert is his mischievous older sister’s threat—if his parents can’t find the money to buy meat for the feast, they’ll put him in the oven instead. (Why else would they call him their “little lamb?”) Black humor abounds in this clever and charming tale of the power of sisterhood in all its forms.

Awards: Berlin International Film Festival 2014 (CICAE Art Cinema Award)

Director: Kutluğ Ataman

Producer: Kutluğ Ataman Fabian Gasmia

Henning Kamm

Screenwriter: Kutluğ Ataman

Cinematographer: Feza Çaldiran

Editor: Ali Aga

Music: Can Erdogan

Cast: Nesrin Cavadzade Cahit Gök Mert Taştan

Sıla Lara Cantürk

Nursel Köse

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Turkish, with English subtitles

Print Source: Institute for the Readjustment of Clocks

Film Website: theinstituteforthereadjustmentofclocks.com/ the-lamb

Selected Filmography: Aya Seyahat (Doc, 2009) 2 Girls (2005)

Lola and Billy the Kid (1999)

Karanlik Sular (1995)

Lamb USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:45 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 30 11:00 AM HARVARD EXIT

David Lamb’s life is in the midst of an upheaval when he convinces an 11-year-old girl to join him on a road trip to the Rocky Mountains. Lamb, a middle aged man, is fleeing a life strained with domestic issues and familial deaths. He meets Tommie, a youth who is struggling with the awkwardness of growing up and fitting in with her peers. Lamb is convinced that nature is curative and that it can help the pre-teen escape a life of indifference. He whisks her away from a parking lot, leaving behind her family. Both are uncertain of their true destinations as they seek to resolve their emotional issues and examine their identities while on the road. Based on the debut novel by Bonnie Nadzam and adapted into a screenplay by director Ross Partridge, Lamb explores the morality of these unlikely travelers and whether their journey across America can truly mend the disconnect between people and nature.

Director: Ross Partridge

Producers: Mel Eslyn

Taylor Williams

Screenwriter: Ross Partridge

Cinematographer: Nathan M. Miller

Editor: Chris Donlon

Music: Daniel Belardinelli

Cast: Oona Laurence

Ross Partridge

Scoot McNairy

Jess Weixler

Lindsay Pulsipher

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: ICM

Film Website: facebook.com/ lambthefilm

Selected Filmography: Interstate 84 (2000)

License to Operate

TUESDAY, MAY 26 8:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 3:45 PM

LTO, or “license to operate” is a term given to gang members who’ve been leaders among their ranks, and hold ultimate power based on the actions of their past. But director James Lipetzky is out to show that those with that license could potentially use it to the advantage of their neighborhood. This documentary, executive produced by Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, introduces us to several former rival gang members in Los Angeles on a shared mission to stop the cycle of gang violence that roped them in so long ago. We watch as they use their respected status to compromise power balances, control retaliation attacks, and negotiate on behalf of their communities, and as law enforcement begins to view these ex-gang members as crucial to the future peace of their city. License to Operate takes place over the summer of 2013, a hot and tension-ridden span of time known to some as the “killing season.” Lipetzky crafts an eye-opening documentary about the transformation of power and the growth of a community.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: James Lipetzky

Producers: Mike Wallen

Don Kurz

Pete Carroll

Cinematographer: Jeremiah Hammerling

Editor: Edgar Burcksen

Music:

Massive Music

Featuring: Aquil Basheer

Kenneth Jones

Alfred Lomas III

Reynaldo Reaser

Stinson Brown

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Omelet

Film Website: ltomovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Listen to Me Marlon

UNITED KINGDOM 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 2:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 19 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

This all-access documentary utilizes rare photos, film footage, and, most impressively, Marlon Brando’s personal stash of previously unheard audio archives—recordings the late actor used as a sort of diary, touching on all aspects of his career and life, to create a well-rounded portrait of a man thought so mysterious. Brando’s conversations cover his unstable childhood, his rocky relationship with his father, the tragic death of his children, as well as both the seriousness with which he took his acting, and the simultaneous disdain he felt toward the industry. Director Stevan Riley sifted through over 200 hours of reflective commentary, paired with employing a digitized 3D image of Brando’s head that the actor himself had crafted in the ’80s, in order to craft a genuine and honest post-mortem autobiography.

Director: Stevan Riley

Producers: John Battsek

George Chignell

R.J. Cutler

Screenwriters: Stevan Riley

Peter Ettedgui

Cinematographer: Ole Bratt Birkeland

Editor: Stevan Riley

Featuring: Marlon Brando

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Cutler Productions

Film Website: films.passion-pictures. com

Selected Filmography: Everything or Nothing (Doc, 2012)

Fire in Babylon (Doc, 2010)

Blue Blood (Doc, 2006)

The Little Death

AUSTRALIA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 7:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

The English language has countless terms for sex, but leave it to the French to poetically dub the orgasm “la petite mort,” or “the little death.” Writer-director Josh Lawson takes that idiom as the title of his daring sex comedy, which explores the secret fantasies and fetishes of five couples in suburban Sydney. From a couple whose role playing escapes the bedroom, to a man who desires his wife most when she’s asleep, to a sign language interpreter translating between a sex hotline and a very expressive deaf caller, Lawson’s edgy and ultimately warm-hearted film doesn’t shy from the awkward, the erotic, or the silly. It questions if there really is a “normal” and hints that we don’t always have to take sex (or ourselves) so seriously. Director Josh Lawson, who also stars in the film, purposefully cast talented but largely unknown actors so they could disappear into their roles and feel relatable to the audience.

Awards:

SXSW 2015 (Audience Award)

Thessaloniki Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Director: Josh Lawson

Producers: Jamie Hilton

Michael Petroni

Matt Reeder

Screenwriter: Josh Lawson

Cinematographer: Simon Chapman

Editor: Christian Gazal

Music: Michael Yezerski

Cast: Josh Lawson

Bojana Novakovic

Damon Herriman

Kate Mulvany

Patrick Brammall

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

LevelK

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: magpictures.com/ thelittledeath

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Little ForestSummer / Autumn

JAPAN 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 6:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 24 12:00 PM

Junichi Mori’s mouthwatering quartet of hour-long culinary chamber pieces begins in Little Forest – Summer/Autumn. In the first two “seasons,” Ichiko, a young woman who recently broke up with her city boyfriend, returns to her countryside childhood home to recharge her spirit. She cultivates a vast garden and teachers herself to live simply off the land, only her conception of simple encompasses extraordinarily breathtaking Japanese dishes prepared by hand under equally sumptuous cinematography. As the season passes from summer to autumn, the ingredients change and the cast of lovely neighbors comes to visit and share meals. Ichiko instructs on fermenting vegetables, harvesting rice, and cooking with patience, while in the process she begins to come into her own self, deepening her connection to the earth and her absent mother. Easily one of the most gorgeous foodie films ever made, audiences will want to insure that their reservations are already made for companion pieces Winter/Spring to enjoy the continued feast of Japanese cuisine and self-discovery.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Junichi Mori

Producers: Keiichiro Moriya

Izumi Shima

Screenwriter: Junichi Mori

Cinematographer: Yukihiro Onodera

Editor: Ryuichi Takita

Music: Yuri Miyauchi

Cast: Ai Hashimoto

Takahiro Miura

Mayu Matsuoka

Yoichi Nukumizu

Karen Kirishima

Running Time: 112 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Print Source: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Film Website: shochikufilms.com/ product/little-forestsummer-autumn

Selected Filmography: Little Forest: Winter / Spring (2015)

A Pierrot (2009) Amoretto (2004)

Ren’ai-shousetsu (2004 Laundry (2002)

Little Forest - Winter/Spring

TUESDAY, MAY 19 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Seattle audiences are the first in North America to experience the finale of Junichi Mori’s epic of pastoral culinary perfection. Based on a serialized Japanese manga (graphic novel) from the 2000s, this sweetly engaging series of films impresses in how well its episodic seasonal cuisine fleshes out into narrative simplicity and emotional depth. Little Forest – Winter/ Spring picks up where Summer/Autumn left off, with Ichiko’s maternal memories of food preparation and a garden covered with snow. The seasonal feasts have become much more focused around preserved foods and warm interactions with her sparse neighbor visitors. The dark winter season is perfectly complemented by Ichiko’s inward reflections and deeper fears giving way to the hope and rebirth of spring. The final segment bursts with exciting flavors and plenty of new life all around. As the parade of Japanese dishes continues to be gorgeously assembled, a genuine passage of time is perceived, and Mori’s film climaxes quietly as the cycle of food and rural life gently ebbs forward. Now where is the nearest fivestar Japanese restaurant?

Director:

Junichi Mori

Producers:

Keiichiro Moriya

Satoko Ishida

Screenwriter: Junichi Mori

Cinematographer: Yukihiro Onodera

Editor: Ryuichi Takita

Music:

Yuri Miyauchi

Cast: Ai Hashimoto

Takahiro Miura

Mayu Matsuoka

Yoichi Nukumizu

Karen Kirishima

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Print Source: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Film Website: shochikufilms.com/ product/little-forestwinter-spring

Selected Filmography: Little Forest - Summer/ Autumn (2014)

A Pierrot (2009)

Amoretto (2004)

Laundry (2002)

LIZA, A RÓKATÜNDÉR

Liza, The Fox-Fairy

HUNGARY 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 25 12:00 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 3:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

This playful, genre-bending black comedy takes place in a fictionalized 1970s Hungary and follows Liza, a bright young nurse who works in a small town sanatorium. She loves all things Japanese and studies the language with Marta, a patient who happened to be married to the consulate of Japan. She even has an imaginary friend—Tony Tani, a Japanese Frank Sinatra type—who often appears to Liza, dancing and singing for her. There’s one thing that’s bringing Liza down however, and it’s her bad luck with men. When she also begins seeing an evil shape-shifting Japanese spirit known as a fox-fairy, a demon known to suck the souls of out men, she thinks maybe her bad luck might have something to do with it. Could Liza be a fox-fairy herself? Blending Japanese folklore with Amélie-inspired artistic direction, this dark fairytale delivers touches of whimsy and a large helping of Hungarian intensity and humor.

Awards: Fantasporto Film Festival 2015 (Grand Jury Prize, Best Special Effects)

Director: Károly Ujj-Mészáros

Producer: István Major

Screenwriters: Károly Mészáros

Bálint Hegedûs

Cinematographer: Péter Szatmári

Editor:

Judit Czakó

Music:

Ambrus Tóvisházi

Daniel Csengery

Eiko Toda

Cast: Mónika Balsai

David Sakurai

Piroska Molnár

Zoltán Schmied

Gábor Reviczky

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hungarian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Hungarian National Film Fund

Print Source: Hungarian National Film Fund

Film Website: lizathefoxfairy.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Look of Silence

DENMARK/INDONESIA/NORWAY/ FINLAND/UNITED KINGDOM 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 9:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:00 PM

Two years ago, director Joshua Oppenheimer riveted and appalled Seattle audiences with The Act of Killing (SIFF 2013), a truly unique documentary that convinced the surviving perpetrators of the brutal Indonesian genocide of 1965-66 to re-enact their crimes against humanity in a series of absurd pantomimes of death. In The Look of Silence, Oppenheimer returns to the killing fields to analyze the violence from another angle – the viewpoint of the victims’ relatives, who have kept silent about the atrocities for 50 years. The documentary follows Adi, an ophthalmologist who was born just after his brother Ramli was killed by roving gangs of anti-Communist death squads sanctioned by President Suharto. Oppenheimer tracked down the unrepentant militia members who had wielded machetes on Ramli and countless others and who still giggle about their butchery as if it were a mere youthful indiscretion. Adi, showing enormous poise, restraint, and courage, later confronts Ramli’s killers and asks them about their past – all while performing eye exams on them. The Look of Silence, a shocking, utterly absorbing companion to Oppenheimer’s 2012 masterpiece, is an unflinching examination of the moral blind spot that still shadows Indonesia today and obscures wounds that have yet to heal after half a century.

Awards:

Venice Film Festival 2014 (Grand Jury Prize, FIPRESCI Prize)

Busan International Film Festival 2014 (Best World Documentary)

Berlin Film Festival 2015 (Peace Film Prize)

SXSW 2015 (Audience Award Winner)

Danish Academy Award 2015 (Best Documentary)

AMORE TRA LE ROVINE

Love Among the Ruins

ITALY/USA 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SENYAP

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer

Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen

Cinematographer: Lars Skree

Editor: Nils Pagh Andersen

Music: Seri Banang Mana Tahan

Cast: Adi Rukun

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Indonesian, Javanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cinephil

Print Source: Drafthouse Films

Film Website: thelookofsilence.com

Selected Filmography: The Act of Killing (2012) The Globalization Tapes (2003)

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 3:30 PM

A long-lost 1922 silent Italian melodrama about a tragic romance between a middle class ingénue and an idealistic soldier set against a little-known 1915 dirigible disaster is discovered behind a basement boiler room wall in Ferrara, Italy, and immediately becomes the darling of the cinema world. As the film is carefully restored, professors, critics, and historians extoll the virtues of its innovative directors and the movie itself, which was shown only once before being overshadowed by the rising tide of fascism. There’s just one thing: both the documentary and the restored film itself are 100% fabricated. The 45-minute “film” is a perfectly crafted facsimile of a WWI-set melodrama: Commodore’s daughter Ester (Mary Di Tommaso) waits out the days for her lover Demode (Stefano Muroni) to return from the front lines, only to have her hand promised to a duplicitous bourgeois man named Atlas (Massimo Malucelli). When Demode is granted leave and the lovers reignite their passion, a jealous Atlas plots to trade military secrets with an Austrian spy. But what of the shell-shocked soldier Calipodio (Filippo Parma), rendered mute by the atrocities of war, who happens to overhear Atlas’ plan? A metacommentary on cinema preservation and wartime storytelling, this spoof— which recalls Peter Jackson’s Forgotten Silver and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist—is a treat for cinephiles worldwide.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Massimo Alì Mohammad

Producers: Richard Meyer

Susan Harmon

Screenwriter: Massimo Alì Mohammad

Cinematographer: Edo Tagliavini

Editor: Massimo Alì Mohammad

Music: Donald Sosin

Cast: Mary Di Tommaso

Massimo Malucelli

Stefano Muroni

Filippo Parma

Edoardo Siravo

Running Time: 71 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian and English, with English subtitles

Print Source: Meyerhar Productions

Film Website: loveamongtheruinsmovie. com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

LES COMBATTANTS

Love at First Fight

FRANCE 2014

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 4:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Arnaud (Kévin Azaïs, Césars 2015 Best Rising Actor) recently lost his father, and was planning on spending a quiet summer working at his job as a woodcutter and spending time with some close friends. He didn’t have a clue he was going to meet the love of his life. Madeleine is a survivalist, believing that the end of the world is near; she dramatically trains for the apocalypse. Running, swimming, eating raw fish, she even registers for intense military training—and Arnaud, determined to be with her at any cost, signs up as well. A revelation of the 2015 César Awards, Love at First Fight is an incredibly original and powerful debut feature by Thomas Cailley, who perfectly captures the eccentric energy that flows around this rough and tumble love story.

Awards:

Cannes Film Festival 2014 (FIPRESCI Award)

César Awards 2015 (Best Debut Feature, Rising Actor, Actress) Lumière Awards 2015 (Best Rising Actor)

Prix Louis Delluc 2014 (Best First Film)

Cairo International Film Festival 2014 (Best Actress)

Director:

Thomas Cailley

Producer: Pierre Guyard

Screenwriters:

Thomas Cailley

Claude Le Pape

Cinematographer: David Cailley

Editor: Lilian Corbeille

Music: Hit’N’Run

Cast: Adèle Haenel

Kévin Azaïs

Antoine Laurent

Nicolas Wanczycki

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: BAC Films

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: strandreleasing.com/ films/love-first-fight

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Love & Mercy

FRIDAY, MAY 15 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 16 12:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA

A conventional biopic of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys couldn’t hope to contain his complexities, so director Bill Pohlad examines two distinct periods in his life. Oren Moverman, who co-wrote I’m Not There, Todd Haynes’ shape-shifting portrait of Bob Dylan, and Michael A. Lerner build one half of the narrative around the Wilson of the 1960s (played by Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine) struggling to bring the sounds in his head to fruition while under the watchful eye of his abusive father-turned-manager, Murry (Bill Camp, 12 Years a Slave). Spurred by the success of the Beatles, Wilson pours everything he has into 1966’s “Pet Sounds.” By the 1980s, with his biggest hits behind him, Wilson (now played by John Cusack, High Fidelity) trades one authority figure for another when he falls under the sway of manipulative therapist Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti, Sideways). If Landy is a negative manifestation of his past, Melinda (Elizabeth Banks, Pitch Perfect), the Cadillac saleswoman with whom he falls in love, represents a more hopeful future. Pohlad cuts between the two eras, using one to comment on the other. Along the way, the film rescues Wilson from the myths that have swirled around him during the years he was out of the public eye, restoring his fundamental humanity.

Director: Bill Pohlad

Producers: Bill Pohlad

Claire Rudnick Polstein

John Wells

Screenwriters: Oren Moverman

Michael Alan Lerner

Cinematographer: Robert Yeoman

Editor: Dino Jonsater

Music: Atticus Ross

Cast: Paul Dano

John Cusack

Elizabeth Banks

Paul Giamatti

Bill Camp

Running Time: 119 minutes

Presentation Format

DCP

Print Source: Roadside Attractions

Film Website: loveandmercyfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

EGYPTIAN

PACIFIC PLACE

AL-HOB WA AL-SARIQA WA MASHAKEL UKHRA

Love, Theft and Other Entanglements

PALESTINE 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 7:00 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 4:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 2:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Shot in stylish black and white, this absurdist comedy from Palestine tells the tale of Mousa, a bumbling car thief who’s at the wrong place at the wrong time—or, in his case, steals the wrong car on the wrong day. Living with his elderly father, sleeping with a married woman, and trying to avoid politics at all costs, Mousa just wants to get out of the refugee camp. One day he hotwires a VW Passat, looking to sell it for parts, without realizing that there’s some precious cargo in the trunk. All of a sudden the apolitical Mousa finds himself inadvertently mixed up in a Palestinian-Israeli hostage exchange. Hotly pursued by both sides–and facing a crisis in his love life–our hapless hero can no longer stay on the sidelines of his own life. With its sly wit, artful cinematography, and jazzy score, this low-budget Palestinian indie pays a fine tribute to the French New Wave.

Director: Muayad Alayan

Producers: Rami Alayan

Muayad Alayan

Screenwriters: Rami Alayan

Muayad Alayan

Cinematographer: Muayad Alayan

Editor:

Sameer Qumsiyeh

Music: Nathan Daems

Cast: Sami Metwasi Maya Abu Alhayyat Riyad Sliman

Ramzi Maqdisi

Kamel Elbasha

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, English, and Hebrew, with English

subtitles

Print Source: Palcine Productions

Film Website: lovetheftandother entanglements.com

Selected Filmography: Sacred Stones (Doc, 2012)

Magicarena

ITALY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, JUNE 1 4:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

When the curtain’s pulled back at the highlyregarded Verona Arena, an entirely new world is revealed. Backstage there exists a unique dimension—one that vibrates with exhilaration, palpable stress, and the thrill of realized dreams. Documenting a production of “Aida” featuring avant garde Spanish theater group La Fura Dels Baus during the summer of 2013, Magicarena follows an assorted group of people from early auditions through their triumphant opening night. From mimes to accomplished opera singers, lead prop men to trombonists, every player is an essential and exquisite piece of the puzzle. The camera never wanders far from the arena—capturing every card-playing extra waiting to get called, every onstage tantrum, each complicated set construction, and even a handful of unexpected disasters that threaten the show’s success. Bedazzled dancers swirl, glowing flames pierce the darkness, and every individual artistic element combines for a spectacular Grand Opera befitting of Verdi’s bicentennial birthday.

Directors: Andrea Prandstraller

Niccolò Bruna

Producer: Agnese Fontana

Screenwriters: Agnese Fontana

Andrea Prandstraller

Niccolò Bruna

Cinematographers: Andrea Treccani

Massimo Moschin

Editors: Luca Gasparini

Alberta Masi

Music: Giuseppe Verdi

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wide Management

Print Source: Wide Management

Film Website: magicarena.tv

Selected Filmography:

PRANDSTRALLER:

It’s Never Anyone’s Fault (2012)

Polvere (Doc, 2011)

Treccani e Gentile (Doc, 2008)

Anatomia di un massacro (Doc, 2005)

Capitali coraggiosi (Doc, 1999)

BRUNA:

Peque–as mentiras piadosas (Doc, 2014)

Polvere (Doc, 2011)

ADY GASY

The Malagasy Way

MADAGASCAR/FRANCE 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Malagasy Way celebrates existence in one of the most unique societies on Earth: the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. While any capitalist might look and see a poverty-stricken society, director Lova Nantenaina and the culture he presents would disagree. There may be more than enough to complain about, but Malagasy culture is less about growth and profit and far more about recycling, creativity, and solidarity. Throughout this fun and poetic documentary there is a focus on a variety of artists, farmers, and craftspeople who are creating their own musical instruments, turning animal bones into soap and fertilizer, and transforming old tires into shoes. Punctuated with proverbs that reflect the Malagasy perspectives on life and featuring a delightfully enthusiastic occasional host, The Malagasy Way is a film that captures the ingenuity of a culture as well as the infectious joie de vivre of its people.

Awards: Lumières d’Afrique Festival 2014 (Documentary Grand Prize)

Director:

Lova Nantenaina

Producers:

Eva Lova

Marie-Clémence Paes

Screenwriters:

Lova Nantenaina

Eva Lova

Cinematographers: Lova Nantenaina

Nantenaina Fifaliana

Eva Lova

Lanto Tiana Rabearison

Editor: Lova Nanteniaina

Music: Jao

Vahombey

Milanto

Mirana

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Malagasy, with English subtitles

International Sales: Laterit Productions

Print Source: Laterit Productions

Film Website: adygasy.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SATURDAY, MAY 23 11:00 AM

SUNDAY, MAY 24 5:00 PM

Tapping into the nuance of his early roles (1973’s Scarecrow comes to mind), Al Pacino gives his best performance in years in this quiet, homespun character study from acclaimed and versatile director David Gordon Green (George Washington, Pineapple Express). Angelo Manglehorn lives a small life as a locksmith in Sunset Valley, Texas, emotionally distant from everybody and everything except for his cat Fanny, his granddaughter Kylie, and Dawn (Holly Hunter), a sweet bank teller he visits every Friday. Intentionally estranged from his commodities trader son (Chris Messina, “The Mindy Project”), he spends much of his time writing letters to Clara, a former love, hoping that one day they can sail away together on his old boat. But the letters return unopened on a daily basis, adding more and more piles to a makeshift shrine in his basement. Can Manglehorn pull himself out of his curmudgeonly ways so late in his life, find his way back into the good graces of his community, and unlock Dawn’s heart? Green and longtime cinematography collaborator Tim Orr lend Paul Logan’s script a handsome visual style bursting with neon colors and carefully calibrated character moments, enhancing the oft-surreal but always-grounded story.

Director:

David Gordon Green

Producers: Christopher Woodrow

Molly Conners

Lisa Muskat

David Gordon Green

Derrick Tseng

Screenwriter: Paul Logan

Cinematographer: Tim Orr

Editor:

Colin Patton

Music: Explosions in the Sky

David Wingo

Cast:

Al Pacino

Holly Hunter

Harmony Korine

Chris Messina

Natalie Wilemon

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales:

WestEnd Films

Print Source: IFC Films

Film Website: westendfilms.com/films/ current/manglehorn

Selected Filmography: Joe (2013)

Prince Avalanche (2013)

The Sitter (2011)

Your Highness (2011)

Pineapple Express (2008)

Snow Angels (2007)

Undertow (2004)

All the Real Girls (2003)

George Washington (2000)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

RENTON IKEA PAC

Manson Family Vacation

SATURDAY, MAY 16 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 4:30 PM

Nick Morgan (Jay Duplass, “Transparent”) has devoted his life to normalcy, becoming a successful lawyer and raising a family in Los Angeles. His adopted brother, Conrad (Linas Phillips, Lucky Them), however, is the polar opposite of the buttoned-down Nick, roaming the country, creating art living with no fixed agenda. Conrad drifts into L.A. and shows up at Nick’s house unannounced, to Nick’s annoyance. In an attempt to mend the rift that drove the brothers apart, Nick takes a day to show Conrad around town, but soon realizes that Conrad is only interested in visiting locations associated with his latest obsession— the Manson Family murders. Nick reluctantly agrees, and soon the mismatched pair begins having misadventures at the murder sites, running helter-skelter across the desert. Along the way, as the brothers begin forming bonds they never shared as kids, Nick learns more about the real reason Conrad is so fascinated with “Charlie” and his infamous Family—a revelation that may lead them down an unsettling path. Manson Family Vacation, the feature debut of up-and-coming director J. Davis, is a darkly comic but ultimately sweet story about untethered souls who take meandering paths to discover meaning and community wherever they can find it, and adds a new dimension to the idea of “family values.”

Awards: SXSW 15 (Film Design Award)

Mardan

KURDISTAN 2014

PACIFIC PLACE

HARVARD EXIT

Director: J. Davis

Producers: Jay Duplass

Mark Duplass

Steve Bannatyne

Eric Blyler

J.M. Logan

Josh Polon

Matt Ratner

Alexandra Sandler

Samantha Kern

Ray William Johnson

Kaja Martin

Michael Anderson

Christopher Sepulveda

Screenwriter: J. Davis

Cinematographer: Sean McElwee

Editor: Nick Sherman

Dave Boyle

Music: Heather McIntosh

Cast: Jay Duplass

Linas Phillips

Tobin Bell

Leonora Pitts

Adam Chernick

Davie-Blue

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Family Affair Productions

Film Website: mansonfamilyvacation. com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SUNDAY, MAY 31 8:30 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 3:30 PM

Batin Ghobadi, brother of acclaimed Iranian Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi (The Time of Drunken Horses), makes his feature film debut with this noirish, offbeat thriller about a police officer who is haunted by a traumatic childhood memory. Mardan, his moral compass set permanently askew by his experiences, maintains order as best he can among the migrant construction workers and eccentric locals who populate his beat in the rugged wilderness of the mountains of northern Iraq. One such local, the local cemetery keeper, finds himself in a panic when he accidentally runs over a man one night, takes the body home, and buries it in secret. Not long after, the beautiful Leila and her little boy arrive from Turkey in search of her husband, who has mysteriously disappeared. Smitten with Leila, Mardan makes the investigation of the missing man his top priority, not realizing that it will lead him into his own dark past. As with his brother’s films, Kurdistan’s troubled history resonates obliquely through the rocks and shadows of the rugged terrain. Ghobadi’s attention to tone and visual style, his slowburn pacing, and the brooding existentialism of his protagonist mark the arrival of another major regional talent.

Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Batin Ghobadi

Producer: Bahman Ghobadi

Screenwriter: Batin Ghobadi

Cinematographer: Saba Mazloum

Editor: Hayedeh Safiyari

Music: Kayhan Kalhor

Cast: Hisen Hesen

Helly Luv

Ismail Zagros

Beritan Yildizitan

Feyyaz Duman

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Kurdish, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Versatile

Print Source: Versatile

Film Website: versatile-films.com/ #!mardan/c11qz

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR SPECIAL EVENT

Our unique furnishings, unlimited resources and years of experience run deep, so your event will be memorable and affordable. Let Triumph handle everything for you seamlessly, without fuss or fail... So you can relax and enjoy your event just as much as your guests will.

When it comes to creating an unforgettable event, we at Triumph are committed to offering you the tools to help your vision come to life. Our wide selection of furniture and unique décor elements will add the perfect touch to make your next event a spectacular one.

Margarita, with a Straw

INDIA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 16 4:15 PM HARVARD EXIT

SATURDAY, MAY 23 8:30 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

Laila, a student and aspiring writer at Delhi University, has just gotten her heart broken for the first time. The lead singer of the rock band she assists in writing lyrics for has just rejected her and she is devastated. Refusing to let her heartbreak, nor her cerebral palsy hold her back, Laila jumps at the chance to travel abroad on a scholarship to New York University despite her mother’s worries. Fiercely independent, she embarks on an exhilarating journey of exploration and sexual discovery, meeting Khanum, a blind Indian/ Pakistani student activist at a demonstration who challenges her beliefs and sparks her creativity. The two become fast friends and eventually lovers; exploring the many dimensions of Laila as someone defined by her personality and the love she gives rather than by her disability. In a stellar performance, Kalki Koechlin brings an infectious smile and joie de vivre. Margarita, with a Straw is a realistic film that avoids cliché and the overtly maudlin, bringing us instead a refreshing take on the classic coming-of-age story.

Awards: Asian Film Awards 2015 (Best Composer)

Toronto International Film Festival 2014 (NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film) Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2014 (Best Actress)

Director: Shonali Bose

Producers: Shonali Bose

Nilesh Maniyar

Screenwriters: Shonali Bose

Nilesh Maniyar

Cinematographer: Anne Misawa

Editor: Monisha Baldawa

Music: Mikey McCleary

Prasoon Joshi

Cast: Kalki Koechlin

Revathy

Sayani Gupta

William Moseley

Hussain Dalal

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hindi and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wide Management

Print Source: 108 Media

Film Website: widemanagement. com/#!margarita/co50

Selected Filmography: Amu (2005)

Marshland

SPAIN 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 8:45 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA

In 1980, a time of instability during the transition to post-Franco democracy, a pair of mismatched detectives, Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) and Pedro (Raúl Arévalo), travel to the Guadalquivir marshland in southern Spain to investigate the disappearance of two teenage sisters. The parents don’t offer much help, but soon the bodies turn up, abused and dismembered. Two other unsolved cases of missing teenage girls come to light; they all share a connection to a defiant young buck named Quini, but his DNA isn’t a match. The detectives find themselves increasingly at odds with each other and struggle with their own internal conflicts, which mirror the greater transformations within Spanish society. The murders are linked to drug trafficking, and Juan and Pedro must work together in a race against time to stop the serial killer from striking again. Directed by Alberto Rodríguez, Marshland features stunning, evocative cinematography and a unique visual and editing style. The film cleaned up at the most recent Goya Awards, winning top honors in 10 categories, including Best Film, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, and Lead Actor for Javier Gutiérrez.

Awards:

Goya Awards 2015 (Best Director, Leading Actor, Original Screenplay, New Actress, Art Direction, Editing, Photography, Original Score, Costume Design)

Director: Alberto Rodríguez

Producers: José Antonio Félez

Mikel Lejarza

Mercedes Gamero

José Sánchez Montes

Mercedes Cantero

Screenwriters: Rafael Cobos

Alberto Rodríguez

Cinematographer: Alex Catalán

Editor: José Manuel García

Moyano

Music: Julio de la Rosa

Cast: Raúl Arévalo

Javier Gutiérrez

Antonio de la Torre

Nerea Barros

Salva Reina

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Outsider Pictures

Film Website: filmfactoryentertainment.com

Selected Filmography: Unit 7 (2012) After (2009) 7 Virgins (2007) The Suit (2002) The Pilgrim Factor (2000)

UPTOWN

LA ISLA MINIMA

KKUM-BO-DA HAE-MONG

A Matter of Interpretation

SOUTH KOREA 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

SUNDAY, MAY 31 1:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

A fed-up actress leaves her apathetic castmates behind and storms out of the theater where their play was unattended. It’s soon discovered she has also lost a film part to a flakey pop star and it seems nothing is going her way. Settling on a park bench with a bottle of soju and a pack of smokes, she reflects on the meaninglessness of life and her stand-still career. She calls her friend, new to motherhood, and listens to her fawn over her baby and dismiss her need for support. Her humdrum boyfriend meets her there, shrugs off her worries, and she promptly breaks up with him. While sulking in the freezing cold, she meets a homicide detective with a penchant for interpreting dreams and they begin to discuss their past loves and their subconscious fantasies. This breezy Korean comedy is superbly framed, both in shot and in narrative, with just enough harmony between imagination and reality to provide a quirky, surreal spin that exists in the intersection where David Lynch meets Hong Sangsoo.

Awards:

Busan International Film Festival 2014 (CGV Movie Collage Award)

Seoul Independent Film Festival 2014 (Best Film Prize)

Director:

Lee Kwang-kuk

Producers: Lee Kwang-kuk

James Do

Screenwriter: Lee Kwang-kuk

Cinematographer: Gang Dae-hee

Editor:

Son Yeon-ji

Music:

Jeong Yong-jin

Cast:

Shin Dong-mi

Kim Kang-hyun

Yu Jun-sang

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: M-Line Distribution

Print Source: M-Line Distribution

Selected Filmography: Romance Joe (2011)

Maya the Bee Movie

GERMANY/AUSTRALIA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Prepare to travel the length of a meadow at bee’s-eye level. This charming animated film, based on a beloved German children’s book by Waldemar Bonsels, follows a baby bee named Maya that simply doesn’t know where she fits in. As she explores her world, she encounters both those who want to eat her and those who want to help. There are bumbling army ants, a musical grasshopper, and a swarm of hornets who are stinging mad. Worst of all, Maya has discovered a plot to rob the hive’s Queen of her royal jelly, and she must rise up to help prevent a war in the insect kingdom. Maya the Bee Movie’s animation is funny and fresh—each flower glows and even minor characters are brought to life with a cheerful precision that makes you feel as if you are exploring an entirely new magical kingdom. This fun adventure will change the way you see the world at your feet and the insects all around us, teaching all of us that even the smallest creature can make a very big difference. In English, for all ages.

Director:

Alexs Stadermann

Producers: Thorsten Wegener

Barbara Stephen

Alexia Gates-Foale

Patrick Elemendorff

Jim Ballantine

Screenwriters: Fin Edquist

Marcus Sauermann

Editor:

Adam Smith

Music: Ute Engelhardt

Voices: Coco Jack Gillies

Miriam Margolyes

Richard Roxburgh

Kodi Smit-McPhee

Jacki Weaver

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

Print Source: Shout! Factory

Film Website: MayaTheBeeMovie.net

Selected Filmography: The Woodlies Movie (2012)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 17 2:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A Sockwork Orange. Pooping Tom. Senior Citizen Kane. These are just some of the titles of the spoof films awkward high-school student Greg and his best friend Earl work on making every day after school—a hobby that saves them from agonizing social interaction with their peers. It’s their senior year, and they believe in staying as far below the radar as possible. Greg’s over-worried mom has other things in mind however, when she pushes the boys to befriend Rachel, a fellow classmate who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Begrudgingly they start visiting her at home, all parties equally embarrassed by the parentally constructed meet-ups. Rachel, a headstrong and easy going girl, wants anything but pity, and soon finds that Greg’s self-deprecating humor and easy wit is something she can really connect with. All three teens become inseparable, but as Rachel’s treatment gets tougher reality sets in. A big winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl celebrates the multi-layers of teenage relationships (both platonic and romantic), bursting with sarcastic humor and poignancy.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic Audience Award)

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Producers: Steven Rales

Dan Fogelman

Jeremy Dawson

Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews

Cinematographer: Chung-Hoon Chung

Editor: David Trachtenberg

Music: Brian Eno

Cast: Thomas Mann

RJ Cyler

Olivia Cooke

Nick Offerman

Connie Britton

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Fox Searchlight

Selected Filmography: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

XINGDONG DAIHOO: SUNZHONGSHAN

Meeting Dr. Sun

TAIWAN 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM

HARVARD EXIT WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Blending the exuberance of a teenage caper comedy with unforced commentary on the strangling effects of poverty, Meeting Dr. Sun has deservedly racked up accolades, most recently the jury and audience awards at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. Lefty spends his days slinking down his high school halls, covering his face to avoid being spotted by classmates demanding school fees he can’t afford to pay. That is, until he peeks in a storage room, spots a statue of Sun Yat-sen, and is struck with gleeful inspiration. Recruiting three chums, Lefty plans to steal the forgotten monument and sell it for scrap, allowing the crew to pay off their debts with a little left over for their troubles. But when another student stumbles upon the same scheme, the question becomes whether to cut him in on the deal. Though the style’s informed by Taiwan’s New Wave, Lefty, with his elaborate schemes and cocksure self-mythologizing, could have wandered over from an early Wes Anderson film, a comparison the movie earns not just with hearty laughs but a poignant undertone that makes the success of its youthful protagonists’ plans all the more sweetly, if improbably, to be desired.

Awards:

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2014 (Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award)

Golden Horse Awards 2014 (Best Original Screenplay)

Taipei Film Awards 2014 (Best Screenplay)

Director: Chih-yen Yee

Producer: Chih-yen Yee

Lieh Lee

Roger Huang

Screenwriter: Chih-yen Yee

Cinematographer: Tai-pu Chen

Editor: Min-chi Tu

Music: Chris Hou

Cast: Huai-yun Zhan

Han-ting Wei

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin and Taiwanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Ablaze Image Ltd.

Print Source: Ablaze Image Ltd.

Film Website: ablazeimage.com/ meeting-dr-sun-info

Selected Filmography: About Love (2005)

Blue Gate Crossing (2002)

Lonely Hearts Club (1995)

Meet the Patels

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 3:30 PM LINCOLN

At the cusp of 30 and devastated by the breakup of a long-term relationship, IndianAmerican actor Ravi Patel has reached the breaking point with Western-style courtship. A despondent Ravi and his filmmaking sister Geeta fly to India to see their relatives, where Ravi is harangued constantly about why he’s not yet married. Ravi notes how their parents, Champa and Vasant Patel, who met via a traditional Indian arranged marriage, are still happy and together after 35 years. Eventually, Ravi decides to give his parents’ methods a try and allows them to arrange the perfect mate for him—all while his sister films it. Thus begins a whirlwind of uncomfortable dates/interviews, most of which go comically wrong, despite being backed by meticulously researched “biodata” gathered by the elder Patels. Anyone who’s had a bad first date or faced parental pressure to get hitched—meaning just about everybody—will relate to Ravi’s uproarious humiliations. Meet the Patels, which won the Audience Award at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, is a witty commentary on how ancient marriage rituals clash with modern attitudes of romance and self-determination, but it may leave you wondering how any of us ever hook up in the first place.

Awards:

Los Angeles Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award for Best Documentary)

Hot Docs 2014 (Audience Favorite)

Traverse City Film Festival 2014 (Grand Prize, Audience Award)

Directors:

Geeta V. Patel

Ravi V. Patel

Producers: Janet Eckholm

Geeta V. Patel

Screenwriters: Ravi V. Petal

Geeta V. Patel

Billy McMillin

Matthew Hamachek

Cinematographer:

Geeta V. Patel

Editors: Billy McMillin

Matthew Hamachek

Ravi V. Patel

Geeta V. Patel

Music:

Brooke Wentz

Featuring: Ravi V. Patel

Vasant K. Patel

Champa V. Patel

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English, Gujarati, and Hindi, with English

subtitles

International Sales: United Talent Agency

Print Source: Alchemy

Film Website: meetthepatelsfilm.com

Selected Filmography:

Project Kashmir (Doc, 2008)

Me Him Her

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 7:00 PM

HARVARD EXIT SATURDAY, JUNE 6 1:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

From the incredible imagination of Max Landis (Chronicle), Me Him Her is a comedy of errors, manners, and fencing for three millennials trying to figure out love, friendship, sex, identity, and life in the fantastical world of L.A. Twentysomething Midwestern desk jockey Corey (Dustin Milligan, Extract) arrives in Los Angeles to help his semi-famous TV star friend Brendan (Luke Bracey, The Best of Me) take his first step out of the closet. Brendan is not quite ready to take the final leap, but when he meets the man of his dreams, the door is flung quickly open. With the media watching his every misstep, things get seriously complicated when Corey embarks on his own whirlwind, head-spinning, roller-coaster romance with the sharp-witted lesbian Gabbi (Emily Meade, “The Leftovers”), whose demonically jealous ex is out for revenge. Roll in Gabbi’s best friends (Alia Shawkat, “Arrested Development” and Rebecca Drysdale, “The Big Gay Sketch Show”), Brendan’s clueless parents (Geena Davis and Scott Bakula), and a wild cameo turn from Haley Joel Osment, this highly anticipated directorial debut of Landis is a wildly original tale that speaks an authentic and universal language of youth and is poised to be a defining comedy of its generation.

Director: Max Landis

Producers: Peter Saraf

Mark Turtletaub

Screenwriter: Max Landis

Cinematographer: Ross Riege

Editor: Joe Landauer

Music: Andrew Dost

Cast:

Luke Bracey

Dustin Milligan

Emily Meade

Scott Bakula

Geena Davis

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Protagonist Pictures

Print Source: Big Beach

Film Website: bigbeach.com/ work/me-him-her

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SQUARE

Messi

SPAIN 2014

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 4:00 PM

Today he is considered the greatest soccer player in the world, but Lionel Messi grew up with a serious condition that, left untreated, would have stunted his growth and pre-empted his career. This film traces his life back to his childhood in Rosario, Argentina and his exploits with the legendary local youth team, through his diagnosis with growth hormone deficiency and the far-sighted decision by Barcelona F.C. to underwrite the cost of his treatment. That decision had an incredible payoff, giving Barcelona the greatest player in the team’s history.

Award-winning director Álex de la Iglesia (Witching and Bitching, Perfect Crime) incorporates plenty of footage of Messi’s spectacular ability throughout his career to dribble past opponents as if the ball were glued to his foot, and to find the net with power and clinical precision. The archival footage is artfully interwoven with re-enactments of key moments in Messi’s life and informal conversations with Messi’s friends and colleagues. It’s a rousing and inspiring story that will appeal to soccer lovers and skeptics alike.

Mirage

HUNGARY/SLOVAKIA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 8:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SUNDAY, MAY 24 4:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Director: Álex de la Iglesia

Producer: Jaume Roures

Screenwriter: Jorge Valdano

Cinematographer: Kiko de la Rica

Editor:

Domingo González

Music:

Joan Valent

Featuring: Diego Maradona

Jorge Valdano

Gerard Piqué

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

Film Website: filmfactoryentertainment.com

Selected Filmography: Witching and Bitching (2013)

As Luck Would Have It (2011)

The Last Circus (2010)

The Oxford Murders (2008) Perfect Crime (2004) 800 Bullets (2002)

Common Wealth (2000)

Dying of Laughter (1999)

Dance with the Devil (1997)

The Day of the Beast (1995) Mutant Action (1993)

A hallucinatory neo-western, Mirage takes place on the dry, hazy plains of Hungary, where a nomadic African fútbol player takes up residence amongst an array of local outcasts. Strutting into town with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, a leather jacket on his back, and aviator sunglasses on his face, Isaach De Bankolé plays a mysterious stranger with an infinite level of cool. Looking for the nearest tavern, the confused townspeople point him in the direction of a run-down train that will eventually get him there. What he finds when he arrives at his destination is a desolate and dusty estate where a group of violent citizens run the town on horseback with machine guns. This contemplative slow-burner uses its environment to its advantage, employing wide shots and dusty tones to show the desolation and emotional confinement of the unruly citizens of this nowhere-burg. Mirage delivers well-dressed wanderers, violent shootouts, and an effective elemental blend of the western and noir genres.

Director: Szabolcs Hadju

Producers:

Andrea Taschler

Gábor Kovács

Jim Stark

Screenwriters: Jim Stark

Szabolcs Hajdu

Nandor Lovas

Cinematographer:

András Nagy

Editor:

Péter Politzer

Music: Billy Martin

Cast: Isaach De Bankolé

Razvan Vasilescu

Orsolya Tšršk-Illyés

Dragos Bucur

Tamás Polgár

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Hungarian, Romanian, French, and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Hungarian National Film Fund

Print Source: Mirage Film Studio

Film Website: miragefilm.hu/project/ mirage

Selected Filmography:

Bibliothèque Pascal (2010)

White Palms (2007)

Off Hollywood (2007)

Tamara (2004) Sticky Matters (2000)

Molly Moon

SATURDAY, MAY 30 1:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 11:00 AM SIFF

When curious orphan Molly Moon finds a mysterious book entitled “Hypnotism: An Ancient Art Explained” in her small town’s library, she has a sneaking suspicion everything at the run-down Hardwick House Orphanage is about to change. First step, test out her new skills on the headmistress’s grouchy Pug Petula. Next up, convince the head chef to stop feeding them slop and start cooking exclusively delicious Italian dishes instead. Finally, use her new hypnotism powers to get to London, become famous, and find her best friend Rocky, who was adopted by a man and woman who couldn’t possibly replace her as his real family. If only that nutty, mustachioed crook would stop following her around trying to get his grubby hands on her book. Based on the popular children’s fantasy novels by British author Georgia Byng, Molly Moon is a modern-day Annie with a magical twist, spinning a heartfelt and adventurous tale about what family really means.

LINCOLN SQUARE

Director:

Christopher N. Rowley

Producers:

Lawrence Elman

Ileen Maisel

Georgia Byng

Screenwriter: Tom Butterworth

Cinematographer: Remi Adefarasin

Editor:

Lesley Walker

Cast:

Raffey Cassidy

Emily Watson

Ann-Marie Duff

Dominic Monaghan

Leslie Manville

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Metro International

Entertainment

Print Source: Arc Entertainment

Film Website: mollymoonsworld.com

Selected Filmography: Bonneville (2006)

Remembering the Movies (2002)

Legacy (2000)

Morbayassa

GUINEA 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 6:00 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 3:00 PM

Bella, a 30-year-old Guinean cabaret singer, lives a miserable, dangerous life as a prostitute in Dakar, Senegal. Though she longs for escape, a gang of pimps, led by Kèba, treat her like property and make sure she keeps in her place. Her only hope is the thought of earning enough money to escape and reunite with her daughter, who she gave up at birth at age 15—a desperate act that haunts Bella’s nightmares and fills her with guilt. While fleeing an angry client, she meets Yélo, a Guinean worker for the United Nations, who happens to be passing through Dakar. Instantly smitten, Yélo agrees to help Bella, and so begins an epic journey of redemption, from Guinea to Paris. But can the young couple escape the clutches of the menacing Kèba? Morbayassa is named for a joyous traditional West African dance that women perform after they have a child or are reunited with a long-lost son or daughter to rejoice over the lifting of the bad luck that has burdened them. Cheick Fantamady Camara’s second feature-length film is an inspiring odyssey celebrating the courage of a woman, ferociously played by Fatoumata Diawara, who decides she will escape her dead end situation to find the daughter she could never have.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Cheick Fantamady

Camara

Producer: Cheick Fantamady

Camara

Screenwriters: Cheick Fantamady

Camara

Marc Gautron

Catherine Foussadier

Cinematographer: Rémi Mazet

Editor: Andrée Davanture

Music: Matthieu Bouzoueme

Cast: Fatoumata Diawara

Claire Simba

Alex Ogou

Brigette Masure

Running Time: 124 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: C.O.P. Films

Selected Filmography: Clouds Over Conakry (2007)

CINEMA UPTOWN

Most Likely to Succeed

MONDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 3:00 PM SIFF

When documentarian Greg Whiteley (New York Doll) sat in on a parent-teacher conference and noticed his 10-year-old daughter’s overwhelming boredom, he didn’t get mad. Instead, he took a long, hard look at the American educational system and saw that it was lacking, its institutional processes and curriculum better suited to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century than the information age of today. What good is the system if even college-educated Americans find themselves stranded in an increasingly hostile and shrinking work force? As an alternative, Whiteley looks toward High Tech High in San Diego, a learning environment that is anything but orthodox, training his cameras on two freshman classes over one school year. Created by Larry Rosenstock and funded by Qualcomm C.E.O. Irwin Jacobs, High Tech High focuses on project-based learning with end-of-year exhibitions, hoping to instill in their students values of conversation, exploration, collaboration, and examination in lieu of standardized testing. With each teacher allowed to dictate how their class is run and what they teach, can this experiment prove to be the reform that this country needs in the new century?

Director: Greg Whiteley

Producer: Greg Whiteley Daria Lombroso

Screenwriter: Greg Whiteley

Cinematographer: Gabriel Patay

Editor: Adam Ridley

Music: Josh Ethan Johnson

Matthew Lurie

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: One Potato Productions

Film Website: mltsfilm.org

Selected Filmography: Mitt (Doc, 2014)

Resolved (Doc, 2007) New York Doll (Doc, 2005)

SHAN LIN

Mountain Spirits

TAIWAN 2014

US PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 6:00 PM SIFF

SATURDAY, MAY 23 4:00 PM SIFF

A deeply beautiful and meditative documentary about Wang Wen-chih, a Taiwanese artist known for large-scale installation pieces made from natural materials such as bamboo, rattan, and wood. Growing up in the mountains and forests of beautiful Chiayi County, Taiwan, Wang weaves his memories into his work with his own hands and through collective labor. The unique, huge spaces he constructs are known for emitting a deep and powerful sense of tranquility, attracting countless visitors who are delighted by the surprisingly moving moments in his works and the links they suggest between the artist and his land. Singing Chen and Kuo-Liang Chiang’s documentary offers a highly engaging portrait of a true individual of Taiwanese contemporary art, following Wang on his spiritually rich journey of creation. Covering not only his methods and artistic practices but also his philosophy and the ways in which his works involve their spectators, Mountain Spirits is an involving and quietly dynamic documentary, filled with stunning visuals and thought-provoking ideas.

PRECEDED BY:

Through The Ground Glass USA 2014, 5 minutes, Directors: Nick Bolton, Taylor Hawkins Large format photographer Joseph Allen Freeman wanders the eastern Washington landscape in search of the perfect photo.

Directors:

Singing Chen

Kuo-Liang Chiang

Producer:

Tsai Mei-Wen

Cinematographer:

Kuo-Liang Chiang

Running Time: 70 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM, in Chinese and Taiwanese, with English subtitles

Print Source: The 3rd Vision Films

Selected Filmography:

CHEN:

The Walkers (Doc, 2014)

God Man Dog (2007)

Bundled (2001)

CHIANG:

Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA UPTOWN

Mr. Holmes

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 4:00 PM

An elderly man sits in a cinema with scenes from his life unfolding upon the silver screen. However, this is not his life as he knew it but a fictionalized adventure based upon the memoirs of his former assistant, Dr. Watson. Having long ago retired to an anonymous life in the Sussex countryside, Sherlock Holmes spends his days indulging his twin hobbies, honey bees and botany; his only two companions being his housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), and her 14-year-old son, Roger (Milo Parker). But as his once brilliant mind falters, Holmes struggles to remember the details of his final case, involving an aggrieved married couple and a mysterious musical instrument, which may or may not have occult properties. What went so wrong with the investigation that it made the great detective retire? And how is it connected to his recent trip to post-WWII Japan? Based on Mitch Cullin’s acclaimed novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind,” Mr. Holmes reunites Bill Condon, the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker of Gods and Monsters, with Ian McKellan, giving a career-best performance, to create a uniquely iconoclastic chapter in the life of pop culture’s most famous detective.

Director:

Bill Condon

Producers:

Anne Carey

Iain Canning

Emile Sherman

Screenwriter: Jeffrey Hatcher

Cinematographer: Tobias Schliessler

Editor:

Virginia Katz

Music:

Carter Burwell

Cast: Ian McKellen

Laura Linney

Milo Parker

Hiroyuki Sanada

Hattie Morahan

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source:

Roadside Attractions

Film Website: see-saw-films.com/film/ mr-holmes

Selected Filmography:

The Fifth Estate (2013)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 & 2 (2011, 2012)

Dreamgirls (2006)

Kinsey (2004)

Gods and Monsters (1998)

The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1994)

Sister, Sister (1987)

MEURTRE À PACOT

Murder in Pacot

HAITI/FRANCE/NORWAY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 9:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 19 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Days after the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, a nameless, wealthy couple from Port-au-Prince find themselves having lost everything and living in the rubble of their once lavish estate. The husband, stoic and proud, leaves for work each day and comes back each evening, refusing to indulge his wife in the emotions she so clearly feels. She, on the other hand, is desperately clinging to the past, digging up old shirts and cameras to connect them with their old life. When a team of surveyors inform them that they have to reconstruct the house immediately or have it demolished, they decide to stay in a shed out back and rent out the habitable part to a white aid worker, Alex, and his lascivious Haitian girlfriend. The two couples coexist in the ruins, but as the days pass, we find out the extent of the couple’s loss, and the effects their fall from privilege has on their relationship, their morals, and their perception of reality. Raoul Peck takes his passion about Haitian culture and identity so evident in his 2012 documentary Fatal Assistance, and creates a film that combines essential social discourse with elements of a good, sweaty, sensual melodrama.

Director: Raoul Peck

Producer: Rémi Grellety

Raoul Peck

Screenwriter: Lyonel Trouillot

Pascal Bonitzer

Raoul Peck

Cinematographer: Eric Guichard

Editor: Alexandra Strauss

Music: Alexei Aigui

Cast: Alex Descas

Ayo

Thibault Vincon

Lovely Kermonde Fifi

Running Time: 128 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, Haitian creole, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Doc & Film International

Print Source: Doc & Film International

Film Website: velvet-film.com

Selected Filmography: Fatal Assistance (Doc, 2013)

Sometimes in April (2005)

Lumumba (2000)

The Man on the Shore (1993)

Haitian Corner (1988)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

The Muses of Bashevis Singer

ISRAEL 2014

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 3:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 4:00 PM

Short, bald, and old, famous Yiddish writer and Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer was an unlikely ladies’ man—but a ladies’ man he was, once declaring that a bevy of women translators would be “heaven on earth.” In his early years, Singer’s work was translated by such contemporary literary lights as Saul Bellow, but his fear of being overshadowed led him to choose unknown figures, all of them female. These intelligent, educated, and literary women not only introduced the writer to audiences around the world, but also provided a vital source of creativity and inspiration. Today, nine of them remain to tell their stories, offering valuable insight into both Singer’s personality and literary methods. A delightful glimpse behind the curtain sure to fascinate anyone who’s read such classic works as Gimpel the Fool, Enemies, A Love Story, or Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, the Broadway play later made into the film musical directed by and starring Barbra Streisand.

Directors:

Asaf Galay

Shaul Betser

Producers: Asaf Galay

Shaul Betser

Keren Michael

Screenwriters: Shaul Betser

Asaf Galay

Cinematographer: Itai Neeman

Editor: Tal Rabiner

Music: Jonathan Bar-Giora

Running Time: 72 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Cinephil

Print Source: Cinephil

Film Website: the-muses-ofbashevis-singer.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

MIN LILLA SYSTER

My Skinny Sister

SWEDEN/GERMANY 2015

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 5:30 PM KIRKLAND PC SUNDAY, JUNE 7 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

No one can love, or hate, like sisters. 12-year old endearingly awkward and chubby Stella, spends her time practicing her first kiss on tomatoes, making prank phone calls, and watching her older sister Katja in her beautiful figure skating outfit glide over the ice. She’s also the only one who knows her sister’s secret. Stella begins to notice Katja’s odd behavior, barely eating and throwing up after meals, and she doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. Katja makes her swear not to tell, saying she’ll tell everyone about Stella’s crush on her older figure skating coach and about the love poems she writes in her diary— so Stella doesn’t. Yet as things begin to get worse, protecting her older sister becomes the most important thing, and Stella hopes it’s not too late. Shot in soft lighting, and usually from Stella’s point of view, My Skinny Sister illustrates nostalgia for childhood best friendships, first romances, lazy summers, and whispered secrets. Thematically it takes a heavier turn, perfectly capturing with amazing performances by Swedish pop-star Amy Deasismont (Katja) and Rebecka Josephson (Stella) the naiveté and confusion these situations can cause in the eyes of an adolescent.

Awards:

Berlin Film Festival 2015 (Crystal Bear for Best Film) Göteborg Film Festival 2015 (Audience Award)

Director: Sanna Lenken

Producer: Annika Rogell

Screenwriter: Sanna Lenken

Cinematographer: Moritz Schultheiß

Editor: Hanna Lejonqvist

Music:

Per Störby Jutbring

Cast: Rebecka Josephson

Amy Deasismont

Annika Hallin

Henrik Norlén

Maxim Mehmet

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Swedish and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wide Management

Print Source: Wide Management

Film Website: widemanagement.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

KAK MENYA ZOVUT

Name Me

RUSSIA 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 19 8:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 4:30 PM

Two fatherless girls pull a spur-of-themoment prank that has life-changing consequences in this suspenseful drama. Olya (Marina Vasilyeva), a timid 17-year-old, travels from Moscow to the Crimea with her brazen friend, Sasha (Aleksandra Bortich), to meet Olya’s father, Sergey (The Return’s Konstantin Lavronenko), for the first time. At his ramshackle home in the resort town of Alupka, she has second thoughts, so Sasha introduces herself as Olya. Sergey doesn’t bat an eye, leading the girls to feel pretty good about themselves until Sasha’s rude, sexually assertive ways start to grate on the gruff Sergey’s nerves. While he spends his nights engaged in some secretive enterprise, Sasha hangs out with Kirill (Kirill Kaganovich), a local party boy, leaving Olya feeling neglected and alone. Gradually, a tense family dynamic develops with Olya and Sasha competing for the attentions of Kirill and the affections of Sergey. When drugs, alcohol, criminal activity, and sexual manipulation enter the picture, allegiances shift and warp. Vasilyeva and Bortich give deeply felt performances as two young women who will do anything for love and acceptance—even if it means putting the other in harm’s way.

Awards:

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2014 (Special Award) Stockholm Film Festival 2014 (Honorable Mention)

Director:

Nigina Sayfullaeva

Producer:

Igor Tolstunov

Screenwriters:

Lubov Mulmenko

Nigina Sayfullaeva

Cinematographer: Mark Ziselson

Editor:

Vadim Krasnitsky

Cast:

Konstantin Lavronenko

Alexandra Bortich

Marina Vasilyeva

Kirill Kaganovich

Anna Kotova

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Antipode Sales & Distribution

International Sales: Antipode Sales & Distribution

Film Website: antipode-sales.biz/movies/storm-warning/

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

natural history

USA/AUSTRIA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 8:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

SUNDAY, MAY 17 4:30 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

Experimental filmmaker James Benning’s new film gives us a look at the life of inanimate objects in Vienna’s Museum of Natural History. Benning focuses on several spaces and objects for varied amounts of time, based on a complex theory Benning has about the digits of Pi and the amount of time he observed patrons viewing each exhibit (between two seconds and five minutes). The film is captivating, each shot drawing you in with its contrast to the one before it, celebrating their distinctions and seeming to contemplate their purpose, which is to be shown and be seen. A staple in the American structural avant-garde, James Benning’s work continues to be immensely hypnotic and strangely beautiful. natural history (the lowercase intentional) actually became an exhibit itself in the museum, bringing up even more questions of art’s existence, purpose, and alienation.

Director: James Benning

Producer: James Benning

Screenwriter: James Benning

Cinematographer: James Benning

Editor: James Benning

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital, no dialogue

Print Source: James Benning

Selected Filmography: Ruhr (Doc, 2009)

Casting a Glance (Doc, 2007)

RR (Doc, 2007)

One Way Boogie

Woogie/27 Years Later, (Doc, 2005)

Ten Skies (Doc, 2004)

13 Lakes (Doc, 2004)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

HARVARD EXIT

UNE NOUVELLE AMIE

The New Girlfriend

FRANCE 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In this Hitchcockian psychosexual drama, Laura, a beautiful mother and wife, dies suddenly of a relentless illness, leaving her newborn infant and husband, David, behind. At her funeral, her devastated childhood friend Claire swears to watch over her baby and check in on David frequently. After a long bout of crippling depression following Laura’s death, Claire finally shows up at David’s house unannounced and discovers a secret David’s long been hiding—he’s a cross-dresser.

Feeling like in the wake of his wife’s death he can finally let his inner desires out to breathe, he asks Claire for her assistance in nurturing this side of him, an alter-ego named “Virginie,” and she agrees. Virginie and Claire form a fast bond that both fills a void left by Laura after her death, and also aids in David coming out of his shell. Crafted with suspense and emotional intensity by one of France’s most esteemed modern directors, François Ozon, this joyously perverse story provides a satisfying look at duality, transformation, and sexual fluidity.

Awards: Cesar Awards 2015 (Best Actor Nominee, Best Costume Design Nominee) San Sebastían Film Festival 2014 (Sebastían Award)

Director: François Ozon

Producers: Eric Altmayer

Nicolas Altmayer

Screenwriter: François Ozon

Cinematographer: Pascal Marti

Editor: Laure Gardette

Music: Philippe Rombi

Cast: Romain Duris

Anaīs Demoustier

Raphaël Personnaz

Isild Le Besco

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Films Distribution

Print Source: Cohen Media Group

Film Website: cohenmedia.net

Selected Filmography: Young & Beautiful (2013)

In the House (2012)

Potiche (2010)

Angel (2007)

Swimming Pool (2003)

8 Women (2002)

Under the Sand (2000)

Criminal Lovers (1999)

See the Sea (1997)

The New Man

URUGUAY/CHILE 2015

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 9:45 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 1:30 PM

Born in Nicaragua, Roberto pioneered the struggle for political, educational and social reforms, first as a Sandinista activist, and then, when he was forced to leave the country, as a Tupamaro in his adopted Uruguay. 20 years later, living as a woman, Roberto—now Stephania—barely makes ends meet guarding cars on the streets of Montevideo. The process of legally becoming a woman marks the beginning of a journey that takes her back to Nicaragua, where she finally introduces herself as Stephania and confronts family and friends she hasn’t seen or heard from in years. The New Man thus becomes an intimate portrait of a transgendered person with a tumultuous past, but also a revealing picture of a country that in spite of its revolutionary history still has a troublesome face of intolerance and bigotry. Director Aldo Garay delivers a layered and poignant documentary intertwining footage of a young Roberto fiercely defending educational rights with a resourceful Stephania making her own feminine clothes and having heated exchanges with her mother. Garay proves once again how a personal story becomes universal when one’s basic human rights have to be defended over and over.

Awards:

Berlin Film Festival 2015 (Teddy Award for Best Documentary)

Director: Aldo Garay

Producer: Micaela Solé

Cinematographer: Diego Varela

Editor: Federico La Rosa

Music: Daniel Lafalian

Running Time: 79 minutes

Presentation

Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cordón Films

Print Source: The Film Collaborative Film Website: cordonfilms.com

Selected Filmography: The Wedding (2011)

The Circle (Doc, 2008) Near the Clouds (Doc, 2006)

The Wait (2002)

My Gringa, an Unfinished Portrait (1998)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

EL HOMBRE NUEVO

LA PROCHAINE FOIS JE VISERAI LE COEUR

Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart

FRANCE 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 8:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

1978, Oise, France: people are traumatized by a maniac who is killing female hitchhikers and sending threatening letters to the police. Who is behind these devious crimes? This is the question the French police force fiercely tries to resolve. They would never dream that the killer is one of them. Young and reserved, Franck (Guillaume Canet) seems to be a model policeman living an ordinary life. Things become a bit harder when he is assigned to investigate his own crimes. In this French thriller, director Cédric Anger tells this true story from the killer’s point of view, closely following Franck’s double life and illustrating his systemic murders, his zealous professionalism in catching the maniac, and his blooming attraction for his shy cleaning lady Sophie (Ana Girardot). César nominee Guillaume Canet delivers one of his best performances in this portrait of a neurotic and self-destructive man obsessed with order and masculinity.

Awards: César Awards 2015 (Best Actor Nominee, Adapted Screenplay Nominee)

Director:

Cédric Anger

Producer:

Thomas Klotz

Alain Attal

Screenwriter: Cédric Anger

Cinematographer: Thomas Hardmeier

Editor:

Julien Leloup

Music:

Grégoire Hetzel

Cast:

Guillaume Canet

Ana Girardot

Arnaud Henriet

Jean-Yves Berteloot

Alice de Lencquesaing

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Kinology

Print Source:

Kinology

Film Website: marsfilms.com

Selected Filmography: The Counsel (2009) Le Tueur (2006)

AT LI LAYLA

Next to Her

ISRAEL 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 19 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 1:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 25 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Chelli, a security guard in her 20s, lives with and cares for her developmentally disabled younger sister Gabby on her own. While the sisters love one another deeply, it’s clear that over time their relationship has become codependent, even symbiotic. When Chelli, at the insistence of the neighbors, opts to put Gabby in daycare, she becomes jealous of the new friendships her sister forms. Things complicate further when Chelli begins dating Zohar, a substitute gym teacher at the school where she works. While he develops his own comfortable rapport with Gabby, he also inevitably threatens to disrupt the sisters’ nurturing yet stifling dynamic. Intimate, and intricately constructed, Next to Her is a remarkably accomplished first feature from director Asaf Korman and his wife, Liron Ben-Shlush, who wrote the screenplay (inspired by her own experiences) and also plays the lead role.

Awards:

Israeli Film Academy 2014 (Best Supporting Actress)

Chicago International Film Festival 2014 (Silver Hugo Award)

Thessaloniki Film Festival 2014 (Special Jury Award)

Haifa International Film Festival (Best Feature, Screenplay)

Director: Asaf Korman

Producer: Haim Mecklberg

Estee Yakov-Mecklberg

Screenwriter: Liron Ben-Shlush

Cinematographer: Amit Yasur

Editor: Shira Hochman

Asaf Korman

Music: Asaf Korman

Cast: Liron Ben-Shlush

Dana Ivgy

Yaacov Daniel

Sophie Ostrovsky

Carmit Messilati

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hebrew, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Films Boutique

Film Website: 2teamproductions.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Nightmare

USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 22 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, MAY 25 7:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

For some, sleep is a welcome respite at the end of the day, but for those with the rare condition known as Sleep Paralysis, the bedroom is a place of terror. Trapped alone between the sleeping and waking worlds, sufferers of this mental condition find themselves laying paralyzed and immobile with fear as ghastly visitors surround them: terrifying shadowmen, red-eyed spectral cats, waves of spiders, and menacing alien-like spirits. In Room 237, director Rodney Ascher explored the effects of cinema on the psyche. With The Nightmare, he uncovers the reverse—the mind’s ability to create a visceral, realistic other world. Ascher, who has also experienced the condition, illustrates the case studies of eight victims of Sleep Paralysis through probing interviews and hallucinatory reenactments, blurring the lines between reality and imagination. Is there a cure for Sleep Paralysis? Some sufferers have found relief, though what should be explained by science gets complicated as people from random backgrounds have very similar visions. More ominous is the implication that it may be a viral condition, making The Nightmare not only the most terrifying documentary ever made, but one that could lead to literal nightmares.

Director:

Rodney Ascher

Producers: Ross Dinerstein

Glen Zipper

Tim Kirk

Screenwriter: Rodney Ascher

Cinematographer: Bridger Nielson

Editor: Rodney Ascher

Music: Jonathan Snipes

William Hutson

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Preferred Content

Print Source: Campfire

Film Website: campfire.us/films/ thenightmare

Selected Filmography: Room 237 (Doc, 2012)

NNPERU/COLOMBIA/FRANCE/GERMANY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 8:45 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 12:00 PM

A Peruvian forensic team, tasked with exhuming the remains of a group of people who were made to “disappear” some 25 years earlier, finds an unexpected additional John Doe, the only clue being small photograph of a woman found on his person. The leader of the group, Fidel, undertakes the long, complicated work of identifying the body, and must navigate the still-raw emotions of the families of the disappeared. As the mystery deepens and the bureaucratic system comes down on him demanding answers, Fidel’s mental state begins to unravel and the foundation of his professionalism begins to quake. Director Hector Galvez takes a nuanced, heartfelt look at the raw humanity behind a country’s efforts to come to terms with a dark chapter in its history—namely the ruthless violence employed against leftist guerrillas in the 1980s—as well as perfectly conveying such an investigation’s toll on the human psyche.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Héctor Gálvez

Producers: Enid Campos

Héctor Gálvez

Screenwriter: Héctor Gálvez

Cinematographer: Mario Bassino

Editor: Eric Williams

Music: Pauchi Sasaki

Cast: Paul Vega

Isabel Gaona

Antonieta Pari

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Habanero Film Sales

Print Source: Habanero Film Sales

Film Website: habanerofilmsales.com/ portfolio/nn

Selected Filmography: Paradise (2009)

NO TODO ES VIGILIA

Not All Is Vigil

SPAIN/COLOMBIA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Starring director Hermes Paralluelo’s grandparents, Not All Is Vigil is a poignant look at senior love and companionship. This fictiondocumentary hybrid takes place right after Felisa and Antonio, living together for over 60 years, are confronted with the possibility of having to leave their home and move into an assisted living facility. Their bond is palpable, even if it often shows itself in fractious bickering and murmured complaints. There is nothing sugarcoated about the multiple challenges they face, both physical and emotional, and yet they are pertinently undercut with a droll sense of humor and real tenderness. The cinematography is affecting, illustrating the delusory and somewhat sinister feel of the hospital where Antonio is being treated, compared to the cozy and intimate home in their country village. Not All Is Vigil is an immersive experience, examining the closeness of Felisa and Antonio throughout their daily routines, and beautifully capturing the odd rhythms and small ironies of the couple’s quiet life together.

Awards: Palm Springs Film Festival 2015 (Cine Latino Award, Special Mention)

The Old Dark House USA 1932

MONDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM

Director: Hermes Paralluelo

Producer: María José Gracía

Screenwriter: Hermes Paralluelo

Cinematographer: Julián Elizalde

Editors: Iván Guarnizo

Hermes Paralluelo

Cast: Antonio Paralluelo

Felisa Lou

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

Print Source: El Dedo en el Ojo

Film Website: eldedoenelojo.com/en/ featurefilms/#No todo es vigilia

Selected Filmography: Yatasto (2011)

Following the critical triumph and box office success of Frankenstein, director James Whale had his pick of projects at Universal. However, instead of making a hard-hitting drama or a prestige period piece, he chose to make The Old Dark House—a twisted Gothic thriller, equal parts macabre nightmare and camp farce. On a dark and stormy night, three travelers (Raymond Massey, Gloria Stewart, and Melvyn Douglas) find themselves lost and stranded in the Welsh countryside. They seek shelter in a nearby crumbling manor, home to the eccentric Femm family, the gaunt Horace, his god-fearing sister Rebecca, and their grotesque, mute butler, Morgan (Boris Karloff). As the storm gathers force outside, the atmosphere within grows creepier and creepier when the unwelcome company makes the acquaintance of the family’s patriarch and psychotic elder brother Saul. Though little seen upon its initial release and once thought to be a lost film, The Old Dark House is now considered to be a cult masterpiece that oozes with malevolence and sardonic wit and whose influence can be seen in such diverse films as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Thundercrack!, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. A stunning 35mm print, preserved by the Library of Congress with funding provided by The Film Foundation.

Director: James Whale

Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.

Screenwriter: Benn W. Levy

Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson

Editor: Clarence Kolster

Cast:

Boris Karloff

Charles Laughton

Melvyn Douglas

Raymond Massey

Gloria Stewart

Running Time: 71 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

Print Source: Library of Congress

Film Website: film-foundation.org

Selected Filmography: The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)

Wives Under Suspicion (1938)

Sinners in Paradise (1938)

The Great Garrick (1937) Show Boat (1936)

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Impatient Maiden (1932)

Frankenstein (1931)

Waterloo Bridge (1931)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

AVIS DE MISTRAL

One Million Dubliners

IRELAND 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 6:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

Few places on Earth encapsulate the history of its country as Glasnevin Cemetery does for Ireland. It is the final resting place of 1.5 million souls (more than the living population of Dublin), including the graves for many of Ireland’s most prominent national figures:

Charles Parnell, Daniel O’Connell, and the 1916 Easter rebels. However, despite being Ireland’s national necropolis, Glasnevin is bustling with life: from the cemetery’s administrators, who follow a centuries-old plan to inter each new resident, to the on-site florists gossiping about which graves receive the most flowers each holiday. There is Shane MacThomáis, the cemetery’s loquacious unofficial historian, who gives daily walking tours to locals and tourists alike, many of the latter seeking the final resting place of an old country ancestor. Along the way we encounter such hallowed sites as the heartbreaking Angels Plot and the ever-popular Michael Collins Memorial. Throughout One Million Dubliners, director Aoife Kelleher weaves together the often unspoken stories of love and loss, ritual and redemption, emotion and history, giving perfect credence to the film’s opening quote from James Joyce, “In the midst of death, we are in life.”

Awards: Boston Irish Film Festival 2015 (Director’s Choice Award) Galway Film Fleadh 2014 (Best Documentary)

Director: Aoife Kelleher

Producer: Rachel Lysaght

Screenwriter: James Mitchell

Cinematographer: Cathal Watters

Editor: Emer Reynolds

Music: Hugh Rodgers

Ray Harman

Running Time: 83 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and French, with English subtitles

Print Source: Underground Films Film Website: undergroundfilms.ie/ projects/one-milliondubliners

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Our Summer in Provence

FRANCE 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 7:15 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 31 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 5:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

This summer is starting in a very unique way for teenagers Adrien, Léa, and their deafmute younger brother Théo—they are going to spend its entirety in the Provence region of France with their olive-grower grandfather Paul (Jean Reno) and grandmother Irena (Anna Galiena), whom they barely know thanks to deep-seated interfamily issues. Immediately, the three Parisian kids find it difficult to adapt to their new surroundings, thanks not only to the overwhelmingly hot weather and the complete lack of internet but also Paul himself, an unpleasant and grumpy man. But as the summer progresses, so too do the crossgenerational relationships—Paul slowly tries to regain his place in the family, while the young ones get a better understanding of their grandparents’ countercultural past. In this beautiful comedy and love letter to Southern France, director Rose Bosch (La Rafle) unveils a family in crisis, in transition, and ultimately in emotional synch.

Director: Rose Bosch

Producer: Ilan Goldman

Screenwriter: Rose Bosch

Cinematographer: Stéphane Le Parc

Editor: Samuel Danési

Music: Élise Luguern

Cast:

Jean Reno

Anna Galiena

Chloé Jouannet

Hugo Dessioux

Aure Atika

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: Gaumont

Film Website: gaumont.net/fiche/ my-summer-in-provence

Selected Filmography: La Rafle (2010) Animal (2005)

BALADNA ALRAHEEB

Our Terrible Country

SYRIA/LEBANON 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 19 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

An urgent dispatch from the front lines of wartorn Syria, Our Terrible Country is also an intimate portrait of two men, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, a well-known Syrian intellectual and dissident, and Ziad Homsi, a young photographer and revolutionary. We first meet the men amid the ruins of Douma, a city “liberated” by the “Free Syria” forces fighting against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Wandering through the spectacular devastation of a “liberated zone,” Saleh, whose earlier activism earned him a 16-year prison sentence, posits that, “it’s important for a writer to live the situation he writes about.” But both men are to undergo changes of heart as the film, and the fighting, progresses. When Saleh’s relatives are arrested in his hometown of Raqqa by ISIS, the duo embarks on a perilous crosscountry journey that eventually takes them to physical safety, but forces each to confront his generation’s role in the struggle for the soul of their country.

Awards:

FID Marseille 2014 (Grand Prize)

Directors: Mohammad Ali Atassi

Ziad Homsi

Producer: Christin Luettich

Screenwriter: Mohammad Ali Atassi

Cinematographers: Ziad Homsi

Saeed al-Batal

Editor: Marwan Ziadeh

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: Blu-Ray, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Upside Distribution

Print Source: Upside Distribution

Film Website: upsidedistribution.com

Selected Filmography:

ATASSI:

Ibn Al Am Online (Doc, 2012)

Waiting For Abu Zayd (Doc, 2010)

HOMSI:

Debut Feature Film

MOT NATUREN

Out of Nature

NORWAY 2014

US PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, JUNE 1 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Socially awkward Martin, played with vigor by one of the film’s directors Ole Giæver, can’t stop nursing his neurosis. Feeling dissatisfied with his role as a mediocre family man and loner in the workplace, he decides to take a weekend hike through the mountains to a cabin in order clear his head. Almost always the only one on-screen, we learn through Martin’s constant stream-of-consciousness all of his internal conflicts—his feelings of dormancy and apathy in his marriage, his stunted relationship with his son, his intense want for sexual intimacy, even his views on reincarnation. As Martin makes his way through the gorgeous wilderness, the calm observational mood of the film dips in and out of moments of unexpected hilarity, and he struggles with feelings of profound loneliness paired with a diligent need for solitude. Immersing us in the breathtaking beauty of the Norwegian mountains and developing a quickly sympathetic character in Martin, Out of Nature is a comically contemplative piece about dissatisfaction, the desire for change, and trying to find solace in isolation.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2015 (Label Europa Cinema Prize Winner)

Directors: Ole Giæver

Marte Vold

Producer: Maria Ekerhovd

Screenwriter: Ole Giæver

Cinematographer: Øystein Mamen

Editor: Frida Eggum Michaelsen

Music:

Ola Fløttum

Cast: Ole Giæver

Marte Magnusdotter

Solem

Sivert Giæver Solem

Rebekka Nystadbakk

Ellen Birgitte Winther

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Norwegian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Norwegian Film Institute

Print Source: Norwegian Film Institute

Film Website:

motnaturen.no

Selected Filmography: GIAEVER: The Mountain (2011) Sommerhuset (2008)

VOLD: Debut Feature Film

Overheard 3

HONG KONG 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 9:15 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 8:30 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 9:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Newly released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for vehicular homicide, Jau seeks out his former employers, the Luk brothers, who, along with “Uncle To,” have become major players in Hong Kong’s real estate and property development market. But Jau’s motives are less than loyal; teaming up with his fellow ex-con Joe, a computer hacker, the pair weaves a complex web of surveillance, capturing as much of the Luk brothers’ internecine dealings as possible. Further complicating matters is Yu, To’s daughter and Jau’s ex-girlfriend, who is embroiled, sexually and financially, with Wan, the brothers’ corrupt financier. As an impending IPO nears, one that could make or break the fortunes of To, the Luk’s, and everyone else involved, Jau puts into motion his ultimate endgame with explosive repercussions. As in their previous films, co-directors Felix Chong and Alan Mak have crafted yet another superb thriller, sharper and with more twists than a corkscrew, Overheard 3 provides a blockbuster conclusion to the trilogy.

Awards:

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2015 (Best Actor)

Hong Kong Film Awards 2015 (Best Actor, Screenplay, Supporting Actor)

Directors:

Felix Chong

Alan Mak

Producers:

Derek Yee

Ronald Wong

Screenwriters: Alan Mak

Felix Chong

Cinematographer: Anthony Pun

Editor:

Curran Pang

Music:

Chan Kwong-wing

Cast:

Sean Lau

Louis Koo

Daniel Wu

Zhou Xun

Michelle Ye

Running Time: 131 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Cantonese and Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Distribution Workshop

Print Source:

Distribution Workshop

Selected Filmography: The Silent War (2012)

Overheard 2 (2011)

The Lost Bladesman (2011)

Overheard (2009)

Lady Cop & Papa Crook (2008)

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 6:00 PM CINERAMA

Recent transplants from Seattle, Alex (Adam Scott, “Parks and Recreation”) and Emily (Taylor Schilling, “Orange is the New Black”) are eager to find a social life for themselves and their son RJ in their new Los Angeles neighborhood. It’s tough to make new friends as adults so they’re thrilled when, at the park one day, RJ breaks the ice for them by meeting another child whose father Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) invites them over for family pizza night with his wife (Judith Godrèche). But after the kids go to bed the night becomes very revealing for the four adults. There’s great chemistry between the four actors, who peel back the layers of their characters as the night spirals into the strangest of play dates. Writer/director Patrick Brice set out to play with the tone of broad comedies of the recent past while also keeping his story grounded in realism. In The Overnight, that combination becomes a mix of hilarity, tension, and surprising tenderness as the characters bat around subjects like marriage, parenthood, and of course, sex.

Director: Patrick Brice

Producer: Naomi Scott

Screenwriter: Patrick Brice

Cinematographer: John Guleserian

Editor: Chris Donlon

Music: Julian Wass

Cast: Adam Scott

Taylor Schilling

Jason Schwartzman

Judith Godrèche

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: The Orchard

Selected Filmography: Creep (2014)

Sponsored by Brian

LaMacchia

PACO DE LUCÍA: LA BÚSQUEDA

Paco de Lucía: A Journey

SPAIN 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 5:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 5:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

A remarkably intimate look into the life of the legendary flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía— shown to be a surprisingly humble and down–to-earth character in this documentary by his son Curro Sanchez Varela. Cutting between modern-day and archival footage, Varela tells the story of a poor boy from Andalucia who picked up a guitar at age seven and rose to become an international star, already performing on the Ed Sullivan Show by age 15. Dazzling shots of de Lucía’s complex fingerwork are juxtaposed with his description of the burden of perfectionism he inherited from his father. Varela captures a relaxed, unguarded side of his father, who candidly discusses his feelings toward the flamenco community who never embraced him, his inability to improvise jazz, and the tacky publicity campaign that attempted to make him into a pop star in the ’70s. Valuable images recorded throughout his life and words of Carlos Santana, Ruben Blades, Alejandro Sanz, John McLaughlin, and Estrella Morente, fill this endearing homage to this true musical genius.

Awards: Goya Awards 2015 (Best Documentary)

Paper Planes

AUSTRALIA 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 12:00 PM RENTON IKEA PAC

SUNDAY, MAY 31 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 12:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

Director: Curro Sanchez Varela

Producer: Anxo Rodriguez

Screenwriters: Curro Sanchez Varela

Casilda Sanchez

Cinematographer: Alejandro Garcia Flores

Editor: José Manuel Garcia Moyano

Music: Paco de Lucía

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Doc & Film International

Print Source: Doc & Film International

Film Website: zigguratfilms.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Having lost his mother and then seen his father (Sam Worthington, Avatar) retreat into a state of obliviousness as a result, 12-yearold Dylan (Ed Oxenbould) copes pretty much on his own in his rural Western Australian town. One day at school he discovers an odd gift: the ability to craft a paper plane that flies longer and faster than any of those of his peers. So begins Robert Connolly’s charming crowd-pleaser that follows Dylan as he folds his way toward the World Paper Plane Championships in Japan. Throughout Dylan’s journey he is supported by his great friends, his mischievous grandfather, and most especially by a fellow contestant from Japan who will teach him a valuable lesson greater than any trophy. Paper Planes combines great young acting performances, cinematography that practically floats on air, and a masterfully rousing score to ensure the whole family is on their feet for the exhilarating finale.

Awards: Cinefest 2014 (Oz Award)

Sponsored by Lynn Hubbard and David Zapolsky

Director: Robert Connolly

Producers: Robert Connolly

Liz Kearney

Maggie Miles

Screenwriters: Robert Connolly

Steve Worland

Cinematographer: Tristan Milani

Editor:

Nick Meyers

Music: Nigel Westlake

Cast: Sam Worthington

Ed Oxenbould

Deborah Mailman

Nicholas BakopoulosCooke

Ena Imai

David Wenham

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

International Sales: Arclight Films

Print Source:

Entertainment One

Films US

Film Website: paperplanesmovie.com.au

Selected Filmography: Underground (2012) Balibo (2009)

Three Dollars (2005) The Bank (2001)

Paper Tigers

USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 28 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 12:30 PM

In the struggling, rural community of Walla Walla, WA, Lincoln Alternative High School sits in the center of the most active part of town in terms of assaults, gang activities, and murders, owing to a troubled student body. “Many students coming to Lincoln have had a history of truancy, behavioral problems, and substance abuse,” explains one of the administrators, admitting that traditional measures simply aren’t working. When principal Jim Sporleder is exposed to research about the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), though, he decides to implement a new guidance program, one that emphasizes a trauma-sensitive approach with the teenagers under his jurisdiction. This documentary focuses on six students over the course of the 2012-2013 school year, and as the new program is implemented, we are witness to the ups and downs of their lives— domestic abuse, learning disabilities, homelessness—through personal diary cams and interviews with the school’s officials, including an in-school suspension coordinator and an intervention specialist who once worked for the Washington State Penitentiary. The system may be broken, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed through healing, support, and academic promise.

Director: James Redford

Producer: James Redford

Cinematographer: Tylor Norwood

Editor: Jen Bradwell

Music: Todd Boekelheide

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: KPJR Films

Film Website: papertigersmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Toxic Hot Seat (Doc, 2013)

The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia (Doc, 2012)

JUN ZHONG LE YUAN

Paradise in Service

TAIWAN 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 9:00 PM

SIFF

TUESDAY, MAY 26 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Military history often silences tales about the symbiosis between soldiers and brothels, but Paradise in Service addresses it plainly by exploring state-authorized sex work in Taiwan during the Cold War era. The film explores this taboo trade through the eyes of young army recruit Pao (Ethan Juan), who is rejected from critical amphibious recon assignments due to his underwhelming swimming skills. Pao is reassigned to work at the notorious Unit 831 at the Quemoy base, Kinman Island, a brothel known discreetly as “the teahouse.” At Unit 831, he watches fellow soldiers fold under the pressure of military life as they wait for a possible retaliatory attack from Mainland China, coping by grasping at wisps of dubious brothel romances. Director “Doze” Niu ChenZer weaves a bittersweet tale of Pao’s journey to adulthood while stationed at the teahouse, the young soldier receiving hard lessons in government corruption as he meets young women who are identified by numbers rather than names.

Awards: Golden Horse Film Awards 2014 (Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor)

Director: Doze Niu Chen-Zer

Producers: Jimmy Huang

Liu Weijan

Selina Shen

Screenwriters: Doze Niu Chen-Zer

Tseng Li Ting

Cinematographer: Charlie Lam

Editor: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Music: Lee CinCin

Cast: Ethan Juan

Chen Jianbin

Wan Qian

Chen Yi-Han

Running Time: 133 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin and Taiwanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Ablaze Image Ltd.

Print Source: Ablaze Image Ltd.

Film Website: ablazeimage.com/ paradise-in-service-info

Selected Filmography: Love (2012)

Monga (2010)

What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?! (2007)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA UPTOWN

PARÍS NORDURSINS

Paris of the North

ICELAND 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 11:30 AM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 19 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 21 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Recovering slacker and alcoholic Hugi is finally getting his life together. He moved from the hustle of bustle of Reykjavík to a tiny fishing town in northwest Iceland. He’s going to AA meetings, he’s teaching at a local school, and he’s even trying to learn Portuguese via an online course. So when summer vacation starts, and his raucous, hard-drinking father insists on visiting after spending a long while in Thailand, Hugi is understandably scrambling to hold on to his newfound stability. This unexpected visit digs up the shaky foundation Hugi’s been ignoring, and makes visible the baggage he’s been dragging around with him since he arrived in this village. Paris of the North is a leisurely paced family drama that features an array of richly defined characters and a beautiful pastoral landscape that the camera praises with every shot. This stylish Icelandic flick examines the male psyche and the obstacles of personal growth through one uneasy, small-town, father-son relationship.

Awards:

Edda Awards 2015 (Best Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress).

Director:

Hafsteinn Gunnar

Sigurdsson

Producers:

Thor Sigurjonsson

Sindri Kjartansson

Screenwriter:

Huldar Breiðfjörð

Cinematographer: G. Magni Ágústsson

Editor:

Kristján Loðmfjörð

Music:

Prins Póló

Cast:

Björn Thors

Helgi Björnsson

Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Icelandic, Thai, and Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Ramonda Films

Print Source: Ramonda Films

Film Website: pascaleramonda.com/ paris-of-the-north

Selected Filmography: Either Way (2011)

GONG FAN

Partners in Crime

TAIWAN 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 19 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 21 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Walking home from school one day, three boys come across the body of one of their classmates, Hsia, twisted and bloodied in an alleyway, apparently having jumped from her fifth floor balcony. After being questioned by police and sent to the high school guidance counselor, the three become inseparable, bonded together over the traumatic experience they shared. When one of the boys, Huang, finds a note left in the girl’s schoolbooks that hints that perhaps someone else was involved, they decide to do some investigating of their own. Who was Hsia anyway? As their search deepens, Huang, Yeh, and Lin discover that things are definitely not as they seem, and one of them may even be holding back the truth from the rest of the group. This schoolyard noir combines a realistic story of friendship and coming-of-age with a much darker tale of alienation, depression, and the mystery of a teenage girl that no one could catch in time.

Director: Chang Jung-chi

Producers: Wolf Chen

Jacky Pang

Screenwriters: Shaballe Kao

Monica Kao

Cinematographer: Jimmy Yu

Editor: Nyssa Li

Music: Tzu-chieh Wen

Cast: Wu Chien-ho

Deng Yu-kai

Cheng Kai-yuan

Yao Ai-ning

Sunny Hung

Running Time:

89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Double Edge Entertainment

Print Source: Double Edge Entertainment

Film Website: deegroup.com/proEN13.

html

Selected Filmography:

Touch of the Light (2012)

MayDay 3DNA (Doc, 2011)

My Football Summer (2006)

The Passion of Augustine

CANADA (QUÉBEC) 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 11:00 AM

Taking place in rural Quebec, The Passion of Augustine is an unpredictable film about a nun with a passion for teaching music. It’s the 1960s and rebellion smolders and change is in the air. This is the “Quiet Revolution,” a period of socio-political and cultural change characterized by the act of secularizing education away from the Roman Catholic Church. Mother Augustine is the principal of a small convent music school that is known for producing prize-winning musicians, yet they must undergo radical change to get with the times or risk losing everything. Marked by the arrival of Mother Augustine’s hip young niece, Alice Champagne, the nuns and girls band together to change it up, play music, and save their convent. Boasting hilarious moments that could only come from when plucky old nuns meet the psychedelic punch of ’60s counterculture, and a truly heartwarming core, The Passion of Augustine is a lovely comedy that will leave you singing.

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT LA

Director:

Léa Pool

Producers: Lyse Lafontaine

François Tremblay

Screenwriter: Léa Pool

Marie Vien

Cinematographer: Daniel Jobin

Editor: Michel Arcand

Music: François Dompierre

Cast: Céline Bonnier

Lysandre Ménard

Diane Lavallée

Valérie Blais

Pierrette Robitaille

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Seville International

Print Source: Seville International

Film Website: lapassiondaugustine.ca

Selected Filmography: Pink Ribbons, Inc. (Doc, 2011)

Mommy Is at the Hairdresser’s (2008)

The Blue Butterfly (2004) Lost and Delirious (2001) Set Me Free (1999)

People, Places, Things USA

2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Breezy and warm, James C. Strouse’s romantic comedy combines levity and honesty as it explores life after a major breakup. A year after graphic novelist Will Henry (Jemaine Clement, “Flight of the Conchords What We Do in the Shadows”) catches his wife with another man during their twin daughters’ fifth birthday party, he finds himself putting his personal art aside to teach cartooning. After one of his talented students, Kat (Jessica Williams, “The Daily Show”), invites him to dinner in order to meet her mother Diane (Regina Hall, Think Like a Man), Will finds himself forging a connection with her while attempting to balance his life as a father and an artist. Clement’s charming, understated performance imbues Will’s story with genuine gravitas while Hall and Williams also hold the screen, bringing nuanced and holistic interpretations of a woman forging on from past mistakes with men and her artistically ambitious daughter. Strouse utilizes the colorful background of New York City, composer Mark Orton’s score, and Will’s heavily featured illustration to create a pleasant and airy feel upon which the film expertly soars.

Director: James C. Strouse

Producers: Michael B. Clark

Alex Turtletaub

Screenwriter: James C. Strouse

Cinematographer: Chris Teague

Editor: Colleen Sharp

Music: Mark Orton

Cast: Jemaine Clement

Regina Hall

Stephanie Allynne

Jessica Williams

Gia Gadsby

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Visit Films

Print Source: The Film Arcade Film Website: peopleplacesthingsfilm. com

Selected Filmography: The Winning Season (2009) Grace is Gone (2007)

Personal Gold: An Underdog Story

USA/SPAIN/UNITED KINGDOM 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 12:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

The year 2012 is one many American cycling enthusiasts would rather forget. That was the year the blood-doping scandal enveloped erstwhile hero Lance Armstrong, forcing him to retire from cycling in disgrace and his former teammates to withdraw from that year’s Summer Olympic Games in London. Amid this controversy, however, there was the nearly forgotten Women’s Track Cycling team that picked up the fallen baton for their country, seeking to become the first U.S. team to earn a Women’s Track Cycling medal in more than 20 years. This inspiring documentary, directed by Tamara Christopherson (herself a former Olympic athlete) tells the story of four athletes – Dotsie Bausch, Sarah Hammer, Lauren Tamayo and Kirkland, WA native Jennie Reed – who sought glory despite being abandoned by sponsors, who had recoiled from the doping scandals. Their secret weapon, however, was a training technique, dubbed “Data not Doping,” which monitored the athletes’ glucose levels and sleep patterns to determine peak performance. In a story that has been compared to Rocky and Moneyball, as well as to the reallife “Miracle on Ice” 1980 men’s hockey team, Personal Gold will have you standing in the aisles to cheer on these courageous athletes, held together by little more than blood, sweat, tears – and spandex.

Awards:

San Luis Obispo Film Festival 2015 (Audience Award)

Phoenix

GERMANY 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 31 7:15 PM

Director:

Tamara Christopherson

Producer:

Bill Gerber

Sky Christopherson

Screenwriter: James Lockard

Editor:

Jacob Kindberg

Music: Christian Davis

Featuring: Jennie Reed

Dotsie Bausch

Sarah Hammer

Lance Armstrong

Eric Topol

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Shelter Cove Productions, LLC

Film Website: personal-gold.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

How well can we really know another person?

Nelly Lenz (the stunning Nina Hoss, Barbara), once a famous singer, survives the Holocaust but undergoes facial reconstruction to repair disfiguring injuries she received in the concentration camps. She searches postwar Berlin for her husband Johnny, but upon their reunion, he does not recognize her and thinks that his wife has died. Despite his lack of recognition, she looks enough like his wife that Johnny asks Nelly to pose as “herself” so that he can get his hands on her inheritance, a game she plays gladly in order to investigate whether or not he betrayed her to the Nazis and is still a threat to her survival. Phoenix explores the nature of reconstruction as a city recovers from a devastating war and a couple learns to see each other for the first time through layers of intrigue and existential angst. This gripping thriller will keep you engaged as it traverses new territory all the way to its haunting ending.

Awards:

San Sebastián International Film Festival 2014 (FIPRESCI Prize)

Director: Christian Petzold

Producers: Michael Weber

Florian Koerner von Gustorf

Screenwriter: Christian Petzold

Cinematographer: Hans Fromm

Editor: Bettina Böhler

Music: Stefan Will

Cast: Nina Hoss

Ronald Zehrfeld

Megan Gay

Valerie Koch

Nina Kunzendorf

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source:

Sundance Selects

Film Website: the-match-factory.com/ films/items/phoenix.html

Selected Filmography: Barbara (2012)

Jerichow (2008

Yella (2007)

Ghosts (2005)

Wolfsburg (2003)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire

USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 3:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 1:00 PM

Since 1971 the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA has been pushing the limits of a medium that can last centuries or shatter in an instant. Founded by iconic figure Dale Chihuly and a few art school friends in the counterculture days of the early 1970s, the Pilchuck Glass School pushed the boundaries from its very beginnings, and now stands as one of the premiere glass art centers in the world. This convergence of visionary individuals, regional culture, and fortunate timing, allowed Pilchuck to develop from a makeshift summer workshop to the most important international center for artists working in glass. Told through incredible archival footage, interviews, and the firsthand accounts of the individuals that shaped the school, and glass art as an artistic medium, Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire is the definitive history of one of the Pacific Northwest’s artistic treasures, the Pilchuck Glass School.

Director: John Forsen

Producer: John Forsen

Gary Gibson

Screenwriter: Gary Gibson

Editor: Tracy Dethlefs

Music: Tom McGurk

Narrator: Jeff Bridges

Running Time: 68 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Fidget Films

Film Website: adancewithfire.com

Selected Filmography: Violin Masters: Two Gentlement of Cremona (2010)

PIONERY-GEROI

Pioneer Heroes

RUSSIA 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 22 1:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 8:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 9:30 PM

Moving back and forth in narrative from 1987 to the present day, three heroes take us back to school in Soviet Russia. 1987 was the year that Olga stood up to Soviet authoritarian teaching methods, the year that Andrey grew mold for an “anti-death pill” in a jam jar under his bed, and the year that Katya observed her father’s illegal home distillery. The three young impressionable schoolmates were all members of the Vladimir Illyich Lenin Young Pioneer organization and were full of naïve visions of patriotism and heroism. 25 years later, all three try to establish themselves professionally and live in urban Moscow. It turns out that the shaping of a Homo Soveticus by the pedagogical system was more complex than expected. Pioneer Heroes’ mise-en-scène evokes a rich past and present day landscape that serves as a crucial background for the formation of our heroes. Director Natalia Kudryashova (who also plays Olga) shows that the gulf between the myths of yesteryear and today’s reality is wide, and neither path has been satisfactory for these three pioneer heroes.

Director: Natalya Kudryashova

Producer: Sergey Selyanov

Screenwriter: Natalya Kudryashova

Cinematographer: Ruslan Gerasimenkov

Editor: Semyon Galperin

Cast: Natalya Kudryashova

Daria Moroz

Alexey Mitin

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Alpha Violet

Print Source: Alpha Violet

Film Website: alphaviolet.com pioneer_heroes

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

LINCOLN SQUARE

HARVARD EXIT

LA RANÇON DE LA GLOIRE

The Price of Fame

FRANCE/BELGIUM/SWITZERLAND 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 29 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 8:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Eddy is ecstatic to get out of jail. His old friend, Osman, picked him up, let him set up camp in his rundown house, and even brought all of his books over from his old residence. Eddy spends the days taking care of Osman’s adorably precocious daughter Samira, and the evenings eating home-cooked meals in front of the small television that he may, or may not, have stolen. Yet Osman’s generosity can only do so much when it comes to his ill wife, stuck in the hospital for complications due to an arthritic hip, and Eddy works to convince Osman of his master plan. They’ll dig up the recently deceased Charlie Chaplin’s body, hold the remains for ransom, and then collect the cash that will come rolling in to pay for Osman’s wife’s hospital care. Based on an unbelievable true story, The Price of Fame follows Eddy, Osman, and Samira as they stumble through their far-fetched plan with a hilarity recalling the work of Chaplin himself in this heartfelt French comedy.

Director: Xavier Beauvois

Producers: Pascal Caucheteux

Screenwriters: Xavier Beauvois

Étienne Comar

Cinematographer: Caroline Champetier

Editor: Marie-Julie Maille

Music:

Michel Legrand

Cast: Chiara Mastroianni

Nadine Labaki

Benoît Poelvoorde

Roschdy Zem

Peter Coyote

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Wild Bunch

Selected Filmography: Of Gods and Men (2010)

The Young Lieutenant (2005)

According to Matthieu (2000)

Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die (1995) North (1992)

The Primary Instinct USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:45 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 12:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Spaceballs. “Glee.” Groundhog Day. Thelma & Louise. “Deadwood.” “Californication.” Having been in over 200 movies and television shows, Stephen Tobolowsky is a prolific character actor, and an absolutely fantastic storyteller. Several years ago, director and writer at “/Film,” David Chen, developed a narrative podcast with Tobolowsky aptly titled “The Tobolowsky Files,” where the actor humorously discusses life, love, and his film and TV career. The response was immediate and positive, Tobolowsky’s colloquial and engaging mannerisms felt like an old friend coming over for dinner and drinks. They then took the project to the stage, performing one-man shows in different theaters, featuring Tobolowsky, a chair, a bottle of water, an empty stage, and a full house. The Primary Instinct is the next step in Chen and Tobolowsky’s storytelling journey, selectively mixing clips from his films with recordings of live shows shot in Seattle to create a compelling and profound look at human experience.

Director: David Chen

Producers: Michael Gaston

Blaine Ludy

Jason Hakala

Matt Swanson

Screenwriter: Stephen Tobolowsky

Cinematographer: Jason Hakala

Editors: Jason Hakala

Blaine Ludy

Running Time: 73 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Bright Cloud Productions

Film Website: theprimaryinstinct.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

DA ZDRAVSTVUYET MEKSIKA!

Que Viva Mexico

RUSSIA 1979

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 2:30 PM

From December 1930 until February 1932, Sergei Eisenstein was shooting in Mexico with two fellow Soviets, cinematographer Eduard Tisse and director Grigori Alexandrov. They shot highly stylized documentary footage about the people and volatile social climate of Mexico during that time. That footage was intended to be an artistically important and creatively framed blend of Mexico’s geographical, ethnological, cultural, and historical diversity. When Upton Sinclair, who funded the project, pulled out financial support, Eisenstein was unable to make his dream film. Eisenstein died in 1948, in USSR at the age of 50. In 1979, referring to Eisenstein’s extensive notes and sketches, Grigori Alexandrov assembled the most definitive version of the film, as close to Eisenstein’s vision as one would ever be likely to see. Originally, Eisenstein meant for his film to be comprised of six episodes, each chronicling a different epoch of Mexico. Alexandrov’s version divides the film into four sections: “Sandunga” covers the Tehuantepec jungles and its inhabitants; “Manguei” is about a peasant and his bride; “Fiesta” devotes itself to bullfighting and romance; and “Soldadera” depicts the 1910 Mexican revolution through frescoes. When describing the structure for the film he had in mind, Eisenstein used the metaphor of the Mexican serape: “No plot, no whole story could run through this serape without being false or artificial.” The result is a pictorial impressionism of the highest achievement.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Sergei Eisenstein

Producers:

Kate Crane Gartz

S. Hillkowitz

Otto Kahn

Hunter S. Kimbrough

Mary Craig Sinclair

Upton Sinclair

Screenwriters: Grigori Aleksandrov

Sergei Eisenstein

Cinematographer: Eduard Tisse

Editors: Grigori Aleksandrov

Esfir Tobak

Cast:

Sergey Bondarchuk

Grigori Aleksandrov

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DVD, in Russian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: kinolorber.com

Selected Filmography:

Ivan the Terrible, Part Two: The Boyar’s Plot (1958)

Ivan the Terrible, Part One (1944)

Alexander Nevsky (1938)

Old and New (1929)

Ten Days That Shook the World (1928)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Strike (1925)

Racing Extinction

USA 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 24 2:30 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:15 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 2:30 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Racing Extinction is more than just another environmental documentary—it’s an urgent and action-packed call to action. Oscar®winning documentarian Louie Psihoyos (The Cove, 2009) uses guerilla-style tactics to confront specific communities and black markets about their poor environmental practices, for instance stopping at an Indonesian fishing community and eventually convincing them to stop slaughtering manta rays, and using a carbon-dioxide detecting camera to show the startling amount of man-made emissions in downtown Los Angeles. Joining forces with activists, photographers, and scientists, Psihoyos does an incredibly effective job at creating an emotional connection between the threatened species and the audience, and then bluntly laying out the disastrous consequences of thoughtless human activity, calling for a reassessment of how we engage with the world around us. This exceptional documentary dramatically brings to light the deadly impact humans have on more than half of the world’s species and the harsh realities of extinction.

Director: Louie Psihoyos

Producers: Olivia Ahnemann

Fisher Stevens

Screenwriters: Mark Monroe

Cinematographers: John Behrens

Shawn Heinrichs

Sean Kirby

Petr Stepanek

Editors: Geoffrey Richman

Lyman Smith

Jason Zeldes

Music: J. Ralph

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English, Mandarin, and Indonesian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Ocean Preservation Society

Film Website: racingextinction.com

Selected Filmography: The Cove (Doc, 2009)

Rebel Without a Cause

SUNDAY, MAY 31 4:00 PM

This past February when award-winning screenwriter Stewart Stern passed away, the world of film lost one of its great craftsmen and teachers. In honor of his talent and generosity, SIFF presents what has become his most iconic film. James Dean stars as troubled, misunderstood teenager Jim Stark. Dragged into the police station for public drunkenness, Jim meets John “Plato” Crawford (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood), and the trio quickly form an uneasy acquaintance as each one recounts their unhappy home life. Soon afterward, Jim attends his first day of high school, where he runs afoul of “Buzz” Gunderson, Judy’s boyfriend, an event that sets the stage for a tragic Chicken Run between the two boys. More than any other film, Rebel Without a Cause forged James Dean’s onscreen persona and subsequent legend—a brutally intense figure with unfathomed depth, both reveling in yet struggling against innate feelings of overwhelming angst—and Natalie Wood’s Academy Award®-nominated performance is widely credited as a pivotal moment in her transition from child star to adult actress. While the ’50s were awash in films about juvenile delinquents, Stern and director Nicholas Ray crafted the genre’s apogee, a timeless coming-of-age drama guaranteed to tear you apart.

Restored by Warner Bros. in collaboration with The Film Foundation Restoration funding provided by Warner Bros., Gucci, and The Film Foundation.

Director: Nicholas Ray

Producer: David Weisbart

Screenwriters: Stewart Stern

Irving Shulman

Cinematographer: Ernest Haller

Editors: William Ziegler

James Moore

Music: Leonard Rosenman

Cast: James Dean

Natalie Wood

Sal Mineo

Jim Backus

Dennis Hopper

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Warner Bros.

Selected Filmography: We Can’t Go Home Again (1976)

55 Days at Peking (1963)

King of Kings (1961)

The Savage Innocents (1960)

Party Girl (1958)

Bitter Victory (1957)

The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

Hot Blood (1956)

Run for Cover (1955)

Johnny Guitar (1954)

The Lusty Men (1952)

Androcles and the Lion (1952)

Macao (1952)

On Dangerous Ground (1952)

The Racket (1951)

Flying Leathermecks (1951)

Born to be Bad (1950)

In a Lonely Place (1949)

Roseanna McCoy (1949)

Knock on Any Door (1949)

They Live by Night (1949)

Red Rose

IRAN/FRANCE/GREECE 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 8:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 21 3:30 PM

A bracing mix of intimate personal moments and vérité-style street scenes taken from Iran’s 2009 Green Revolution, veteran director Sepideh Farsi’s compelling drama traces the growing relationship between Sara (Mina Kavani), a young activist, and Ali (Vassilis Koukalani), the passive-bordering-on-cynical middle-aged man who initially gives her shelter from the rampaging police outside his door. Iranian ex-pat Farsi—she has lived in Paris for 30 years—uses actual cellphone footage of demonstrators being attacked in the wake of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fraudulent 2009 re-election to set the stage for the psychological drama that follows. As the bold and brash Sara—an embodiment of the growing number of empowered females in Iran’s younger generation—returns again and again to the seemingly well-off Ali’s apartment, the debates about personal and political responsibility, as well as the growing physical intimacy, are played off against the carnage outside. The resulting air of tension and incipient disaster gives the film a sense of urgency that belies its modest budget.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Sepideh Farsi

Producer: Thierry Lenouvel

Screenwriters: Javad Djavahery

Sepideh Farsi

Cinematographer: Pantelis Mantzanas

Editor: Bonita Papastathi

Music: Ibrahim Maalouf

Cast: Mina Kavani

Vassilis Koukalani

Shabnam Tolouei

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Farsi, with English subtitles

International Sales: Urban Distribution

International

Print Source: Urban Distribution

International

Film Website: urbandistrib. com/?film=red-rose

Selected Filmography:

The House Under the Water (2010)

Tehran Without Permission (Doc, 2009)

The Gaze (2006)

Dreams of Dust (2003)

The Journey of Maryam (2002)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

The Red Shoes

SATURDAY, MAY 16 12:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Few films have ever achieved the dazzling visual sumptuousness of The Red Shoes, quite arguably Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece. Moira Shearer stars as Vicky Page, a young, unknown dancer who falls under the tutelage Boris Lermontov, the stern yet captivating impresario of his own dance company. He soon realizes her potential after seeing her dance Swan Lake, and begins to groom her for the position of prima ballerina. In turn, Lermontov crafts a new ballet for her to star, The Red Shoes, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, and employs Julian Craster, a brilliant young composer, to write the score. At first, dancer and composer conflict with one another before falling in love as the premiere approaches, a situation further complicated by Lermontov’s own emerging feelings for his star. A film that demands to be experienced on a cinema-sized screen, it perfectly embodies Powell and Pressburger’s ideal for a “composed film,” in which dance, drama, surrealistic design, and painterly color merge into a gorgeous whole.

Restoration funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Film Foundation, and the Louis B. Mayor Foundation.

Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in association with the BFI, The Film Foundation, ITV Global Entertainment Ltd., and Janus Films.

Awards:

Academy Awards 1949 (Best Art Direction, Music)

Golden Globes 1949 (Best Motion Picture Score)

Results

USA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 15 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SATURDAY, MAY 16 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Directors:

Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

Producers:

Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

Screenwriters: Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

Cinematographer: Jack Cardiff

Editor:

Reginald Mills

Music: Brian Easdale

Cast: Moira Shearer

Anton Walbrook

Marius Goring

Running Time: 133 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm

Print Source: The Film Foundation Conservation Collection at the Academy Film Archive Film Website: www.film-foundation.org

Selected Filmography: Night Ambush (1957)

Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956)

The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)

The Fighting Pimpernel (1950)

Gone to Earth (1950)

Hour of Glory (1949)

Black Narcissus (1947) Stairway to Heaven (1946)

I Know Where I’m Going (1945)

A Canterbury Tale (1944)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942)

49th Parallel (1941)

Personal trainers, those ripped, svelte specimens of perfection we pay to push our bodies and spirits to the breaking point in the name of health and a slim figure, get their turn in the spotlight in this offbeat romantic comedy from writer/director Andrew Bujalski (SIFF 2013’s Computer Chess). Results features an understated, quirky, and deliberately awkward love triangle: Trevor (Guy Pearce, Memento), who owns the Power 4 Life gym in Austin but is hungry for a greater health instruction empire; personal trainer Kat (Cobie Smulders, “How I Met Your Mother”), his former lover and most valuable employee; and Danny (Kevin Corrigan, Walking and Talking), a recently divorced slovenly schlub who has moved from New York to Texas to cash in on his mother’s enormous inheritance. All three collide when Danny, who lazily wastes away at his sterile McMansion playing guitar to himself and being the “worst rich guy ever,” hires Power 4 Life private lessons in the name of selfimprovement, expertise that stubborn Kat is only too happy to provide despite Trevor’s protestations. But in this laffer about the follies of exceptionalism, it becomes clear that all Danny, Trevor, and Kat want is company and for somebody to love, even if that somebody is themselves.

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Producers: Paul Bernon

Sam Slater

Houston King

Screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski

Cinematographer: Matthias Grunsky

Editor:

Robin Schwartz

Music: Justin Rice

Cast: Guy Pearce

Cobie Smulders

Kevin Corrigan

Giovanni Ribisi

Anthony Michael Hall

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: magpictures.com/results

Selected Filmography: Computer Chess (2013)

Beeswax (2009)

Mutual Appreciation (2005)

Funny Ha Ha (2002)

HWAJANG

Revivre

SOUTH KOREA 2014

MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Oh Sang-moo is an aging cosmetics company executive going through a rough patch in his life. His wife, Jin-kyung, is dying from a longterm illness, and the drudgery of taking care of her in her final days is beginning to take its toll on him. He is also going through some health issues of his own, including prostate problems, which are cutting into his heavy work schedule. Into this stressful situation walks Choo Eun-joo, a new marketing assistant at Oh’s company, whose striking beauty and vivacity catch his eye. Though much of his time is spent lovingly tending to the needs of the helpless and difficult Jin-kyung, Oh continues to fantasize about an affair with Choo and finds his love for his wife put to the test. Beloved and prolific Korean director Im Kwontaek, who at age 79 has directed more than 100 feature films, takes an honest, unflinching look at the inevitable ravages of time and its effects on the fragile human body and on relationships. Revivre, adapted from an awardwinning short story by Kim Hoon, is a searing yet moving study on how the conflicting emotions of grief and passion can intertwine in unexpected ways.

Director: Im Kwon-taek

Producer: Shim Jaemyung

Screenwriter: Song Yunhee

Cinematographer: Kim Hyungkoo

Editor: Park Sunduck

Steve M. Choi

Music: Kim Soochul

Cast: Ahn Sungki

Kim Qyuri

Kim Hojung

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Finecut

Print Source: Finecut

Film Website: www.finecut.co.kr

Selected Filmography: Hanji (2011)

Beyond the Years (2007)

Low Life (2004)

Chihwaseon (2002)

Chunhyang (1999)

Festival (1996)

The Tae Baek Mountains (1994) Sopyonje (1993)

The General’s Son (1990)

Come, Come, Come Upward (1989)

Ticket (1987)

The Surrogate Woman (1986)

Gilsoddeum (1985)

Village In The Mist (1983)

Mandala (1981)

Farewell to the Duman River (1962)

A Rising Tide USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 3:30 PM

Sam Rama works as young chef at his family’s well-established restaurant in Atlantic City. After the horrific disaster that was Hurricane Sandy, the restaurant and everything around it is absolutely destroyed, leaving Sam with practically nothing. Yet he comes to the realization that sometimes the greatest things can rise out of ruin when he meets a wealthy and generous patron who agrees to help him out, and begins a new relationship with a beautiful and kind woman. A chain of unexpected events leads to a renewed hope for Sam, who comes to understand that achieving your dreams means investing in the people around you.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Ben Hickernell

Producer: Daryl Freimark

Kristin Fairweather

J. Andrew Greenblatt

Screenwriter: Ben Hickernell

Cinematographer: Jimmy Lee Phelan

Editor:

Garrett Tezanos

Music:

Ronen Landa

Cast: Hunter Parrish

Ashley Hinshaw

Tim Daly

Victor Slezak

Jonathan Togo

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: HDAV, LLC

Selected Filmography:

Backwards (2012)

Lebanon, Pa. (2010)

Cellar (2005)

Romeo Is Bleeding USA 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 17 5:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 18 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Contrasting the overwhelming threat of violence with the creative release of spoken word and theater, this documentary extols a youth community who casts aside their limitations and create art that daringly comments on their world. Director Jason Zeldes primarily follows Donté Clark, the artistic director of the RAW (Richmond Artists With) Talent Creative Arts Program. A young man who could have been part of Richmond’s problem, Donté learned to channel his rage into poetry and is now mentoring young students to do the same. When Donté learns that RAW Talent is facing a budget cut, he and his students decide to stage an ambitious adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” entitled “Te’s Harmony.” Zeldes intercuts the rehearsal and creative process with performances of the final production, juxtaposing the conflict in Richmond with the one at the heart of the play. Romeo Is Bleeding highlights the power of art and spoken word to heal and inspire, and the importance of being able to express oneself in the face of deep hardship.

PRECEDED BY:

Somewhere in America

USA 2015, 5 minutes, Director: Adobe Youth Voices Collaboration World Premiere

A spoken word performance becomes a collage of animation styles by young animators worldwide.

The Royal Road USA

2015

SATURDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER SUNDAY, MAY 31 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

Director:

Jason Zeldes

Producer:

Michael Klein

Screenwriter: Jason Zeldes

Cinematographer: Rajiv Smith-Mahabir

Editors:

Jason Zeldes

Kevin Klauber

Featuring:

Donté Clark

D’neise Robinson

Molly Raynor

Deandre Evans

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Circadian Pictures

Film Website: romeoisbleedingfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

This deeply personal autobiographical exploration intertwines the narrator’s introspective story with the vast, tumultuous history of California. Director Jenni Olson has been filming footage of California for several years. These short, still shots act as the only background for Olson’s film. Over these shots she narrates an extended monologue ranging from her failed relationships with women to thoughts on the classic film Vertigo to the history of the Mexican-American War. The simplicity of the shots coupled with the honesty with which Olson speaks paints a vivid picture of her life. California is also beautifully on display in this film both visually and verbally as Olson speaks of its complex past. Olson takes her time when she speaks, her voice comforting and melodic, relaxing the audience while still being engaging. Unconventional in the simplicity of a monologue spoken over filmed footage, Olson nevertheless manages to create an alluring piece of cinema that is accessible and entrancing.

Director:

Jenni Olson

Producer: Julie Dorf

Jenni Olson

Screenwriter: Jenni Olson

Cinematographer: Sophie Constantinou

Editor: Dawn Logsdon

Music: Chris Pureka

Cast: Jenni Olson

Tony Kushner

Running Time:

65 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: Preferred Content

Print Source:

The Film Collaborative

Film Website: royalroadmovie.weebly. com

Selected Filmography:

The Joy of Life (Doc, 2005)

Bride of Trailer Camp (2001)

Afro Promo (1997)

Trailers Schmailers (Doc, 1997)

Trailer Camp (Doc, 1995)

Homo Promo (1993)

Run

IVORY COAST/FRANCE 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 9:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 28 4:30 PM

By turns lyrical and white-knuckle tense, Run chronicles the recent, tumultuous history of Ivory Coast in its protagonist’s journey from countryside to urban jungle, marking the feature debut of an exceptional new voice in West African cinema. In a striking opening scene, Run (Abdoul Karim Konaté) assassinates the Prime Minister. Escaping into the rushing crowd, he arrives at the home of his friend Assa (Isaach De Bankolé) to hide from military patrols seeking revenge more than justice. While there, he reflects upon the many paths that led him to this place: a childhood in apprentice to a village rainmaker; entry to manhood through the welcome ministrations of Gladys (Reine Sali Coulibaly), a professional eater who makes her living devouring huge feasts to entertain small town crowds; and ultimately membership in the Young Patriots, a group who talk revolutionary action but mostly draw inspiration from Scarface dialogue while shaking down foreign-born businessmen, and whose violent self-interest Run absorbs all too well. “As life changes, I flee,” is how Run explains the roots of his name. With an impassioned, poetic eye, the film charts how very much his country has changed in the last twenty years, and in the process changed him; a strong allegory for the history and people of contemporary Ivory Coast.

The Russian Woodpecker

UNITED KINGDOM 2015

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 3:30 PM

Director: Philippe Lacôte

Producers: Claire Gadea

Ernest Konan

Michel K. Zongo

Screenwriter: Philippe Lacôte

Cinematographer: Daniel Miller

Editor: Barbara Bossuet

Music:

Sebastián Escoffet

Cast: Abdoul Karim Konaté Isaach De Bankolé Rasmane Ouédraogo

Reine Sali Coulibaly

Abdoul Bah

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: BAC Films

Print Source: BAC Films

Film Website: bacfilms.com/international/film/56

Selected Filmography: African Metropolis (2014)

Chronicles of War in the Ivory Coast (Doc, 2008) Cairo Hours (Doc, 2003)

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 31 12:00 PM

A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret about the accident and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it. Fedor Alexandrovich was just four years old when the accident happened but it affected him for the rest of his life. Fedor is an eccentric artist, performer, and provocateur. Some say he is a genius and some say he is crazy. He leads a foreign camera crew into Ukraine to investigate the cause of the Chernobyl accident and travels to the epicenter of the explosion, doing deep research, and finding a “House of Cards”esque swindle at the root of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party Central Committee. While interviewing workers and officials, he learns about “duga” (Russian for ‘curve’), a massive radio grid erected at great expense near the reactor plant. Fedor’s investigation takes place at the very same time and even in the midst of the ongoing Russian and Ukrainian conflict. The more Fedor learns, the more dangerous the investigation becomes. The film is part performance piece, part memoir, and part investigative reporting into one of the world’s most horrifying nuclear accidents. As Fedor says, Ukraine is full of ghosts and he wants to keep them from coming back, though that may not be possible.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Chad Gracia

Producers: Mike Lerner

Ram Devineni

Cinematographer: Artem Ryzhykov

Editors: Chad Gracia

Alan Berliner

Devin Tanchum

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Gracia Group

Film Website: roastbeeftv.com/film/therussian-woodpecker/ Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Sponsored by Mary Rainwater

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Sacred Arrow

TIBET/CHINA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 19 4:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 8:15 PM KIRKLAND PC

For more than a thousand years, two villages in the Amdo region of Tibet have competed in an annual archery competition, mostly for bragging rights, but also to keep the peace, which has lasted for hundreds of years. In the present day, however, the fight for the contest’s “Sacred Arrow” prize, representing strength and bravery, becomes something more personal when a love triangle forms around the participants. After archer Dradong loses the contest for the second year in a row to the champion Nyima, he feels the pressure to win back honor in his village. Tensions escalate when Dradong finds his younger sister, Deskyid, romantically involved with his arch nemesis, Nyima. The two rivals clash again, leading to violence, until a second archery contest is devised to settle the score, once and for all. But will it be enough to keep the peace? This fourth feature film by Pema Tseden, often called “the first Tibetan filmmaker,” was filmed on location using an all-Tibetan crew and non-professional actors. Shot amid some of the most jaw-dropping scenery on the planet, The Sacred Arrow can be seen as a modern, yet still ancient, adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” and also as a moving portrait of a Tibetan culture that struggles to connect with the next generation.

Director: Pema Tseden

Producer: Sangye Gyamtso

Screenwriter: Pema Tseden

Cinematographer: Luo Pan

Editor:

Liu Fang

Music:

Ricky Ho

Cast: Rinchen Dundrup

Sonam Nyima

Deskyid

Zinchen Denchu

Lobsang Chospel

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Tibetan, with English subtitles

International Sales: Beijing Himalaya Audio & Visual Culture

Communication Co. Ltd.

Print Source: Beijing Himalaya

Audio & Visual Culture

Communication Co. Ltd.

Film Website: filmbiz.asia/reviews/ the-sacred-arrow

Selected Filmography: Old Dog (2011)

The Search (2008)

The Silent Holy Stones (2005)

Member FDIC

WOO-RI-BYUL IL-HO-WA UL-RUK-SO

Satellite Girl and Milk Cow

SOUTH KOREA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 1:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 11:00 AM

Next time someone breaks your heart, be wary. There’s a chance you may be turned into farm animal, then chased by a giant furnace on legs, and later encounter a man with a plunger who wants to steal your liver. That’s a lot to deal with, but to top it off, your landlady will still want you to pay your rent on time. In this quirky animated feature from director Hyung-yun Chang, these complications are just a small part of the fun. A rejected musician suddenly becomes a cow, and his plaintive song lures a non-working satellite down to earth. An enchanted roll of toilet paper accidentally turns the satellite into a rocket girl and together the three friends try to set things right. This unforgettably surreal film explores the importance of connection as we face life’s variety of challenges and fully exploits the comic potential of its unusual plot. We can’t all have lives with as many visual gags, rocket arms, and helpful bathroom products as our protagonists, but we can live vicariously while the moment lasts. You’ll be glad you did.

PACIFIC

Director: Hyung-yun Chang

Producer: Young-kag Cho

Screenwriter: Hyung-yun Chang

Music:

Kyung-chun Ko

Voices:

Yu-mi Jeong

Ah-in Yoo

Don-Yong Lee

Running Time: 81 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Indiestory

Print Source: GKids

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

RETOUR DE FLAMME SERIES

Saved From the Flames –A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips Through Time and Space

FRANCE 2014

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

For years and years, Serge Bromberg has been sifting through attics, flea markets, and abandoned houses in order to salvage lost and forgotten films. His collection, boasting around 120,000 nitrate film reels, has literally saved cinematic gems from flammable destruction. Touring since 1992, Bromberg breathes new life into these films, providing eye-opening and jaw-dropping experiences for audiences around the world. Saved From the Flames—A Trip to the Moon and Other Trips Through Time and Space is a mustsee program, a collection of movies from the dawn of cinema, including a restored version of George Melies’ A Trip to the Moon (1902), animated masterpiece Balloon Land (1936), and Buster Keaton’s The Love Nest (1923)— plus several other surprises.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Serge Bromberg

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital

International Sales: Lobster Films

Print Source: Lobster Films

Film Website: lobsterfilms.com/retour_ de_flamme.6.htm

Selected Filmography: The Extraordinary Voyage (2012)

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Doc, 2009)

LINCOLN SQUARE

PLACE

A Second Chance

DENMARK/SWEDEN 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

In such films as Open Hearts (2002), Brothers (2004), After the Wedding (2006), and the Academy Award®-winning In a Better World (2010), Danish director Susanne Bier and screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen have built a thematic through-line in their work, their characters consistently presented with extreme moral dilemmas that ultimately reveal their true natures, for better or for worse. In their latest, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”) plays Andreas, a police officer and new father who, during a raid on an ex-con’s apartment, opens a closet door and discovers a crying baby, seemingly tossed aside. Unfortunately, his pleas to social services go unanswered, leaving the child in the care of junkie Tristan (Nikolaj Lie Kaas, “The Killing”) and his girlfriend Sanne (supermodel May Anderson, making her acting debut). But when he and his wife’s own child dies in its sleep, Andreas decides to switch out the two infants, leaving Tristan and Sanne with a corpse. Nobody seems to be notice the switch. Nobody, that is, except Sanne. A Second Chance is a harrowing psychological drama about the ethics of parenthood and the fluctuating definition of righteousness, anchored by Coster-Waldau’s mesmerizing, riveting performance as a man whose moral code may be more skewed than he ever anticipated.

Awards:

San Sebastian International Film Festival 2014 (SIGNIS Jury Award)

Abu Dhabi Middle East International Film Festival 2014 (Best Actress)

QUE HORAS ELA VOLTA?

The Second Mother

BRAZIL 2015

THURSDAY, MAY 21 7:00 PM

Director:

Susanne Bier

Producer: Sisse Graum Jørgensen

Screenwriter:

Anders Thomas Jensen

Cinematographer: Michael Snyman

Editor: Pernille Bech Christensen

Music: Johan Söderqvist

Cast:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Ulrich Thomsen

Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Maria Bonnevie

May Andersen

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Danish and Swedish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Danish Film Institute

Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Film Website: dfi.dk

Selected Filmography: Serena (2014)

Love Is All You Need (2012)

In a Better World (2010)

Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

After the Wedding (2006)

Brothers (2004)

Open Hearts (2002)

RENTON IKEA PAC

SATURDAY, MAY 23 4:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

Val has been the perfect live-in maid to Carlos and Barbara, the wealthy São Paulo couple who employ her to take care of their son, Fabinho, and tending to the house’s every need with warmth and care. She’s content in her daily routine, pleased to provide a maternal affection towards Fabinho, and understanding the basic ‘rules’ of the household. When her estranged daughter, Jessica, calls to tell her she’s coming to São Paulo to take a college entrance exam, Val is thrilled. Yet when Jessica starts sitting at the family’s table, jumping in their pool, and spending too much time with Carlos, it’s clear her progressive and modern lifestyle is shifting the power balance in the household immensely. This emotional and darkly comic film illustrates the inevitable collision of old and new worlds with a tight script and a perfectly endearing, natural central performance by Regina Casé.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting)

Berlin Film Festival 2015 (CICAE Art Cinema Award, Panorama Audience Award)

Director: Anna Muylaert

Producers: Fabiano Gullane

Caio Gullane

Debora Ivanov

Anna Muylaert

Screenwriter: Anna Muylaert

Cinematographer: Bárbara Alvarez

Editor: Karen Harley

Music: Fabio Trummer

Cast: Regina Casé

Michel Joelsas

Camila Márdila

Karine Teles

Lourenço Mutarelli

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Film Website: the-match-factory.com/ films/items/the-secondmother.html

Selected Filmography: Collect Call (2012) É Probido Fumar (2009) Durval Discos (2002)

Senza Nessuna Pietà

THURSDAY, MAY 28 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 30 4:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 31 8:30 PM

You wouldn’t want to run into Mimmo in a dark alley—especially if you owed his boss money. His presence is daunting, with a large build and a tough face, which is why he was chosen to be the debt collector for his uncle’s section of the Italian mafia. Loyal to the family, Mimmo usually asks no questions. So when he’s responsible for making sure the boss’s son, Manuel, gets a prostitute for a big party he’s throwing it’s no problem. Yet things escalade brutally as the womanizing Manuel loses his temper and acts in a brashly violent way towards Tanya, the escort. Mimmo takes her under his wing and flees the scene. Forming a relationship on the run with the beautiful woman, Mimmo’s soft side begins to show and he vows to shake his demons and leave his life of organized crime behind. Senza Nessuna Pietà is filmed and played out with a deliciously noirish feel, carefully avoiding the cliché and sentimentality that would seem easy to fall into. Pierfrancesco Favino plays Mimmo with plenty of gruff and an emotional breadth that perfectly rounds out this romantic mafia thriller.

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

LINCOLN SQUARE

Director: Michele Alhaique

Producers: Maurizio Piazza

Alexandra Rossi

Screenwriter: Michele Alhaique

Cinematographer: Ivan Casalgrandi

Editor: Tommaso Gallone

Music:

Pierre-Alexandre Busson

Luca Novelli

Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino

Greta Scarano

Claudio Gioè

Adriano Giannini

Ninetto Davoli

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Indie Sales

Print Source: Indie Sales

Film Website: indiesales.eu/senza-pieta

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Seoul Searching

USA/SOUTH KOREA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 15 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 16 3:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

It’s 1986 and teenagers of Korean heritage from around the world arrive at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul as part of a summer camp to help engage them with their ancestral roots. Over the course of the party-filled summer, these teens are going to make life-long friends, find a deeper understanding of love, and hopefully learn something about their culture without bringing shame to their families. The all-Asian cast of future stars features Sid (the Rebel), Grace (a Madonna wannabe), and a host of withdrawn, horny, rich, and military teen stereotypes. Writer-director Benson Lee mines his own Korean summer experience as an affectionate homage to the classic films of John Hughes, moving beyond the traditional portrait of rebellious teenage life to a sense of confused sensitivity and the variety of serious issues, leavened with plenty of comedy set pieces. The central ensemble of eight young actors embody fully developed personas with their impressively woven character arcs. Seoul Searching is a refreshing new feature that puts Asian youth front and center in a way that is universal to general viewers while also exposing audiences to Korean culture that is enjoyably nostalgic and absolutely hilarious.

Awards:

Center for Asian American Media Festival 2015 (Audience Award)

Director: Benson Lee

Producers: Benson Lee

Andrea Chung

Screenwriter: Benson Lee

Cinematographer: Daniel Katz

Editors: Steve M. Choe

Benson Lee

Music: Woody Pak

Cast: Justin Chon

Jessika Van

In-pyo Cha

Teo Yoo

Esteban Ahn

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales:

Preferred Content

Print Source:

Preferred Content

Film Website: seoulsearchingmovie. tumblr.com

Selected Filmography: Battle of the Year (2013)

Planet B-Boy (Doc, 2007) Miss Monday (1998)

SENZA PIETÀ

Awards: Venice International Film Festival 2014 (Special Acting Award)

Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT

NETHERLANDS 2015 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 9:30 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The very definition of driven top-chef, Sergio Herman strives for perfection every day. When his father retired in 1999, he took the reins of the family restaurant, Oud Sluis, a seafood joint on the north coast of the Netherlands. Over the next 10 years, he transformed it into a 3 Michelin star-rated foodie destination, where reservations are booked out for a year. He seemed to have it all—however, the beauty and success of his culinary art has a downside: the long hours, the competition, the continuous pressure. He is absent from his loving family, and the stress is taking its toll. He makes the difficult and radical decision to close Oud Sluis in order to focus on his family and mental health. Even after taking steps to slow things down, Sergio can’t help but start upgrading his second restaurant Pure C, while his brother Michel converts Oud Sluis into an unpretentious bistro and his wife takes first steps to start her own career. Shot over a decade by Dutch documentarian Willemiek Kluijfhout (Mussels In Love, SIFF 2013), this is both an insightful and loving portrait of an artist in transition. Sergio Herman, F**KING PERFECT hits on the doubts and feelings of every ambitious person out there, who have to make the choice posited by James M. Barrie in “Peter Pan”: You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.

Director: Willemiek Kluijfhout

Producer:

Reinette van de Stadt

Cinematographer: Remko Schnorr

Editor: Saskia Kievits

Music: Trentemøller

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Dutch, with English subtitles

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Fortissimo Films

Film Website: fortissimo.nl

Selected Filmography: Mussels In Love (2012)

Set Fire to the Stars

UNITED KINGDOM 2015

MAY 15 7:00 PM

The year is 1950. John (Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings) is a poetry professor who is assigned to accompany famous poet Dylan Thomas (Celyn Jones) on his first American east coast reading tour. As thrilled he is to meet one of his idols, John knows he has his work cut out for him, as Dylan is an infamous drunk, and behind the confident poet exterior, a very troubled man. Stumbling through pubs and collegiate conferences, boozy fistfights and hellish hangovers, John and Dylan somehow construct a strong friendship. When a letter from Dylan’s wife arrives and sends him on a spiral of self-destruction, John wonders how much longer he can dance around the real issues of Dylan’s personal well being. Elijah Wood masters the equally insecure and star-struck young poetry professor while Celyn Jones channels an Orson Welles-ian vibe playing the jovial, yet deeply distressed, Welsh poet. Filmed in sharp black and white and pulsing with a jazzy soundtrack, Set Fire to the Stars is a stylish movie with a cinematographic sheen that mimics Dylan Thomas’ own mask of put-togetherness.

Director:

Andy Goddard

Producers: A J Riach

Andy Evans

Screenwriters:

Celyn Jones

Andy Goddard

Cinematographer: Chris Seager

Editor:

Mike Jones

Music:

Gruff Rhys

Cast:

Elijah Wood

Celyn Jones

Steven Mackintosh

Shirley Henderson

Kelly Reilly

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: setfiretothestars.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

FRIDAY,

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Shaun the Sheep

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 11:00 AM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Shaun the Sheep and his flock are determined to get a day off to relax, so they come up with a genius plan to keep Farmer sleeping through his alarm. Things go awry when Farmer gets knocked out and his trailer is sent careening down the winding road to the big city. When he finally comes to, he can’t remember anything, not where he came from and definitely not Shaun or his friends. The herd and sheepdog Bitzer set off by bus to the chaotic streets of downtown to find Farmer and bring him back home, but mix-ups and shenanigans ensue, and Bitzer and Shaun find themselves sharing a jail cell at the world’s most fearsome stray animal pound. This laugh-a-minute comedy comes from Aardman Animation, the creators of the “Shaun the Sheep” television show, which originated as a “Wallace and Gromit” spin-off. Providing impressive slapstick and a genuinely heartfelt plot, Shaun the Sheep will delight both young and old.

Directors: Richard Starzak

Mark Burton

Producers: Julie Lockhart

Paul Kewley

Screenwriters: Mark Burton

Richard Starzak

Cinematographers: Charles Copping

Dave Alex Riddett

Editor: Sim Evan-Jones

Music: Ilan Eshkeri

Voices: Justin Fletcher

John Sparkes

Omid Djalili

Richard Webber

Kate Harbour

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Studio Canal

Print Source: Lionsgate Films

Film Website: shaunthesheep.com/ movie

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Sherlock Holmes

UNITED KINGDOM 1916

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 4:15 PM

Film preservationists estimate that anywhere from 75 to 90% of all silent films (those made before 1929) are lost forever. Hope springs eternal, however, that somewhere, in some dark vault or archive, a hidden gem lies awaiting to be rediscovered. Late last year, archivists at the Cinémathèque Française in cooperation with the San Francisco Silent Film Festival did just that, announcing they had found a copy of the 1916 version of Sherlock Holmes, one of the earliest film adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective tales. Starring William Gillette as Holmes, who played the role over 1,300 times on stage, and based on the actor’s own 1899 theatrical play, the film takes inspiration from three of the most popular Holmes’ short stories— “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Final Problem,” “The Copper Beeches” —as well as the novel “A Study in Scarlet,” Sherlock’s first appearance concerns a man with connections to the Royal Family who hires Holmes to retrieve a series of letters now in the possession of Alice Faulkner. But as the investigation progresses, Holmes uncovers a far darker plot than he first imagined, one masterminded by Professor Moriarty. A must-see event for cinephiles, Sherlock Holmes is quite literally a legendary film with nearly a century past since it was last seen.

Director: Arthur Berthelet

Screenwriter: H. S. Sheldon, based on the stories of Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle

Cast:

William Gillette

Edward Fielding

Marjorie Kay

Ernest Maupain

Running Time: 116 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, No Dialogue, with English intertitles

Print Source: Flicker Alley

Selected Filmography: Enemies of Youth (1925)

Penny of Top Hill Trail (1921)

Men Who Have Made Love to Me (1918)

The Havoc (1916)

The Chaperon (1916)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 6:00 PM

KIRKLAND PC

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Dusting off antiquated notions about what once was Spain’s most important export, this documentary examines the culture and creation of sherry. Taking place in Jerez de la Frontera, in the community of Andalusia in southwestern Spain, we are immediately immersed in not only the history of the wine, but the lives of the people passionate about it today—from local bottlers to families in the industry who come from generations of sherrylovers. This culinary exploration places special focus on the “palo cortado” which is a type of sherry that oxidizes spontaneously, releasing the most complex and coveted flavors. Combining interviews, tours of distilleries, and excerpts from dozens of film and television scenes referencing the drink, Sherry & The Mystery of Palo Cortado, like the drink itself, is well-rounded, complex, and satisfying.

Director:

José-Luis López-Linares

Producers:

Antonio Saura

José-Luis López-Linares

Screenwriter:

Juan Fernández Castaldi

Cinematographers:

José-Luis López-Linares

Rafael Reparaz

David Escobar

Daniel Mauri

Editor:

Pablo Blanco

Music:

Jorge Magaz

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Latido Films

Print Source: Latido Films

Film Website: latidofilms.com

Selected Filmography:

Ultimo Testigos (Doc, 2009)

The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab (Doc, 2008)

Hécuba, un sueño de pasión (Doc, 2006)

Portrait of Carlos Saura (Doc, 2004)

Aliens to Themselves (Doc, 2000)

Regarding Buñuel (Doc, 2000)

Storm the Skies (Doc, 1999)

Short Skin

ITALY 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 25 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE SUNDAY, MAY 31 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE MONDAY, JUNE 1 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Adolescence can be difficult enough without thinking that you are radically different from everyone else. Sensitive 17 year-old Edoardo (a delightful Matteo Creatini) is more than ready to experience life, love, and sex—but he has suffered from an extremely tight foreskin since childhood, making sex (and even masturbation) impossibly painful and quickly turning him into a nervous wreck. His best friend talks about girls 24/7, and even his father and younger sister seem to be constantly mentioning sex. Terrified of having an operation, he is willing to try just about anything to alleviate the problem. When his secret love Bianca suggests they go camping, it seems that his quest to lose his virginity is doomed to fail. A bawdy streak of American Pie-style humor runs through Duccio Chiarini’s first feature (watch out for the scene with the octopus) but the film interweaves family drama with a tender summertime love story as its gawky, endearing hero tries to negotiate the mysteries of girls, growing pains, and male insecurity, proving that even the trickiest of problems can be solved if the chemistry is right.

Director: Duccio Chiarini

Producers: Babak Jalali

Duccio Chiarini

Screenwriters: Duccio Chiarini

Ottavia Madeddu

Marco Pettenello

Miroslav Mandic

Cinematographer: Baris Ozbicer

Editor: Roberto Di Tanna

Music: Woodpigeon

Cast: Matteo Creatini

Francesca Agostini

Nicola Nocchi

Miriana Raschillà

Bianca Ceravolo

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Films Boutique

Film Website: filmsboutique.com

Selected Filmography: Hit the Road Nonna (Doc, 2011)

MUSARAÑAS

Shrew’s Nest

SPAIN 2014

MONDAY, MAY 18 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 19 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, MAY 26 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

From producer and Spanish provocateur Álex de la Igelsia (Witching and Bitching, SIFF 2014) comes this superb Gothic chiller set in 1950s Spain. After her mother’s death and father’s subsequent disappearance, Montse has spent the best years of her life raising her younger sister. Their tight bonds are tested, however, when her sister turns 18 and longs for a life outside their shared flat. But for Montse, a talented dressmaker who suffers from crippling agoraphobia, such an act would have devastating consequences. One evening, a new tenant to the building tumbles down the stairs, and crashes in front of the sisters’ door. In excruciating pain and with a broken leg, Carlos begs for Montse’s aid. Just able to get him inside, she takes on the role of nurse, his presence awakening longburied feelings within her that only serve to further splinter her delicate psyche. When her sister discovers Carlos’ presence, the already taut tension between the women snaps like a severed tendon. Drawing inspiration from such sources as Misery and Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, co-directors Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel have crafted a nightmarish concoction in the Grand Guignol tradition.

Awards: Goya Awards 2015 (Best Makeup and Hairstyle; Best New Director Nominee, Best Leading Actress Nominee)

Sleeping with Other People USA 2015

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 4:00 PM

Directors: Juanfer Andrés

Esteban Roel

Producers: Álex de la Iglesia

Carolina Bang

Kiko Martínez

Screenwriters: Juanfer Andrés

Sofía Cuenca

Emma Tusell

Cinematographer: Ángel Amorós

Editor: Juanfer Andrés

Cast: Hugo Silva

Macarena Gómez

Lucía de la Fuente

Nadìa de Santàgo

Luís Tosar

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Film Website: filmfactoryentertainment.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Wild stories about dating can be very entertaining when you don’t have to live through them. Jack (Jason Sudeikis, Horrible Bosses) and Lainey (Alison Brie, “Community”) lose their virginity to each other in college and drift apart until they meet years later at a support group for sex addicts. Despite lingering feelings for each other, they decide to be platonic friends while they work on forming more healthy romantic attractions. Among the film’s game ensemble, Natasha Lyonne (“Orange is the New Black”) adds snap as a lesbian best friend, while Amanda Peet (The Way Way Back) adds heat as a love interest. Writer/director Leslye Headland (Bachelorette) gives us an unconventional romantic comedy full of the uncomfortably funny moments that fill our daily lives as we search for happiness in the complicated maze that is much like modern dating; a little strange, a little bawdy, and a great deal of fun. Memorable lines and a surprisingly subtle indie folk soundtrack complete a film destined to become another quotable hit.

Director: Leslye Headland

Producers: Jessica Elbaum

Will Ferrell

Adam McKay

Sidney Kimmel

Screenwriter: Leslye Headland

Cinematographer: Ben Kutchins

Editor: Paul Frank

Music: Andrew Feltenstein

John Nau

Cast: Jason Sudeikis

Alison Brie

Adam Scott

Amanda Peet

Jason Mantzoukas

Natasha Lyonne

Running Time: 101 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: IFC Films

Film Website: imglobalfilm.com/octane/ sleeping-with-otherpeople

Selected Filmography: Bachelorette (2012)

Slow West

NEW ZEALAND/UNITED KINGDOM 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 16 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

It’s a few years after the Civil War in Colorado and westward expansion continues full-throttle. A naïve, 16-year-old Scotsman named Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road) stumbles along on his lovelorn quest to find his young sweetheart, Rose, who fled to America under mysterious circumstances. After being caught in a bind, Jay meets Silas (Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave), a taciturn frontiersman who agrees to guide the hapless teen—but for a price. As Jay and Silas continue west, meeting rogue elements of every ethnicity and nationality, their motivations are slowly revealed, adding tension to an already uneasy friendship. In director John Maclean’s unique Scottish/Kiwi interpretation of the American Western, the snowcapped crags of New Zealand—framed in vivid, painterly compositions—stand in for the Rockies of the 1870s, which he depicts as a menacing, nearly lawless land that is nevertheless quickly filling up with ambitious immigrants, some more cunning and cruel than others. Maclean subverts the “mismatched buddies” road genre by focusing as much on the consequences of violence as he does on the protagonists’ heroic narrative. Slow West, which won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is a remarkably confident feature writing/directing debut for Maclean, who invigorates the brooding story with black humor, viscerally staged shoot-outs, and a refreshing outsider’s perspective on the effects of “manifest destiny.”

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)

ZAKUROZAKA NO ADAUCHI

Snow on the Blades

JAPAN 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 6:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 1:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 18 6:00 PM

Director: John Maclean

Producers: Iain Canning

Emile Sherman

Conor McCaughan

Rachel Gardner

Screenwriters: John Maclean

Michael Lesslie

Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan

Editors: Roland Gallois

Jon Gregory

Music: Jed Kurzel

Cast: Michael Fassbender

Kodi Smit-McPhee

Ben Mendelsohn

Rory McCann

Brooke Williams

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Hanway Films

Print Source: A24

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

In the Edo period of 1860s Japan, samurai Shimura Kingo’s career is on an upswing. After recently marrying, he has been promoted to personal bodyguard of Ii Naosuke, the chief minister of the Tokugawa shogunate. But his world soon collapses after a gang of assassins ambush Naosuke’s entourage and murder everyone except Kingo. Filled with shame, Kingo is nevertheless forbidden from falling upon his own sword—instead he must atone for his master’s death by hunting down the assassins. So begins Kingo’s 13-year quest to avenge his master and find redemption. However, as years go by and Kingo zeroes in on Jubei, the lone remaining assassin, the feudal society of the samurai begins vanishing around him. Kingo must find a way to reconcile the fulfillment of his sacred BUSHIDO oath with the new Westernized laws of the country that now forbids justice by way of the sword. Japan Academy Prize-winning director Setsuro Wakamatsu recreates the Edo period in lush detail, staging thrilling snowscape fight scenes with precise editing and formal compositions in every frame. Snow on the Blades, based on a short story by Jiro Asada, is both a rollicking samurai epic and an elegiac portrait of a man caught between his unyielding sense of duty and the inevitable extinction of his way of life.

Sponsored by Thomas Zimmermann

Director:

Setsuro Wakamatsu

Producer: Shohei Kotaki

Screenwriters:

Hironobu Takamatsu

Yasuo Hasegawa

Music: Joe Hisaishi

Cast: Kiichi Nakai

Hiroshi Abe

Ryoko Hirosue

Jiro Asada

Running Time: 119 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Print Source: Shochiku Co., Ltd. Film Website: shochikufilms.com

Selected Filmography: In the City of Dawn (2011) The Unbroken (2009) Shikyû no kioku (2007) Whiteout (2000)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

HARVARD EXIT

LINCOLN SQUARE

The Son of the Sheik

USA 1926

TUESDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM

This 1926 silent film revels in its moonlit rendezvous, knife fights, kidnapping, horseback racing, betrayal, and love. The Son of the Sheik is one of the most thrilling adventures and romances of its time, featuring heartthrob Rudolph Valentino in his final, and what some call his best, starring role. Valentino plays both the Sheik, and his son, Ahmed, the latter of which falls in love with a beautiful dancer Yasmin, played with soft sensuality by Vilma Banky. When he is kidnapped and held for ransom after one of their midnight trysts, Ahmed believes that she was the one to betray him, and seeks revenge. Every element of this film excels in craftsmanship and beauty, from the lighting to the desert location, from the glorious costuming to the passionate chemistry between Valentino and Banky. Featuring an all new score played live by the notable Alloy Orchestra that uses instruments native to the Middle East, and a beautiful restoration from Box 5 distribution company, The Son of the Sheik is a remarkable triumph of filmmaking and is not to be missed on the big screen.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Producer:

John W. Considine, Jr.

Screenwriters:

Frances Marion

Fred de Gresac

Cinematographer: George Barnes

Cast:

Rudolph Valentino

Vilma Banky

George Fawcett

Montagu Love

Agnes Ayres

Running Time: 68 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Selected Filmography: Adventure in Diamonds (1940)

Vacation from Love (1938)

Arsne Lupin Returns (1938)

Suzy (1936)

Mata Hari ([1931)

Raffles (1930)

Lilac Time (1928)

The Dark Angel (1925)

To Have and to Hold (1922)

Witness for the Defense (1919)

The Avalanche (1919)

The Hunting of the Hawk (1917)

Kick In (1917)

8 APELLIDOS VASCOS

Spanish Affair

SPAIN 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 8:30 PM

RENTON IKEA PAC

TUESDAY, MAY 26 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 28 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

In this spicy romantic comedy that smashed all box office records in Spain, Rafa, a playful and outgoing waiter from Sevilla, is smitten by Amaia, a stern and touchy woman from the Basque country. They quickly clash over Rafa’s stereotyping of Basque people, but Amaia has just been jilted by the man she was about to marry—so she eventually gets drunk and ends up spending the night at his place anyway. She bolts for home in the morning, but Rafa follows her, determined to win her over. Amaia is unimpressed, but enlists him to pose as her bridegroom for her father’s benefit. Director Emilio Martinez-Lazaro sets up a series of hilarious scenarios based in the deep cultural differences between the combative Basques and the easygoing Sevillians, as Rafa has to pretend to be Basque for three days. Spanish Affair is groundbreaking in its humorous attitude toward the highly charged issue of Basque nationalism. It’s a lighthearted comedy rooted in fully-fleshed characters and genuine cultural differences.

Awards:

Goya Awards 2015 (Best Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, New Actor, Photography)

Director: Emilio Martínez-Lázaro

Producers: Ghislain Barrois

Álvaro Augustin

Gonzalo Salazar-Simpson

Screenwriters: Borja Cobeaga

Diego San José

Cinematographer: Kalo Berridi

Editor: Ángel Hernández Zoido

Music: Nacho Royo-Vilanova

Cast: Clara Lago

Dani Rovira

Carmen Machi

Karra Elejalde

Alfonso Sanchez

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source:

Film Factory Entertainment

Film Website: lazona.eu/html/ cinema/8apellidos.html

Selected Filmography: La montaña rusa (2012)

Las 13 Rosas (2007)

The 2 Sides of the Bed (2005)

The Other Side of the Bed (2002)

Backroads (1997)

Los peores años de nuestra vida (1994)

Amo tu cama rica (1992)

What Max Said (1978) Blood Cake (1971)

THURSDAY, MAY 14 7:00 PM

Emmy-winning and Oscar®-nominated comic tour-de-force Melissa McCarthy brings her unique blend of slapstick and wit to this sidesplitting, action-packed, globetrotting spy comedy from the mind of Paul Feig, director of Bridesmaids and co-creator of NBC’s cult television show “Freaks and Geeks.” McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a frumpy desk-bound CIA operative and analyst responsible for the safety of partner and secret agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes). But when Fine suddenly succumbs to a bullet courtesy of Bulgarian assassin Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne, Neighbors), Cooper is galvanized into action, convincing her agency chief (Allison Janney, “The West Wing”) to allow her to go undercover, travel to Europe, and avenge her partner’s death with the help of excitable colleague Nancy (Miranda Hart, “Call the Midwife”), a lecherous Italian agent (Peter Serafinowicz, Guardians of the Galaxy), and her two fists—Cagney and Lacey. With a superb ensemble cast that includes Morena Baccarin (“Homeland”), Bobby Cannavale (“Boardwalk Empire”), 50 Cent, and a game Jason Statham hysterically spoofing the tough guy image he’s cultivated since Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Spy plays off the tried-and-true tropes of espionage thrillers with an unbridled glee, combining big laughs with even bigger action sequences into an overwhelmingly entertaining secret mission.

Director: Paul Feig

Producers: Peter Chernin

Jenno Topping

Paul Feig

Jessie Henderson

Screenwriter: Paul Feig

Cinematographer: Robert D. Yeoman

Editors: Brent White

Melissa Bretherton

Music: Theodore Shapiro

Cast: Melissa McCarthy

Jude Law

Jason Statham

Rose Byrne

Morena Baccarin

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: 20th Century Fox

Film Website: foxmovies.com/movies/ spy

Selected Filmography:

The Heat (2013)

Bridesmaids (2011)

Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

I Am David (2003)

Life Sold Separately (1997)

Steak (R)evolution

FRANCE 2014

MONDAY, MAY 25 1:15 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM

You are about to have everything you think you may know about steak challenged—French gourmets consider their own beef subpar and ultimately import fine cuts from Great Britain, Kobe beef is not the best beef in Japan, and every culture has its own preferences on what constitutes an outstanding steak. This fascinating documentary takes you behind the scenes at some of the finest restaurants and with the best cattle breeders in the world. You’ll learn how to recognize good steak and hear insider tips on how to cook it to perfection. You’ll be introduced to some of the secrets that go into steak, including how the animals are massaged and treated. You’ll even get some insight into the debate over grassfed versus grain-fed beef. This tasty meal of a film skips the slaughterhouse and takes you around the globe to meet your meat for a new appreciation of everything that goes into a mouthwatering dish fit for a carnivore.

Director: Franck Ribière

Producer: Vérane Frédiani

Screenwriters: Franck Ribière

Vérane Frédiani

Editor: Vérane Frédiani

Music: Eric Jeanne

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Jour2fête

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: jour2fete.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

MCCAW HALL

PACIFIC PLACE

HARVARD EXIT

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 15 6:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 17 7:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Inventor, pioneer, legend—Steve Jobs was a universal icon. He heralded the modern computer and changed the way we use technology forever. But who was the man behind the machine? Who really was Steve Jobs, and how did he grow into the beloved figure he was before he passed away? Oscar®-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) uncovers the soul, spirit, and controversy of the Apple® genius with both a critical perspective and human empathy. Intimate and candid interviews with those who knew him best color this moving documentary that charts the rise of Jobs’ reign (from a modest upbringing to changing Silicon Valley forever) and the last days of his global impact. Nuanced, detailed, and poignant, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine plugs into the man at the center of modern technology.

Director: Alex Gibney

Producers: Viva Van Loock

Alex Gibney

Cinematographers: Yutaka Yamazaki

Sam Painter

Editor: Michael J. Palmer

Music: Will Bates

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: jigsawprods.com/ steve-jobs-the-man-inthe-machine/

Selected Filmography: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (Doc, 2015)

Finding Fela (Doc, 2014) The Armstrong Lie (Doc, 2013)

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (Doc, 2013)

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (Doc, 2012)

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (Doc, 2010)

Taxi to the Dark Side (Doc, 2007)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Doc, 2005)

Strangerland

AUSTRALIA/IRELAND 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 17 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 8:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Catherine (Nicole Kidman) and Matthew Parker (Joseph Fiennes) have recently re-located to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari. They are pleasant but keep to themselves, unwilling to get close to anyone. On the eve of a massive dust storm, their lives are shaken when their two teenage children, Lily and Tom, disappear into the desert. With the town now eerily smothered in red dust and darkness, the locals join the search lead by local cop, David Rae (Hugo Weaving). It soon becomes apparent that something terrible may have happened to them. Suspicion is cast, rumors spread, and ancient Aboriginal stories are told in whispers as the locals begin to turn against the couple. With temperatures rising, the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, and rumors and innuendo swirling furiously, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink, struggling to survive the uncertainty of their children’s fate. Kidman turns in a staggering performance as the increasingly unhinged Catherine, while the chemistry between Kidman and Weaving is undeniable. An atmospheric slow burn, reminiscent of Picnic at Hanging Rock and Walkabout

Director: Kim Farrant

Producers: Naomi Wenck

Macdara Kelleher

Screenwriters: Fiona Seres

Michael Kinirons

Cinematographer: P.J. Dillon

Editor: Veronika Jenet

Music: Keefus Ciancia

Cast: Nicole Kidman

Joseph Fiennes

Hugo Weaving

Lisa Flanagan

Meyne Wyatt

Running Time: 111 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Alchemy

Film Website: wildbunch.biz/ movie/strangerland

Selected Filmography: Naked on the Inside (Doc, 2007)

LONBRAZ KANN

Sugarcane Shadows

MAURITIUS/FRANCE 2014 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 25 5:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 4:30 PM

Farmers Marco and Bissoon mourn the loss of their culture and livelihood as glitzy tourist attractions swallow up the land previously used to cultivate sugarcane crops. While forest areas are paved over with concrete and luxury lodging becomes a playground for privileged travelers, the farmers gather at their favorite convenience shop and discuss ways to make their voices heard. Tensions rise between the working class, their colonialist populations, and modernity as residents strive to maintain traditions, salvage their livelihoods, or leave the island all together with hopes for a better future. Director David Constantin has singlehandedly ignited the film industry in Mauritius, capably managing expressive non-actors who lend an exceptional gravitas as they dramatize the globalization facing their homeland. Filled with gorgeous cinematography, Sugarcane Shadows strives to move beyond Mauritius as a picturesque island destination and delve into the true struggles faced by its residents.

Director: David Constantin

Producers: David Constantin

Fred Eyrrey

Screenwriters: Sabrina Compeyron

David Constantin

Cinematographer: Sabine Lancelin

Editor: Morgane Spacagna

Music: Subhash Dhunoohchand

Cast: Raj Bumma

Dany Bhowaneedin

Nalini Aubeeluck

Jean-Claude Catheya

Running Time:

85 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Mauritian Creole, with English subtitles

Print Source: Cameleon Production

Film Website: lonbrazkann.com

Selected Filmography:

Les Accords de Bella (Doc, 2007)

Diego l’Interdite (Doc, 2002)

SANGAILE

The Summer of Sangaile

LITHUANIA/FRANCE/NETHERLANDS 2015

TUESDAY, MAY 19 4:30 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

You never know when love is going to take off. Sangaile is an inquisitive and introverted teenager who finds herself obsessed with stunt planes. At a recent aeronautical convention by her parents’ lakeside villa, she meets Auste – a young woman so enraptured by impulse and vibrancy, Sangaile cannot resist her. They form a close bond instantly, with Sangaile encouraging Auste’s creativity, modeling her clothing designs and posing for photos, while Auste coaxes Sangaile out of her socially withdrawn shell. The two soon take part in a tumultuous and ravishing summer romance, full of highs and lows so intense that the story flies in either direction with panache and passion. Alanté Kavaïté (winner of the Directing Award for Dramatic World Cinema at this year’s Sundance Film Festival) helms this lush and dynamic love story while getting exquisite performances out of leads Aistė Diržiūtė and Julija Steponaityė. The Summer of Sangaile is a beautiful film exploring the intimacy and flight of budding romance.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2015 (World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award)

Director: Alanté Kavaïté

Producers:

Živilė Gallego

Antoine Simkine

Screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté

Cinematographers:

Dominique Colin

Editor:

Joëlle Hache

Music:

JB Dunckel

Cast: Julija Steponaitytė

Aistė Diržiūtė

Jūratė Sodytė

Martynas Budraitis

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Lithuanian, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Films Distribution

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: filmsdistribution.com

Selected Filmography: Fissures (2006)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

HARVARD EXIT

Sunshine Superman

USA/NORWAY/UK 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 6:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 2:30 PM RENTON

Neither a bird nor a plane, Carl Boenish could often be mistaken for either, given the time he has spent coursing through the air. An aerial cinematographer who got his start handling the stunts for John Frankenheimer’s The Gypsy Moths, Boenish was also a leader in the extreme sport of BASE jumping. When fixed object jumping became popular in the 1970s–launching oneself off of tall buildings, cliffs, or bridges—Boenish was at the forefront of the movement, filming his jump off the cliff of El Capitan at Yosemite and inspiring others with his devotion to the sport. Sunshine Superman is a thrilling documentary that catapults viewers head-first into Boenish’s turbulent life through breathtaking archival video mixed with new footage as well as interviews with the authorities who tried to chase him and the friends and family who helped him fly.

Director: Marah Strauch

Producers: Eric Bruggemann

Marah Strauch

Lars Loge

Screenwriter: Marah Strauch

Cinematographers: Vasco Nunes

Nicolay Poulsen

Editors: Marah Strauch

Eric Bruggemann

Kevin Mcguinness

Music: KAADA

Featuring: Carl Boenish

Jean Boenish

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: sunshinesupermanfilm. com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Sworn Virgin

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 5:30 PM

In Albania’s Mountains of the Damned, just along the Kosovo border, lie centuries-old villages far removed geographically and culturally from the busier modern world. In many of these, there is a rigid patriarchal structure, one that holds up men as paragons of virtue and women as subservient and secondary, forbidden from partaking in the majority of the villages’ activities. For such women, there is another option: become a virgjinesh (or ”sworn virgin”), a process in which a woman disavows her female identity in order to live as a man but must in return live a life of chastity. Mark (Alba Rohrwacher), born Hana, is one of these sworn virgins, having lived the last 14 years of his life smoking, drinking, and felling trees, but when his surrogate parents suddenly pass away, Mark is hit with a crushing loneliness. The only respite, he decides, is to journey beyond the borders of his native village and into Italy, landing unannounced on the doorstep of his estranged adoptive sister Lila (Flonja Kodheli)—who skipped town as a teenager in order to escape an arranged marriage—and surly but curious niece Jonida (Emily Ferratello). Faced with a strange new world, Mark begins to reclaim his original identity as Hana, far from the shadows of the mountains.

Awards: Tribeca Film Festival 2015 (Nora Ephron Prize)

HARVARD EXIT

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Laura Bispuri

Producers: Marta Donzelli

Gregorio Paonessa

Screenwriters: Francesca Manieri

Laura Bispuri

Cinematographer: Vladan Radovic

Editors:

Carlotta Cristiani

Jacopo Quadri

Music: Nando Di Cosimo

Cast: Alba Rohrwacher

Lars Eidinger

Flonja Kodheli

Luan Jaha

Emily Ferratello

Presentation Format: DCP, in Albanian and Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: the-match-factory.com/ films/items/sworn-virgin.

html

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

IKEA PAC

DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY of Washington State

Tab Hunter Confidential

USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 15 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 16 11:00 AM

In the 1950s, Tab Hunter was Warner Bros.’ all-American boy-next-door, king of the box office and the pop charts, romantically linked to starlets in movie magazines, and worshipped by adoring teenage fans. All the while, the ambitious young actor was keeping his sexuality and private life a secret from the world. Jeffrey Schwarz’s absorbing film biography lets Tab Hunter tell his own story in extensive interviews, while employing masses of footage from all eras of Hunter’s career, creatively cut so the Tab Hunter of the ’50s and present day exist side by side on screen. The film is packed with interviews with Hunter’s costars, collaborators, and admirers. (That Debbie Reynolds, John Waters, and George Takei are among them gives a thumbnail sketch of Hunter’s varied resumé) Hunter, now withdrawn from public life as an actor, still has that megawatt smile and a seasoned nonchalance about the rollercoaster of his career. He’s happy with his quiet life in Santa Barbara, his relationship, and particularly with his horse Harlow. What more does an all-American boy need?

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Jeffrey Schwarz

Producers:

Allan Glaser

Neil Koenigsberg

Jeffrey Schwarz

Cinematographer:

Nancy Schreiber

Editor:

Jeffrey Schwarz

Music:

Michael “The Millionaire”

Cudahy

Featuring: Tab Hunter

John Waters

Clint Eastwood

George Takei

Debbie Reynolds

Robert Wagner

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Film Collaborative

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: thefilmcollaborative.org/ films/tabhunterconfidential

Selected Filmography: I Am Divine (Doc, 2013)

Vito (Doc, 2011)

Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon (Doc, 2008)

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (Doc, 2007)

Tangerine

USA 2015

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN SUNDAY, JUNE 7 6:15 PM HARVARD EXIT

Transgender besties Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor) are having a reunion. Sin-Dee has just returned from a 28-day stint in prison and is on the hunt for her boyfriend (and pimp) Chester, last rumored to be sleeping with a girl who has “like, vagina and everything.” Alexandra doesn’t need this drama, as she is busy trying to drum up an audience for her big cabaret debut. Meanwhile, an Armenian cab driver (Karren Karagulian) patrols the neighborhood, picking up fares, and maybe a little something extra. Yep, it’s just another Christmas Eve in West Hollywood. Tangerine is a bubbly, sassy slice of life that is part John Waters and part Duplass Brothers (who co-produced). Director Sean Baker’s innovative production was filmed entirely on an iPhone 5s, which not only looks astounding, but allowed for unobtrusive, street-level intimacy. Tangerine is fierce and sweet, farcical and tender, and features fully realized transgender characters that are complex, real, and able to toss off classic dialogue that will be repeated for years. Merry Christmas, bitch.

Director:

Sean Baker

Producers: Darren Dean

Shih-Ching Tsou

Marcus Cox

Karrie Cox

Sean Baker

Screenwriters: Sean Baker

Chris Bergoch

Cinematographers: Radium Cheung

Sean Baker

Editor: Sean Baker

Cast:

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez

Mya Taylor

Karren Karagulian

Mickey O’Hagan

Alla Tumanyan

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: magpictures.com/ tangerine

Selected Filmography: Starlet (2012)

Prince of Broadway (2008)

Take Out (2004)

Four Letter Words (2000)

KID TEUNG VITTAYA

The Teacher’s Diary

THAILAND 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 26 6:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 1:00 PM

When he finds out his dream job teaching physical education at the local elementary school isn’t going to happen, goofy ex-wrestler Song begrudgingly accepts a position as a school teacher for a small class of unruly kids on a houseboat in the middle of nowhere. As if that wasn’t enough of a letdown, he also discovers his girlfriend has been lying and seeing someone else. Song struggles to teach his small class and deal with his loneliness, and it seems like an impossible uphill battle until he finds a dusty notebook on one of the classroom shelves. As Song turns the pages of what turns out to be a diary left by a previous teacher, Ms. Ann, he learns her tips on winning over the students as well as how to mend a broken heart. Over the weeks Song develops a real connection with the diary, and he begins to wonder if it’s possible to fall in love with someone through her written word. This unconventional Thai romantic comedy is full of twists, turns, and tons of charm.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Thailand National Film Association Awards 2015 (Best Cinematography, Editing, Score, Original Song)

RENTON IKEA PAC

PACIFIC PLACE

Director: Nithiwat Tharatorn

Producers: Jira Maligool

Vanridee Pongsittisak

Screenwriters: Tossapon Thiptinnakorn Supalerk Ningsanond

Cinematographer: Naruphon Chotkanapitak

Editors: Thammarat Sumetsupachoke

Pongsakorn Charnchalermchai

Music: Hualampong Riddim

Cast: Sukrit Wisetkeaw

Cherman Boonyasak

Running Time: 112 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Thai, with English subtitles

International Sales: GMM Tai hub

Print Source: GMM Tai hub

Film Website: filmbiz.asia/reviews/theteachers-diary

Selected Filmography: Dear Galileo (2009)

Seasons Change (2006) My Girl (2003)

LA ONCE Tea Time

CHILE/USA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 17 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, MAY 18 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 21 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A group of women who meet for tea, cakes, gossip and reminiscences are the center of La Once, a Chilean expression for tea time. With sensitivity, simplicity and a keen sense of humor, the filmmaker records the conversations of these high school friends (one of them her own grandmother) who have religiously maintained the tradition of meeting once a month for six decades. Memories of the past and the proximity of death set the tone for these gatherings. In this story about friendship, growing old, and the role of women in the last century, Director Maite Alberdi cleverly confines the camera to the parlors where the reunions take place, focusing on the carefully coiffed, smartly attired protagonists’ wrinkled and immaculately made-up faces. Meeting after meeting, we get to know these charming women on a surprisingly deep emotional level. Tea Time has been receiving accolades since it premiered in Chile last year, garnering Best Documentary at the Guadalajara, Cartagena and Miami Film Festivals, just to name of few.

Awards:

Santiago International Film Festival 2014 (National Cinema Prize)

Guadalajara Film Festival 2015 (Best Documentary)

Cartagena Film Festival 2015 (Best Documentary)

Miami Film Festival 2015 (Best Documentary)

PRECEDED BY:

09:55-11:05 Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4B

Director: Maite Alberdi

Producer: Clara Taricco

Screenwriter: Maite Alberdi

Cinematographer: Pablo Valdés

Editors: Juan Eduardo Murillo

Sebastián Brahm

Cast:

Angélica Charpentier

Manuela Rodríguez

Alicia Pérez

Gema Droguett

Ximena Calderón

Running Time: 70 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: CAT&Docs, Paris

Print Source: CAT&Docs

Film Website: teatimethemovie.com

Selected Filmography: The Lifeguard (Doc, 2011)

Sweden 2014, 15 minutes, Directors: Christine Berglund, Sophie Vukovic 67-year-old Ingrid has decided to deal with cancer on her own, retreating from the outside world. But home-care employee Frida knocks on her door and awakens feelings that Ingrid can’t shut out.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

As Asia's prime business hub and China's global nancial centre, Hong Kong remains one of the world's best places to do business.

Our strong fundamentals are underpinned by a trusted legal system, transparent regulatory regime, low and simple taxes, free ow of capital and information, a clean government, and an adaptable, e cient and well-educated workforce.

Come to Hong Kong to grow your business in Asia. Hong Kong Economic and Trade O ce, San Francisco

www.hketosf.gov.hk

Temporary Family

HONG KONG 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 22 4:00 PM

In the ruthless real estate market of Hong Kong, people will go to any lengths to buy a flat. When smooth-talking agent Lung realizes his girlfriend will only marry him if he provides her with a 1000-square foot apartment, and only if he gets the money for it within a year, all he’s thinking about is money—and how to get it, fast. Gathering together three unlikely business partners: his withdrawn, tough-asnails stepdaughter from a previous marriage, a goofy young tech nerd, and a high-fashion (and high maintenance) divorcee, Lung splits the cost of a luxury apartment in order to sell it in a year when the value’s raised. Within that year the plan goes off-track as each of the investors find out more about each other and face the difficulty of letting go of this temporary home. Fast-paced and clever with a barrage of hilarity, Temporary Family is an earnest comedy you’ll want to invest in for certain.

Director: Cheuk Wan Chi

Producers: Bill Kong

Nansun Shi

Yu Tsang

Ivy Ho

Screenwriter: Cheuk Wan Chi

Cinematographer: Charlie Lam

Editor: Kwong Chi-Leung

Music: Alan Wong

Janet Yung

Cast: Nick Cheung

Sammi Cheng

Angelababy

Oho

Dayo Wong

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Cantonese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Edko Films Ltd.

Print Source: Edko Films Ltd.

Film Website: irresistiblefilms.com.hk

Selected Filmography: Kiss Ass Girls (2013)

That Sugar Film

AUSTRALIA 2015

MONDAY, JUNE 1 6:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 3:30 PM

Australian actor Damon Gameau believes in a healthy lifestyle. As he comes closer to fatherhood, however, he starts to wonder what exactly lies behind the labels in the foods we buy. Chucking caution and his wife’s approval to the wind, he undertakes a mission to see just what the hidden sugars in seemingly innocuous products such as cereal and low-fat yogurt can do to the human body. Over the course of 60 days, Gameau travels the globe and finds some hilarious and scary answers to such questions as: Can a so-called miracle berry defeat a tall glass of vinegar? What are the mounting effects of putting away a 12-pack of soda a day? Is it really possible to be nostalgic for vegetables? As his perilous/delicious experiment continues, Gameau begins to experience some significant changes to both his waistline and brain chemistry. Featuring a wealth of scientific info and a few genuinely surprising guest stars, this is a consistently inventive documentary that comes to some alarming conclusions. Appealing to both fans of Good Eats and Super Size Me, it is the rare educational film that goes down smooth.

SIFF CINEMA

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Damon Gameau

Producers: Nick Batzias

Damon Gameau

Rory Williamson

Screenwriter: Damon Gameau

Cinematographer: Judd Overton

Editor:

Jane Usher

Music:

Jojo Petrina

Running Time: 94 minutes

Featuring:

Stephen Fry

Brenton Thwaits

Isabel Lucas

Jessica Marais

Hugh Jackman

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Film Website: thatsugarfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Theeb

JORDAN/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES/QATAR/ UNITED KINGDOM 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 11:00 AM

PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

The Arabian Desert, 1916. Theeb (whose name translates as “Wolf”) lives with his Bedouin tribe in a remote corner of the Ottoman Empire. Like other young boys he’s prone to mischief, and when custom compels his older brother to escort a British Army officer (a comrade of TE Lawrence, no doubt) to the next water hole, Theeb tags along after them. By the time the brother realizes Theeb’s there it’s too late to send him back, but there is no guarantee he will be better off with them. Since the outbreak of the First World War this harsh desert terrain has become the hunting ground of Ottoman mercenaries, Arab revolutionaries, and outcast Bedouin raiders. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust, and betrayal. He must live up to the name his father gave him. A rousing adventure film of the best kind – a stunning location, with epic vision, and a deep heart.

Awards:

Venice Film Festival 2014 (Best Director)

BFI London 2014 (Best Film from the Arab World, Best First Feature Special Mention, FIPRESCI Winner)

Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2014 (Best Narrative Film, Best Film from the Arab World)

Camerimage Film Festival 2014 (Best Directorial Debut)

Variety 2014 (Arab Director of the Year)

Director:

Naji Abu Nowar

Producers:

Bassel Ghandour

Rupert Lloyd

Screenwriters:

Naji Abu Nowar

Bassel Ghandour

Cinematographer:

Wolfgang Thaler

Editor:

Rupert Lloyd

Music: Jerry Lane

Cast:

Jacir Eid

Hassan Mutlag

Hussein Salameh

Marji Audeh

Jack Fox

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Fortissimo Films

Print Source: Film Movement

Film Website: filmmovement.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

TAKVA SU PRAVILA

These Are the Rules

CROATIA/FRANCE/SERBIA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 29 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The drab Croatian suburbs set the stage for this searing drama about the parents of a bullied and badly beaten teenage boy who find that society’s ‘rules’ don’t allow for the protection of their son. Ivo and his wife Maja assume their son Tomica is being a typically sullen teenage boy when he refuses to come out of his room for dinner. Yet when he emerges the next day, bloodied and bruised, they realize something’s not right. After being dismissed without thorough inspection from the local doctor, Tomica collapses on the floor of their bathroom and is taken back to the hospital and put into an induced coma for analysis. Ivo and Maja learn that their son is the victim of incredibly violent bullying at his school, and yet the police are no more proactive than the initial doctor, even when Ivo gives them footage of the beating he acquired from his son’s girlfriend. For a couple who have lived their whole life by the rules, such indifference and injustice is a bitter pill to swallow. This ultra-realistic and sobering account is based on a true story and explores the passive acceptance and societally conditioned admittance that is slowly becoming the norm in times of trauma.

Awards:

Venice International Film Festival 2014 (Best Actor)

Warsaw International Film Festival 2014 (Best Director)

Stockholm Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Actress, Cinematography)

Director: Ognjen Svilicic

Producer: Janja Kralj

Screenwriter: Ognjen Svilicic

Cinematographer: Crystel Fournier

Editors: Atanas Georgiev

Nicolas d’Halluin

Cast: Emir Hadzihafizbegovic

Jasna Zalica

Ljubomir Bandovic

Goran Bogdan

Hrvoje Vladisavljevic

Running Time: 78 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Croatian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Urban Distribution

International

Print Source: Urban Distribution

International

Film Website: http://www.urbandistrib. com/?film=these-arethe-rules

Selected Filmography: Two Sunny Days (2010) Armin (2007)

Sorry For Kung Fu (2004)

Those People USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 16 7:00 PM HARVARD EXIT

SUNDAY, MAY 17 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 11:00 AM

Perpetually the romantic, Charlie has spent much of his young life in unrequited love with his best friend Sebastian—the golden boy of Manhattan. Though from very different worlds, their connection has remained unwavering through the years and rife with shared memories, both painful and lovely. When suddenly faced with the monumental fallout of his father’s financial scandal, Sebastian demands even more of Charlie’s attention, complicating Charlie’s budding love affair with a traveling pianist. Accustomed to getting his way, Sebastian begins a dangerous downward spiral, while Charlie struggles to discover the independence and artistic enlightenment that has long been out of his reach. While every scene evokes the complexity of real relationships through thoughtful camerawork and design, this film truly shines when it focuses on the details: Intimate moments in the bedroom, beautiful costumes in rich hues, stolen glances and tears. Those People tells a familiar story of loyalty, but in a way that is uniquely beautiful.

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Joey Kuhn

Producers: Kimberly Parker

Joey Kuhn

Sarah Bremner

Screenwriter: Joey Kuhn

Cinematographer: Leonardo D’Antoni

Editor: Sara Shaw

Music: Adam Crystal

Cast: Jonathan Gordon

Jason Ralph

Haaz Sleiman

Britt Lower

Meghann Fahy

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Film Collaborative

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: thefilmcollaborative.org/ films/thosepeople

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

TRI DRITARE DHE NJË VARJE

Three Windows and a Hanging

KOSOVO/GERMANY 2014

MONDAY, JUNE 1 8:30 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:00 PM

Set in a traditional Kosovar village a year after the war with Serbia, this finely written and directed drama provides a critical look at a patriarchal culture threatened by the knowledge that the enemy violated their women. The action takes place in a scenic mountain enclave that is trying to rebuild after the war. When a local woman anonymously reveals to an international journalist that she and others were raped, the fallout from this oncerepressed secret threatens to tear apart the fabric of village life. Upon the article’s subsequent publication, the controlling mayor tells the local men that he suspects schoolmarm Lushe as the source, and advises them to shun both her and her lad. While the men are happy to comply, as they believe Lushe has brought shame on them and their village, they can’t stop wondering about the identities of the three other raped women mentioned in the article. The choice of Three Windows as Bosnia-Herzegovina’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® entry signals a coming to terms with something previously considered too shameful to discuss.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2014 (Foreign Language Film)

Palm Springs Film Festival 2015 (Cinema Without Borders Special Jury Award)

Sarajevo Film Festival 2014 (Cineuropa Award)

Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2014 (Audience Award)

Durres International Film Festival 2014 (Best Film Award)

Luxembourg City Film Festival 2015 (Critics Prize)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Isa Qosja

Producers: Shkumbin Istrefi

Mentor Shala

Screenwriter: Zymber Kelmendi

Cinematographer: Gohkan Tiryaki

Editor: Agron Vula

Cast: Irena Cahani

Luan Jaha

Donat Qosja

Orik Morina

Aurita Agushi

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Albanian, with English subtitles

International Sales: EZ Films

Print Source: EZ Films

Film Website: ez-festivals.com/threewindows-and-a-hanging

Selected Filmography: Kukumi (2005)

Guardians of the Fog (1988)

Proka (1984)

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

In August of 2012, stand up comic Tig Notaro, whose wry delivery and pointed one-liners have made her an industry favorite (Louis C.K. is one of her biggest fans), took the stage at the Largo nightclub in Los Angeles and decided to share a very personal, and terrifying, story. “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer,” she cheerily said into the microphone, launching into a hilarious thirty-minute set filled with such candor and vulnerability that it became legendary almost overnight. Directors Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York followed Tig for the next year, a strange period during which she faced a very real chance of dying, just as her career was taking off. Life kept throwing curveballs: a double mastectomy, doubt over maintaining her comedic voice, and a surprise love affair with her straight best friend. And just as the cancer appeared to be in remission, Tig’s desire to have a baby returned, though the treatments in order to do so could endanger her health. Through it all, the affable and honest comedian maintains the one thing that helps her deal: an unbelievably quick wit and an unshakeable sense of life’s absurdities.

Directors:

Kristina Goolsby

Ashley York

Producers: Michael Clark

Alex Turtletaub

Ashley York

Kristina Goolsby

Screenwriter: Jennifer Arnold

Cinematographer: Huy Truong

Editors:

Scott Evans

Mary Manhardt

Music: Ryan Miller

Featuring: Tig Notaro

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Beachside Films

Film Website: b-side.net

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Time Out of Mind

USA 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SATURDAY, MAY 23 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Richard Gere gives a career-topping, astonishing performance in this gritty, socially conscious drama from director Oren Moverman (The Messenger). Gere stars as a man who is recently evicted from his apartment and thrown into the unforgiving streets of a cold, isolating urban landscape. With nowhere to go, he strives to find clothing, food, drink, and a bed to sleep in. Occasionally conversing with a good friend (a strong Ben Vereen) and attempting to reconnect with his daughter (Jena Malone, further proving to be one of the most fascinating American actresses of her generation), Gere’s character is confronted with the realities of having nothing while trying to hold onto the something in his life—himself. Moverman has crafted a film deftly attuned to the struggles and adversities of our economically harsh environment, but also one that captures the humanity at the center. American Gigolo, Pretty Woman, Arbitrage—Richard Gere has always impressed and charmed, but nothing comes close to his powerful turn in Time Out of Mind.

Awards: Toronto International Film Festival 2014 (FIPRESCI Award)

Director: Oren Moverman

Producers: Richard Gere

Lawrence Inglee

Caroline Kaplan

Edward Walson

Miranda Bailey

Bill Pohlad

Screenwriter: Oren Moverman

Cinematographer: Bobby Bukowski

Editor:

Alex Hall

Cast: Richard Gere

Ben Vereen

Jena Malone

Kyra Sedgwick

Jeremy Strong

Running Time: 117 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: QED International

Print Source: IFC Films

Film Website: qedintl.com/films/ timeoutofmind

Selected Filmography: Rampart (2011) The Messenger (2009)

The Tournament

FRANCE 2015

MONDAY, MAY 25 7:15 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 4:30 PM

It’s the 34th International Chess Tournament in Budapest and the French team is ready to succeed, placing its hope in Cal, a 22-year-old genius and master of the game. But for the young group of competitors, the tournament is just one aspect of the extended trip, as they spend the majority of their extended hotel stay partying, flirting with female players and fans, and making outrageous bets. (Cal shows up to his first match hung-over on tequila and still manages to defeat his opponent.) Cal’s cockiness takes a hit, however, when what appears at first to be an overbearing preteen fan is actually an unknown 8-year-old chess prodigy with his sights set on defeating the wunderkind. Michelangelo Passaniti gives a strong debut performance in what is both a deep character study and a tense sports thriller about about what is really important in life. A beautifully shot and frenetically edited film, about the choice between “going with the flow” or breaking away and making our own decisions.

Director: Elodie Namer

Producer: Lola Gans

Screenwriter: Elodie Namer

Cinematographer: Julien Poupard

Editor: Nicolas Desmaison

Music: Dombrance

Cast: Michelangelo Passaniti Lou de Laâge

Magne-Håvard Brekke

Running Time: 83 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: MK2

Print Source: MK2

Film Website: mk2pro.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Trudell USA 2005

SATURDAY, MAY 30 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

This impressionistic portrait of legendary Native American activist and spoken-word artist John Trudell weaves history and politics with personal and poetic musings to find the man behind the icon. Trudell began his career in activism as a spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes, whose occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1968 gave birth to the contemporary Indian people’s movement. He became a major political figure as the national spokesman for the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the turbulent ’70s, which earned him a reputation as volatile political subversive and one of the largest FBI files in history. In 1979, he burned an American flag on the steps of FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. in protest of U.S. government policy. Within hours, his pregnant wife, mother-inlaw, and three children were killed in a suspicious fire on a Nevada reservation. With the great pain of this personal loss, Trudell left politics and drove across America in a borrowed car, finding life again as a poet, musician and actor. Thirteen years in the making, director Heather Rae’s lyrical examination of Trudell’s life, activism, and art incorporates archival footage, gorgeous cinematography, his own autobiographical poetry and music, and interviews with collaborators and friends including Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller, Robert Redford, Sam Shepherd, and Gary Farmer.

Awards: SIFF 2005 (Documentary Special Jury Award)

PRECEDED BY: Bihttos

Canada 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers US Premiere Bihttos is an unconventional documentary that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter.

Director: Heather Rae

Producers:

Heather Rae

Elyse Katz

Screenwriter:

B. Russell Friedenberg

Cinematographers: Gilbert Salas

Heather Rae

Editors: Gregory Bayne

Heather Rae

Music: John Trudell

Cast: John Trudell

Robert Redford

Kris Kristofferson

Sam Shepard

Amy Ray

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

Print Source: Appaloosa Pictures

Selected Filmography: First Circle (Doc, 2010)

Neil Discovers the Moon USA 2012, 1 minutes, Director: Steven Paul Judd

Neil Armstrong gets a surprise on his first moonwalk

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Turbo Kid

CANADA/NEW ZEALAND 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 MIDNIGHT

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The year is 1997. The earth has been ravaged by acid rains and is in a perpetual nuclear winter. Water is a precious resource, and hardly anyone has any, except for the evil Zeus, who runs this wasteland with his lackeys and captures people to “juice” their bodies for his personal supply of H20. A young boy only known as The Kid (Munro Chambers, Eli on “Degrassi: The Next Generation”) is a loner and perfectly content that way, riding his BMX around and finding kitsch items from the olden days to sell while reading and re-reading old Turbo Man comic books. When The Kid meets Apple (Laurence Leboeuf, “Durham County”), a perpetually upbeat girl with bright turquoise hair, they quickly become close friends and comrades. So when a close call with Zeus and his henchmen results in Apple’s kidnapping, The Kid does the only thing he feels is right—dress up in a makeshift Turbo Man suit and rescue his friend. Filled with tons of entertaining violence and geysers of blood, this retro-futuristic love letter to ’80s action films like Mad Max and BMX Bandits is full of humor and heart. Featuring Michael Ironside (Top Gun, Starship Troopers, Total Recall) as the villain and an impeccable synth soundtrack, Turbo Kid is a post-apocalyptic dream come true.

Awards: SXSW 2015 (Audience Award: Midnighters)

Sponsored by Thomas Zimmermann

Uncertain USA 2015

MONDAY, MAY 25 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Roadkill Superstar

Producers:

Anne-Marie Gélinas

Benoît Beaulieu

Ant Timpson

Tim Riley

Jason Eisener

Screenwriters: Anouk Whissell

Francois Simard

Yoann-Karl Whissell

Cinematographer: Jean-Philippe Bernier

Editor: Luke Haigh

Music:

Jean-Philippe Bernier

Jean-Nicolas Leupi

Cast: Michael Ironside

Munro Chambers

Laurence Leboeuf

Aaron Jeffery

Edwin Wright

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Epic Pictures

Film Website: facebook.com/TurboKidmovie

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The town of Uncertain lies on the Texas and Louisiana border, and is a quiet escape for many people looking to start a new life. In Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands’ beautifully filmed documentary, the lives of several Uncertain citizens are examined, chronicling their ups and downs, their history, and their hesitant steps toward the future. We follow Zach, a 20-something diabetic who has been living in a completely trashed house after Child Protective Services took his mother away. He occupies his time playing video games, lamenting about the lack of young girls in Uncertain, and drinking at the local pub—but dreams of moving to Austin and getting a real job. Another man, Wayne, lives in recovery with his girlfriend and dachshund Molly. After several stints in jail for theft and even accidental homicide, Wayne spends his time hunting, looking for the enigmatic Mr. Ed, a hog with the head of a horse, and trying to rebuild a healthy life for himself. Finally we have Henry, an elderly local fisherman who has spent his entire life in Uncertain and has stories upon stories of lost love, terrible injustices, and dear friendships. Uncertain, filmed over the span of two years and boasting some incredible cinematography, is a sentimental and powerful portrait that is sure to put this town on the map.

Awards: Tribeca Film Festival 2015 (Best New Documentary Director)

Directors: Ewan McNicol

Anna Sandilands

Producers: Ewan McNicol

Anna Sandilands

Cinematographer: Ewan McNicol

Editors: Ewan McNicol

Marco Perez

Music: Daniel Hart

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Lucid Inc.

Film Website: uncertainfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Uncle Kent 2

USA 2015

SATURDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 2:30 PM

A tongue-in-cheek meta-film that examines the nature of filmmaking and creation, this loose sequel to the micro budget Uncle Kent (2011) combines genres and takes audiences on a wild ride. In an attempt to create a genre-breaking sequel, star Kent Osborne pitches his idea to original Uncle Kent director Joe Swanberg at a dinner party. Swanberg emphatically tells Kent that he hates sequels due to their unoriginality. Upset but undeterred, Kent embarks on an increasingly bizarre trip to San Diego Comic-Con attempting to define and explore his own artistic fulfillment. The first 12 minutes are directed by Joe Swanberg himself, but once Kent begins his journey, the movie is hijacked by Todd Rohal after the opening credits (created by Pendleton Ward, “Adventure Time”). Rohal combines surreal visuals with Osborne’s absurdist script creating a frenzied tone where anything might happen. As Kent begins to lose his mind, the film moves between genres even branching into science fiction and dramatically moving away from the reserved nature of the original Uncle Kent. This cleverly self-aware commentary about the nature of sequels and storytelling is entertaining and relatable even if you are unfamiliar with the original film.

Awards:

SXSW 2015 (Audience Award Winner)

PRECEDED BY:

Big Boy

USA 2015, 5 minutes, Director: Bryan Campbell

Nine-year-old Dustin’s first solo adventure in a highway rest-stop bathroom.

Under Construction

BANGLADESH 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

PACIFIC PLACE

Director: Todd Rohal

Producers: Mel Eslyn

Georg Kallert

Rob Schroeder

Peter J. Nieves

Gareth Upton

Screenwriter: Kent Osborne

Cinematographer: Nathan M. Miller

Editor: Todd Rohal

Music: Kevin Bewersdorf Ryder McNair

Cast:

Kent Osborne

Kate Herman

Lyndsay Hailey

Jennifer Prediger

Steve Little

Joe Swanberg

Running Time: 73 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Selected Filmography: Nature Calls (2012)

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)

The Guatemalan Handshake (2006)

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 5:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Middle-class Bangledeshi woman Roya has played the central character of Nandini in famed poet/playwright/musician Rabindranath Tagore’s play “Red Oleanders” for nine years now but is finally aging out of the role, even though she’s barely pushing 30. With her future in theatre uncertain—it doesn’t help that her mother, whose husband left her for a performer, considers all actors “whores”— Roya must contend with her stern husband, who, while making perfectly clear that he wants a child with her as soon as possible, is oblivious to the fact that Roya may not be interested in motherhood. Opportunity knocks in the guise of Imtiaz, a Berlin-based curator who wants to represent Bangladesh for a series of European theatre festivals, and he won’t do it without Roya. Tasked with representing her country, Roya reclaims and reconstructs “Red Oleanders” itself, setting the politically minded play in a contemporary garments factory and giving Nandini a previously unattributed agency.

Director: Rubaiyat Hossain

Producer: Rubaiyat Hossain

Screenwriter: Rubaiyat Hossain

Cinematographer: Martina Radwan

Editor: Sujan Mahmud

Music: Shayan Chowdhury

Cast: Shahana Goswami

Mita Rahman

Rikita Shimu

Rahul Bose

Running Time: 88 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Bengali, with English subtitles

Print Source: Khona Talkies

Film Website: khonatalkies.com

Selected Filmography: Meherjaan (2011)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PMS Process Blue

Pantone Solid Uncoated

Font: Bank Gothic

PMS 199 (Red)

Pantone Solid Uncoated

FONT: Futura Medium (Seattle)

PMS 655 (Blue)

Pantone Solid Uncoated

Font: Eurofurence

Font: Eurofurence Bold (Seattle)

PMS 485 (Red)

PMS 321 (Green)

PMS 497 (Brown)

Pantone Solid Uncoated

CONVERTED

Unexpected USA 2015

FRIDAY, MAY 22 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 23 3:30 PM

On the list of irrevocably life-altering surprises, pregnancy has to be right at the top— no matter what your age. For 30-something high-school science teacher Samantha (Cobie Smulders, “How I Met Your Mother”), news of the “blessed event” couldn’t come at a worse time. She recently found out her job at an inner-city Chicago school is ending due to budget cuts, and she worries that impending motherhood may interfere with her future career plans. Then there are the awkward conversations she must have with her live-in boyfriend (Anders Holm, “Workaholics”) and—even worse—her judgmental mother (Elizabeth McGovern). As Samantha ponders these crossroads, she begins mentoring straight-A student Jasmine (Gail Bean), who comes from a poor family and is concerned about getting into college. When Jasmine confides that she too, is pregnant, she and Samantha develop an even deeper bond, based on shared feelings of fear, joy, doubt, and courage, that transcends their different races, ages, and economic backgrounds. Director Kris Swanberg gives this potentially melodramatic story a light, naturalistic touch, allowing moments of quiet humor to shine through the conflicting emotions. Unexpected takes an honest, realistic look at unplanned pregnancy from the perspective of two vibrant, fully-formed female characters—something refreshingly unexpected compared to most Hollywood fare about this delicate, universal subject.

AL-WADI

The Valley

LEBANON/GERMANY/FRANCE/QATAR/ UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2014

FRIDAY, MAY 22 3:30 PM

HARVARD EXIT MONDAY, MAY 25 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Kris Swanberg

Producer: Andrea Roa

Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg

Megan Mercier

Cinematographer: Dagmar Weaver-Madsen

Editor: Zach Clark

Music: Keegan DeWitt

Cast: Cobie Smulders

Anders Holm

Gail Bean

Elizabeth McGovern

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Visit Films

Print Source: The Film Arcade

Film Website: visitfilms.com

Selected Filmography: Empire Builder (2012)

It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (2009)

A man staggers out of a fiery car wreck in Lebanon’s volatile, isolated Bekaa Valley, having forgotten his name, where he came from, and where he’s going. As he makes his way down a deserted highway, blood seeping through his shirt, he encounters a group of motorists whose car has broken down. Once the car is repaired, they reluctantly take the injured man back to their farm, where the mystery only deepens. The farm, which doubles as a drug production facility, is patrolled by heavily armed guards. The group slowly becomes fractured by suspicion and anxiety. And the mysterious stranger finds himself held hostage as his captors try to determine his identity and his fate. In this apocalyptic thriller, nothing is as it seems. Starkly beautiful, with an eerie, mournful score, The Valley is a powerful allegory for the complex instability of the political landscape in Lebanon today.

Awards: Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2014 (Best Arab Director)

Director: Ghassan Salhab

Producer: Georges Schoucair

Screenwriter: Ghassan Salhab

Cinematographer: Bassem Fayad

Editor: Michele Tyan

Music:

Cynthia Zaven

Sharif Sehnaoui

Cast: Carlos Chahine

Mounzir Baalbaki

Fadi Abi Samra

Carole Abboud

Aouni Kawas

Running Time: 128 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Doc & Film International

Print Source: Doc & Film International

Film Website: abboutproductions.com

Selected Filmography: The Mountain (2010) 1958 (2009)

Terra incognita (2002)

Phantom Beirut (1998)

PACIFIC PLACE

LINCOLN SQUARE

Valley of the Sasquatch USA 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 24 8:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 26 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Following a devastating tragedy that took the life of his wife, Roger and his son Michael are forced to sell their home. With nowhere else to turn, they head into the backwoods, where Roger owns a ramshackle cabin. The grieving father-son duo struggles to cope with their loss while Roger struggles with keeping the elements out before winter arrives. To lighten the mood, Roger invites his friends for a fun weekend of hunting and drinking, but the laughter soon turns to panic and the hunting party realizes that they are, in fact, the prey being stalked by a mysterious figure among the trees. In his feature film directorial debut, Bremerton native John Portanova uses the dank, dense Pacific Northwest woods to create a palpable, paranoiac sense of foreboding. By revealing only fleeting glimpses of the terrifying sasquatch, he slowly ratchets up the tension as the heroes feel the beast circle ever closer—or wait, is there MORE THAN ONE? Shot in such familiar Washington state locations as Roslyn and Snoqualmie Pass, Valley of the Sasquatch hits close to home as both an appreciation of the 1970s Bigfoot film craze and as a genuinely creepy horror story that will keep you away from the woods for weeks.

Director:

John Portanova

Producers: Matt Medisch

Brent Stiefel

Screenwriter: John Portanova

Cinematographer: Jeremy Berg

Editor:

David Phillips

Music:

Jon Bash

Cast: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

D’Angelo Midili

Jason Vail

David Saucedo

Bill Oberst Jr.

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: HDCAM

Print Source:

The October People

Film Website: valleyofthesasquatch.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

VENECIA

Venice

CUBA/COLOMBIA 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 26 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 30 1:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

This tender portrait of female friendship follows three friends, Monica, Violeta, and Mayelin, as they leave their job for the day at a Havana hair salon and decide to spend their paychecks on a night out on the town. Going from shopping, to trying on dresses, to eventually ending up at a techno nightclub, their conversations are meaningful and dynamic, exposing deep desires and insecurities, all the while keeping an air of light-hearted humor found within any trio of best friends. Director Kiki Álvarez introduces us to the parts of Havana tourists rarely see, not being afraid of diving into the grittiness of the working class woman’s environment, and never shying away from the realistic dialogue the three exchange (which were often improvised). Boasting a wonderfully charismatic and kinetic cast of women, Venice is an energetic and raw look at the bonds deepened after one crazy night out.

Awards: Guadalajara International Film Festival 2015 (Best Ibero American Actress)

PRECEDED BY:

Tennis Girl

Brazil 2014, 15 minutes, Director: Daniel Barosa Ju is late for her tennis class. Even though she is stuck on her phone and her mother doesn’t realize it, she seems troubled by something…

Director: Kiki Álvarez

Producers: Kiki Álvarez

Nicolás Ordóñez

Ivonne Cotorruelo

Screenwriter: Claudia Muñiz

Cinematographer: Nicolás Ordóñez

Editor: Joanna Montero

Music:

DJ Joyvan

Cast: Claudia Muñiz

Marianela Pupo

Maribel García Garzón

Jorge Molina

Jazz Vilá

Running Time: 74 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Habanero Film Sales

Print Source: Habanero Film Sales

Film Website: veneciapelicula.webs.com

Selected Filmography: Giraffes (2013) Marina (2010)

Miradas (2001)

La Ola (1995)

Very Semi-Serious USA 2015

SUNDAY, MAY 31 5:00 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 4:00 PM

For 80 years, the “New Yorker “magazine has been one of America’s great cultural institutions—a weekly missive of groundbreaking journalism, insightful criticism, and acclaimed literary fiction. But for many readers, nothing better encapsulates the magazine than its iconic, single panel cartoons. From Charles Addams to Roz Chast, James Thurber to Mort Gerberg—the cartoonists have done more, arguably, to shape the magazine’s appearance from cover to back page. In Very SemiSerious, director Leah Wolchok and “New Yorker” Cartoon Editor Bob Mankoff provide viewers with an in-depth tour of the creative and editorial process that determines which cartoons make the cut and those destined for the circular file or the ever-popular caption contest. Along the way, a legion of contributing cartoonists, both old and new, offers irreverent and candid insights into the varied influences and inspirations that have shaped their quirky cartoons. An offbeat meditation on humor, art and the genius of the single panel, Very Semi-Serious is a funny and poignant look at the iconic “New Yorker” comics that have tickled, baffled—and occasionally pissed off—readers for decades.

SIFF CINEMA

SIFF CINEMA

Director: Leah Wolchok

Producers: Leah Wolchok

Davina Pardo

Cinematographer: Kirsten Johnson

Editors: Nels Bangerter

Scott Stevenson

Music:

Max Avery Lichtenstein

Running Time: 72 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Redora Films

Film Website: verysemiserious.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Village

GEORGIA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 15 9:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 16 1:30 PM

Kopala is a Georgian mythical folk hero or god who was a brilliant warrior. Amy, a young British photographer learns about this myth in an isolated mountain village in Georgia when Nic, her boyfriend, brings her to the site of an ethnographic expedition. Soon, a serious clash of culture unfolds. Nic is uneasy toward Amy’s friendly and outgoing attitude in the village while their own relationship is rapidly fraying. Her western ideals and independent spirit butts heads with the locals, and she begins to dig deeper and deeper into the questionable regional customs. Feeling confined, Amy roams the hillsides with her camera for consolation. In The Village, Levan Tutberidze (A Trip to Karabakh) sets up a tense drama about negotiating unfamiliar environments and ways that people do, or do not, adapt. The mountain people of Georgia have made changes over the past centuries, but their systems of beliefs and rules – many aspects of which are ancient and unique to the mountains of the Caucasus – continue to define and dictate life in the community. It may be that Amy is trying to change the unchangeable.

Director: Levan Tutberidze

Producers: George Bazgadze

Constatine Lusignan

Screenwriter: Aka Morchiladze

Cinematographer: George Shvelidze

Editors: Levan Kukhalashvili

Levan Tutberidze

Music: Zaza Miminoshvili

Cast: Crystal Bennett Tornike Bziava

Mikheil Gomiashvili

Running Time: 112 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Georgian and English, with English subtitles

Print Source: Gams Pictures LLC

Film Website: thevillage.ge

Selected Filmography: I’ll Die Without You (2010) A Trip to Karabakh (2005)

Phantoms of the Past (1995)

Last Prayer of the Nazarene (1989)

UPTOWN

UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

HARVARD EXIT

TSKHRA MTAS IQIT

Villa Touma 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 8:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 17 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 4:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

When Palestinian teen Badia ages out of her orphanage and goes to live with her three estranged aunts in Ramallah, she might as well have taken a time machine to the ’60s. Each woman is holding tight onto the past and all of the rigid traditions that come with it, making the arrival of Badia a potential disaster. Stripped of their aristocratic status in the wake of 1967’s epochal Six-Day War, these devout Christian women are trying desperately to retain their entitled air as they reside in a Grey Gardens-like limbo. With the arrival of their late brother’s orphaned daughter disrupting the delusional equilibrium they’ve established, and threatening to bring long-repressed memories rushing to the fore, they conspire to marry her off as quickly as possible. Not particularly eager to relinquish her newfound freedom, the headstrong Badia proves a less than apt pupil in their makeshift finishing school. In her accomplished directorial debut, Suha Arraf brings a fresh perspective to the Arab-Israeli conflict, drawing from both European and Middle Eastern influences to craft an involving parable rich in emotion and potent in metaphorical implications.

Director: Suha Arraf

Producer: Suha Arraf

Screenwriter: Suha Arraf

Cinematographer: Yaron Scharf

Editor: Arik Lahav-Leibovich

Music:

Boaz Schory

Cast: Cherien Dabis

Maria Zreik

Ula Tabari

Nisreen Faour

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

Print Source: Bailasan

Film Website: facebook.com/villatouma

Selected Filmography: Women of Hamas (Doc, 2010)

VINCENT N’A PAS D’ÉCAILLES

Vincent

FRANCE 2014

SUNDAY, MAY 24 6:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 25 3:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 28 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

What begins as a quiet, quirky love story quickly transforms into an adrenaline-pumping superhero manhunt, in Thomas Salvador’s strange tale of a man coming to terms with his difference. Vincent is a mild-mannered guy who takes odd jobs and mostly keeps to himself—but he has a secret. When immersed in water, Vincent gains superhuman strength and speedy swimming abilities. He lives life business as usual, trying to keep under the radar, until a chance meeting with adorably free-spirited Lucie opens his heart and brings him out of his shell. Lucie learns of his ability and takes it all in stride with a quiet bewilderment. After all, what is true love if not an acceptance of all your partner’s little eccentricities? The peaceful happiness Vincent starts getting used to is demolished in a second, however, when an altercation at his construction job causes his powers to be discovered, and a madcap police chase begins. More of a character drama than a flashy superhero film, Vincent boasts strong, nuanced lead performances and a quietly beautiful atmosphere that makes it a must-see reinvention of the superhero fantasy.

Director: Thomas Salvador

Producer: Julie Salvador

Screenwriters:

Thomas Salvador

Thomas Cheysson

Thomas Bidegain

Cinematographer: Alexis Kavyrchine

Editor:

Guillaume Saignol

Cast: Thomas Salvador

Vimala Pons

Youssef Hajdi Nicolas Jaillet

Nina Meurisse

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Le Pacte

Print Source: Le Pacte

Film Website: le-pacte.com/international/new-films/single/ vincent/

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Virgin Mountain

ICELAND/DENMARK 2015

TUESDAY, MAY 26 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

Crafted with the gentle humor that’s the hallmark of writer-director Dagur Kári, Virgin Mountain avoids the callousness or sentimental hokum its premise threatens from lesser hands. Fúsi (Gunnar Jónsson), the mountain of the title, bears his considerable weight with grace; but the mockery with which his coworkers and neighbors react to his girth has cowed him. Shrinking from such blows, Fúsi has retreated to a safe but lonely stasis in the home he shares with his mother, spending his days recreating WWII battles with miniatures and calling into radio stations requesting heavy metal songs. A burst of passion finally breaks the pattern—not Fúsi’s, but his mother’s, whose new boyfriend, hungry for a night without his lover’s son around, gifts Fúsi with dancing lessons to get him out of the house. It’s while practicing his heel digs and pivot turns that he meets Sjöfn (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir), a woman as bubbly as he’s introverted, but maybe in need of a healing shakeup of her own. Jónsson, a sketch comedy performer for whom Kári wrote the part, imbues his role with an emotional delicacy perfectly in step with the film’s tender rhythms.

Awards:

Tribeca Film Festival 2015 (Best Narrative Feature, Actor, Screenplay)

Director:

Dagur Kári

Producers:

Baltasar Kormákur

Agnes Johansen

Screenwriter: Dagur Kári

Cinematographer: Rasmus Videbæk

Editors:

Andri Steinn Gudjónsson

Oliver Bugge Coutté

Dagur Kári Pétursson

Music:

Slowblow

Cast: Gunnar Jónsson

Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir

Sigurjón Kjartansson

Franziska Una Dagsdóttir

Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Icelandic, with English subtitles

International Sales: BAC Films

Print Source: BAC Films

Film Website: bacfilms.com/international/film/54

Selected Filmography:

The Good Heart (2009) Dark Horse (2005) Noi the Albino (2003)

Virtuosity

USA 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 21 4:30 PM HARVARD EXIT SUNDAY, MAY 24 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Stay calm. You’ve spent your whole life practicing and preparing yourself for this moment of truth, and now it has finally arrived. The Cliburn, or more properly, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas, is about to begin. Pressure? What pressure? Running 17 days, with three grueling rounds, The Cliburn invites 30 of the world’s finest pianists to battle it out for top honors. At stake are prizes worth millions, but more than money, the winner is practically guaranteed a performing career. For this nail-biting, delightful documentary, filmmaker Christopher Wilkinson was granted full access to the 2013 Cliburn participants and their dazzling performances. The result is a thoroughly engrossing, well-rounded portrait of some of the world’s most talented (and nervous) musicians. Did we mention you’re playing not just for the judges, but for a live audience of thousands and a webcast of 170,000 viewers throughout the world? Pressure? What pressure? Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show. No pressure.

Director: Christopher Wilkinson

Producer: Lori Miller

Cinematographer: Larry McConkey

Editors: Gabriel Wrye

Zachery Wood

Featuring: Fei Fei Dong

Vadym Kholodenko

Alessandro Deljavan

Beatrice Rana

Sean Chen

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: 88 Films LLC

Film Website: cliburn.org

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

KRIEG DER LÜGEN

War of Lies

GERMANY 2014

US PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 23 5:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 24 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Have you met the man who gave the US and British government false information about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Who made up stories so intricate and palpable, that authorities never thought twice? Meet Iraqi ex-chemical engineer, Mr. Rafid Ahmed Alwan, or as the CIA calls him, “Curveball.”

Interviewed by German filmmaker, Matthias Bittner, Alwan relates how he devised a story about truckloads of portable chemical weapons, even providing photos (that turned out to be mobile milk pasteurization trailers). The more information he provided, the more benefits he realized: an apartment, cash, and a car. This story of an Iraqi refugee whose lies fooled German, British, and American secret service personnel and inspired the US to invade Iraq in 2003 is shocking and stranger than fiction. Alwan’s main goal, he maintains throughout his interviews, was to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein. Director Matthias Bittner intercuts segments of his long interviews with Alwan, who now lives in Germany under asylum, with news clips and reenacted scenes to make the news fresh and just as egregious.

Director: Matthias Bittner

Producers: Paul Zischler

Susanne Mann

Screenwriter: Matthias Bittner

Cinematographer: Julia Schlingmann

Editor: Friedemann Schmidt

Music: Philipp Kobilke

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP in German, Arabic, and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Cinephil

Print Source: Cinephil

Film Website: zischlermann.com

Selected Filmography: Not in My Backyard (Doc, 2011)

JEZIORAK

Waterline

POLAND 2014

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 15 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 22 8:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

A dark and rewarding crime thriller that displays its influences without mindlessly imitating them, Waterline stands out as both an impressive feature debut for writer-director Michal Otlowski and a fine showcase for its star. Right on the cusp of taking leave to give birth to twins, policewoman Iza Deren (Jowita Budnik) enters the woods to help the search for two fellow officers gone missing, one of whom is Iza’s fiancé and father of her unborn children. Her hunt produces nothing but a shootout with a bootlegging hermit who escapes in the surrounding swamp, but the discovery nearby of a young woman’s corpse, laid out in a canoe in her underwear, brings a new urgency to tracking down the fugitive. Partnered with Marzec (Sebastian Fabijanski), a young cop not nearly so helpless as her first impressions suggest, Iza pieces together a crime whose roots stretch to the town’s most powerful forces, and back decades; a crime, it emerges, she is involved with more intimately than she could possibly imagine. Budnik’s measured anxiety, aware that grief’s the likeliest outcome but withholding it till she gets the job done, anchors the film’s mounting revelations to a soulful, human core.

Awards:

Tofifest 2014 (Golden Angel, Festival Audience Award) Gdynia Film Festival 2014 (Best Acting Debut)

Director: Michal Otlowski

Producer: Wlodzimierz Niderhaus

Screenwriter: Michal Otlowski

Cinematographer: Lukasz Gutt

Editor: Agnieszka Glinska

Music: Cezary Skubiszewski

Cast: Jowita Budnik

Sebastian Fabijanski

Mariusz Bonaszewski

Lukasz Simlat

Michal Zurawski

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Polish, with English subtitles

Print Source: WFDiF - Documentary and Feature Film Studio

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

West of Redemption USA 2015

WORLD PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 25 7:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 4:30 PM

In this tense three-hander of a potboiler shot in Eastern Washington, the husband of a farmhouse-dwelling couple takes a stranger hostage and interrogates him, unwinding a complicated web of mysteries in the process. Set just after the Gulf War, a brooding but loving farmer (Billy Zane) interrupts time with his wife (Mariana Klaveno), and opens the door to a traveller (Kevin Alejandro) who needs a tow truck, as his truck has slipped into the ditch. The next day, the traveller awakes, hands and feet bound, in the barn, taken hostage for reasons that he doesn’t readily understand. As the interrogation continues, the reality of the trio’s relationship comes to the surface. Filmed in the dry arid lands outside of Spokane, WA, this slow burn thriller plumbs the depths that true love can take you to.

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Director:

Cornelia Duryée Moore

Producers:

Larry Estes

Tony Becerra

Screenwriter: Meagan Daine

Cinematographer: TJ Williams, Jr.

Editor:

Denise Burdette

Music:

BC Smith

Cast:

Billy Zane

Kevin Alejandro

Mariana Klaveno

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Welb Film Pursuits, LTD

Selected Filmography: Camilla Dickinson (2012) The Dark Horse (2008)

Wet Bum

CANADA 2014

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 30 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 31 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A sensitive teenager navigates the alien worlds of adolescence, old age, and sexuality in Lindsay MacKay’s intimate, impressionistic debut. Every day after school, 14-year-old Sam (Julia Sarah Stone, winner of the Rising Star Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival) cleans rooms at the retirement home her mother manages. She can’t relate to these strange old people any more than the catty classmates who tease her because she looks young for her age. The humiliation intensifies during lifeguarding class, where she feels so uncomfortable around her more maturelooking peers that she puts her clothes on over her swimsuit to avoid undressing in front of them. This leads Ed (Kenneth Welsh), a grumpy nursing home resident, to tell her she has a “wet bum” when she shows up dripping wet. Judith (Diana Leblanc), a silent resident, also captures Sam’s attention, because she shares the isolation that consumes the young girl and the old man. On the flip side, Sam’s handsome, flirtatious swim instructor, Lukas (Craig Arnold), makes her feel desirable. Though her brother, Nate (Jamie Johnston), dismisses Lukas as “a creep,” Sam finds him irresistible. By the end, her problems haven’t magically disappeared, but these life-changing encounters have strengthened her ability to deal with them.

Awards: Toronto Internation Film Festival 2014 (Rising Star Award)

Director:

Lindsay MacKay

Producers: Paula Devonshire

Lauren Grant

Sean Buckley

Screenwriter: Lindsay MacKay

Cinematographer: Guy Godfree

Editor: Jorge Weisz

Music: Brendan Canning

Ohad Benchetrit

Cast:

Julia Sarah Stone

Craig Arnold

Diana Leblanc

Leah Pinsent

Kenneth Welsh

Jamie Johnston

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Clique Pictures Inc.

Film Website: wetbumthefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

NÅR DYRENE DRØMMER

When Animals Dream

DENMARK 2014

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 MIDNIGHT

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 9:30 PM HARVARD EXIT

Marie is a beautiful and lonely 16-year-old who lives in an isolated village on a small island off the coast of Denmark. Her father, Thor, runs a small grocery store, doing his best to make life as normal as possible for Marie and her invalid mother; wheelchair-bound and constantly on medication, she is virtually absent from life. Marie’s situation isn’t improved when she gets a job at the local fish processing plant, where she is bullied by her fellow co-workers. Then, one day, she notices a strange rash on her chest, a development that grows even more unnerving when it begins to sprout hair. Further symptoms arise, similar to the illness from which her mother suffers, leading her father and family doctor to prescribe medication to suppress her temper and aggression. But Marie wants no part in “taming” her inner beast. A sleeper hit at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, When Animals Dream is a perfect horrific blend of past SIFF favorites Ginger Snaps and Let the Right One In—a portrait of teen-angst with razor-sharp teeth.

Awards:

Bodil Awards 2015 (Best Cinematography)

Robert Awards 2015 (Best Production Design, Make-Up)

Athens International Film Festival 2014 (Best Director)

Director: Jonas Arnby

Producers: Ditte Milsted

Caroline Schlüter

Screenwriter: Rasmus Birch

Cinematographer: Niels Thastum

Editor: Peter Brandt

Music: Mikkel Hess

Cast: Sonia Suhl

Lars Mikkelsen

Sonja Richter

Jakob Oftebro

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Danish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: RADiUS - TWC

Film Website: gaumont.fr/fr/film/Whenanimals-dream.html

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

OMOIDE NO MARNIE

When Marnie Was There

JAPAN 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 16 10:00 AM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

The legendary Studio Ghibli created unforgettable Japanese animated films, such as Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), under the direction of anime artist Hayao Miyazaki. When Marnie Was There, directed by Miyazaki protégé Hiromasa Yonebayashi, may be the final feature of this beloved studio, now that the master has retired. In fine Ghibli style, Yonebayashi takes a classic European children’s story with an intrepid young girl protagonist and brings it new life with hand-drawn cel animation that is both intricately detailed and breezily fluid. The story follows shy foster child Anna, who suffers from chronic asthma attacks. For health reasons, she is sent to live with her adoptive aunt and uncle for the summer on the rugged island of Hokkaido, where she spends time sketching a house that has long been abandoned—or has it? She spots an odd blonde girl in the window named Marnie and feels an almost instant bond. Though the two become inseparable friends, no one but Anna can see Marnie. As their friendship deepens, Anna finds she may have a closer connection to the spectral Marnie than she ever dreamed. Yonebayashi seamlessly transplants Joan G. Robinson’s British young adult story into a Japanese setting, creating a timeless narrative for anyone who discovered their best friend during a magical and perfect summer.

Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Producers: Yoshiaki Nishimura

Koji Hoshino

Screenwriters: Niwa Keiko

Ando Masashi

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Music: Muramatsu Takatsugu

Cast:

Sara Takatsuki

Arimura Kasumi

Matsushima Nanako

Terajima Susumu

Negishi Toshie

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Toho Co. / Walt Disney France

Print Source: GKids

Film Website: marnie.jp/index.html

Selected Filmography: The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

HARI NG TONDO

Where I Am King

PHILIPPINES 2014

TUESDAY, MAY 19 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Ricardo is a self-made millionaire who is proud of his humble beginnings in the hardscrabble Manila slum known as Tondo. When he finds out he’s about to go bankrupt, he sells most of his assets except for the old, crumbling apartment building where he grew up. On the pretense of toughening up his pampered grandkids, Ricky and Anna, Ricardo moves with them temporarily into his Tondo tenement, which he calls the “cradle of the brave,” where many other successful Filipinos learned the value of hard work. After arriving at the squalid slum, however, Ricardo finds that the mythical birthplace in his mind is far different in reality. Meanwhile, Ricky and Anna’s parents, who also grew up in Tondo with Ricardo as their father, have very different memories of their childhood and come up with inventive ways of thwarting his plans. Where I Am King is a charming and bittersweet comedy that marks the triumphant return of famed Filipino director Carlos Siguion-Reyna (himself a former Tondo resident) after a 14-year filmmaking hiatus. This story of second chances, leavened with a little slapstick and a catchy pop soundtrack, is a crowd-pleasing look at the unexpected treasures we find when we search for our roots.

Awards:

Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2014 (Best Film, Actor, Supporting Actress)

Director:

Carlos Siguion-Reyna

Producer: Bibeth Orteza

Screenwriter:

Bibeth Orteza

Cinematographer: Jay Abello

Editor: Manet A. Dayrit

Music:

Myke Salomon

Cast:

Robert Arevalo

Rez Cortez

Cris Villonco

Rafa Siguion-Reyna

Eric Quizon

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Tagalog, with English subtitles

Print Source:

Kidlat Entertainment

Film Website: facebook.com/haringtondo.whereiamking

Selected Filmography: Dog Food (2000)

Yesterday Children (1999)

Three (1998)

The Man In Her Life (1997)

They Call Me Joy (1997)

Elena’s Redemption (1996)

Harvest Home (1995)

Wherever You Are (1994)

Kailangan Kita (1993)

Only Love (1992)

I’ll Wait For You In Heaven (1991)

Your Wife, My Wife (1988)

The Wolfpack USA 2015

FRIDAY, JUNE 5 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SATURDAY, JUNE 6 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Movies are a reflection of real life, but what if there isn’t any real life to compare them to? The Wolfpack is the true story of the six Angulo brothers who grew up isolated from the real world but obsessed with what they saw in movies. Homeschooled and rarely allowed to leave the house, the boys had to learn about life through the lens of film. The Wolfpack illustrates the boys’ elaborate reenactments of what they saw on the screen, and what happens when one of the brothers finally escapes out into the world beyond their Manhattan Housing Project. This enthralling documentary from Crystal Moselle won the Grand Jury Prize for US documentaries at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and presents a rare situation that blurs the line between life and film.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2015 (Grand Jury Prize for US Documentary)

Director: Crystal Moselle

Producers: Izabella Tzenkova

Crystal Moselle

Hunter Gray

Alex Orlovsky

Cinematographer: Crystal Moselle

Editor:

Enat Sidi

Music: Danny Bensi

Saunder Juriaans

Aska Matsumiya

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: magpictures.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Xenia

GREECE/FRANCE/BELGIUM/LUXEMBOURG 2014

SATURDAY, MAY 23 9:45 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 26 3:30 PM

After the death of their Albanian mother, 15-yearold Dany, a flamboyantly gay free spirit, and his brother, Odysseus, a gruff 18-year-old, travel the length of Greece (along with Dany’s adorable pet rabbit, Dido), to track down their estranged Greek father in the hopes of claiming his citizenship status (and maybe some of his money), so they can remain in the country. Along their journey, we learn that the aptly named Odysseus harbors a secret desire to be a pop singer and appear on an “American Idol”-like TV singing contest, which leads to several musical interludes featuring the Italian chanteuse Patty Prado. The film has a sunny, brightly colored palette, but does present some darker themes resulting from Greece’s recent economic collapse, which has led to higher crime rates and a rise in violence against immigrants, such as the film’s Albanian-Greek heroes. The title, Xenia, comes from the Greek word for “hospitality,” but it also refers to a now-defunct hotel chain, in whose abandoned buildings the siblings occasionally crash during their quest. Director Panos H. Koutras takes the well-worn themes of estranged fatherhood and mismatched-buddy road trips and breathes new life into each, with Almodóvarlike campy outrageousness, surreal animation sequences, cleverly choreographed musical numbers, and scathing social commentary.

Awards: Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival 2014 (Best Fiction Film) Chicago International Film Festival (Best Feature)

Yosemite USA 2015

HARVARD EXIT

HARVARD EXIT

Director: Panos H. Koutras

Producers: Alexandra Boussiou

Eleni Kossyfidou

Panos H. Koutras

Screenwriters: Panagiotis Evangelidis

Panos H. Koutras

Cinematographers: Hélène Louvart

Simos Sarketzis

Editor: Yorgos Lamprinos

Music:

Delaney Blue

Cast: Kostas Nikouli

Nikos Gelia

Yannis Stankoglou

Aggelos Papadimitriou

Romanna Lobach

Running Time: 128 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Greek and Albanian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pyramide International

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: strandreleasing.com/ films/xenia-2/

Selected Filmography: A Woman’s Way (2009)

Real Life (2004)

The Attack of the Giant Mousaka (1999)

SATURDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 24 1:45 PM HARVARD EXIT

It’s the fall of 1985 in the sunny suburbs of Palo Alto, California, and the threat of an aggressive mountain lion infringing on the city limits looms over the community. Chris, Joe, and Ted are all fourth grade classmates who spend their time reading comics, exploring the neighborhood, playing video games, and giving each other a hard time. We dip in and out of their lives, watching Chris and his little brother hike in Yosemite with their father (James Franco), breaking sticks, fighting, and climbing rocks. Joe gets caught stealing bubble gum at the corner store and makes an unexpected new friend out of Henry, a 20-something comic book enthusiast who bails him out. Ted’s father is an insomniac, and spends his nights in internet chat rooms, and when Ted’s cat goes missing, his father creates a message board for the ghosts of family pets to communicate. All three boys come together with one common, and unrealistic, goal: to hunt and kill the mysterious mountain lion that’s been threatening their town. Told in three connective chapters and adapted from a short story collection by James Franco, Yosemite is a dreamy and reflective film, providing just enough tension to teeter it on the edge of catastrophe.

Director: Gabrielle Demeestere

Producers: Clara Aranovich

Nicolaas Bertelsen

Gabrielle Demeestere

Shruti Ganguly

Sev Ohanian

Paul Bernon

Sam Slater

Screenwriter: Gabrielle Demeestere

Cinematographers: Bruce Thierry Cheung

Chananum Chotrungroj

Editor: Joe Murphy

Music: Ryder McNair

Cast: James Franco

Henry Hopper

Calum John

Alec Mansky

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Film Website: gabrielledemeestere.com

Selected Filmography:

Debut Feature Film

SIFF STAFF 2015

PROGRAMMING

Director of Programming

Beth Barrett

Director of Cinema Programming

Clinton McClung

Programming Coordinator

Megan Leonard

Programmers

Angelo Acerbi

Maryna Ajaja

Justine Barda

Beth Barrett

Sophie Cabon

Clare Canzoneri

Dan Doody

Craig Downing

Andrew Espe

Branden Hawkins

Ruth Hayler

Dustin Kaspar

Megan Leonard

Clinton McClung

Dale Nash

Stan Shields

Carl Spence

Andy Spletzer

Hebe Tabachnik

Brad Wilke

Programming Interns

Lucie Guérin

Angèle Pancrazi

Cory Rodriguez

EDUCATION AND FORUMS

Education Programs Manager

Dustin Kaspar

Festival Forums Coordinator

Kellie Ann Benz

FutureWave Committee and Youth Jury Coordinator

Sarah Haskell

Educational Programs Intern

Hana Peoples

GUEST RELATIONS

Guest Relations Manager

Rhonda Sable

Guest Relations Coordinator

Monica Hinckley

Guest Relations Travel Coordinator

Ruby Wishnietsky

Assistant to Guest Relations Manager

Nathania ten Wolde

Guest Suite Coordinator

Davie-Blue Bacich

Guest Relations Administrative

Assistant

Sheena Jewell

Guest Relations Interns

Ashley Newman

Flavia Sterciuc

Heidi Korndorffer

Jay Baez

Rita-Louise Montour

Iona Miron

Merri Ann Osborne

Catri Thelen

DEVELOPMENT AND INDIVIDUAL GIVING

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Nancy Kennedy

Director of Individual Giving

Roger Johnson

Corporate Relations Manager

Gerry Kunkel

Special Events Manager

Ben McCarthy

Community Relations Officer

Branden Hawkins

Development Coordinator

Natalie Chhim

Membership Coordinator

Eddy Dughi

Festival Special Events Coordinator

Jennifer Lisignoli

Festival Special Events Assistant

Frank Cardoza

Festival Platinum Plus Concierge

Mark Church

Artistic Director Carl Spence Managing Director Mary Bacarella

Special Events Gift Bag Procurement

Intern

Victoria Charles

Development Associate

Jan Jarrell

Development Consulting

Grants: Liza Comtois

Special Events: Facility, Inc

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Director of Marketing and Communications

Jason Dittmer

Public Relations Manager

Rachel Eggers

Digital Marketing Manager

Alex Kitchen

Graphic Design Manager

Tyler Potts

Festival Marketing Associates

Leah Anderson

Stephen Klein

Festival Marketing Coordinator

Christopher Vail

Festival Publications Manager

Ken Carpenter

Festival Publications Associate Editors

Marcus Gorman

Emalie Soderback

Festival Publicists

Sara Huey

Melissa MacFadyen

Marketing and Communications Interns

Jody Barhanovich

David Blakeslee

Kelsey Crow

Molly Leischner

Dalena Nguyen

Grant Robinson

Ariah Saljooqi

Kyla Stelling

Audrey Thomas

Jeremy Viray

Lilly Willner

Writers

Maryna Ajaja

Justine Barda

Beth Barrett

Ken Carpenter

Kelsey Crow

Dan Doody

Andrew Espe

Kathy Fennessy

Marcus Gorman

Lucie Guerin

Branden Hawkins

Laura Henneman

Dustin Kaspar

Loraine Kanervisto

Megan Leonard

Heather Logue

Clinton McClung

Odawni AJ Palmer

Angèle Pancrazi

Bruce Reid

Cory Rodriguez

Stan Shields

Emalie Soderback

Carl Spence

Andy Spletzer

Hebe Tabachnik

Cathy Tenzo

Brad Wilke

Randy Woods

Andrew Wright

Cyndy Wilson

OPERATIONS

Director of Finance

Catherine Muth

Information Systems Manager

Shannon Butler

Operations Manager

Dustin O’Dell

Technical Operations Manager

Mike Pearson

Venue Operations Manager

Tim Nicholson

Volunteer and HR Manager

Lisa Brown

SIFF Cinema Egyptian Manager

Betty Tweedy

Festival Operations Manager

Natasha Hoover

Festival Box Office Manager

Carly Rose Moser

Festival Production Manager

Molly Benson

Festival Quality Control Manager

Chris Bredenberg

Festival Print Traffic Managers

Kevin Harman

Clay Martin

Festival Box Office Assistant Manager

Jody Cole

Festival Production Driver

Derek Nunn

SIFF Cinema Staff

Felicia Alumbaugh

Edwin Bailey

Cindy Brettler

Lowell Bryant

Frank Cardoza

Jason Chase

David Corry

James Davis

Mychal Ducken

Sam Dunnington

Alicia Betty Elder

Tyler Farry

Travis Hill

Miguel Martinez

Ali Masterson

Anne McKissick

Andrew Niece

Kathleen Prengaman

Nate Redford

Alex Rhue

Greg Salvatore

Susan Segalla

Amy Scott

Dylan Staley

Eric Tate

Aimee Tubbs

Bernadette Watts

Projectionists

Mark Allender

Brenan Chambers

Patrick Gateley

Ricky Hancock

Larry Price

Aaron Ridenour

Jim Tuohey

Josh Wakeland

ADVERTISING AGENCY

Wong Doody Crandall Weiner

PUBLISHING SERVICES

ENCORE MEDIA GROUP

Publication Design and Production

Ana Alvira

Deborah Choat

Paul Heppner

Robin Kessler

Kim Love

Susan Peterson

Jonathan Shipley

Advertising Sales

Joey Chapman

Gwendolyn Fairbanks

Marty Griswold

Mike Hathaway

Ann Manning

Lenore Waldron

Carol Yip

Tacim Acik

Debbie Acosta

Mara Adina

Jennifer Ahn

Olivia Ahnemann

Karim Aitouna

Muayad Alayan

Paul Allen

Jody Allen

Emily Alm

Oscar Alonso

Eric Ames

Brad Anderson

Matthias Angoulvant

Ed Arentz

Suha Arraf

Holly Arsenault

Natalia Arshavskaya

Lauren Avinoam

Pamela Baade

Ori Bader

Anne-Laure Barbarit

Marta Barroso

David Bartholemew

Carol Barton

Mary Bass

George Bazgadze

Claire Beach

Jennifer Bean

Kate Becker

Farkhad Bekmanbetov

Arnaud BelangeonBouaziz

James Benning

Kellie Ann Benz

Ingrid Berkhout

Emily Best

Natasha Bishop

Cassie Blake

Samuel Blanc

Kethry Boettcher

Virginia Bogert

Andy Bohn

Kris Boustedt

Lindy Boustedt

Deb Bowen

Christian Braad Thomsen

Elizabeht Brambilla

Seth Brandler

Josh Braun

Eric Bresler

David Brewster

Serge Bromberg

Brad Brotherton

Jim Browne

Andrea Buckmeier

Ariane Buhl

Alfredo Calvino

Cheick Fantamady Camara

Greg Campbell

Brian Carman

Nate Carson

JJ Caruth

Carlota Caso

Michael Chapman

David Chen

Brandie Chernow

Jack Chiang

Julian Chiu

Chris Chouinard

Subrina Chow

Tamara Christopherson

Andrea Chung

David Church

Sandy Cioffi

Michael Clark

Taylor Coleman

Erin Combs

Christopher Comte

Liza Comtois

David Constantin

Agnès Contensou

Cassandra Conyers

Linda Coomas

Elizabeth Coppinger

Max Corman

Reynaldo Cuerdo Jr.

Brian & Janice Curl

Cecilia Curran

Lianca Aymerich D’Agata

Christine D’Souza

James Davis

J. Davis

Pascal Dawson

Sebastian del Castillo

Mari del Fierro

Gabrielle Demeestere

Jonathan DePriest

Esther Devos

Teresa DiMartino

Ross Dinerstein

Jenni Domingo

Arthur Dong

Diana Dotter

Tamara Dover

Ioana Dragomirescu

Amy Dukes

Edward Duo

Elodie Dupont

Helen duToit

Abby Dylan

Peter Edlund

Jim Edmunds

Riley Edmunds

Vicky Eguia

Ivan Eibuszyc

Ramsey El-Moslimany

Mackenzie Engel

Randy Engstrom

Clay Epstein

Amanda Erven

Mel Eslyn

L. Fernando Esteban

Larry Estes

Warren Etheredge

Marq Evans

Kristen Fairweather

Nathan Faustyn

Victoria Fernandez

Rostello

Bret Fetzer

Audrey Fimognari

Cosima Finkbeiner

Sandro Fiorin

Seana Flanagan

Sherry Floyd

Patty Foley

John Forsen

Erika Frankel

Charlene Freeman

Marco Fusco

Jolanta Galicka

Jannat Gargi

Severine Garusso

Dwight Gaut

Jon Gehrens

Adam Gehrke

Matt Gerber

Sophia Gibber

John & Feral Gokcen

Jesse Goldman

Irene Gomez

Martin Gondre

Rebecca Gordon

Marcus Gorman

Jody Gottlieb

Chad Gracia

Gregoire Graesslin

Malory Graham

Lizette Gram Mygind

Lauren Grant

Candy Gruber

Tsewang Rinzin Gurung

Shawn Guthrie

Sarah Gyldenvand

Kathleen Gyllenhaal

Erik Hammen

Susan Harmon

Angie Harrison

Sarah Haskell

Tony Hatten

Brad Hawkins

Julie Healey

Mark Helenowski

Veit Helmer

Nathan Hendrickson

Elizabeth Hendrix

Jonathan Hertzberg

Steven Hill

Mark Hoffman

Philipp Hoffmann

Brook Holston

Mari Horita

Hannah Horner

Kathy Hsieh

Marcus Hu

Dan Hudson

Paul Hudson

Siri Hulbert

Diana Hurter

Craig Hyland

Cholpon Idrisova

Shine Inn

Dan Ireland

Kevin Iwashina

Donna and Mike James

Bob Jason

Barbara Javitz

Marni Jenkins

Carolina Jessula

Dave Jesteadt

Youn Ji

Uli Johnson

Rachel Joo

Georg Kallert

Kasia Karwan

Bill Kaspar

Naoki Kato

Todd Kaumans

Jim Kelly

Basil Khalil

Namyoung Kim

Laura Kim

Eliaichi Kimaro

Mika Kimoto

Nele Kirchner

Michael Klein

Nicholas Kocan

Eric Kohn

Greg Kohs

Anna Koriagina

Margot Kraft

Don Kurz

Lauren Kushner

Victor Labarthe

Mu-ning Lai

Matt Landers

Jay Lane

Ashley Langley

Miriam Larkin

Anne Laurent-Delage

Catherine Le Clef

Lacey Leavitt

Julien Lee

Vicki Leonard

Bill Leonard

Nick Leonard

Anneli Lepp

Justin Lerner

Bronwyn Lewis

Bryan Lhuillier

Amy Lillard

Amy Lillard

Meredith Lipsky

Steven Loeb

Daria Lombroso

Robert Lundberg

Chardon

Ray Meirovitz

Kristen Merola

Richie Meyer

Rebecca Michael

RJ Millard

Lori Miller

Scott Moesta

Anita Monga

Lorraine Montez

Alexandre Moreau

Don Morgan

Bill Morrison

Ashique Mostafa

Kristie Nakamura

Afia Nathaniel

Vincent Nebrida

Roman Nesis

Valeska Neu

Anjul Nigam

Krk Nordenstrom

Stephanie Northen

Alex Noyer

Renee O’Donnell

Timothy O’Brien

Jen Okimoto

Wyatt Ollestad

Stine Oppegaard

Clint Ostler

Shan Ottey

Erin Owens

Erin Owens

Kevin Pang

Hermes Paralluelo

Fernandez

Mykel Parish

Tom Parker

Hana Peoples

Mina Person

Loren Peterson

Janith Pewitt

Leo Pfeifer

Linda Pfeiffer

John Portanova

Celeste Primeau

Jessica Prosner

Erin Quinn

Tom Quinn

Mike Radiloff

Heather Rae

Madoka Raine

Pascale Ramonda

Rick Rasmussen

Charlie Rathbun

Christal Ratliff

Tracy Rector

Eddie Rehfeldt

Owen Richards

Lisa Richie

Lita Robinson

Angela Roh

Ruby Rondina

Gary Rubin

Lauren Shaw

Nick Shea

Alder Sherwood

Preeti Shidhar

Kathryn Shields

Trey Edward Shults

Brittani Simpson

Ron Singer

John Sloss

Mary Smith

Trevor Smith

Joanna Sokolowski

Jason Sondhi

Paul Soriano

Patra Spanou

Jim Stark

Sergi Steegmann

Brent Stiefel

Jon Stobezki

Nicholas Stoner

Norma Jean Straw

Sean Stuart

Zach Sullivan

Johnathan Sundstrom

Ornjira Supavakul

Asuza Taki

Laura Talsma

Mark Tarbutton

Clara Taricco

Laurie Taylor

Medwin Textor

Kyle Thorpe

Kamla Thurtle

Esther Toedoro

Madison Tollner

Carole Tomko

WingYan Tong

Kat Towne

Bryce Tsao

Debra Twersky

Helen Underwood

Mark Urman

Katalin Vajda

Lamar Van Dyke

Reid Van Ness

Pierce Varous

Millan Vazquez-Ortiz

Alan Veigel

Kenny Velvet

Lucas Verga

Marisa Vitiello

Huong Vu

Nicolas Waltom

Martin Wendel

Michael Werner

Lorna Williams

Ryan Piers Williams

Sharon Williams

Tamara Wilson

Barbara Winkelman

Ken Winokur

Jeffrey Winter

Maxwell Wolkin

Rachel Lysaght

Rachel Lysaght

Christopher Rufo

Emily Woodburne

Molly Mac

Molly Mac

Mike Runagall

Rick Wray

Daryl Macdonald

Daryl Macdonald

Bird Runningwater

Daniel Wright

Cora Mackoff

Cora Mackoff

Emma Sailer

June Wu

Joe Yanick

Clément Magar

Clément Magar

Stefanie Malone

Stefanie Malone

Deedee Sameshima

Anna Sandilands

Nick Yanity

Hugo Manhes

Hugo Manhes

Ken Saunderson

Jessica Yeung

Steven Markovitz

Steven Markovitz

Maureen Masters

Arron Saxe

Mo Scarpelli

Keith Yoshida

Grace Yu

Chelsea Matter

Chelsea Matter

Nancy Schafer

Elizabeth Zammit

Christof Mauney

Christof Mauney

Manuela Mazzone

Manuela Mazzone

Linda McBlaine

Linda McBlaine

Nat McCormick

Nat McCormick

Kate McEdwards

Kate McEdwards

Kathleen McInnis

Aubrey Scheffel

Laurence Schonberg

Franka Schwabe

Lauren Schwartz

Lynanne Schweighofer

Jason Sciarrone

Qi Zhao

Amy Zhong

Christina Zisa

Miles and Sherry McRae

Miles and Sherry McRae

Nasrine Médard de

Nasrine Médard de

Hill Scott

Alaina Selvaggio

PRINT SOURCES

1500 Walnut Films, LLC

Erika Frankel erika@erikafrankel.com

20th Century Fox Meredith Lipsky Meredith.Lipsky@fox.com foxmovies.com

3 Monkeys

Afia Nathaniel festivals@3monkeysfilms.net 3monkeysfilms.net

The 3rd Vision Films Singing Chen chensinging@gmail.com

7CB LLC

Seana Flanagan seanacflanagan@gmail.com

88 Films, LLC

Lori Miller miller.lorik@gmail.com

A24

Erin Owens erin@a24films.com a24films.com

Ablaze Image Ltd.

June Wu junewu@ablazeimage.com ablazeimage.com

Academy Film Collection Cassie Blake cblake@oscars.org

Aitysh Film Farkhad Bekmanbetov aityshfilmst@gmail.com

Alchemy Alaina Selvaggio alaina.selvaggio@ ouralchemy.com OurAlchemy.com

Alloy Orchestra Ken Winokur alloyo@verizon.net

Alpha Violet Anna Koriagina alphaviolet2011@gmail.com

American Genre Film Archive Sebastian del Castillo sebastian.delcastillo@ drafthouse.com drafthouse.com

Antipode Sales & Distribution Natalia Arshavskaya festivals@antipode-sales.biz antipode-sales.biz

Appaloosa Pictures Heather Rae heather.rae@me.com

Arc Entertainment Sophia Gibber sophia@amberent.com arc-ent.com

Argot Pictures Derek Kane-Meddock derek@argotpictures.com argotpictures.com

Artikulo Uno Productions Vincent Nebrida vincemagi@hotmail.com Artsploitation

Eric Bresler ericb@artsploitation.com artsploitation.com

Austrian Film Commission Anne Laurent-Delage festivals@afc.at afc.at

Autlook Filmsales Youn Ji youn@autlookfilms.com autlookfilms.com

BAC Films Franka Schwabe f.schwabe@bacfilms.fr bacfilms.fr

Bailasan Basil Khalil basil.khalil@me.com

Beachside Films Michael Clark michael@beachsidefilms.com beachsidefilms.com

Beijing Himalaya Audio & Visual Culture Communication Dr. Jessica Yeung jyeung@hkbu.edu.hk

Big Beach Zach Sullivan zach@bigbeach.com bigbeach.com

Big World Cinema Steven Markovitz steven@bigworld.co.za bigworld.co.za

Bleeker Street Sara Wainwright sara@janetwainwright.com

Bright Cloud Productions

David Chen davechensemail@gmail.com

Brittany House Pictures Anjul Nigam anjulnigam@gmail.com

Broad Green Pictures

Tom Parker tp@broadgreen.com broadgreen.com

Calarts/Film

James Benning jbenning@calarts.edu

Cameleon Production

David Constantin david@cameleonprod.com cameleonprod.com

Campfire

Ross Dinerstein ross@campfire.us campfire.us

CAT&Docs

Clara Taricco clara.taricco@malaparte.cl

China Lion Entertainment

Robert Lundberg robert@chinalion entertainment.com chinalionentertainment.com

Cinephil Ori Bader ori@cinephil.co.il cinephil.co.il

Cineteca di Bologna Kristen Merola kmerola@Film-foundation.org Film-foundation.org

Cinetic Media

John Sloss office@cineticmedia.com CineticMedia.com

Circadian Pictures

Michael Klein MichaelScottKlein@ gmail.com

Clique Pictures Inc. Lauren Grant lauren@clique-pictures.com clique-pictures.com

Cohen Media Group

Debbie Acosta debbie@cohenmedia.net cohenmedia.net

Company Name Sean Stuart sean@thecompanyemail.com

Compulsion Films, Inc. Nathan Hendrickson nate.hendrickson@gmail.com

COP-FILMS

Cheick Fantamady Camara copcinema@gmail.com

Cutler Productions

Trevor Smith ts@cutlerproductions.com passion-pictures.com

Danish Film Institute Lizette Gram Mygind lizetteg@dfi.dk dfi.dk

DeepFocus Productions, Inc.

Arthur Dong ecom@ deepfocusproductions.com deepfocusproductions.com

Disney • PIXAR

Jayme Stocker JStocker@alliedtha.com

Distribution Workshop Miriam miriam@ distributionworkshop.com distributionworkshop.com

Doc & Film International

Hannah Horner h.horner@docandfilm.com docandfilm.com

Double Edge Entertainment

Bryce Tsao bryce.tsao@deegroup.com deegroup.com

Drafthouse Films

Sara Cushman sara.cushman@drafthouse. com drafthousefilms.com

DreamLab Films

Nasrine Médard de Chardon nasrine@dreamlabfilms.com dreamlabfilms.com

Edko Films Ltd.

Julian Chiu chiujulian@edkofilm.com.hk edkofilm.com.hk

El Dedo en el Ojo Lianca Aymerich D’Agata lianca22@gmail.com

Entertainment One Films US Margot Kraft mkraft@entonegroup.com arclightfilms.com

Epic Pictures

Sarah Gyldenvand sarah@epic-pictures.com epic-pictures.com

Mel Eslyn mel.eslyn@gmail.com

EZ Films

Ray Meirovitz ray@ez-films.com ez-films.com

Family Affair Productions J. Davis mansonfilm@gmail.com

The Festival Agency Elodie Dupont ed@thefestivalagency.com thefestivalagency.com

Fidget Films John Forsen johnforsen@hotmail.com

FiGa Films

Sandro Fiorin sandro@figafilms.com figafilms.com

The Film Arcade

Andy Bohn abohn@thefilmarcade.com thefilmarcade.com

The Film Collaborative Jeffrey Winter jeffrey@ thefilmcollaborative.org thefilmcollaborative.org

Film Factory Entertainment

Carlota Caso assistance@filmfactory.es filmfactory.es

The Film Foundation Kristen Merola kmerola@Film-foundation.org Film-foundation.org

Film Movement

Jimmy Weaver jimmy@filmmovement.com filmmovement.com

FilmRise

Bob Jason bob@filmrise.com filmrise.com

Films Boutique

Josephine Settmacher josephine@filmsboutique. com filmsboutique.com

The Film Sales Company

Jason Ishikawa Jason.Ishikawa@ filmsalescorp.com filmsalescorp.com

Finecut

Namyoung Kim ny@finecut.co.kr finecut.co.kr

The Finnish Film Foundation

Jenni Domingo jenni.domingo@ses.fi ses.fi

Flicker Alley

Josh Morrison josh@flickeralley.com flickeralley.com

Focus World

JJ Caruth jjcaruth@focusworld.com focusworld.com

For Grace Film

Kevin Pang kevinthepang@gmail.com

Fortissimo Films

Laura Talsma laura@fortissimo.nl fortissimofilms.com

Fourth Man Out LLC

Lauren Avinoam lauren.m.avinoam@gmail. com

Fox Searchlight

Sara Wainwright sara@janetwainwright.com

Frame by Frame LLC

Mo Scarpelli framebyframethefilm@gmail. com

Freak Independent Film Agency

Millan Vazquez internactional@agenciafreak. com agenciafreak.com

Gabrielle Demeestere gdemee11@gmail.com

Gams Pictures LLC

George Bazgadze gia.bazgadze@ operadesign.ge

Gaumont

Ariane Buhl abuhl@gaumont.fr gaumont.fr

GKids

Dave Jeastedt dave@gkids.com gkids.com

GMM Tai hub Ornjira Supavakul ornjira@gth.co.th gth.co.th

Gracia Group

Chad Gracia chad@graciagroup.com graciagroup.com

Great Pond Productions, Inc

Lauren Shaw lauren@laurenshaw.com

Groton Bridge Films

Erik Hammen grotonbridge@yahoo.com

Habanero Film Sales

Alfredo Calvino acalvino@habanerofilmsales. com habanerofilmsales.com

Hautlesmains Productions

Karim Aitouna karim@hautlesmains productions.fr hautlesmainsproductions.fr

HeLo

Chelsea Matter chelsea@flyhelo.com flyhelo.com

HOAV, LLC

Kristen Fairweather kfairweather8@gmail.com

Hungarian National Film Fund

Katalin Vajda kati.vajda@filmunio.hu

Hypnotic Pictures

Bill Morrison bimo@nyc.rr.com decasia.com

IFC Films

Lauren Schwartz lauren.schwartz@ifcfilms.com ifcfilms.com

IFC MIdnight

Michael Winton michael.winton@ifcfilms.com ifcfilms.com

Indie Sales Charlotte Hurni sales@indiesales.eu indiesales.eu

Institute for the Readjustment of Clocks Tacim Acik tacim2@me.com theinstituteforthe readjustmentofclocks.com

Intramovies

Marco Fusco marco.fusco@intramovies. com intramovies.com

JAM Inc. Arron Saxe arron@jamincla.com jamincla.com

Janus Films Emily Woodburne woodburne@gmail.com Jour2fête Samuel Blanc sales@jour2fete.com jour2fete.com

Kaleidoscope Film

Distribution

Michael Chapman michael@kaleidoscope homeentertainment.com kaleidoscope filmdistribution.com

Kalulu Entertainment LTD. Pascal Dawson dawson-pascal@live.com

Naoki KATO fuzzimage@gmail.com

KG Productions

Audrey Fimognari audrey@kgproductions.fr kgproductions.fr

Khona Talkies Ashique Mostafa ashique.mostafa@yahoo.com

Kidlat Entertainment Reynaldo Cuerdo Jr. reycuerdojr@gmail.com

KimStim

Mika Kimoto mika@kimstim.com kimstim.com

Kino Lorber

Jonathan Hertzberg jhertzberg@kinolorber.com kinolorber.com

Kinology

Gregoire Graesslin festivals@kinology.eu kinology.eu

KMH FILM

Linda Pfeiffer linda.pfeiffer@kmhfilm.com kmhfilm.com

Kollektiv Film Christian Braad Thomsen braadthomsen@gmail.com braadthomsen.com

KPJR Films

Brook Holston brook1@mindspring.com Kuukulgur Film Anneli Lepp anneli@kuukulgur.ee kuukulgur.ee

Laterit Productions Agnès Contensou distribution@laterit.fr laterit.fr

Latido Films

Oscar Alonso oalonso@latidofilms.com latidofilms.com

Le Pacte

Ioana Dragomirescu i.dragomirescu@le-pacte. com le-pacte.com

Library of Congress Lynanne Schweighofer filmloans@loc.gov

Lionsgate Films Sabryna Phillips sphillips@lionsgate.com lionsgate.com

Lobster Films Serge Bromberg lobster@lobsterfilms.com lobsterfilms.com

Lodger Films, Inc. Georg Kallert georg@lodgerfilms.com

Long Shot Factory Erin Owens erin@longshotfactory.com longshotfactory.com

Lucid Inc. Anna Sandilands anna@lucidinc.com lucidinc.com

M-Line Distribution Rachel Joo rachel@mline-distribution. com mline-distribution.com

Magnolia Pictures Martin Wendel mwendel@magpictures.com magpictures.com

The Match Factory Sergi Steegmann sergi.steegmann@ matchfactory.de the-match-factory.com

Media Luna Entertainment Carolina Jessula carolina@medialuna.biz medialuna.biz

Meyerhar Productions Susan Harmon meyerhar@aol.com

Mirage Film Studio Zsuzska Petro zsuzska@miragefilm.hu miragefilm.hu MK2

Anne-Laure Barbarit anne-laure.barbarit@ mk2.com mk2.com

Monument Releasing Lita Robinson lr@visitfilms.com visitfilms.com

MPI Media Group Wyatt Ollestad wollestad@mpimedia.com mpimedia.com

MRB Productions Kathleen Gyllenhaal kathleenjman@me.com

Music Box Films Claire Quinn cquinn@musicboxfilms.com musicboxfilms.com

New People Film Company Natalia Mokritskaya mok69@list.ru

Nice Dissolve

Pierce Varous Pierce@nicedissolve.com nicedissolve.com

Norwegian Film Institute Stine Oppegaard stine.oppegaard@nfi.no nfi.no

Ocean Preservation Society

Daniel Wright daniel@opsociety.org opsociety.org

The October People

John Portanova john@theoctoberpeople.net theoctoberpeople.net

Omelet

Hannah Moore hannah.moore@omeletla. com omeletla.com

One Potato Productions

Daria Lombroso daria.lombroso@ thefutureproject.org

Oranje Films

Marq Evans marq@marqevans.com

Oration Films

Timothy O’Brien timothy@orationfilms.com orationfilms.com

The Orchard Kalie Watch kwatch@theorchard.com theorchard.com

Oscilloscope Laboratories

Kate McEdwards kate@oscilloscope.net oscilloscope.net

Other Angle Pictures

Laurence Schonberg otheranglepics@gmail.com

Outsider Pictures

Paul Hudson paul@outsiderpictures.us outsiderpictures.us

Paladin

Mark Urman mark@paladinfilm.com paladinfilm.com

Palcine Productions

Muayad Alayan muayad@palcine.net palcine.net

Pampa Films

Victoria Fernandez Rostello vicky.rostello@pampafilms. com.ar

pampafilms.com.ar

Paramount Pictures

Juliette Spinner Juliette_spinner@paramount. com paramount.com

Park Circus

Chris Chouinard chris@parkcircus.com parkcircus.com

Participant Media

Lauren Kushner lauren@participantmedia. com participantmedia.com

Patron Saint Productions

Cecilia Curran patronsaintfilm@gmail.com

Picture Tree International

Nele Kirchner nele@picturetreeinternational.com picturetree-international.com

ADVERTISING INDEX

Preferred Content

Kevin Iwashina kevin@preferredcontent.net preferredcontent.net

Premium Films

Kasia Karwan kasia.karwan@ premium-films.com premium-films.com

Qi Films Qi Zhao zhaoqifilms@gmail.com

RADiUS - TWC

Christina Zisa Christina.Zisa@weinsteinco. com

radiustwc.com

Madoka Raine madokaraine@yahoo.com

Ramonda Films

Pascale Ramonda pascale@pascaleramonda. com

pascaleramonda.com

RatPac Documentary Films

Roman Nesis roman@ratpacent.com ratpacent.com

Realitism Films

Hugo Manhes hugo.manhes@realitism.com realitism.com

Redora Films

Joanna Sokolowski joannasokolowski@gmail. com

Roadside Attractions

Stephanie Northern stephanien@roadsideattractions.com roadsideattractions.com

Rushlake Media

Philipp Hoffmann philipp@rushlake-media.com rushlake-media.com

Samuel Goldwyn Films

Teresa DiMartino teresa@idpfilm.com samuelgoldwynfilms.com

Séville International

Ruby Rondina RRondina@filmsseville.com sevilleinternational.com

Shelter Cove Productions, LLC

Tamara Christopherson film@personal-gold.com

Shochiku Co., Ltd. Azusa Taki azusa_taki@shochiku.co.jp shochikufilms.com

Shooney Films

Tsewang Rinzin Gurung serdhak@gmail.com

Shout! Factory Brandie Chernow bchernow@shoutfactory.com shoutfactory.com

Trey Edward Shults trey.shults@gmail.com

Strand Releasing

Nathan Faustyn nathan@strandreleasing.com strandreleasing.com

Sundance Selects

Lauren Schwartz lauren.schwartz@ifcfilms.com ifcfilms.com

TEN17P, Inc.

Paul Soriano paulsoriano@ten17p.com ten17p.com

That’s Hollywood

Ron Singer rsinger@thatshollywood.com thatshollywood.com

UCLA Film & Television

Archive Steven Hill skhill@cinema.ucla.edu

Underground Films

Rachel Lysaght rachel@undergroundfilms.ie undergroundfilms.ie

Upside Distribution Natassia Roulin nastassia.roulin@ upsidetelevision.com upsidetelevision.com

Urban Distribution International Arnaud Belangeon-Bouaziz arnaud@urbandistrib.com urbandistrib.com

Veit Helmer Filmproduktion

Veit Helmer veit.helmer@arcor.de

Vernon Films

Mara Adina mara@vernonfilms.co.uk vernonfilms.co.uk

Versatile Alex Moreau amoreau@versatile-films.com versatile-films.com

Visit Films

Joe Yanick jy@visitfilms.com visitfilms.com

Votiv Films

Brent Stiefel brent@votiv.is votiv.is

Warner Bros.

Kristie Nakamura kristie.nakamura@ warnerbros.com warnerbros.com

Welb Film Pursuits, LTD Larry Estes larry@welbfilm.com

WFDiF - Documentary and Feature Film Studio Jolanta Galicka festiwale@wfdif.com.pl wfdif.com.pl

Wide Management

Matthias Angoulvant festivals@widemanagement. com widemanagement.com

Wild Bunch

Esther Devos edevos@wildbunch.eu wildbunch.biz

WME Global

Christine D’Souza

XLrator Media

Barbara Javitz barbara@xlratormedia.com xlratormedia.com

You Know Films

Alex Noyer alex.noyer@youknowfilms. com youknowfilms.com

EMP MUSEUM

A proud supporter of SIFF and Face the Music

EMP is more than just music—it’s your pop culture destination. Hands-on experiences, iconic artifacts, and award-winning exhibitions featuring luminaries in the fields of music, literature, television, video games, and film make EMP Museum a destination unlike any other.

Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction

OPEN NOW

Presenting nearly 60 hand-crafted costumes from the first six blockbuster Star Wars™ films, explore the trials and triumphs in dressing the Star Wars™ universe in this special behind-the-scenes look at the most iconic costumes in film history. Star Wars™ and The Power of Costume was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in partnership with the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and in consultation with Lucasfilm Ltd.

OPEN NOW

Take an intergalactic journey aboard an interactive spacecraft in this new science fiction exhibition, packed with more than 150 artifacts from iconic films and television shows including Back to the Future, Aliens, Ghostbusters, Blade Runner, Dune, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and many others. Embark on your own space adventure, discover an alien civilization, and investigate numerous alternate universes. What secrets will you unearth?

Indie Game Revolution sponsored by Nintendo

OPEN NOW

This multimedia exhibition explores the most exciting and creative work in contemporary video game culture. Featuring the stories of more than 40 developers, designers, coders, composers, critics, and others active in the indie game scene; 20 regularly rotating game demo stations; several multimedia installations highlighting major industry milestones; and additional interactive experiences.

Aden

Artificio

The

The

The

The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime

The

The Connection

The Dark Mirror 85, 95, 173

The Forecaster 188

Glassland

Graziella

A Hard Day 87, 203

The Hollow One

License to Operate 71, 216

Love, Theft and Other

Marshland

Next Time I’ll Aim For The Heart 236

Overheard 3 87, 242

Partners in Crime 87, 246

The Price of Fame 251

Run 80, 257

A Second Chance 260

Senza Nessuna Pietá 261

Sherlock Holmes 85, 263

Shrew’s Nest 83, 265

Spy 31, 269

War of Lies 71, 291

Waterline 75, 291

West of Redemption 101, 292

Will I Scatter Away? 111, 128

Cult The Astrologer 85, 99, 147

Beti and Amare 80, 152

Chatty Catties 73, 89, 165

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild

Untold Story of Cannon Films 99, 181

Free Fall 190

The Hallow 99, 201

Manson Family Vacation 223

The Old Dark House 85, 95, 239

Uncle Kent 2 283

Wurst 132

Dance

Ciudad Delirio 97, 168

Eden 179

Paco de Lucía: A Journey 83, 243

The Red Shoes 85, 95, 254

Surface Waves 123

Documentary 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets 140 808 141

All Things Must Pass 143

Angkor’s Children 87, 144

Beats of the Antonov 80, 149

Being Evel 151

Best of Enemies 151

Beyond Zero: 1914-1918 80, 152

The Birth of Saké 87, 91, 153

The Black Panthers:

Vanguard of the Revolution 154

Bodyslam:

Revenge of the Banana 101, 157

Cartel Land 161

Cartoonists:

Foot Soldiers of Democracy 162

The Chinese Mayor 87, 166

Chuck Norris vs. Communism 166

City of Gold 91, 167

Cooking Up a Tribute 71, 83, 91, 170

Do I Sound Gay? 177

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten:

Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll 87, 177

Dreams Rewired 71, 80, 178

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild

Untold Story of Cannon Films 99, 181

Fassbinder –To Love Without Demands 184

The Forecaster 188

For Grace 91, 188

Frame by Frame 189

The Glamour

& The Squalor 71, 93, 101, 194

The Great Alone 71, 197

Handmade With Love in France 202

I Am the People 80, 206

In Utero 71, 209

It’s So Easy and Other Lies 71, 210

The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor 212

King Georges 91, 213

THANK

YOU SIFF MEMBERS THANK YOU SIFF MEMBERS

for your year round support to SIFF! (All 6,000 of you!)