43rd Seattle International Film Festival (2017)

TRIUMPH BAR

GREETINGS

FROM SIFF’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SARAH WILKE AND INTERIM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR BETH BARRETT

Welcome to the 43rd annual Seattle International Film Festival. It is our distinct honor to present over 400 films and events representing filmmakers from 80 countries over the Festival’s 25 days. We believe the unique breadth of films SIFF presents is exactly what the world needs today.

At SIFF, we take our responsibility as an international festival seriously. Today’s notions of culture and identity are made more complex by new borders, wars, politics, and technology. Our programming team has gathered together a snapshot of the world though a diversity of filmmakers whose strong storytelling and artistic acumen highlights what film does best: create awareness, empathy, and understanding around another person’s experiences. Within this year’s program there is a particular focus on Indigenous filmmaking, women directors, Pacific Northwest films, African pictures, and Chinese films through the second year of our China Stars program. Included are 36 World premieres, 34 North American premieres, and 20 U.S. premieres. Over 50% of filmmakers are first- or second-time filmmakers and 70% are without U.S. distribution.

This year we are also excited to expand the conversation with a deeper focus on our forums, filmmaker panels, and programmer chats, many of which will be broadcast and live-streamed. We will launch a new Works-in-Progress forum that brings the audience inside the very center of the creative journey. Our SIFF Lounge, presented by Vulcan Productions, will serve as a new Festival hub. And, building on the success of SIFFX 2016, conceived and presented by Sandy Cioffi and fearless360º as a festival within SIFF, we will continue to explore the intersections of cinematic art + VR/AR/360º technologies through the work of our partners, Wondertek Labs.

The strength of this year’s Festival rests on the strong foundations set before us, and we are forever thankful for the vision and dedication of our past Festival Director and Chief Curator, Carl Spence, who grew our festival tremendously over the 23 years he was with SIFF. We also want to honor Mina Person, who passed away earlier this year, and whose longstanding relationship with SIFF not only brought us joy, but also helped us launch our year-round programming though the creation of the SIFF Film Center, now joined by the SIFF Uptown and SIFF Egyptian theaters.

SIFF 2017 will reach over 150,000 audience members through nine venues, including Ark Lodge, Kirkland Performance Center, Lincoln Square, Majestic Bay, the Neptune and Paramount Theatres, Shoreline Community College, The Triple Door, and the Cinerama. We are thankful for these partnerships, our sponsors, and our distinctly smart audiences who allow us to take risks and truly appreciate film.

We hope you will discover the depth and range of programming that SIFF has to offer, and we look forward to seeing you at the Festival.

Sarah and Beth

Happy Hour Daily

Join us in the Lobby Bar 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Enjoy creative cuisine, refreshing cocktails, handcraf ted Seattle ales, and a premium selec tion of Nor thwest wines in a modern setting.

$4 Beers

$6 Well Drinks

Featured wine specials

We are dedicated to fostering a community that is informed, aware and alive.

SIFF believes in film’s unique power to share original stories, diverse perspectives, and rich emotional journeys. Beginning in 1976 with the annual Seattle International Film Festival, expanding into SIFF Education, and, most recently, operating our year-round five-screen SIFF Cinema, we have offered Seattle, and beyond, experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. Our distinctly smart audiences allow us to take risks, host complex conversations, and truly appreciate film.

The SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is the largest film festival in the United States, with more than 155,000 people attending each year. The 25-day event, held each May and June, is renowned for presenting over 400 features, short films, and documentaries gathered from more than 80 countries. We receive over 4,000 independent film submissions annually, and screen debut features and shorts alongside works by established master filmmakers and arthouse cinema hits. More than 70% of the films screened at the Festival will not return to theaters, making SIFF an amazing place to discover and celebrate new work from around the world.

Over 200,000 people annually attend SIFF CINEMA to see the best new arthouse and feature films at our three classic movie houses: SIFF Cinema Egyptian, SIFF Cinema Uptown, and the SIFF Film Center. Featured also are the latest international works, one-of-a-kind special events, and festivals, including the Noir City Film Festival, Cinema Italian Style, and French Cinema Now. Through SIFF Cinema, we are dedicated to preserving and enriching the experience of attending the movies while going beyond the screen with filmmaker and panel discussions. SIFF Cinema also hosts SIFFsupports, a program dedicated to supporting, presenting, and highlighting film events and festivals by our local film community.

SIFF EDUCATION programs are designed to train and strengthen our strong community of educators, film lovers, and filmmakers of all ages. Film Appreciation classes and Cinema Dissections dig deeper into the art of film, while youth filmmaking camps and Crash Cinema events provide hands-on filmmaking experiences.

GREETINGS

FROM SIFF’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Welcome to the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival!

On behalf of the Board of Directors and our Festival staff, I’d like to thank our sponsors, filmmakers, volunteers, and especially our audiences for making the Seattle International Film Festival what it is―amazing!

Now in its 43rd year, SIFF spotlights the best in world of cinema from over 80 countries. It is through this lens that we have the opportunity to grow our emotional intelligence as a community. In today’s ever-changing world, this is even more crucial. It allows us to see past the daily rhetoric and have a personal yet shared cultural experience. This is the power of film. This is the magic of SIFF.

Best wishes to everyone for a great Festival. Enjoy the magic!

Sincerely,

Richard Fassio President, SIFF Board of Directors

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD EMERITI

HONORARY BOARD

William Affleck-Asch

Sherman Alexie

Russell Bennett

Mrs. Robert R. Braun, Jr.

BeBe Burns

Paul Canniff

Ricardo Ceja

Deb Clark

Allen Cohn

Conrad Denke

Virginia Callison Dolan

Elva Gonzalez

Carrie Gorringe

Bruce Hawley

Paula & Mike Hlastala

Dan Ireland*

Steve Kelly

June Krumpotick

Darryl Macdonald

Stephen McCandless

Judith Mercer

David Nyberg

Deborah Parsons

Jeff Parsons

Mina Person*

J. McLaren Peters

Kevin Phaup

Jessica Prince

Robin Reynolds Wilt

Daniel Roben

Rosie Saunders

Jane Suzick

Sylvester Thomas III

Joe Welinske

Ken Williams

Bagley Wright* * in memoriam

Richard Fassio, President

Jim Angelo, Vice President of Board Development and Board Education

Donna James, Vice President of Development

Mary Metastasio, Vice President of Finance

Keith Simanton, Vice President of Governance

Mary Bass Sharon Conner

Christopher Conrad Katherine De Bruyn Craig Friedson

Amy Fulford Lynn Hubbard Brian LaMacchia Scott Lipsky Ian G. J. MacNeil

Richard Meyer Billy O’Neill Michelle Quisenberry Rick Rasmussen Mark Rosencrantz

Brent Stiefel Carl Tostevin Richard von Riesen Edwin Weihe Sheree Wen

Deborah Person Tom Skerritt Rick Stevenson

FROM THE GOVERNOR

I am pleased to extend warm greetings to all of those attending the 43rd 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, offering more than 400 feature films, shorts, and documentaries from over 80 countries. Attracting many visitors from around the world, SIFF’s attendance continues to grow each 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 work 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

Friends,

On behalf of the City of Seattle, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival!

Every year, SIFF attracts filmmakers and fans from all over the world to celebrate the creativity and diversity of cinema at the largest and most highly attended film festival in the nation. Thanks to the impressive work of the festival’s volunteers, filmmakers, and staff, this festival celebrates cinema and affirms the value of a film festival in today’s society.

In addition to enjoying the over 400 films from 80 countries featured this year at SIFF, I encourage you to take advantage of the festival’s speaker panels, forums, and discussions. Also be sure to enjoy SIFF’s programming year-round at the SIFF Film Center, Uptown, and Egyptian Theaters.

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

Sincerely,

Edward B. Murray Mayor of Seattle

CL A SSIC B E A UT Y, B O TT L E D

Extraordinary grapes from prized vineyards in California’s Central Coast define the elegant style of this dry Rosé Delicate flavors and aromas of fresh strawberries, raspberries and watermelon unfold into a crisp, well-balanced wine

FROM THE MAYOR OF BELLEVUE

Greetings:

As mayor, I am pleased to welcome the Seattle International Film Festival to Bellevue.

Welcome to Bellevue, Washington, a vibrant, modern, and growing city that offers the ultimate in shopping, dining, and cultural attractions, surrounded by magnificent natural beauty and outdoor spaces—all within easy strolling distance. We encourage you to get out and explore our many parks located throughout the city. In fact, Bellevue is known as a “city in a park,” boasting nearly 100 parks that range from ball fields to beach parks and from forested wilderness with hiking trails galore to manicured meadows and even a botanical garden.

Bellevue’s central location in the Puget Sound region provides the opportunity to experience all that the greater Seattle area has to offer. Within minutes, you can explore Seattle’s culture and history, visit Kirkland’s waterfront parks and galleries or tour Woodinville’s Wine Country, home to 90 wineries and some of the world’s best wines. You can even quench your taste for adventure with a day trip to nearby mountains for hiking, biking or skiing. I encourage you to go to VisitBellevueWashington. com to get more information about visiting our city.

On behalf of the City of Bellevue, I hope you enjoy this great festival.

Sincerely,

John Stokes Mayor of Bellevue

GREETINGS

FROM THE MAYOR OF KIRKLAND

Kirkland is pleased to host the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) for the ninth year. Our community and Eastside neighbors look forward to a “night on the town” in downtown Kirkland with a treasure trove of entertaining and provocative films. This city prides itself on its art, cultural, and educational offerings, and the film festival is always a mainstay of our art-filled year. As always, Kirkland is pleased to accommodate SIFF at our own downtown Kirkland Performance Center, which provides an intimate and comfortable setting for film watching.

While in Kirkland enjoying great movies, I encourage you to explore our vibrant downtown with a blend of outdoor recreation, art, dining, and boutique shopping. Stroll Park Lane with its outdoor sculpture gallery and enjoy a beverage or bite before or after the films at one of our wonderful collection of fine restaurants.

Within walking distance is an array of dining experiences, representative of a variety of cuisines—from Italian to Indian to Vietnamese to Mexican. Visit www.explorekirkland.com to build your itinerary, including nearby hotel accommodations, such as The Heathman Hotel and The Woodmark Hotel and Still Spa for those interested in overnight stays.

My best wishes for an enjoyable visit.

Sincerely,

Amy Walen Mayor of Kirkland

FROM THE MAYOR OF SHORELINE

The City of Shoreline is excited to partner with Shoreline Community College in welcoming the Seattle International Film Festival to Shoreline! Shoreline is a diverse community with a long history of celebrating the arts and cross-cultural understanding. Hosting the Seattle International Film Festival is a natural fit for us.

Bringing the festival to Shoreline is part of the City and Community College’s ongoing collaboration to grow our media production industry. Launched in 2013, the Shoreline Film Office is growing a local film industry—and the talent to support it—by providing affordable resources to film professionals willing to create in an educational context.

Its mission is to make Shoreline a recognized hub of the media industry by providing world-class venues and professional education and training. The Film Office acts as a broker for services, incentives, venues, and production support for local film, gaming, theater, and sound professionals.

Located on the College campus, the Shoreline Film Office includes collaboration space and black-box rehearsal space. Those willing to provide opportunities for students during their production

can, with an educational agreement in place, use film students, equipment, venues, and facilities for filming and post-production at little or no additional cost.

To learn more about the Shoreline Film Office, call (206) 546-5829 or email filmoffice@shorelinewa.gov.

And for those of you who are coming to Shoreline for the first time or who are unfamiliar with the area, I encourage you to take some time to explore our great city. We have fantastic parks, unique shops, a wide variety of eateries, and a warm, diverse, and welcoming community to offer—and all less than 30 minutes from most everywhere. To learn more, visit www.surprisedbyshoreline. com.

Thank you for visiting and enjoy the show!

Sincerely,

Chris Roberts Mayor of Shoreline

SPONSORS

AIRLINE OF SIFF

PRODUCING SPONSORS

GRAND

OFFICIAL

MEDIA SPONSORS

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

African Studies Program UW

American Iranian Business Council

American Romanian Cultural Society

Anonymous

ARVR Academy

BCSR Computer Rentals, Inc.

Bill Speidel’s Underground Paranormal Experience

Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour

Bill Speidel’s Underworld Tour

Canadian Studies Center UW

Center for Global Studies UW

Center for Human Rights UW

Center for West European Studies UW

Consulate General of Poland in Los Angeles

Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest San Francisco

East Asia Center UW

The Ellison Center for Russian, European and Central Asian Studies UW

Greater Seattle Vietnam Association

Hands On Location Massage

Homes and Equity Mortgage

Honorary Consulate of Spain in Seattle

Iranian American Community Alliance

Latin American and Caribbean Studies UW

LAWDESK Computers

Naimor Inc.

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

Agave Cocina & Tequilas

American Music

AV Factory

Baltic Room

Boulart Bread

Butler Valet

The Capital Grille

Daughters of the American Revolution Hall

DJ Julia

DJ Paco

DJ Verse

Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Café

Epic Team Adventures

The Essential Baking Company

Facility, Inc.

MEDIA SPONSORS

AlphaGraphics

Art Access

Beth Crook

Monica Valenzuela

Seattle Gay News

Naini Family Foundation

Neda and Michael Nassirian

Nima Foroutan DDS

Northwest Screenwriters Guild

Persian & Iranian Studies at UW Near-Eastern Languages & Civilization Department

Québec Government Office in Los Angeles

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

Sinikka and Babak Parviz

Seattle Center Monorail

Seattle Composers Alliance

Seattle Film Institute

Seattle Polish Film Festival

Seattle Turkish Film Festival

Southeast Asia Center UW

Spain Association of the Pacific NW

Stroum Center for Jewish Studies UW

Taiwan Studies Initiative UW

TheFilmSchool

Turkish American Cultural Association of Washington

UW Iranian-American Faculty

Write Brothers

Heartwood Provisions

Hollywood Lights

Kaspars Special Events and Catering

KIND Snacks

Lark

Les Boulangers Associes

MarQueen Hotel & Inn at Queen Anne

Mediterranean Inn

Molly’s Grown to Eat

Music Man

Northern Lights Food & Beverage

Nuflours A Gluten Free Bakery

Pagliacci Pizza

Pedersen’s Rentals

Pel’meni Dumpling Tzar

Piper O’Neill

Poppy

Rosichelli Design

Saint John’s Bar and Eatery

SAM Taste Restaurant

Savor Catering

Sole Repair Shop

Solo Bar

Sweet Iron Waffles

Swift and Savory

Ten Mercer

The Vera Project

Thompson Seattle

Total Creative

Triumph Expo & Events, Inc.

Stephen Mellander and Daniel Herda

The Seattle Globalist

Thomas Creative Solutions

Three Imaginary Girls

SIFF thanks all our donors who make film a vital part of our community. Through the art of cinema, we are introduced to viewpoints that differ from our own. Now more than ever, media literacy and cultural understanding are important topics and we are proud to be part of the conversation.

INDIVIDUAL DONORS

YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS.

For information on how to donate, please contact the Philanthropy team at supporters@siff.net or 206.464.5830.

DONATIONS MADE TO THE CINEFUND BETWEEN MARCH 15, 2016 AND MARCH 15, 2017.

A special thank you to the

Jill

Cindy

Lisa

Donna

Susan

$500 - $999

Oscar Abello

Blaise Aguera y Arcas & Adrienne

Fairhill

Steve Alberton

Ariel Altaras

Sarah Barnard

Russell Bennett

Nathan Bialke & Shannon Grant

Diane & Gordon Bisset

Carol Bobo

Travis Bond

Jennifer & David Burroughs

Corinne Campbell

Lysane Cape

Caron Carlyon

Brant Carroll

Pey-Lin Carroll

Gilberto Colunga

Tim Cranton

Brent Cunnings

Fiona de Kerckhove

Lynn Dissinger

Ingrid Elliott

Mary & Rich Fassio

Lesley Fox

Craig Friedson

Anniruddha Gadre

Shane Gianelli & Katherine Maroney

Brian Gish

Lisa Hanna

Merriah Harkins

Kate Hastings

Jordan Hay

Joan Hsiao & Jim Bromley

Christopher Jones

Dariusz Kaliszuk & Doug Cusick

Kamiar Karimi

Darnell Kebo

Erika Kreger

Miriam Larkin

Dave LeCompte

Kathryn Lister

Christine Livingston

Chris Lloyd

David Lowe

Gregory Lytle

Ruth Magruder

Zachary Marley

Sue Masten

Lavrans Mathieson & Lisa Choi

Patricia & Stephen Morrissey

Nader J.& Yeganeh Naini

Ali Nasserseid

Patrick Naughton

Mojgan & Mazyar Nazariyan

Rod Paddock

Jason Peacock

Kevin Phaup

Olivia Pi-Sunyer & Andrew

DeVore

Dan Poliak

Meredith Potochnic

Steffany Powell

Steven Quinn

Monica & Rick Rasmussen

Nicholar Riesland

William Robbins

Francesca Rogers

Debbie Royer

Elizabeth Salinas

Cathy & Max Sarkowsky

Greg Simmons & Jeanette Brynn

Karen Sparks & Tony Shapiro

Elizabeth Thomas

James Tisdel

Keith Tyler

Andrew Wagster

Noreen & Edwin Weihe

Charles Wheeler

Chuck Wilke

Coreen Wilson

Amy Windham

Joyce & Christian F. Zobel

$250 - $499

Maryam Afkarian

Joan Alworth

Mary Bacarella

Heather & Mark Barbieri

David Betz

Ricann Bock

Janice Brookshier

Michelle & Craig Bruney

Margaret Bullitt

Laura Butler

Nicole Calian

Sharon Carmody

Diane Castanes

Sara Celms

Barney Cohen

Sharon & Darrel Conner

$1,000 -

Lisa

Elizabeth Davidson & Clark

Hodder

Lissa Devore

Scott Devore

Diana Dotter

Ellen Downey & Lorene Sheppard

Andrew Estes

Woods & Izumi Fairbanks

Susan Finkel

Robert Foley

Cliff Freed

Laura & Michael Friend

Amy & Andy Fulford

Kyle Gatti

Jim Grant

Aaron Green

Oneda Harris

Kim Holcomb

Celeste & Will Hyde

Tiina Jaatinen

Amy Jackson

Portia Jones

Jill Kurfirst

Georgeann Lauth

Sharon Leishman

Ann LeVeque

Amy Lillard

Matthew Loso

Deborah Mahan & Dennis Madsen

Chris & Bill Marks

Julia Meinershagen

Stephen Mellander & Daniel Herda

Michael Melnick

Samantha Neukom

Elaine Nonneman

Tim O’Conner & Jeff Stolz

Judy Pigott

Tim Postlewaite

Jessica Prince & David Wilborn

Barbara & Rick Ranta

Leslie Ray & Michael Bernstein

Dale Rector

Susan & William Rives

Charles M. Saunderson & Joan

Melgaard

Daniel Schreiber

Andrew Seiple

Sudeshna Sen

Robyn & Everett Seymoure

Christian Shevchenko

Penny & Michael Thackeray

Shana Tischaefer

Pamela

Corriston

Thomas Crawford

Martha Curry

Josh & Kristin

Kasey Davis

Daniel

Carol Ann Davis & Steven Burdick

John Davis & Kim McIver

Judy & Krijn de Jonge

Saskia de Jonge & Brett Miller

Jill Deasy

Bridget Donovan & Randy

Gordon

Jeanne Eagleson

Amanda Ebbert & Kathryn

Johnson

Jeremy Eknoian

Eva Elliott

Michael Erickson

Heidi Falck

Maura G Fallon & Mark Gau

Maryam Fazel

Susan Finkel

Jen Flament

Matt Flor

Marion Folkemer

Sarina Forbes

David Foster-Koth

Phyllis Friedman & Aguan Wei

Jennifer Fujimoto

Alison Fujino

Deborah Fuller

Steven Furchner

Randy Furtner

Ruthellen & Norman Gahm

Steve Gales

Robert Gannan

Jeanne Garland

Natalie Gendler

Daniel Gerbitz

Annette Gililland

Daniel & Michele Glasser

Steve Goldstein

Jeffrey Gossett

Lila Greengard

Mytet Gumin

Harrison Hakes

Paul Haley

Lauren Halvorsen

Jeffrey Hanna & Rosario Hanna

Alan Hart

Elizabeth Helber & David H

Wanda Herndon

Leslie Hibbard

William C. Hibler

Ryan & Caitlin Honig

Mark Alexander Horowitz

Roy Hsu

Julie Hungar

Christine Hunter

Angela Hwang & James Trager

Lowell “Doug” Ing

Stuart Jacobson & Sandra

Jacobson

Andrée Jacovich

Jennifer Jenkins

April Johnson

Jay Johnson

Susan Johnson

Larry Jones

Carole Jones & Bernard Jalbert

Rani Teresa Kahn

Heidi Kauffman

Khodadad Kaviani & Haideh

Salehi-Esfahani

Austin Kellogg

Kathryn Kelly

Barbara Kempf

Rachel & Paul Kerbrat

Julie Ketter

Jennifer Knopf

Judy Koven

Wojtek & Jola Kozaczynski

Vivek Lakshmanan

Janet Landis

Margaret Lane

Ronald

Ji

Shawn

Patricia

Mary

Renee

James

Shawn

Jerry Luiten

Ron

Genevieve

Steven

Louise

Phillip

Susan

Jon

MEMBERSHIPS AS OF MARCH 15 , 2017

PLATINUM LIFETIME

Christopher Conrad

Erika Cowan

John Davis

Paula Hlastala Lowell “Doug” Ing

Darlene Johnson

Brian LaMacchia

Jeff Parsons

Deborah Parsons

Deborah Person

Meredith Potochnic

Mary Rainwater

Steve Schonberger

Nancy Shriver

Heidi Stephens

ADVOCATE

Luther F Black

Zachary Ellenbogen

Stephanie Ellis-Smith

Rich Fassio

Krista Goodman

Andy Greeley

Ji Lee

Bjorn Levidow

Gregory Lytle

Merri Majovski

Marcia Mason

Tomas Perez

Daniel Schreiber

Kathryn M. Shields

Keith Simanton

Brian Smith

Douglas Smith

Jennifer Spain Greene

Laurel Spellman Smith

Courtney Stiefel

Brent Stiefel

Chiaki Tanaka

Erik Torgerson

PATRON

Glenda Ahn

Jason Allee

James Angelo

Jill Angelo

Jerome Arbes

Paul Baczewski

Terri Baldwin

Ken Williams

Dennis Willingham

Vicki “Bic” Wong

LIFETIME

John W. Comerford

Virginia Callison Dolan

Carrie Gorringe

Bruce Hawley

Daniel Herda

Steve Kelly

Diana Knauf

Stephen McCandless

Stephen Mellander

Tom O’Brien

Kevin Phaup

Rodney Barney

Eric Benson

Wally Bivins

Aaron Bregel

Jim Bromley

Lance Brough

Lisa Brummel

Linda Burgess

Devin Canterberry

Theresa Collier

Sharon Conner

Christina Dawson

Mark Dawson

Brooke Dickson

Jude Ellison Dimond

Anita Dingrani

Jack Dingrani

Lynn Dissinger

David Doan

Mary Donovan

Robert Dughi

Matthew Echert

Michael Falk

Brian Fioca

Carole Fuller

Jess A Grant

Tami Herlocker

Charlton Holland

Katherine Holland

Joan Hsiao

Christina Isacson

Bernard Jalbert

Jeannette Jarvis

Gary

Julie

Rebecca

Brian

Nate

Megan

Lee

Nancy

Colby

Seth

Nancy

Chris

Marion

Megan

Daniel Roben

Leela Sasaki

CELEBRITY

Thomas Kofler

Mary Ann Kofler

Christopher Newell

PREMIERE

Susan Harmon

Richie Meyer

PRODUCER

Harold Matzner

Blue Resnick Braiden Rex-Johnson

Katherine

DIRECTOR

Rene Alkoff

Donna Bellew

Matthew Bellew

Steve Burnham

Deborah Confer

David Cornfield

Linda Cornfield

Scott Crowder

Andrea Frabotta

Jerry Grinstein

Lyn Grinstein

Joshua Hornbeck

Lynn Hubbard

Donna James

Laura Landfair

Barbara Malone

Miles McRae

Heather Nakama

Chad Pemberton

Dan Poliak

Linden Rhoads

Marion Rose

Joshua Rosen

Cole Rottweiler

Meredith Salget

Thom Votteler

Sheree Wen

Gregory White

Carol Windham

David Zapolsky

Thomas Zimmermann

Mani

Susan Leaverton

Deron Lord

Jason

Nicholas

Margaret

Victor

Joseph

Kim

David

Sonia

Mike

Bruce

Jean

V

Karen

DONORS

Anne-Marie Archer

Mahvash Armand

Ahmad Armand

Susan Arnold-Aldea

Rosalyn Arntzen

Somchai Asawadilokchai

Christine Atkins

Elizabeth Austen

James Avery

Sarah B. Meardon

Ana Bacioiu

Sam Balderas

Mara Elise Baldwin

Mike Ball

Karen Ball

Robert Ballinger

Patrick Balthrop

Chris Banta

Heather Barbieri

Wanda Barker

Sarah Barnard

Constance Barnes

Byron Barnes

Eric Lane Barnes

Jillian Barron

Aysun Bascetincelik

Jonathon Bashford

Tasha Bassett

Schyler Batey

Heather Battaglia

Michael Battaglia

Rachel Battershell

Jennifer Beals

Justin Beals

Mark Beardslee

Natalie Beauchene

Claire Marie Alice Beaulieu

Tanya Bednarski

Colleen Bell

Rob Bender

Christina Benedict

Leslie Bennett

Maxwell Bennett

Stacie Benton

Sherri Benton-Krist

Gershom Berg

Steven Beutler

Nathan Bialke

Kathy Biever

Courtney Biggs

Bruce Bigley

Jane Billbe

Leela Bilow

Tom Bird

Ken Birdwell

Josh Bis

Jonathan Bishop

Caroline Blachford

Andrea Blake

Dina Blum

Glenn Blumstein

Carol Bobo

Alexander Bochkov

Rick Bodlaender

Becky Bogard

Virginia Bogert

Dana Boggess

Travis Bond

Steven Bonner

Brannon Boren

Larry Bosi

Elizabeth Bourne

Barbara Bowen

Deborah Bowen

Nathan Box

Lauren Brackenbury

Cullen Brady

Frank Branch

Lois Brandt

Jeremy Brazell

Victor Bremson

Cindy Brettler

Sydne Brewer

Daniel Bridge

Aaron Briggs

Al Briscoe

Joshua Briskey

Yoshie Brittin

Jeffery Brittin

James Broadus

JB Broemmel

Patrick Brown

Linda Brown

Zane Brown

Melissa Brown

Katherine Brown

Lawrence Brown

Kelly Brown

Robin Brownstein

Michael Broz

Elizabeth Bruning

Julie Bryant

Katherine Buchanan

Grania Buckley

Martin Buckley

Rhia Bucklin

Rene Buendia

Robin Buerki

Josh Bugenig

David Buksh

Jenifer Bunis

Steven Burdick

Gretchen Burger

Susan Burgess

Timothy Burke

Elizabeth Burke

Chris Burlingame

Mary Burns

William Burns

David Burroughs

Matthew Buscemi

Barbara Bush

Carol Butterfield

Barbara Byham

Sean C. Thomas

Lonnie Callies

Dale P Callison

Robert Callum

Stacy Campbell

Corinne Campbell

Albert Candelaria

Sandra Canepa-Swan

Michael Cano

Alan Canode

Scott Caparelli

Lysanne Cape

Linda Capell

Peter Capell

Kathleen Carey

Cathea Carey

Karen Carlson-Iffert

Caron Carlyon

George Carman

Cristin Carr

David Carroll

Carrie Carson

Evan Cartwright

Minnie Caruso

Belinda Casanova

Darci Cascioppo

Eileen Casler

Barron Cato

James Causey

Helene Causse

Alpkaan Celik

Kara Ceriello

Melissa Chadwick

Benjamin Chamberlain

Jessica Chamberlain

John Chaney

Sophia Chang

Vivian Chao

Ryan Chappell

Melissa Chase

Elisa Chavez

Michael Chealander

Louise Chernin

Tammi Chick

Calandra Childers

Helen Chipasula

Stanley Choi

Erica Chow

Lynn Christian

Alison Christie

Susan Christofides

Phil Clapham

Jenelle Clark

Samantha Cobb

Andrew Cocanour

Judith Coito

Oliver Colbert

Ethan Colburn

Brenda Coleman

Mike Coller

Bill Collins

Carol Collins

Matthew Collins

Silvia Colombaretti de Oliveira

Gilberto Colunga

Jeff Cone

Shea Conley

Melissa L Connolley

Carmen Cook

Gregory Cooper

Trevor Corbin

Justin Cornwall

Hannah Corpuz

Will Corr

Leonard Costello

James K. Couhig

Kristi Coulter

Monica Coulter

Daniel Cowan

Michael Cox

Kay Crampton

Thomas Crawford

Mary-Carter Creech

John Creighton

Alex Criss

Elizabeth Cross

Sherrie Crow

Gail Crumpton

Emma Cryan

Elisabeth Cuddihy

Margarito Cuestas

Michael Culpepper

Terence Cunningham

Brent Cunnings

Paul Curtis

Mary Da Silva

Juliette Dahl

Wendy Dahlgren

Jeff Dahlgren

Jaclyn Dahlvang

Negin Dahya

John Daise

Kenneth Dale

Josh Daniel

Kristin Daniel

Kevin Daniel

Carol Ann Davis

Jeff Davis

Julie Davis

Gary Davis

Jane Davis

Diane Davis

Debra Davis

Deryl Davis-Bell

Patrick Day

Krijn de Jonge

Judy de Jonge

Fiona de Kerckhove

Darren Dean

Robin Dearling

Tara DeCoster

Claire Decoy

Conor Dempsey

Karin DeSantis

Bob DeSantis

Telved Devlet

Carla DewBerry

Vicki Dial

Liz Diether-Martin

Samia Dillsi

Janice Dilworth

Kristin Distelhorst

Samuel Ditty

Jennifer Divine

John Dobrosielski

Deliverance Dockter

Shannon Doherty

William Donnelly

Aaron Donny-Clark

Teresa Dorian

Nicholas Dorsey

Kaylee Dorsey

Roger Downey

Ellen Downey

Matthew Dresden

Susan Drew

Don Driftmier

Michael Dryfoos

Bill Dubay

Frederic Dubut

Elliott Duea

Eddy Dughi

Mary Alice Duhme

Russell Duhon

Revelle Dunlop

Frances Durako

Stephen Durako

JoAnne Dyer

Stephen E Lovell

Sean Eagen

Amanda Ebbert

John Eddy

Lauren Edlund

Boyko Edward

Brittany Eisenegger

Carlyn Eisenegger

Mostafa Elhemali

Wendy Ellington

Robyn Ellis

Scott Ely

Rachel Emery

Nadia Eng

Lea Ennis

Andrew Espe

Amanda Espinosa-Aguilar

Melissa Evans

Peter Evans

Teresa Eyler

Charles F. Rose III

Izumi Fairbanks

Adrienne Fairhall

Dona Farmer

Aaron Farmer

Christian Federmann

Susan Feeney

Edward Felt

Dee Fenton

Claudia Fiore

Guadalupe Fisch

Teri Fischer

Karin Fischer

Tybie Fitzhugh

Wilhelm Fitzpatrick

Pat Flanagan

Donald Fleming

James Fletcher

Amanda Fletcher

Faith Flugel

Robert Foley

Darington Forbes

John Frady

Robbie Frankle

Julie Fraser

Gene Freedman

Carolann Freedman

Christine Freeland

Charlene Freeman

Christopher Frick

Craig Friedson

Gene Frogge

Anne Fu

Helene Fuhrman-Gold

Jill Fullagar

Richard Funk

Gayle Funk

Ellen G Brown

Elizabeth Gallagher

Andrew Gallaugher

Janet Galore

Patrick Galvin

Mimi Gan

Carlos Garcia

William Garling

Mark Garneau

Deborah Gates

Mark Gau

Ashlyn Gehrett

Danny Gellersen

Natalie Gendler

Anastasia Giannoulas

Adrian Gibbs

Kathy Gibian

Annette Gililland

Brian Gish

Nikolay Glushnev

Maria Goff

Jonathan Goforth

Jeffrey Gold

Steve Goldstein

Suzan Gonzales

Donald Gonzales

Simon Good

Brien Gorham

Alex Gorischek

Allen Gown

Virginie Grange

Shannon Grant

Taryn Grant

Alex Gratzer

Jan Gray

Linda Gray

Amanda Gray

Thomas Grechis

Marsha Green

James Greene

Jean Greif

Doug Griffin

Adrianne Grondahl

Mary Kay Grossblatt

Nancy Guppy

Paul Gusmorino

Linda Gwilym

Louise H McAllister

Jinna Hagerty

Timothy Hale

Shelley Hall

M

Elizabeth Halloran

Brittany Hammer

Chris Hammersley

Dana Hamry

Carl Hamry

Rosario Hanna

Elizabeth Hanna

Lisa Hanna

Kevin Hanna

Debra Hanninen

Charles Hansen

Richard Hansen

Merriah Harkins

John Harlow

Charles Harmon

Chris Harmon

Phil Harrington

Alan Hart

Natalie Hartkopf

A G Hartmann

Donna Hartmann-Miller

Susan Hautala

William Hawkins

Kathryn Hazzard

Laura Hearsey

Paul Hebron

Russell Heglund

David Hellene

Anne Helmholz

Alaina Henderson

Robin Hendricks

Laura Hennessy

Kathleen Hennum

Wanda Herndon

Larry Herron

Philip Hess

Anthony Hesseltine

Tim Higgins

Chrystie Hill

Judith Hill

Rodney Hines

Kimberly Hiroto

Carolyn Hitter

Jim Hitter

Patrick Ho

Luke Hoban

Diana Hoffer

Kevin Hoffman

Susan Hogan

Gol Hoghooghi

Melinda Hohlbein Loeffler

Monica Hollar

Devin Hollingsworth

Rose Hollis

Ken Hollis

Douglas Holtzman

Robert Holzworth

Eric Honea

Henry Honig

Deborah Horne

Rick Horwitz

Carole Horwitz

Cheryl Hou

Daniel Howard

Christopher Howard

Aaron Howland

Shengjun Huang

Allison Hughes

Dee Anna Hulbert

Gary Humble

Kuohsing Hung

Cathy Hunt

Suzanne Hurley

Adam Hutchinson

Clarice Hutchison

TC Hyatt

Jonathan Icasas

David Ikeda

Sara Intriligator

Yuka Isayama

STRONGBOOTY

CCINEFIT CPRESENTS

STAY FIT WHILE YOU SIT

Are you feeling slightly sluggish after weeks of seeing movie after movie all day with little exercise? Do you wish you could combine the joy of cinema with the feel-good power of fitness? Well now you can with CineFit! Workouts guaranteed to get you a stunning body of work worthy of applause, all without interrupting your viewing experience.

SHUSHER

SEATED CRUNCHES

TEARJERKERS

“HEY, QUIET DOWN!” SEAT KICKS

GUM GRABS

HOLDING IT CROSSOVERS

WAITING-IN-LINE SQUATS

BATHROOM BREAK STRETCHES

SEATED RUN FROM THE KILLER

FLAT BELLY LAUGHS

Erin Smith

Anna Smoak

Don Sneesby

Nancy Snyder

Mary Sobczyk

David Sommers

Laura Sommers

Judi Sorensen

Eric Soulvie

Siri Southwick-Young

Rachel Speaks

Daron Spektor

Cole Spicer

Amanda Sproule

Summer St Christopher

Jeff St. Clair

Alan Stearns

Allan Steinman

Chuck Stempler

Christine Stepherson

Mary Stevens

Christopher Stewart

Paula Stokes

Jeff Stolz

Matt Storm

Sarah Strachan

John Strait

Mike Strick

Michele Sullivan

Michael Sullivan

John Sullivan

Shelly Sundberg

Vivika Sundqvist

Joshan Suri

Sekhar Suryanarayanan

Susan Susor

Craig Suthers

Sian Suthers

Erin Sutter

David Swan

Judy Swanson

Susan Swope

Malida Tadesse

Gayle Tajima

Miles Takahashi

Raven Takimoto

Brooks Talley

Thanh Tan

Jana Tapperova

Susan Tarabochia

Rosalia Taranto

Al Taranto

Tanya Tavenner

Molly Taylor

Mac Taylor

Michael Taylor-Judd

Sonya Teele

Mike Teeny

Edward Telcs

Elizabeth Thomas

Donald Thompson

Jack Thompson

Kirsten Thompson

Maryam Thomson

Rajani Thykkuttathil

Braden Timss

Havens Tipps

James Tisdel

Caroline Tobin

Laurie Tolson

Tim Tomlinson

Patrick Tompkins

Connor Torres

Stephen Toutonghi

John Traino

Janis Traven

Tim Tribble

Leta Troka

Betsy Troutman

Lawrence True

Patrick Tschumper

Philip Tse

Anthony Tse

Mary Tudor

Keith Tyler

Paul Tytler

Barbara Tytler

Lisa Upshaw

Nancy Uscher

Vicki Valleroy

Dan Valleroy

Cal Van Zee

Brian VanDoren

Carol Vangelos

Christian Vansant

Stafford Vaughan

Jeri Vaughn

Alan Veigel

Laura Veigel

Eunice Verstegen

Sandra Vigil

Val Vinyar

Anne Visel

Christine Vogeler

Eric Volk

Judy Vu

Ivan Vukovic

Daren Wade

George Wagner

Jean Wagner

Jessica Wagoner

Carl Wagoner

Andrew Wagster

Judith Wahl

David Wahl

Eric Wahlquist

Robin Walbeck-Forrest

Genevieve Waldman

Lenore Waldron

Amanda Walker

Kelly Walker

Arielle Walker

Suzanne Walker

Susan Wamsley

Grace Wang

Robin Waples

Cynthia Ward

Mark Warehime

Lorraine Warehime

Ardee Warshal

Peggy Washburn

Carolyn Wedekind

Henry Wedelstaedt

Michael Weidemann

Joe Weil

Keith Weinbaum

Brian Weiss

Elizabeth Welch

Julie Wentzel

Joan West

Dennis West

Tania Westby

Charles Wheeler

Sandra Wheeler

Elizabeth White

Angie Whitney

William Wichgers

Thomas Wilburn

Maxine Williams

Kurt Williams

Kim Williams

Carrie Williams

Helen Williams-Ginsberg

Rob Williamson

Dan Williamson

Kenneth Willman

Michael Wilmarth

Austin Wilson

Coreen Wilson

Crystal Wilson

Matthew Wiltse

Tiffany Wince

Jonella Windell

Anne Marie Winders-Gaddis

Amy Windham

Ray Winninger

Stephanie Winterbauer

Terrence Wiseman

Michael Wisian

Matthew Wisniewski

Paula Wissel

Rebecca Withington

Cathy Wittel

Walter Wittel

Scott Woelfel

Sally Wolf

Richard Wolf

Davida Wolf

Carol Wollenberg

Peter Wong

Tana Wong

Justin Wood

Ray Woodhouse

James Woods-Palmer

Kyle Woolcock

Sara Woolsey

Kyoko Wright

Laura Wright

John Wright

David Wright

Kerry Wyman

Keiko Yamada

Lisa Yeager

John Yeager

Karen Young

Freddie Yudin

Adam Zacks

Nicholas Zatkovich

Karin Zaugg Black

Gaerda Zeiler

Chenmuren Zhang

Mahria Zook

SIFF ALSO THANKS THE 5,436 ENTHUSIAST, 51 FAMILY ENTHUSIAST, 79 SFI ENTHUSIAST, 1,753 SENIOR, AND 288 STUDENT MEMBERS.

MEET THE PROGRAMMERS

SIFF is more than just an annual festival of world’s greatest films; it’s a community of creative, passionate people who live and breathe cinema. This section is dedicated to our talented team of 27 programmers. These are the people who work and watch movies all year long to prepare the best films possible for the continually growing Seattle International Film Festival. This year, we asked: What one film soundtrack CD would you take to a desert island?

ANGELO ACERBI FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Until last year my answer would have been Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. Then La La Land came and it made me change my mind :). Can I bring them both?

MARYNA AJAJA SENIOR PROGRAMMER

You can put me down for Yellow Submarine

TILSON ALLENMERRY FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

The Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack introduced me to the brilliance and versatility of post-Devo Mark Mothersbaugh, who masterfully marries his score with the sensibilities of a young Wes Anderson. It also features Paul Simon, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake, an orchestral interpretation of “Hey Jude,” and Elliott Smith. When I hear many of these songs I immediately envision their corresponding scene; Gene Hackman racing go-carts to “Me and Julio” will forever bring a smile to my face.

JUSTINE BARDA SENIOR PROGRAMMER

In honour of Chavela, I’ll take the soundtrack to any Pedro Almodóvar film. Better yet, just give me the collected works!

BETH BARRETT INTERIM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

I can listen to Michael Nyman’s Drowning by Numbers over and over— the tension and resolution, complexity and repetition is fresh every time.

ZAC BLACHON PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT Blade Runner. Vangelis produced some silky tones.

JULIANA BOJORQUEZ PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

I would have to say I would need the soundtrack to Spirited Away if I had to choose one. I feel like Joe Hisaishi’s music just might make being stuck on a desert island feel more like an adventure, and I could pretend that all the creatures are my friends. But if I’m being embarrassingly honest, I would have to say that Shrek 2 is a close second, just because who doesn’t know all the words to “Accidentally in Love”?

JAMES DAVIS PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT Jaws.

NELLO DE ANGELIS PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

I’ll go with the Magic Mike XXL soundtrack. It’s the only soundtrack that’s able to pull off the trifecta of Nine Inch Nails, R Kelly, and Backstreet Boys!

JUAN MANUEL DOMINGUEZ FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Jackie Brown. Saint Quentin 101: The Delfonics will blow your mind. This or any other time.

DAN DOODY FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

“Twin Peaks.” The collaboration between Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch might be the most perfect ever by a composer and director; this soundtrack is certainly my favorite and one I never tire of listening to.

LAURA GOOD FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

My favourite soundtrack has to be Wong KarWai’s In the Mood for Love because it’s such a haunting marriage of image and soundscape... but that’s a bit heavy for a desert island, so I would likely end up torn between my love of classic rock (Dazed and Confused), emo (Garden State) and old-school hip-hop (Straight Outta Compton). Any early Jean-Marc Vallée soundtrack (C.R.A.Z.Y, Cafe de Flore) would be a strong contender, too.

MARCUS GORMAN FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Craig Safan’s score for The Last Starfighter or James Horner’s for The Rocketeer. If I were stuck on a desert island, I would want music to inspire me to Tom Hanks the heck out of that place, be it building shelter or constructing a badass raft.

SARAH HARRIS FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation). A formative part of my teens for sure that I still listen to often. The album that introduced me to Radiohead in rural Louisiana!

RUTH HAYLER FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

My favorite film soundtrack CD—I think I’d try to cheat and take two: Lawrence of Arabia for those heart-stirring melodies (hail to Maurice Jarre) conveying vast expanses of adventure and tense moral struggle, and West Side Story for the fabulosity of its Leonard Bernstein music, Stephen Sondheim lyrics, and Jerome Robbins-choreographed dancing (re-playing in my mind).

CLINTON MCCLUNG FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Loaded with satisfying ’60s songs from fictional girl group The Carrie Nations and psychrockers Strawberry Alarm Clock, one of the greatest counter-culture movies of all time also has one of the greatest rock soundtracks.

DALE NASH FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

That is easy—the complete soundtrack for the film That’s Entertainment

ANDY SPLETZER FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

First, I hope my desert island has white sandy beaches and a choice between delicious margaritas and cold beer. As for music, I was jumping between the jukebox soundtracks of Quentin Tarantino versus Wes Anderson when I remembered Trainspotting. I’ll take the energy of Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” then mellow to Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” and still have a handful of songs to play with.

JANE JULIAN FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

I would have to say Stop Making Sense.

DUSTIN KASPAR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS MANAGER

Michel Legrand’s musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Its delicate balance of upbeat jazzy riffs and heartbreaking melodies gives me all the feels every single listen.

MEGAN LEONARD FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

The Guest soundtrack for sure. I feel like it would motivate me to find my way off the island, or at least to get in really great shape while all alone.

SANDRA ONANA PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

I’d say the soundtrack from The Boat That Rocked/Pirate Radio by Richard Curtis!

HEBE TABACHNIK FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

Emilio Kauderer’s music for the 2010 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film The Secret of Their Eyes (El Secreto de tus ojos) by Juan José Campanella (Argentina). I carry this soundtrack with me everywhere I go, and I can listen to it on a loop over and over again. On a desert island it will not only keep me company, but it will bring amazing memories of dear people and fantastic places. It is inspiring and soothing at the same time. It is only a matter of time for Emilio to get his own Oscar® for Best Original Music.

CORY RODRIGUEZ PROGRAMMING COORDINATOR

I would bring the score to Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Howard Shore’s immersive music would either transport me to somewhere more exciting and more beautiful than a desert island, or it would make being stranded the most epic circumstance ever. Also, I would probably find a way off before hearing the whole damn thing.

STAN SHIELDS FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING MANAGER

Peter Gabriel’s Passion, from The Last Temptation of Christ.

SOPHIE TSOTRIDIS PROGRAMMING ASSISTANT

It would be the soundtrack for Tron Legacy, composed by Daft Punk. Halfway between old psychedelic techno and futuristic atmosphere, it’s the perfect music to settle and chill out on a desert Island.

TOM VICK FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER

I choose Elevator to the Gallows because if there’s one musician whose music I’d want to take to a desert island it’s Miles Davis, and his score will keep images of Paris and Jeanne Moreau on my mind while I dine on coconuts and seaweed.

WHAT SORT OF FILM DO I FEEL LIKE SEEING TONIGHT?

QUICK GUIDE TO MOODS

With our handy moods groupings index, 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 eight areas that match your mood.

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

Films that tickle your funny bone.

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

Suspense, thrills, and action—films with a faster pace that might also surprise you when you least expect it!

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

The most outrageous, mind-blowing, and unexpected tales in genre filmmaking that will stimulate your brain and leave you happily exclaiming “WTF?!”

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

Mesmerizing dramas and documentaries that explore provocative questions, realities, and topics.

Director: Michael Showalter

Producers: Judd Apatow

Barry Mendel

Screenwriters: Emily V. Gordon

Kumail Nanjiani

Cinematographer: Brian Burgoyne

Editor: Robert Nassau

Music: Michael Andrews

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani

Zoe Kazan

Holly Hunter

Ray Romano

Anupam Kher

Running Time: 119 minutes

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

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Lionsgate Film Website: thebigsickmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) The Baxter (2005)

OPENING NIGHT FILM/GALA

The Big Sick USA 2017

THURSDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM

FILM: MARION OLIVER MCCAW HALL PARTY: FISHER PAVILION

Based on the true story of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (the film’s writers and a real-life couple), The Big Sick depicts the modern culture clash of the Pakistan-born Kumail’s relationship with an American woman. What begins as a one-night stand with grad student Emily, expertly played by Zoe Kazan (Meek’s Cutoff), quickly blossoms into a real relationship—one complicated by Kumail’s traditional Muslim parents. With his parents’ expectations resting heavily on his shoulders (they constantly try to set him up with Pakistani women for an arranged marriage) Kumail treads carefully through the world of dating and stand-up comedy. But when Emily suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness, Kumail is forced to deal with the crisis with her own parents, comedically played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. With so much comedy talent in front of and behind the camera, producers Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel and director Michael Showalter (“The State,” Hello, My Name Is Doris) steadily guide us through writer/star Nanjiani’s (“Silicon Valley”) autobiographical and uniquely Pakistani story of love, fear, and one-man shows.

Awards: SXSW 2017 (SXSW Audience Award for Festival Favorites)

Director: Gillian Robespierre

Producers: Elisabeth Holm

Russell Levine

Gigi Pritzker

Screenwriters: Elisabeth Holm

Gillian Robespierre

Cinematographer: Chris Teague Editor: Casey Brooks

Music: Chris Bordeaux

Jordan Cohen

Clyde Lawrence Cast: Jenny Slate

John Turturro

Edie Falco

Abby Quinn

Jay Duplass

Finn Wittrock

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Amazon Studios

Selected Filmography: Obvious Child (2014)

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 5:30 PM

FILM: SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN PARTY: DAR RAINIER CHAPTER HOUSE

ENCORE

Director Gillian Robespierre and comedian/star Jenny Slate are at it again, but this time they’re stuck in 1995 Manhattan: smoky bars, no cell phones, and complete family meltdowns. As eldest daughter Dana, played by the endlessly funny Slate (My Blind Brother), prepares to enter married life with fiancé Ben (Jay Duplass, Manson Family Vacation), a wild streak begins. Meanwhile, her high-school-age sister Ali, played by newcomer Abby Quinn, lives a secret life of sex, drugs, and clubbing. When the sisters discover love letters their father has been writing to a mystery woman, the pair team up to expose his affair while keeping their mother out of the know. In Robespierre’s follow-up to SIFF 2014 hit Obvious Child, she again creates a subversive comedy that explores how families grow stronger when forced to deal with their problems. John Turturro and Edie Falco co-star as the daughter’s unraveling parents in this ’90s nostalgia piece that provides constant reminders of the era, including references to then-style icon Hillary Clinton and brick-andmortar record stores. Landline’s portrayal of sibling rivalry, parental errors, and self-indulgent characters all add up to an honest portrait of a painfully flawed family.

The Young Karl Marx

France/Germany/Belgium 2017 North American Premiere

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 6:00 PM

FILM: CINERAMA PARTY: MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND INDUSTRY (MOHAI)

Director: Raoul Peck

Producers: Nicolas Blanc

Remi Grellety

Robert Guediguian

Raoul Peck

Screenwriters: Pascal Bonitzer

Pierre Hodgson

Raoul Peck

Cinematographer: Kolja Brandt

Editor: Frédérique Broos

Music: Aleksey Aygi

Cast: August Diehl

Stefan Konarske

Vicky Krieps

Hannah Steele

Olivier Gourmet

Running Time: 118 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German and English, with English subtitles International Sales: Films Distribution

Print Source: The Orchard

Selected Filmography: I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

Murder in Pacot (2014)

Assistance mortelle (2013)

Lumumba (2000)

The Man on the Shore (1993)

In Raoul Peck’s latest film, the 99% are coming to a new understanding of how the system is rigged against them and a new recognition of how they can work together to resist. They’re struggling to articulate a coherent philosophy and searching for a leader, a movement that will chart a path forward. A film for our time? Yes, but set in the mid-19th century, in the heady early days of the birth of Communism. Twenty-sixyear-old Karl Marx (August Diehl) is living in Paris with his young wife Jenny, who has traded material luxury with her aristocratic family for intellectual squalor with her atheist, socialist husband. Enter Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske), whose bourgeois father owns mills and factories, exploiting the very workers Marx wants to help. The three embark on a whirlwind tour of European capitals, drinking, smoking, and arguing late into the night, working out the ideas and ideals that would find expression in Marx’s ringing call to arms, The Communist Manifesto. The enduring relevance of these ideas is made clear in the film’s closing credits, which play over a montage of revolutionary figures and movements—Che, Nelson Mandela, the Vietnam protests, the Occupy movement—from the following 170 years. Audiences of the world, unite!

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Producers: Josh Hyams

Stefano Negri

Melissa Parmenter

Cinematographer: James Clarke

Editors: Mags Arnold

Paul Monaghan

Marc Richardson

Cast: Steve Coogan

Rob Brydon

Marta Barrio

Claire Keelan

Margo Stilley

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: IFC Films

Selected Filmography: On the Road (2016)

The Trip to Italy (2014)

The Look of Love (2013)

Everyday (2012)

Trishna (2011)

The Trip (2010)

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

A Mighty Heart (2007)

The Road to Guantanamo (Doc, 2006)

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

9 Songs (2004) Code 46 (2003)

In This World (2002)

24 Hour Party People (2002)

The Claim (2000)

Wonderland (1999)

I Want You (1998)

Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)

Jude (1996)

Go Now (1995)

Butterfly Kiss (1995)

The Trip to Spain

United Kingdom 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

FILM: PACIFIC PLACE CINEMAS PARTY: SIFF LOUNGE, PRESENTED BY VULCAN PRODUCTIONS

Pack your bag, your passport, and your Pepto-Bismol—it’s time for another culinary holiday with Great Britain’s funniest “frenemies.” Back by no particular demand, director Michael Winterbottom completes the Trip trilogy as comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continue their drive-by sampling of European cuisine. The deceptively simple idea began as a UK TV series with 2010’s “The Trip,” a lightly-fictionalized account of Coogan’s assignment to review restaurants in northern England, joined by his friend Brydon for company and conversation. After it was released theatrically, a follow-up, The Trip to Italy (SIFF 2014), adhered to the same formula but added a sour edge to the loose mockumentary style as one married character dabbled in infidelity. In the latest installment, the two aging pros are back at it, seamlessly blending sumptuous regional dishes with literate conversation, witty barbs, and near-constant one-upmanship. For all three films, the voice of Michael Caine deserves at least supporting-actor billing, considering the frequency with which Brydon and Coogan conjure his unique vocal stylings. Dueling Mick Jagger impersonations also make cameo appearances. It’s just two middle-aged blokes mourning their youth and lost loves over endless tapas samplings—it shouldn’t work, but the result is subtle comic genius, thanks to the obvious affection between the two competitive companions. Check, ¡por favor!

Director: Jeff Baena

Producers: Elizabeth Destro

Aubrey Plaza

Screenwriter: Jeff Baena

Cinematographer: Quyen Tran

Editor: Ryan Brown Music: Dan Romer

Cast: Alison Brie

Dave Franco

Kate Micucci

Aubrey Plaza

John C. Reilly

Molly Shannon

Fred Armisen

Nick Offerman

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: CAA

Print Source: Gunpowder & Sky Film Website: gunpowdersky.com/projects/ the-little-hours

Selected Filmography: Joshy (2016) Life After Beth (2014)

The Little Hours USA/Italy 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM

FILM: PACIFIC PLACE CINEMAS PARTY: SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

ENCORE SCREENING: SUNDAY, MAY 28 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Fleeing the estate of his burly, mustachioed boss after being caught with his wife, servant boy Massetto (Dave Franco, Neighbors) finds himself in what he assumes is the safest place around—the local convent. Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) sets him up with a job as a handyman, persuading him to pretend to be deaf and mute so that the resident nuns won’t be bothered by him. But these sisters are restless, bored, and lascivious, and before you know it, habits are thrown in a scramble to seduce the goofy, gardening stranger. Jeff Baena (Joshy, Life After Beth) directs this 14th-century medieval raunch-com, complete with swearing, Valley-girl nuns, a Monty Python sensibility, and filmed on location in the villages of Tuscany. The Little Hours boasts one of the most impressive comic casts to date: featuring Aubrey Plaza (“Parks & Recreation”), Alison Brie (“Community”), and Kate Micucci (“The Big Bang Theory”) as the catty young sisters, Molly Shannon as Mother Superior, and Jemima Kirke (“Girls”) as a witchy woman of the woods. Nick Offerman (“Parks & Recreation”), Adam Pally (“The Mindy Project”), Paul Reiser (“Stranger Things”), and Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”) also join the cast for this raucous, old-timey romp that delighted audiences at Sundance earlier this year.

8/8/17

KPCe nt e r .or g

Directors: Kostia Testut

Paul Calori

Producer: Xavier Delmas Screenwriters: Paul Calori

Kostia Testut

Cinematographer: Julien Meurice

Editor: Damien Maestraggi

Cast: Pauline Etienne

Olivier Chantreau

François Morel

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Monument Releasing

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Footnotes

France 2016

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 8:00 PM PARTY AND FILM: KIRKLAND PERFORMANCE CENTER

ENCORE SCREENINGS: FRIDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Social realism and musical fantasy seamlessly blend in Paul Calori and Kostia Testut’s debut feature film. Things seem to be looking up when 20-something Julie leaves a thankless job and lands a position at a designer shoe factory famous for adorning the feet of fashion-forward women all over Paris. She quickly makes friends with the quirky receptionist and even learns how to dodge the flirtatious advantages of the charming factory truck driver. However, her dreams of steady employment and fancy footwear start to fall apart when she learns that the facility may close temporarily due to low demand and financial difficulty. Julie’s new co-workers convince her to accompany them to the factory’s headquarters in Paris, where they plan to protest the closure and safeguard their careers. Stuck in the middle as a new employee without too much at stake, yet wanting to stand strong with her female colleagues, Julie must decide whether to lie low or fight back. Inspired by the works of Jacques Demy and Stanley Donen, Footnotes is a toe-tapping, working-class musical comedy with a social conscience—boasting impressive song-and-dance numbers complete with choreography and original songs by contemporary musicians.

Directors: Anthony & Alex

Producers: Michael Beach Nichols

Christopher K. Walker

Screenwriters: Anthony & Alex

Cinematographer: Michael Beach Nichols

Editor: Taryn Gould

Music: Liam Finn

Featuring: Susanne Bartsch

David Barton

Bailey Barton RuPaul

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic

Print Source: Cinetic

Film Website: facebook.com/SusanneBartsch-On-Top-Documentary-832082263569180/

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Susanne Bartsch: On Top

USA

2017 US Premiere

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 7:00 PM

FILM: SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN PARTY: BALTIC ROOM

“Susanne Bartsch picked up where Warhol left off,” says RuPaul. The doyenne of NYC nightlife for decades and still at it, she’s stirred together the art, fashion, and gay dance-club worlds to create extravagant spectacles, planning her parties as theater—essentially, art exhibits for artists whose art is themselves. Her bland childhood gave her much to rebel against (“Maybe it’s the Swiss background, where everything was clockwork,” she explains), and she soaked up London’s punk fashion innovations as a teenager before opening a New York boutique and becoming one of the people who made the ’80s the ’80s. Along the way she married (bodybuilder/gym mogul David Barton) and had a son (now a classics major at Brown, who seems to have turned out perfectly unscarred not despite but because of his upbringing at the bohemian Chelsea Hotel surrounded by drag queens). These phases of nurturant normalcy never slowed Bartsch’s mentoring of a generation or two of club kids or becoming a pioneering AIDS-research fundraiser (her 1989 “Love Ball” exposed Madonna to Harlem’s voguing drag balls as well as raised $2.5 million). In a way, Anthony & Alex’s documentary presents Bartsch’s life as an allegory of American gay history—from a suffocating youth and feelings of isolation to flamboyant liberation, darkened but unbowed by loss, and unfailingly fabulous.

TITO’S HANDMADE VODKA

Director: Bob Fosse

Producer: Cy Feuer

Screenwriters: Joe Masteroff

John Van Druten

Jay Presson Allen

Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth

Editor: David Bretherton

Music: John Kander

Lyrics: Fred Ebb

Cast: Liza Minnelli

Joel Grey

Michael York

Helmut Griem

Running Time: 124 minutes

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

Print Source: Warner Bros

Selected Filmography: All That Jazz (1979) Star 80 (1983) Lenny (1974)

Sweet Charity (1969)

Cabaret

24 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Very little was retained from the 1966 stage musical “Cabaret” when it was made into a film five years later, except the premise—but what a premise: the cruelly ironic contrast between the decadent floor show at Berlin’s seedy Kit Kat Club and the violent rise of the Third Reich outside the club’s walls. Screenwriter Jay Allen went back to Christopher Isherwood’s original stories of expat life in between-the-wars Berlin, replacing the subplots completely and modeling the male lead, Brian (played by Michael York), much more closely on Isherwood himself—making him, daringly for the time, bisexual. Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat’s free-spirited star, was transposed from Brit to Yank, providing Liza Minnelli with an iconic role and an Oscar®. Academy Awards® also went to director Bob Fosse for his stunningly staged and shot production numbers and to Joel Grey for his unforgettably epicene and sinister Master of Ceremonies.

Dress in your finest cabaret-style duds and join us for an evening inside the fabled Kit Kat Klub as Seattle drag icon Robbie Turner (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) presents an original Cabaret-inspired revue followed by a screening of the film.

Directors: Catherine Bainbridge

Alfonso Maiorana

Producers: Christina Fon

Lisa M. Roth

Catherine Bainbridge Linda Ludwick

Screenwriters: Catherine Bainbridge

Alfonso Maiorana

Cinematographer: Alfonso Maiorana

Editors: Jeremiah Hayes

Ben Duffield

Music: Benoít Charest

Featuring: Robbie Robertson

Buffy Sainte-Marie Martin Scorsese

Tony Bennett

Steven Tyler Iggy Pop

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Films Transit

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: rumblethemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Reel Injun (2009)

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling)

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World Canada 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE

ENCORE SCREENING: SATURDAY, MAY 27 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

From Charley Patton and Mildred Bailey to Link Wray and Jimi Hendrix; from Jesse Ed Davis and Buffy Sainte-Marie to Robbie Robertson and Randy Castillo, the contributions of Native Americans to the soundtrack of popular culture—blues, jazz, folk, pop, rock, heavy metal—are as undeniable as they are underreported. In the celebratory exposé Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (inspired by the Smithsonian Institution exhibit “Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture,” created by Tim Johnson and guitarist Stevie Salas), director Catherine Bainbridge takes us through a roller-coaster of fantastic music and wide-ranging interviews—Martin Scorsese and Taj Mahal rub shoulders with Pat Vegas and late poet John Trudell—while never losing sight of the politically precarious place Indigenous persons hold in America’s troubled history, in which Native culture has been systematically silenced. “Be proud you’re an Indian,” says Robertson, recounting advice he once received, “but be careful who you tell.” Loud, lively, and endlessly illuminating, Rumble is as powerful as the 1958 Link Wray song it’s named after—one of the rare instrumental tracks banned (of course) from radio airwaves, since it supposedly “glorified juvenile delinquency.”

Join us for the energetic Seattle premiere of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World sponsored by Amazon Video Direct, in conjunction with the Paramount Theatre’s gallery opening of Re:definition, followed by SIFF’s 4th World afterparty featuring a special guest DJ. FREE to the public with an RSVP

6:00 PM - Doors and Re:definition Gallery open; 7:00 PM - Rumble film screening

9:30 PM. - 4th World afterparty, reception, and gallery viewing. Open to the general public.

Director: Douglas Trumbull

Producer: Douglas Trumbull

Screenwriters: Philip Frank Robert Stitzel from a story by Bruce Joel Rubin

Cinematographer: Richard Yuricich

Editors: Freeman Davies Edward Warschilka Cast: Christopher Walken

Natalie Wood

Louise Fletcher

Cliff Robertson

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

Print Source: Warner Brothers

Selected Filmography: Silent Running (1972)

Brainstorm USA 1983

MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Scientists Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) and Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) lead a research team that has been working on Triad, a brain/computer interface that can record a person’s experiences onto videotape. But now they’ve added “higher brain functions” to the device and have discovered something truly remarkable: They are suddenly able to experience the emotions and sensations on those tapes. Ethical concerns arise immediately—Michael uses the device to get closer to his soon-to-be-ex-wife Karen (Natalie Wood in her final film), who also works on Triad; another records himself having sex and passes the tape onto his colleagues—but none more disturbing than a sudden interest from the government, who wishes to use the project for military purposes. As the government’s true plans come into focus, the scientists stop at nothing to make sure Triad doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The second and final film directed by visionary effects artist Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Brainstorm is a mind-bending science-fiction parable.

In a post-screening discussion, panelists from the fields of film, storytelling, and science will examine new technologies’ effects on society today. The panel will delve into how emerging technologies like VR, AR, and AI offer innovative ways to tell stories, their effect on social interactions, human interaction, mental health, and more.

Co-presented with Seattle-based creative agency POP.

Awards: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1984 (Best Actress, Best Music)

Director: Bu Wancang

Producer: Lai Minwei

Screenwriter: Shilin Zhu

Cinematographer: Huang Shaofen

Cast: Chen Yen Yen Jin Yan Ruan Lingyu

Running Time: 153 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, silent, with English and Mandarin intertitles

Print Source: Taipei Film Archive

Selected Filmography: Dream of the Red Chamber (1945)

Eternity (1942)

The Family (1941)

Mulan Joins the Army (1939)

A Spray of Plum Blossoms (1931)

Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood (1931)

A Couple in Name Only (1927)

Love and Duty China 1931

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Those who pursue what they know is right, despite pressure to settle for the conventional and expected, are the ones we admire most. In Love and Duty, a 1931 work by Chinese film pioneer Bu Wancang, the young and passionate Yang Naifan runs from her arranged marriage to be with her true love. Love and Duty’s renowned cast, remarkable cinematography, and affecting story made it one of the biggest films of its time in China; it’s considered one of Bu’s best, impressive considering his prolific 40-year career. For many years, the film was believed lost, until a complete print was found in Uruguay in the 1990s. In 2014, it underwent a 2K digital restoration and was screened at the Shanghai Film Festival the same year. The film has gained a well-deserved second life, and many years after its production, Love and Duty is inspiring a new generation of romantics.

Live accompaniment provided by Donald Sosin.

The ’80s Teen Movie High School Reunion

FRIDAY, MAY 26, 9:00 PM—1:00 AM THE NEPTUNE THEATRE

Join us for this epic party celebrating a “totally rad” decade! Show off your ‘80s duds, compete in our Yearbook Challenge, sing along to the decade’s best movie anthems, laugh along with staged recreations of classic scenes performed by Ian Bell’s Brown Derby Series, and dance the night away with live music from ‘80s Invasion.

Puget Soundtrack presents Prom Queen

THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 7:00 PM THE TRIPLE DOOR

The dark-surf, girl-group noir sounds of Seattle’s Prom Queen meets some of our favorite visuals from the catalogue of beloved exploitation film archivists Something Weird video, creating a unique new experience of B-movie indulgence. Co-presented by Northwest Film Forum’s Puget Soundtrack series and Capitol Hill Block Party.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

With live soundtrack by The Invincible Czars

THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 7:00 PM THE TRIPLE DOOR

After more than a decade of silent film scores that beautifully blend rock and orchestral music, Austin band The Invincible Czars now unleash their spooky sonic reimagining of the classic silent adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic tale starring the legendary John Barrymore.

(d: John S. Robertson c: John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Martha Mansfield, Charles Lane, Cecil Clovelly, USA 1920, 79 min)

Dale and Leslie Chihuly congratulate SIFF and all of the 2017 award recipients. Thank you to the SIFF team for bringing thousands of fabulous films from around the world to our community.

Dale Chihuly, Silvered Piccolo Venetian with Ripple Blue Handles, 2015, 12 x 10 x 6"

A TRIBUTE TO ANJELICA HUSTON

Anjelica Huston is a powerhouse of a woman whose career has spanned over 50 years: through modeling, film, television, and on the page. She unflinchingly illuminates every room with her own light. Her penchant for and exquisite skill in portraying tenacious, crafty, emotionally strong women has undoubtedly made her among the greatest actresses of our time.

Although born in Santa Monica, California, to the ItalianAmerican ballerina Enrica “Ricki” Soma and famous American film director John Huston, Anjelica Huston spent most of her upbringing overseas in Galway, Ireland, and in London. In the late ’60s she began modeling; her unique beauty and strong presence had her sporting Armani and Valentino on the pages of Vogue before she knew it. Shortly thereafter she moved to New York City and then Los Angeles, where she began her acting career in a few of her father’s films. Her first gig didn’t even feature her face—she was a “hand double” for Deborah Kerr in the 1967 version of Casino Royale. Two years later, her first credited role occurred in John Huston’s A Walk with Love and Death, in which Anjelica plays Claudia, a 14th-century noblewoman who falls in love with a revolutionary in Paris.

It wasn’t long before she branched out into roles in other directors’ films, working with Bob Rafelson—and meeting Jack Nicholson—on the set of his steamy remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and showing up in Rob Reiner’s music-industry spoof This Is Spinal Tap (1984).

She reunited with Nicholson and her father a few years later for his 1985 gangster comedy Prizzi’s Honor. Playing Maerose Prizzi, Anjelica demanded attention in every scene as the shunned daughter of a powerful Mafia Don, combining a perfect Brooklyn accent with a bold, glamorous presence and undeniable strength. She received the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress, making her the third generation in her family to win, her father and grandfather having won for 1949’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Two years later she would star in her father’s last film, The Dead, a James Joyce adaptation in which her role as a woman reminiscing about her deceased young lover won her the Independent Spirit Award.

With each successive role, her ability to evoke in each character a specific edge and self-assertive femininity was made powerfully apparent. In the years that followed, she worked alongside such respected directors as Nicolas Roeg, Stephen Frears, Woody Allen, and Wes Anderson. Every role she touched was made instantly iconic: the terrifying Grand High Witch in Roeg’s adaption of Roald Dahl’s The Witches (1990); the intense, manipulative con-artist mother-

from-hell in The Grifters; everyone’s favorite gothic matriarch Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993); and the proud mother of a stylish yet dysfunctional household in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). The addition of her name to any cast has meant the promise of a fierce backbone for the film.

In 1996 the actress tried her hand at directing with Bastard Out of Carolina, a drama based on Dorothy Allison’s novel about a young girl dealing with abuse, earning her an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Directing of a Miniseries or Special. She has returned to the director’s chair twice more since: in 1999 with the romantic comedy Agnes Browne (in which she also starred), and in 2005 with the adaptation of Rachel Simon’s memoir Riding the Bus with My Sister, starring Rosie O’Donnell and Andie MacDowell.

Beyond the realm of movies, Anjelica has acted on several television shows—including the “Mists of Avalon” miniseries, “Medium,” the cult TV musical “Smash,” and Amazon’s awardwinning “Transparent”—and has lent her voice to the Disney

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

Trouble (2017)

“Transparent” (TV Series 2015-16)

“Smash” (TV Series 2012-13)

50/50 (2011)

Choke (2008)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Art School Confidential (2006)

Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

Blood Work (2002)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

“The Mists Of Avalon” (TV Series 2001)

Agnes Browne (1999)

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

Buffalo ’66 (1998)

Tinkerbell movies and children’s shows “All Hail King Julian” and “Trollhunters.” She has also authored two memoirs: “A Story Lately Told,” which chronicles the first two decades of her life growing up in Ireland and England, and “Watch Me,” which details her beginnings in Hollywood and her turbulent relationship with Nicholson.

An outspoken political and human-rights activist, Anjelica has led letter campaigns to the UN dealing with civil-rights issues, and is also a spokesperson for PETA—rallying specifically against the use of real apes in the media. She was named PETA Person of the Year in 2012.

We celebrate Anjelica Huston today as a revered actress and a woman of many accolades and achievements. She co-produced and stars alongside Bill Pullman and David Morse in director Theresa Rebeck’s indie family drama Trouble, in which she and Pullman play feuding siblings and Morse their close friend. Trouble will have its world premiere at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival.

Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)

The Perez Family (1995)

The Crossing Guard (1995)

Addams Family Values (1993)

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

The Addams Family (1991)

The Grifters (1990)

The Witches (1990)

Enemies: A Love Story (1989)

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

The Dead (1987)

Prizzi’s Honor (1985)

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

A Walk with Love and Death (1969)

Trouble USA 2017

Encore Film Screenings

JUNE

SATURDAY,

The Grifters USA 1990

The Witches USA 1990

Tribute Presentation and Film Screening

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Anjelica Huston and Bill Pullman star as a feuding brother and sister and David Morse is an old friend caught in the middle in this dramatic comedy from writer/director Theresa Rebeck, creator of the hit TV series “Smash.”

(d: Theresa Rebeck c: Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman, David Morse, Julia Stiles, USA 2017, 100 min)

Anjelica Huston received her third Academy Award® nomination for her blistering performance as the hard-as-nails estranged mother of a small-time con man in Stephen Frears’ seductive neo-noir based on the classic pulp novel by Jim Thompson.

(d: Stephen Frears c: Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening, Jan Munroe, Robert Weems, USA 1990, 110 min)

A young boy and his grandmother uncover a scheme by the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) to turn all children into mice. Based on the beloved book by Roald Dahl and produced by Jim Henson, The Witches is a deliciously twisted tale for children and parents alike. Rated PG.

(d: Nicolas Roeg c: Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jasen Fisher, Rowan Atkinson, USA 1990, 91 min)

SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 1:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY,

8, 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

JUNE 10, 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE CINEMAS

AN AFTERNOON WITH SAM

ELLIOTT

SATURDAY, MAY 27, 4:00 PM, SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

He of the gruff baritone voice and the luxuriant mustache, Sam Elliott is the quintessential portrait of the American cowboy, a quality he’s drawn on since he first appeared onscreen in the 1969 Oscar® winner Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From Tombstone to Gettysburg, The Big Lebowski to Mask, Road House to Thank You for Smoking to Grandma, ad campaigns for Coors and the American Beef Council, and TV work ranging from “Mission: Impossible” to “Justified,” his rugged, commanding presence is an unmistakable gift to American pop culture and any genre lucky enough to have him. SIFF will welcome him to the stage for an interview featuring film clips from his career, followed by a screening of Elliott’s latest film, The Hero, directed by Brett Haley. There will also be an opportunity for audience questions following the screening.

The Hero USA 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 28, 1:45PM

Sam Elliott re-teams with director Brett Haley (I’ll See You in My Dreams) in a tailor-made showcase as an aging Western actor and “sad old pothead” whose cancer diagnosis leads him to re-examine his past, contemplate his legacy, and maybe make a few new friends.

(d: Brett Haley c: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman, Katharine Ross, USA 2017, 93 min)

ENCORE SCREENING

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF + TRUE PRODUCTIONS DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS GRANT PROGRAM

Two $50,000 filmmaking grants have been awarded in the 2016 SIFF + True Productions Documentary Filmmakers Grant program: Amanda Bailly‘s 8 Borders, 8 Days and Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s Sweetheart Deal.

True Productions founder Dwayne Clark and his wife Terese Clark have generously pledged to underwrite an annual $50,000 grant for three years and helped secure an additional $50,000 award from Áegis Living for the past two funding cycles.

SIFF has long supported the filmmaking ecosystem by providing a platform for filmmakers to debut their work from around the world. We are humbled by the generosity of Dwayne and Terese Clark, True Productions, and Áegis Living and their commitment to nurture filmmakers with the vital financial support these grants will provide. Exceptional films now have the opportunity to be fully realized and to be successfully launched into the world.

ABOUT THE 2017 GRANTING CYCLE:

In 2017, with the support of the Clark Family Legacy Foundation and Áegis Living, two grants of $50,000 each will be awarded through the SIFF + True Productions Documentary Filmmakers Grant program. These grants will significantly assist filmmakers working on these challenging topics to bring their work to the public eye.

More information about the 2017 granting cycle will be available in July and can be found on SIFF.net.

8 Borders, 8 Days

Putting a human face on the Syrian refugee crisis, this perceptive documentary chronicles a determined single mother and her two young children who, after being denied resettlement in the U.S., stage a dangerous escape across the sea on an inflatable raft. (d: Amanda Bailly, Lebanon/USA 2017, 61 min)

SATURDAY, MAY 20, 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A Closer Look at Sweetheart Deal

special festival forum event

Sweetheart Deal examines the lives of four women grappling with addiction on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue. The harrowingly intimate story presents unique challenges for Impact producer Tracy Rector, as she works to craft a meaningful outreach program that engages audiences without whitewashing the daily horrors of lives ruled by heroin. (d: Elisa Levine, Gabriel Miller, USA 2017)

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2:30 PM  SIFF LOUNGE

OFFICIAL COMPETITION

With work spanning the world from Italy to China, the themes and perspectives of SIFF’s Official Competition travel the gamut of emotion and place.

From stories of personal rebellion (Tunisia’s Hedi, Georgia’s My Happy Family) to the tall tale of a Russian zoo administrator who discovers she has grown a tail (Zoology), the eight films in the Official Competition highlight the power of individuals finding their place in the world.

Including a poignant social thriller about Italian female factory workers (7 Minutes) and a grim animated noir from China (Have a Nice Day), these films represent some of the Festival’s best, and should be at the top of your movie-watching lists.

Juried by a team of international industry members, the winner of the Official Competition will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $5,000.

7 Minutes

Italy/France/Switzerland 2016

north american premiere

Director: Michele Placido

Bad Influence

Chile 2016

Director: Claudia Huaiquimilla

Beach Rats

USA 2017

Director: Eliza Hittman

Have a Nice Day

China/Hong Kong 2017

north american premiere

Director: Liu Jian

Hedi

Tunisia/Belgium/France/Qatar/UAE 2016

Director: Mohamed Ben Attia

My Happy Family

Georgia/Germany/France 2017

Director: Nana Ekvtimishvili

Sami Blood

Sweden/Norway/Denmark 2016

Director: Amanda Kernell

Zoology

Russia/France/Germany 2016

Director: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

NEW AMERICAN CINEMA COMPETITION

When we begin our programming selection process in the fall, the team looks in awe at the sheer volume of films by independent American filmmakers, a category that fields the largest number of submissions by far. Alas, we can only select a fraction to take to the finals, but the heavy competition leads to a truly remarkable collective output of U.S. independents.

Each of these films may not currently have a distributor, but they have a champion on the programming team; someone who fought to have it included in the group that we would eventually present to our audience as the best and brightest work of our country’s filmmakers. Spanning a range of genres employing innovative storytelling devices and each representing the directors’ feature film debut, these are stories from both coasts and everything in between: a haunting family saga set in rural Kentucky; a portrait of a 1970s seaside commune; a drama about a firstgeneration Nigerian-American on Wall Street; a sweet and subtle drama set against the unique modern architecture of Columbus, Indiana; and a cross-country folkmusic trip during a time of national tragedy. Join us on our journey into storytelling in its most modern, dynamic, and engaging form: the moving image.

The New American Cinema jury consists of members of the FIPRESCI. The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $5,000.

American Folk

USA 2017

Director: David Heinz

Columbus USA 2017

Director: Kogonada

Dara Ju

USA/Nigeria 2017

Director: Anthony Onah

The Feels

USA 2017

world premiere

Director: Jenée LaMarque

In the Radiant City

USA 2016

Director: Rachel Lambert

The Landing

USA 2016

Directors: Mark Dodson, David Dodson

Lane 1974

USA 2017

Director: SJ Chiro

Say You Will

USA 2017

world premiere

Director: Nick Naveda

NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION

Be at the cutting edge of world cinema and take a little risk in your viewing. This year, 10 new international voices have been selected for SIFF’s New Directors Competition. To qualify, the films must be dramatic features, a director’s debut or second feature, and without U.S. distribution at the time of SIFF selection. The films are chosen for their original scripts, innovative cinematography, and unique insights into people, places, and story.

From Cambodia to France, from New Zealand to Kenya, and a rare film from Moldova, these are films that expand the cinematic palate in inventive ways. An ex-con returns to his working-class Rome suburb with dreams of improving his family’s life in I Was a Dreamer. A Kenyan woman finds herself in a mysterious wilderness lodge, trapped somewhere between life and death, in Kati Kati. Three women try to balance their personal lives with the male-dominated world of international politics in the feminist satire Boundaries. A hapless middle-aged suit is sent to oversee the building of a South American ski resort in the slapstick comedy Struggle for Life. And in Diamond Island, an 18-year-old rural boy moves to Phnom Penh for work and is seduced by the city’s vibrant nightlife scene.

The New Directors jury comprises film industry professionals and journalists who 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 $5,000.

Anishoara

Germany/Moldova 2016

Director: Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu

Boundaries

Canada (Québec) 2016

Director: Chloé Robichaud

Diamond Island

Cambodia/France/Germany 2016

Director: Davy Chou

The Inland Road

New Zealand 2017

north american premiere

Director: Jackie van Beek

I Was a Dreamer

Italy 2016

north american premiere

Director: Michele Vannucci

Kati Kati

Kenya/Germany 2016

Director: Mbithi Masya

The Man

Denmark 2017

Director: Charlotte Sieling

Paris Prestige

France 2016

north american premiere

Directors: Hamé Bourokba, Ekoué Labitey

Quit Staring At My Plate

Croatia/Denmark 2016

us premiere

Director: Hana Jušić

Struggle for Life

Belgium/France 2016

Director: Antonin Peretjatko

IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION

Ibero-American cinema continues to be one of the most productive, creative, and sought-after film cultures in the world. Today, films from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal are present in every major film festival, garnering critical acclaim, media attention, the most coveted awards, and the passionate admiration of audiences across the globe.

The Ibero-American Competition was created to highlight the strength, creativity, and influence of storytelling in the region.

A tender coming-of-age drama, a powerful study of the effects of violence, an intimate look at the creative process within a searing love story, and a poignant tale of survival against the unforgiving forces of nature are some of the subjects tackled in this year’s eight narrative features and documentaries from countries as diverse as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Spain, all selected for the competition.

A jury comprising renowned film-industry professionals and journalists will be responsible for selecting the winning film. The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $2,500.

Chameleon

Chile 2016

north american premiere

Director: Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Devil’s Freedom

Mexico 2017

us premiere

Director: Everardo González

May God Save Us

Spain 2016

Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Pendular

Brazil/Argentina/France 2017

Director: Julia Murat

Santa & Andres

Cuba/Colombia/France 2016

Director: Carlos Lechuga

Two Irenes

Brazil 2017

north american premiere

Director: Fabio Meira

The Winter

Argentina/France 2016

Director: Emiliano Torres

Woodpeckers

Dominican Republic 2017

Director: José María Cabral

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 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 nine films in this year’s Documentary Competition, which explore everything from dance (Roberto Bolle–The Art of Dance) to interstellar travel (The Farthest) and from deeply researched investigations into environmental disasters (What Lies Upstream) to personal profiles both national (The Reagan Show) and international (Winnie, Close Relations, Becoming Who I Was).

The winner will be announced at the Golden Space Needle Awards and receive a cash prize of $5,000.

Becoming Who I Was

South Korea 2016

us premiere

Directors: Moon Chang-yong, Jin Jeon

The Farthest

Ireland 2017

Director: Emer Reynolds

Ghost Hunting

Palestine/France/Switzerland 2016

us premiere

Director: Raed Andoni

The Reagan Show

USA 2017

Directors: Pacho Velez, Sierra Pettengill

Roberto Bolle–The Art of Dance Italy 2016

north american premiere

Director: Francesca Pedroni

Rodnye (Close Relations)

Germany/Latvia/Estonia/Ukraine 2016

us premiere

Director: Vitaly Mansky

Those Who Remain

Lebanon/UAE 2016

north american premiere

Director: Eliane Raheb

What Lies Upstream

USA 2017

Director: Cullen Hoback

Winnie

France/Netherlands/South Africa 2017

Director: Pascale Lamche

AT

BOULART,

WE’RE ALWAYS READY FOR OUR

CLOSE-UP

BOULART is a proud sponsor of the 43rd Seattle International Film Festival

Find BOULART’s amazing breads at Whole Foods, select QFCs and gourmet independant grocers, including Kress and Camano Plaza IGAs and Shoreline Thriftway.

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 itself. Whether they embody 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 imaginative possibilities of the form. While these films may be onscreen for mere moments, they make lasting impressions.

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

Our Shorts Competition jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each Grand Jury Prize winner will receive $2,500; winners may also qualify to enter their respective Short Film category of the Academy Awards® for the concurrent season without the theatrical run.

2016 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE & JURY AWARDS

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AUDIENCE AWARDS

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Film

Captain Fantastic

USA | 2016 | 120 minutes | Matt Ross. Viggo Mortensen stars in a heartfelt story of unconventional family values as the devoted father of a brood of six who live off the grid in the wilds of Washington state, until events lead them back to the outside world for the first time in decades.

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Documentary

Gleason

USA | 2016 | 110 minutes | Clay Tweel A bold and moving portrait of beloved New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who at age 34 was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease and courageously filmed his journey for the public eye.

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Director

Spy Time

Spain | 2015 | 87 minutes | Javier Ruiz Caldera. In this rollicking sendup of 1960s spy films, sad-sack Adolfo is targeted by a group of thugs, leading him to discover that his sausage-maker father is actually a brilliant secret agent. Adapted from the classic Spanish comic strip by Manuel Vásquez Gallego.

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Actress: Vicky Hernandez

Between Sea and Land

Colombia | 2016 | 98 minutes | Manolo Cruz, Carlos del Castillo. This breathtaking tour de force is the tender story of a young man in a small Colombian village who may be immobile due to a neurological disorder, but is unbound in spirit.

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Actor: Rolf Lassgard

A Man Called Ove

Sweden/Norway | 2015 | 116 minutes | Hannes Holm. Based on the bestselling novel, Sweden’s biggest hit of the year is an endearing, crowd-pleasing, and wonderfully curmudgeonly comedy about a grumpy old man who finds his caustic view of the world put to the test when a new family moves in next door.

GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARD | Best Short Film

Alive & Kicking: The Soccer Grannies of South Africa

USA/South Africa | 2016 | 20 minutes | Lara-Ann de Wet. Watch as this village’s elderly women lace up their cleats and start kicking their way to a better life.

LENA SHARPE AWARD FOR PERSISTENCE OF VISION

The IF Project

USA | 2016 | 88 minutes | Kathlyn Horan. A compassionate Seattle police officer creates a unique writing program along with a group of inmates at a maximum-security women’s prison, challenging them to answer a simple question with a difficult answer: What if things had been different?

JURY AWARDS

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Official Competition

FUTUREWAVE YOUTH JURY AWARD

Girl Asleep

Australia | 2016 | 77 minutes | Rosemary Myers. Journey into the absurd, scary, and beautiful heart of a teenage girl’s mind after a disastrous 15th-birthday party sends Greta Driscoll into an imaginative dreamworld that is weirdly erotic, a little bit violent, and thoroughly ludicrous.

GRAND JURY PRIZE | New Directors Competition

Sand Storm

Israel/France | 2016 | 87 minutes | Elite Zexer. Two Bedouin women, a teenager and her mother, dare to defy polygamist marital traditions in southern Israel.

GRAND JURY PRIZE | New American Cinema Competition

Middle Man

USA | 2016 | 102 minutes | Ned Crowley. This hilarious and thrilling Coen Brothers-esque comedy of errors introduces a hapless wannabe comedian (Jim O’Heir, “Parks and Recreation”) who finds himself caught up in a desert killing spree with an unexpected consequence—it greatly improves his stand-up.

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Documentary Award

Death By a Thousand Cuts

Dominican Republic/Haiti/USA | 2015 | 75 minutes | Juan Mejia Botero, Jake Kheel. The violently charged relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti when it comes to natural resources is analyzed through the murder investigation of a Dominican park ranger by a Haitian charcoal producer.

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Ibero-American Competition

You’ll Never Be Alone

Chile | 2016 | 81 minutes | Alex Anwandter. When his cross-dressing teenage son suffers a brutally violent attack, a mannequin-factory manager desperately seeks help and, when none can be found, is forced to take matters into his own hands.

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Best Short: Live Action

Killer

USA | 2016 | 20 minutes | Matt Kazman. When Dusty masturbates for the first time, something terrible happens . . .

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Best Short: Animation

Carlo

Italy | 2015 | 12 minutes | Ago Panini. Will Carlo’s new found love for his office colleague mean the end of the world?

GRAND JURY PRIZE | Best Short: Documentary

These C*cksucking Tears

USA | 2016 | 16 minutes | Dan Taberski. The gritty, uncompromising voice behind the first openly gay country-music album—40 years after its release.

FILMS4FAMILIES YOUTH JURY AWARD

Oddball

Australia | 2015 | 93 minutes | Stuart McDonald. When a wild penguin sanctuary is threatened by hungry foxes, their only chance for survival might be an eccentric chicken farmer and his mischievous sheepdog.

AFRICAN PICTURES

African Pictures showcases the best filmmaking happening in and about Africa today. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to experience innovative and inspiring filmmaking from across the continent.

Even as the ramifications of the Arab Spring continue to unfold across North Africa, so too do they reverberate in the region’s filmmaking. Hedi tells the story of a Tunisian salesman who meets a free-spirited adventurer, inspiring him to stage his own personal rebellion. The Nile Hilton Incident is a sexy thriller tackling both personal and systemic corruption on the eve of the protests in Tahrir Square. Investigating Paradise strikes its own revolutionary note, interrogating Salafist propaganda about the afterlife.

The wealth of storytelling from sub-Saharan Africa celebrates diverse cultures across the subcontinent. A young transit worker realizes that his knowledge of the industry makes him perfect for drug trafficking in Wùlu (Senegal). Apolline Traoré’s Borders (Burkina Faso) follows four women on a perilous bus journey across West Africa In Kati Kati (Kenya), a young woman arrives in a wilderness lodge that exists somewhere between life and death. Experience the colorful chaos of a Nigerian wedding in the crowd-pleasing comedy The Wedding Party. Last but not least, celebrate South African activism with an incredible documentary portrait of Winnie Mandela in Winnie, and the true-life dramatic intensity of the story of Solomon Mahlangu in Kalushi

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

Borders

Hedi

Investigating Paradise

Kalushi

Kati Kati

The Nile Hilton Incident

The Wedding Party

Winnie

Wùlu

ALTERNATE CINEMA

This year’s films in this section not only aim to alter how you look at the world, but to make you think.

For example, Manifesto features Cate Blanchett in 13 different roles performing monologues and dialogues based on 13 famous political and artistic manifestos, from “The Communist Manifesto” through Futurism and Surrealism all the way to the filmmakers of Dogme 95. Through stunning performances as a puppeteer or scientist or CEO or tattooed punk, she gives a new context for these “old” manifestos and makes them contemporary again.

Director Selma Doborac also finds a way to inject humor into a subject that, on the surface, has very little. Her experimental documentary Those Shocking Shaking Days is a movie about war movies. Instead of trying to capture the feeling of war through graphic images and first-hand accounts, she strips the emotion out by asking you, the audience member in the theater, different questions about how you react to different tropes in war documentaries. She does this with text on screen intercut with images of abandoned buildings, then eventually questions her own approach.

Another look into the past comes courtesy of Bill Morrison, whose Dawson City: Frozen Time captures the history of a Gold Rush town in the Yukon from boom to bust through a treasure trove of silent films that were dug up in an old swimming pool. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Finally, explore the split screens, cinematic collage, and formal experimentation that draw you deep into the medium of film itself with this year’s ALT Shorts package.

Dawson City: Frozen Time Manifesto

Those Shocking Shaking Days

ALT Shorts:

All Flesh Is Grass

Antarctica

Best of Luck With the Wall

A City in Four Parts

A DAD

Duwamish Song

Edge of Alchemy

A Hard World for Little Things

Spaceships and Timemachines

Tri-Alogue #3

Vengeance

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.

With 1930’s Animal Crackers, the Marx Brothers wreak havoc upon society’s good graces in this timeless pre-Code comedy in a screening presented by “Marxist” expert and author Robert S. Bader. Go back to 1916 with The Dumb Girl of Portici, featuring prima ballerina Anna Pavlova in her only film role in the first blockbuster film from a female director. In the world of musicals, drag performer Robbie Turner will present a special screening of Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, while audiences can transport back to the Yukon Gold Rush with the 1953 musical Those Redheads from Seattle in 3D.

From overseas we have The Marseille Trilogy, French playwright Marcel Pagnol’s epic love story that unfolds across a generation, a veritable seminar in early French cinema and the vibrant pageant of working-class life at a bustling Mediterranean seaport. From 1931 China, we have the once-thought-lost Love and Duty, one of the biggest films of its time now accompanied by a live score performed by Donald Sosin. From Britain, the Merchant-Ivory gem Maurice is presented in a 4k restoration for the first time, and from Iran, we offer the 20th anniversary screening of Taste of Cherry, a Palme d’Or winner from director Abbas Kiarostami.

Animal Crackers

Brainstorm

Cabaret

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Dumb Girl of Portici

The Grifters

Love and Duty

The Marseille Trilogy: Marius

The Marseille Trilogy: Fanny

The Marseille Trilogy: César

Maurice

Taste of Cherry

Those Redheads From Seattle in 3D

The Witches

Wall to Wall Creativity

Look beyond the walls of Hong Kong’s famous sk yscrapers to see a Hong Kong with wall-to -wall creativit y From street ar t to fine ar t, fashion to furniture de sign, game animation to film production, music, theatre, dance and more. This is the vibrant creative hub that is OUR HONG KONG Why not make it yours?

M or e O URHO N G KO N G s t o ri e s a t ww w.b r a n d h k . g o v.h k

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco www hketosf gov hk

ASIAN CROSSROADS

This year’s Asian Crossroads represents several Asian countries, showcasing small villages and big, booming metropolises with equal excitement.

In a town on the edge of bustling Tokyo, a small-time detective desperately tries to reconcile with his estranged family by inviting them to a low-key dinner. The evening quickly becomes more of a therapy session than anticipated when a surprise typhoon traps them all together for an explosive night that will hopefully end in forgiveness in After the Storm. An Australian couple works on the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway and the first-aid stations along the railway that were essential in providing health care and assistance to workers in The Beautiful Kokonor Lake. We look further back to learn about the life of Li LangAi, a female film producer on the first Academy Award®-winning documentary, Kukan. This groundbreaking movie outlined the Chinese WWII effort and illustrated war-torn China after Japanese attacks in a way no one had ever seen before—and in Robin Lung’s documentary Finding KUKAN, we explore the background of its mysterious female project leader. Escaping the realistic atrocities of war, Vampire Cleanup Department gives us something a bit more lighthearted to sink our teeth into, telling the story of a young man immune to vampire attacks who joins a supernatural janitorial team in Hong Kong. A Cantonese street chef and Michelinstar-awarded restaurateur compete in a cooking competition in the documentary Cook Up a Storm, and the historical structure of family is dissected in Emma’ (Mother) and Ma’ Rosa, set in Indonesia and the Philippines respectively.

We encourage you to take this journey across these Asian countries to discover the cultural and historical background of these faraway worlds, taste some food, hear some music, and clean up after some vampire attacks.

After the Storm

The Beautiful Kokonor Lake

Becoming Who I Was

By the Time It Gets Dark

Chronicles of Hari

Come, Together

Cook Up a Storm

Diamond Island

The Door

Emma’ (Mother)

Finding KUKAN

Free and Easy

God of War

Godspeed

Have a Nice Day

Knife in the Clear Water

Love and Duty

Ma’ Rosa

Mr. Long

The Net

Newton

She’s the Boss

The Song of Cotton

Soul on a String

Suffering of Ninko

Tea Pets

Vampire Cleanup Department

White Sun

Yourself and Yours

CHINA STARS

SIFF is proud to present the second year of our China Stars Showcase during the 43rd annual Seattle International Film Festival, with support from WASA North America Group and Hainan Airlines.

Collaborating with WASA North America Group to foster cross-cultural exchange and artistic vision, we are pleased to present 10 feature films from mainland China. SIFF also reached out to the Beijing Film Academy, and we are thrilled to present five short films from BFA students. These films will play prior to the Chinese feature films, and show the creativity of the student filmmakers.

This year we are pleased to announce our inaugural China Stars awards. On Friday, June 9 at the Pan Pacific Hotel, SIFF will honor the talented Yi Qin with a Lifetime Achievement Award; we will present the Director of The Door, Dong Liang, with our China Stars Emerging Artist Award, and SIFF will present the China Stars Film Award to Wanda Films.

The SIFF China Stars showcase series is curated in part by Mr. Eugene Zhang of WASA North American Group, China Stars program curatorial and jury consultant.

Hainan Airlines is proud to partner with SIFF and welcomes you to enjoy its world-class service to visit China. Flying nonstop to Beijing and Shanghai, Hainan Airlines can take you all over China. Smiles greet you as you board, then dine on Western or Chinese cuisine and enjoy personalized in-flight entertainment. Business-class passengers have the option to dine when they wish, request bed turndown service, or sample a selection of brewed coffees or teas—and relax in Hainan Airlines’ private limo service in Seattle and in China. And everyone can accrue or redeem Alaska MileagePlus™ elitequalifying miles when flying Hainan.

China Stars Awards 2017

Lifetime Achievement: Yi Qin

Emerging Talent: Dong Liang

Film Award: Wanda Films

Feature Films:

The Beautiful Kokonor Lake

The Door

Free and Easy

God of War

Have a Nice Day

Knife in the Clear Water

Love and Duty

The Song of Cotton

Soul on a String

Tea Pets

Short films from the Beijing Film Academy:

Bloom

Elephant King

Free Throw Line

I Come From Prairie

The Sea

CULINARY CINEMA

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

Let’s get introduced to some of the best and brightest chefs around the world— from first-time restaurant openers Aaron Silverman and Frank Linn in Washington, D.C. (New Chefs on the Block) to Restaurant Magazine’s “Best Restaurant in the World” award-winners the Roca Brothers (The Turkish Way). Whether they’re just laying the foundation for an innovative pizzeria or an accessible fine-dining parlor, we’re ready to experience it all. Whom will you root for in a neck-and-neck culinary competition between a Cantonese street chef and a Michelin-star-awarded restaurateur (Cook Up a Storm)? Are you ready to soak in the entire experience of eating authentic Mexican food, rich with history and culture (Lives with Flavor), or take a trip with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon to Spain for some fine dining (The Trip to Spain)? Speaking of cultures, grab a beer and learn about the process of fermentation (Fermented), then later open your mind to both sides of the GMO argument (Food Evolution).

This year SIFF is definitely going to take you on some tasty journeys, and you better bet your belly (and mind!) are going to be full by the end of it!

Fermented

Kakehashi:

A Portrait of Chef Nobuo Fukuda

Lives with Flavor

New Chefs on the Block

Cook Up a Storm

Food Evolution

The Trip to Spain

The Turkish Way

EMOCIÓN PURA: CINEMA FROM SPAIN

Spain is a mosaic of distinct geographies, rich histories, enchanting sounds, and delicious flavors. The stories that this culturally rich nation produces every year fascinate with the power of their drama, their uncompromised visions, the insightful portrayal of the human soul, and a captivating sensuality that we have come to love.

Fifteen Spanish films, including features, documentaries, and short films and featuring seasoned directors alongside a new generation of storytellers, continue in their exploration of the Spanish soul while creating cinematic bridges with other cultures. Psychological thrillers, children’s adventures, detective dramas, culinary trips, love stories, and animated tales: With the vast curiosity and imagination of these filmmakers, anything and everything is possible. Sit down, get comfortable, and let this tapestry of visually arresting and emotionally stirring stories sweep you away, Spanish-style!

Feature Films:

At the End of the Tunnel

The Bar

May God Save Us

The Turkish Way

Zip & Zap and the Captain’s Island

Short Films:

7 Beds

Arpeggio

Dead Horses

Drifting Away

Einstein-Rosen

MOTHERDAUGHTERSISTER

The Ogre

Real Men Don’t Cry

Sleepover

The Stunt Manual

FACE THE MUSIC

Four out of five SIFF programmers agree that regular exposure to music and film are essential to your overall well-being. With that in mind, this year’s Face the Music program has been specifically designed to provide a holistic regimen for your audio-visual health.

You won’t have to leave town to learn about local musician Bill Frisell, a champion against defining labels with his genre-defying blend of jazz-rock-Americana-folk, who shows off his impressive guitar collection at his Bainbridge Island home (Bill Frisell, A Portrait). We all know that film and music go hand in hand, something that rings truest when watching Chavela, a doc on the Mexican music icon Chavela Vargas, who, with help from famed film director Pedro Almodóvar, staged a glorious comeback at the age of 72. Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall tells the story of a YouTube sensation, recording artist, and Broadway star who, inspired by Beyonce’s perfect visual album “Lemonade” and the Diana Ross-led musical “The Wiz,” decides to complete an ambitious original stage production entitled “Straight Outta Oz.” Are you ready to rumble? Learn about the Indigenous influence on pop culture and modern musicians with Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, a rock-doc outlining the many deep-rooted contributions Native Americans have made to modern American music. Watch Give Me Future and shake your booty with 500,000 other fans to the electronic dance music trio Major Lazer at their iconic Havana concert; then learn about the highs and lows of tour life by falling in love On the Road with a docudrama about the rock band Wolf Alice. You’re going to want to end your night at our ’80s teen-movie/high-school reunion themeddance, or experience John Barrymore’s first virtuoso performance as the visionary scientist who separates his good and evil personalities in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, featuring a live soundtrack by Austin-based rock band The Invincible Czars.

After all this musical stimulation, we at SIFF think you’ll be sleeping like a log— though it might be a while before your feet stop tapping to the beat.

Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall

Bill Frisell, A Portrait

Chavela

Give Me Future

A Life in Waves

On the Road

The Paris Opera

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World

The ’80s Teen Movie High School Reunion

Puget Soundtracks presents Prom Queen

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with live soundtrack by The Invincible Czars

LATIN-AMERICAN CINEMA

Latin-American cinema is nurtured by a vast diversity, a unique history, and a long, rich tradition of storytelling. Its powerful documentaries and works of fiction have always been fantastic, with larger-than-life themes, characters, and legends igniting our imaginations, our senses, and our emotions.

From this region, young up-and-coming filmmakers join established directors to defy stereotypes and expand the notion of what a film is, tackling well-established genres and producing both opulent and minimalist works driven by deeply personal visions—even questioning reality itself. Their brilliance consistently brings us uncompromising, thought-provoking, and highly entertaining stories.

Following another stellar year for Latin-American cinema, SIFF 2017 is proud to present films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Mexico, many enjoying their U.S. and North American premieres. Dive into these powerful visions and enjoy the vitality of modern Latin-American cinema through these 18 films.

500 Years

Bad Influence

Chameleon

Chavela

Devil’s Freedom

Divine Divas

Endless Poetry

The Grown-Ups

I Dream in Another Language

Lives with Flavor

No Dress Code Required

The Ornithologist

Pendular

Santa & Andres

Terror 5

Two Irenes

The Winter Woodpeckers

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES BEST

NORTHWEST CONNECTIONS

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 as an evocative location for outside filmmakers or as inspiration for local filmmakers ready to strut their stuff.

With Bill Frisell, A Portrait, hang out with the normally reclusive Grammywinning guitarist and Seattle native as he steps out of the shadows for a layered exploration of his life, work, and collaborative process. Enter the octagon with The Cage Fighter, a gripping observational portrayal of blue-collar Washington family man Joe Carman who, despite his family’s protests, keeps returning to the world of mixed martial arts in an effort to defeat his inner demons. And with Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey, join the gruff, rebellious 93-year-old mountain climber throughout the world as he searches for the next peak to conquer.

Some people go to the movies to escape reality, and for you, we have a bevy of stories filmed or set in our beautiful Pacific Northwest. Join the Rocketmen, an FDR-era band of jet-powered heroes tasked with protecting the city from Communist invasions and giant robots. See a riotous Gold Rush 3D musical from 1953 with Those Redheads From Seattle, which originally premiered at the Paramount Theatre. And in Lane 1974, experience this portrait of a young girl on the outskirts of ’70s counterculture in Northern California.

Feature Films

Bill Frisell, A Portrait

The Cage Fighter

Crazywise

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

Lane 1974

Pow Wow

Rocketmen

Those Redheads From Seattle in 3D Wallflower

Short Films

#FilmInWA (Short Film Program)

8:AM

Adija

Airship Serenity (FutureWave)

All Flesh is Grass

Antarctica

Aproximada

Arpeggio

The Art of Memories (FutureWave)

Breathe, Just Breathe

A City in Four Parts

The Devil Needs a Fix

Drawn & Recorded: Teen Spirit

Family Shadows (FutureWave)

The Fish Farmer

Ghosting the Party

The Hama Hama Way

The Hampton Family Massacre (FutureWave)

Haskell

Heart of Gold (FutureWave)

Ilaria

Infinity Hotel

Little Potato

Minor

Mixtape Marauders

One More Round

Short Changed

Tri-Alogue #3

WTF!—WILD, TITILLATING, AND FANTASTIC

Get ready to set sail on the ultimate WTF cruise into the weirdest, wildest corners of this spooky, slimy planet we call Earth—and even beyond the stratosphere.

Our first excursion visits the wide world of horrors, starting at L.A.’s hottest (and deadliest) new attraction, Escape Room, then embarking on a wilderness journey that takes us deep into mysterious Irish woods that are Without Name, followed by a stop at Finland’s picturesque Lake Bodom, where the local teens will recreate a grisly murder for your enjoyment. Next we trek to Argentina to experience the gruesome urban legends of Terror 5 before returning you to a comfy suburban neighborhood just in time for the ho-ho-home invasion of Better Watch Out. Pack your first-aid kit for our next voyage: a journey into the heart of gonzo action that begins in Uganda with the DIY Wakaliwood crowd-pleaser Bad Black, then plunges into the depths of South America (actually, a backyard in Houston) for the lost treasures of Jungle Trap, and ends in Japan just as the villainous aliens of Meatball Machine Kodoku turn humans into hyperviolent killing machines. For a truly out-of-this-world experience, journey to a distant planet filled with terrifying monsters to find The Osiris Child, then come down to Earth with the Apollo 18 space capsule for The Landing. Along the way, don’t forget to pamper yourself with a luxurious trip back in time to Japan’s Edo period for the erotic and psychedelic Suffering of Ninko

ALT Shorts (Short Film Program)

Animation4Adults (Short Film Program)

Bad Black

Better Watch Out

DIY Demonology (Short Film Program)

Escape Room

Jungle Trap

Lake Bodom

The Landing

Meatball Machine Kodoku

The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One

Small Town Killers

Suffering of Ninko

Terror 5

Without Name

WTF?! (Short Film Program)

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE SECRET FESTIVAL

Many have attended SIFF’s Secret Festival over the years, though few are aware of its dark and troubling origins. Six years ago, Professor Randolph Carter III, a noted anthropologist and film historian at Miskatonic University, went missing while researching the Secret Festival; his office in Arkham, Mass., vandalized; his papers destroyed. Nevertheless, a hitherto unknown cache of his writings was recently discovered among the personal effects of a deceased University of Washington professor, and these documents make for fascinating reading.

While the Secret Festival “began” at SIFF in 1983, Carter uncovered startling evidence that its foundations extend back into antiquity. More specifically, an early version of the Secret Festival is described in the pages of an obscure grimoire, the Cinenomicon1, a volume of esoteric and forbidden knowledge, supposedly written by a French thaumaturgical scholar, Zoetropos, about whom almost nothing is known. This early version of the Secret Festival, like its contemporary one, promised its attendees delirious revelries of ecstatic euphoria, sensory delights not found in the natural world, and other hidden but no less spectacular wonders to astonish the mind, body, and soul.

Much like the modern version of the Secret Festival, the deliverance of those promised delights hinged upon the attendees signing oaths of silence; however, in the ancient rite described, such oaths were marked in blood2. Participants who broke their blood vows invariably came to bizarre and horrendous ends.

Here, despite Professor Carter’s expert scholarship, his record offers only anecdotal evidence as to the punitive consequences meted. His papers relate, in grisly detail, horrifying accounts of supernatural retribution. For example, one unlucky individual was “ …seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses”; another account describes a hapless oath-breaker found turned to stone in a Gorgon-like manner, a look of sheer terror contorting his petrified features. Many more such incidents are described—all too gruesome to recount here.

Although Carter’s skepticism regarding such “superstitious nonsense” is palatable, his writings do show a considerable concern that the Secret Festival was too well-steeped in primeval occult traditions—a conflict within his brilliant mind of the “ …more things in heaven and earth” variety. His papers make clear an intent to resolve this tension by joining the Secret Festival and, in turn, testing its foremost taboo.

Initiation into the Secret Festival can be secured by purchasing a pass for either $55 (SIFF members) or $60 (non-members). Skeptics and believers alike should be extremely wary of revealing anything that they have seen; it is an entreaty I wish Professor Carter had observed himself.

1 Evidence has recently been uncovered that the Lumière Brothers consulted this curious volume in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris while developing their cinematograph.

2 According to Carter’s papers, SIFF stopped requiring blood oaths after the 1988 festival.

EDUCATION

Get to know the world of SIFF Education.

YOUTH

School Break Camps

SIFF Education hosts filmmaking camps for young filmmakers of all experience levels during select school breaks. Each multi-day camp is taught by a master film educator and multiple supporting mentors.

SIFF Youth Juries

SIFF Education annually selects seven children (ages 8-12) for our Films4Families Jury and seven teenagers (ages 13-18) for our FutureWave Jury.

Crash Kids & Crash Student

Crash Kids (ages 9-12) affords beginning to advanced youth the opportunity to work with a professional media educator for a daylong experience in filmmaking. In Crash Student (ages 13+), young filmmakers are assigned an experienced peer filmmaker from NFFTY and SIFF to produce a short film using randomly chosen creative elements.

FILM APPRECIATION

Cinema Dissection

Cinema Dissection is a monthly event that affords film lovers an exciting opportunity to dig deeper into the films that they love. Over six hours, an expert facilitator will share the stage with audience observations as they work scene-by-scene through a great film.

Appreciation Classes

At SIFF, film experts (often professors and critics) expand film experiences with a deeper appreciation on a wide variety of film-related topics. These classes may be single or multi-day opportunities to explore the films of specific filmmakers, genres, countries/continents, or historical periods.

FILMMAKERS

Catalyst Screenplay Competition

Now in its second year, SIFF’s Catalyst Screenplay Competition puts the writer, and their career, first by focusing on connecting strong scripts with independent directors and producers, all of whom are successful alumni of our SIFF New American Cinema programming.

Master Classes

Designed for industry insiders and other professionals, SIFF hosts visiting and local filmmakers for master classes that illuminate and inspire.

First Draft

First Draft is a free series that offers audiences a glimpse into the first stage of the creative development process via a live table read performed by professional Seattle actors.

EDUCATORS

Filmmaker Visits

Whenever possible, we coordinate filmmaker visits to classrooms and community organizations around Puget Sound. These filmmakers bring real-world application into the classroom, expanding learning outside the traditional school experience and providing role models for students of all ages. We work to pair filmmakers with classes that will be enhanced by their artistic area of expertise.

School Screenings

We have expanded our School Screenings program into year-round opportunities for school classes to realize cinema literacy into their curriculums.

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 2017 lineup, 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.

SIFF is also delighted to have the Films4Families Youth Jury back for SIFF 2017. Comprising seven elementary and middle-school youth, the jury will watch all 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 11, 2017.

Films4Families Jury: Aadarsh Rao, Aidan Silber, Gabe Schmitt, Gwyneth Ivy Cable, Isabel Shapiro, Lucia Kenney, and Mikaela K. Tallett.

Animal Crackers

USA 1930

Directed by Victor Heerman

In English. Recommended for all ages.

Captain Underpants:

The First Epic Movie

USA 2017

Directed by David Soren

In English. Rated PG.

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.

Recommended for ages 5 and up.

(Contains a short about a young girl writing letters to a grandparent who has passed, and a single short has minimal subtitles)

See page 137

Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess: Four Enchanting Tales*

France 2017

Directed by Michel Ocelot

In French with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

(Contains animated violence)

Napping Princess*

Japan 2017

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama

In Japanese with English subtitles.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

(Contains adult situations and animated violence)

Revolting Rhymes*

United Kingdom 2016

Directed by Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

In English. Recommended for ages 8 and up. (Contains coarse language and animated violence)

Swallows and Amazons*

United Kingdom 2016

Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe

In English. Recommended for ages 9 and up. (Contains tense situations and a gun is pointed at children)

Tea Pets*

China 2017

Directed by Gary Wang

In Chinese with English subtitles. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

(Contains animated violence and tense situations)

Zip & Zap and the Captain’s Island*

Spain 2016

Directed by Oskar Santos

In Spanish with English subtitles. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

(Contains fantasy violence and intense situations)

*Eligible for the Films4Families Jury Award.

ENGAGE. ACHIEVE.

Your dream is waiting

FUTUREWAVE FEATURES

FutureWave is the perfect way for high-school and college students to access the Festival. Amid hundreds of possible films to see, we have curated the perfect starting point for new audiences to explore something that may seem familiar but has surprising depth or unique creativity. Many of the films are stories about youth told with a vitality and style that will be a stepping stone to exploring more extraordinary films across the Festival.

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

For its ninth year, SIFF has selected a jury of seven high-school students to view the FutureWave feature films and award their favorite with the Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature.

FutureWave Jury: Brooks Bumstead, El Holzhauser, Ethan Major, Jadon Park, Maia Glass-Quicksall, Neba Khan, and Uriel Peizer

Bad Influence

Chile, 2016

Directed by Claudia Huaiquimilla

Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Diamond Island

France/Cambodia, 2016

Directed by Davy Chou

Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

FutureWave Shorts / Best of NFFTY

Directed by youth aged 18 and under

Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

Handsome Devil

Ireland, 2016

Directed by John Butler

Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Patti Cake$

USA, 2017

Directed by Geremy Jasper

Appropriate for ages 15 and up.

Pyromaniac

Norway, 2016

Directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg

Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Step

USA, 2017

Directed by Amanda Lipitz

Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

Time Trap

USA, 2017

Directed by Ben Foster and Mark Dennis

Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

Weirdos

Canada, 2016

Directed by Bruce McDonald

Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

FUTUREWAVE SHORTS AND BEST OF NFFTY

SIFF is proud to present FutureWave Shorts 2017, a program of new films created by talented filmmakers aged 18 years and younger who celebrate the art form’s creative possibilities.

For the fifth year, we are also showcasing a selection of the best films from the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), the largest youth film festival in the world, which is presented annually in Seattle.

The WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking will be presented to a film chosen in recognition of its artistic and technical achievement. This year, Amazon is proud to provide a $1,000 cash award for the WaveMaker Award recipient. The Prodigy Camp will also provide a scholarship to their week-long, immersive overnight film camp for youth aged 12-18, held in July.

MONDAY, MAY 29 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Airship Serenity

USA 2017, 2 minutes

Director: Alex Tanamura

16mm film strips are adorned with creative painting and scratching.

The Art of Memories*

USA 2017, 3 minutes

Director: Kate Graves

A short experimental film that uses an array of cinematic visuals to convey the complex feelings different memories bring up.

Atlas World*

Canada 2017, 7 minutes

Director: Morgana McKenzie

A malignant spirit forces a girl into a perilous journey through a watery underworld.

Battles

Canada 2016, 4 minutes

Director: Karen Pinette Fontaine

Everyone faces battles on personal and social fronts.

The Chatter Group of Moms and Grandmas

Taiwan 2017, 8 minutes

Directors: Chen Tse-Chien, Chien Po-Han, Hsu Yi-No, Lu Hsiang-Chen, Hsu Yao-Lin, Wu Yu-Ting

A local gathering place holds an important role in the community.

Family Shadows

USA 2016, 5 minutes

Director: Laura Malatos

As a boy grows into a man, he watches his father lose his memory.

Flightless

USA 2017, 3 minutes

Director: Sarah Fonville A young kestrel earns its wings.

The Hampton Family Massacre

USA 2017, 8 minutes

Director: Ben Schwartz A boy returns home and his parents are nowhere to be found.

Heart of Gold

USA 2016, 11 minutes

Director: Miles Andersen 18-year-old Bella Anderson attempts to stay positive as she waits for an organ donation that could potentially save her life.

Make It Float*

USA 2016, 6 minutes

Director: Bhawin Suchak

Taofeek Abijako’s cultural and family background influences the art that he produces and how he intends to leave his mark on the world.

The Missing Part of Me

USA 2016, 8 minutes

Directors: Elizabeth Hewlett

Feeling disconnected from her heritage, a young woman turns the camera on herself and discovers a sense of belonging while visiting distant relatives in Nicaragua.

The Petition

USA 2016, 8 minutes

Director: Kibiriti Majuto, Riley Goodwin Students investigate the growing societal rift surrounding a controversial statue.

Popped*

USA 2017, 4 minutes

Director: Leo Pfeifer

A young balloon falls in love, but his fairytale romance doesn’t go as planned.

The Race Project

USA 2016, 9 minutes

Director: Brianna Mutsindashyaka

The Buffalo Youth Media Institute interviews community members about their perspective and experiences with race.

SIFF EDUCATION: IN SCHOOL AND BEYOND…

SIFF Education offers youth and educators a direct link both to the festival and the local filmmaking community. Celebrating two complementary activities, film viewing and filmmaking, SIFF Education 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 visit siff.net/education or e-mail education@siff.net.

Filmmaker Visits:

Over 100 filmmakers visited schools in 2016—more than half of them during the Festival. SIFF brings many of these artists into classrooms across the academic spectrum to share their real-world experience and expand student engagement within their classroom curriculum.

School Screenings:

Films are carefully selected across 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.

Teacher Professional Development:

SIFF Education provides technical training to educators throughout Washington. In addition, we collaborate with other youth media-education organizations in providing year-round media-literacy workshops and support to teachers.

Crash Filmmaking Workshops:

SIFF’s Crash Filmmaking Workshops are movie production challenges, taking participants from concept to screening in one day. During Crash Kids (ages 9-12) and Crash Student (ages 13+) workshops, each group of five students is connected with a more experienced mentor. The objective of the Crash programs is to engage local youth, their families, and school filmmaking programs in a more meaningful and hands-on way with cinema.

School Break Camps:

SIFF Education hosts many camps during summer and other school breaks. Each week-long camp held expands students skills in crafts across the filmmaking spectrum. Taught by a master film educator and four supporting mentors, students receive a fun-filled week with multiple diverse film projects to share with family and friends.

4TH WORLD –INDIGENOUS MEDIA LAB

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 one’s own culture, a way of connecting with their communities and their elders, and a skill that can lead to a satisfying career in the creative industries.

Indigenous Media adds a new voice to the debate on Native, First Nations, Aboriginal, and Indigenous issues—what some call “diversifying the dialogue.” As many of these emerging filmmakers’ skills and commitment strengthen, they are increasingly seen as determined contributors and visionary creators.

In partnership with Longhouse Media, Indigenous Showcase, the Seattle Theatre Group, 4Culture, Beneath the Looking Glass, and the Tulalip Tribes, we are in our third year of our training program for emerging and early-stage Indigenous filmmakers, which through intensive workshopping and networking will build access to new skills and connect them to industry professionals and to one another via a cohort model known as 4th World Media Lab.

SIFF has a long history of supporting innovative Indigenous film, education, and workshops, most notably the nine-year former annual SuperFly Filmmaking Experience in partnership with Longhouse Media and local Coast Salish tribes. We remain committed to nurturing, highlighting, and raising diverse talent and voices.

4th World Media Lab is our commitment to showcasing and strengthening the media-making talent across the borders within First People communities. In our third year of programming, we are excited to present a public screening of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World with a gallery exhibit named Re:Definition featuring two of our 4th World Fellows; conduct an intensive 360˚ immersive film training and production for the twelve 4th World Fellows; screen four Indigenous-made features and an exciting shorts program; and present a few panels about the current inroads of Native media in North America.

EVENTS

Rumble & Re:Definition Event—May 26

Join us for the energetic Seattle premiere of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World sponsored by Amazon Video Direct, in conjunction with the Paramount Theatre’s gallery opening of Re:definition, followed by SIFF’s 4th World afterparty featuring a special guest DJ. FREE to the public with an RSVP

6:00 PM - Doors and Re:definition Gallery open

7:00 PM - Rumble film screening

9:30 PM - 4th World afterparty, reception, and gallery viewing. Open to the general public.

4th World - Indigenous Media Lab—May 27-28

In this third annual cohort training, our filmmakers will join together to create an original 360˚ production.

Indigenous Film Roundtable—May 28 @ 12:00 PM, SIFF Lounge, sponsored by Vulcan Productions Standing Rock, environmental stewardship, cultural reclamation, and Indigenous languages are all significant influences for contemporary Native filmmakers. Join our guest artists for an in-depth discussion.

Folklife Festival—May 28 @ 5:00 PM, SIFF Film Center

Join our 4th World Lab Fellows, Bracken Hanuse Corlett and Amanda Strong, as they discuss and screen a retrospective of their animation work. FREE to the public

INDIGENOUS-PRODUCED FILMS AT SIFF 2017

Angry Inuk (Canada) – See page 153

Dolores (USA) – See page 178

Indigenous Without Borders (Short Film Program) – See page 139

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Canada) – See page 246

Searchers (Canada) – See page 248

seattlecomposers.org

SPECIALTY LINEN | GLASSWARE

SPECIALTY LINEN | GLASSWARE

TABLES | CHINA | CUTLERY

TABLES | CHINA | CUTLERY

CHAIRCOVERS | DESIGNER CHAIRS

CHAIRCOVERS | DESIGNER CHAIRS

CATERING EQUIPMENT

CATERING EQUIPMENT

UNIQUE TABLETOP ITEMS

UNIQUE TABLETOP ITEMS

FESTIVAL FORUMS @ SIFF LOUNGE

SIFF’s Festival Forums at SIFF Lounge, presented by Vulcan Productions, set the stage for engaging discussions, extraordinary demonstrations, and hands-on workshops for filmmakers, industry members, and engaged audiences. Explore the full descriptions with updated panelist information at SIFF.net.

SATURDAY, MAY 20

Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers join KCTS 9’s Jeremy Cropf for an exploration of their craft.

SIFF Programmers Chat

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

SIFF Programmers Megan Leonard and Clinton McClung throw down about programming New American Cinema, WTF, and more.

Why Film Criticism?

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

A panel of film critics reflect on the changing face of media and how the realities of film criticism are shaping the current landscape.

First Person vs. Personal—Violence, Taboo, and Ethics in VR Content

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

Arguments about violence and taboo in movies and video games have been happening for decades. What’s different about virtual reality? And what responsibility do VR and 360° content creators have to define what boundaries are “acceptable” in virtual content? Join Trond Nilsen of Virtual World Society and Seattle VR as he leads what’s sure to be a spirited debate among our expert panelists.

SUNDAY, MAY 21

Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers join KCTS 9’s Jeremy Cropf for an exploration of their craft.

Changing the World With Story

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Documentary films are telling important stories from around the world, but how are they moving the needle? In this panel, filmmakers will explore what it takes to truly create impact with film, and discuss what responsibility they have as storytellers to put their films to work.

A Closer Look at Sweetheart Deal

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Sweetheart Deal examines the lives of four women grappling with addiction on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue. The harrowingly intimate story presents unique challenges for Impact Producer Tracy Rector, as she works to craft a meaningful outreach program that engages audiences without whitewashing the daily horrors of lives ruled by heroin.

Documentary Ethics in the Age of “Alternative Facts”

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

In our “post-truth” era, documentary filmmakers have an increasingly important role as the moral conscience of our media and society. Join moderator Christopher Rufo and five Seattle-based documentarians as they explore the complex ethical questions they face in their work.

SATURDAY, MAY 27

Short Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers join KCTS 9’s Jeremy Cropf for an exploration of their craft.

SIFF Programmer Chat: Short Films

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

SIFF Programmers Dan Doody and Laura Good illuminate their process for selecting short films at SIFF 2017.

We’re Here to Make a Movie: SAG-AFTRA Indie and New Media Agreements for Emerging Filmmakers

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Get the inside scoop on how you can hire union talent for your next production! In this workshop SAG-AFTRA staff will discuss the process of walking producers, directors, talent, and students through these contracts from A to Z!

FESTIVAL FORUMS @ SIFF LOUNGE

SATURDAY, MAY 27, CONTINUED

Adapting Your ‘Flattie’ Skills to 360˚ Filmmaking

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

Are you a traditional filmmaker interested in 360˚ filmmaking, but you aren’t really sure where to start? Or perhaps you’re curious about how cinematography, editing, and sound are different in 360˚ format? Join our panel of filmmakers-turned-360˚-pioneers as they talk frankly about how they boldly transitioned their existing filmmaking skills into the 360˚ space—and how you can, too.

SUNDAY, MAY 28

Indigenous Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting indigenous filmmakers and industry join Longhouse Media’s Tracy Rector for a deeper understanding of their craft.

Casting Equity: Performance Demonstration and Panel

1:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Join SAG/AFTRA for an illuminating demonstration and discussion of the benefits of diversity when casting a film. A diverse representation of actors will perform the same short script and participate in a panel discussion on the way words on a page are given life by different performers.

Gather Your Team

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

We hear the director is in control of all aspects of a film; at the same time, we hear “Filmmaking is a collaborative process.” You must gather a team that provides support and expertise to take on the rewarding journey of movie-making. How do you gather a dream team whose goal is to create together? Presented by Women in Film, Seattle

MONDAY, MAY 29

Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers join KCTS 9’s Jeremy Cropf for an exploration of their craft.

Planning for Crowd-Sourcing Success

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Experience the thrill of success as filmmakers who have crowdfunded their projects share how they successfully built their campaigns to maximize financial return.

Composing For and Against Expectation

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

A panel discussion on when to score a scene to empower the action or emotional undercurrents, and when to score against that expectation. Panelists will include composers working in film, transmedia, advertising, and video games. Presented by Seattle Composer’s Alliance

SATURDAY, JUNE 3

Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers join KCTS 9’s Jeremy Cropf for an exploration of their craft.

Turning True-Life Stories Into Narrative Films

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Films that feature factual storylines or historical time periods toe the line between historical fact and emotional truth. Hear from a variety of filmmakers about the realities and responsibilities of navigating the dramatics of a true story.

Reinforcing/Subverting Gender in Entertainment Media

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

A discussion of ways creators and consumers can better understand representations of gender in media, the societal benefits of women making movies, and how we can support gender equality in all aspects of the filmmaking industry.

Experience Me a Story: Game Mechanics & Storytelling

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

In the space where gaming, story, and cinema are merging, how will narrative evolve? What impact will the shifting function of the “audience” and game mechanics of video gaming have on the future of interactive cinema? Join our panel of industry experts as they explore how gamification will impact VR and 360° storytelling.

FESTIVAL FORUMS & SPECIAL EVENTS

SUNDAY, JUNE 4

Filmmaker Round Table

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A quartet of visiting filmmakers explore their craft in a moderated conversation.

SIFF Programmer Chat

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

SIFF Senior Programmers Maryna Ajaja and Justine Barda examine the criteria and process of honoring our New Directors Competition as well as their individual regions of expertise.

Finding Balance Between the Corporate and the Independent

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Financial equilibrium can be elusive in the film business. A panel of filmmakers share how they have been able to continue working effectively on low-budget projects and higher-paying corporate gigs.

Script Tease and Pitching Demo

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

Look books provide a “preview” of films before the first frame is shot. Experience look books from upcoming Pacific Northwest films and a rewind-style pitching demo with accompanying panel discussion. Presented by Northwest Screenwriters Guild

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

Film in China

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

China is quickly solidifying its place as a Hollywood competitor, both in film production and presentation. A panel led by Movie View International will explore how China’s interest in film is supporting the industry.

The Realities of Distribution in a Digital World

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Distributors working in traditional film and new-media distribution share their experiences working to connect filmmakers and content creators to audiences and their expectations of what may be to come in the changing face of distribution.

Social Justice Storytelling on a 360˚ Canvas

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

By now you’ve heard virtual reality described as an “empathy” machine for its unique ability to transport the viewer into another perspective. Join Eagle Bone filmmaker, activist, and social-justice thought leader Tracy Rector as she and a panel of documentary and journalistic filmmakers discuss the potential for 360˚ storytelling as a impactful social-justice tool.

Narrative Worldbuilding in Immersive Storytelling

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

The power of virtual reality is the ability to place the audience within any world the creator can imagine, and to allow the audience to explore and immerse themselves into story worlds more deeply than ever. Join our panel of pioneering content creators as they discuss the 360° projects they’re showing in our 360° Storytelling Lounge.

SPECIAL EVENTS @ SIFF FILM CENTER WORKS IN PROGRESS

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

360˚/VR Storytelling PlayTank

8:30 A.M. - 2:00 PM

Participants from the film and VR communities and visiting 360˚ and VR thought leaders will connect through breakout sessions and experience emerging storytelling tech in this hands-on, “unconference” event.

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

Catalyst Screenplay Competition Winner Live Read

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

The winning screenplay is The Tiger & the Protected by Jeff Scott, a moving drama about a high-school basketball star who jeopardizes his future after assaulting another student and the endless lengths his mother goes to protect him. The Tiger & the Protected will be presented in a live read-through performed by SAG actors. Attendance is free.

360 / VR STORYTELLING

360/VR Storytelling Pop-Up, powered by WonderTek Labs

Weekends from Friday, May 19 – Saturday, June 10

Passholder Happy Hours and Festival Forums times SIFF Lounge, presented by Vulcan Productions

As the emerging technologies that power 360 and virtual-reality storytelling have evolved over the past few years, the tools and techniques we use to craft storytelling in these spaces have begun to evolve as well.

WonderTek Labs has curated a selection of some of the best in current 360 and VR storytelling content from a diverse range of 360 and VR artists who are pioneering and shaping the future of how audiences and story will intersect within immersive and interactive spaces.

Explorations in 360 narrative storytelling will feature a cutting-edge interactive 360 episode of popular Spanish sci-fi television series El Ministerio del Tiempo, created by Madrid-based Future Lighthouse. This section also includes a work-in-progress screening of Seattle-based Mechanical Dreams’ Potato Dreams, the 360 companion-piece to SIFF short-film selection Little Potato; Kanju, an immersive documentary that layers traditional narrative techniques and 360 live action in an exploration of Africa; and 2017 SXSW entry The Giant by Brooklyn-based collective trio New Media Ltd.

A spotlight on 360 social-justice storytelling will include presentations of a special reprise presentation of “The Stranger” Genius Award Winner Tracy Rector’s Eagle Bone, one of the first 360/VR pieces by a Native American filmmaker; SXSW 2017 VR Jury Award Winner for 360, Behind the Fence, a searing look at a Muslim concentration camp run by Buddhist monks; and We Who Remain, co-produced by “Godmother of VR” Nonny de la Peña and her production studio Emblematic Group.

Also from Emblematic Group, the program will feature a special HTC Vive showcase presentation of the winner of the SXSW 2017 VR Jury Award for Room-Scale Content, After Solitary, which places you inside Maine State Prison to experience the harrowing real-life tale of one man’s time in solitary confinement, and what happened to him after he got out.

A section focused on 360 dance features work by groundbreaking VR Dance Project creator Jess Kantor; Say Our Name, a social-justice-themed dance piece produced by NYC-based State Media; and Syzygy, a compelling look at the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s performance of this piece, directed by Broadway and off-Broadway producer Andrew Asnes, who previously directed a 360/VR behind-the-scenes piece with the cast of Hamilton.

360 / VR STORYTELLING

360/VR Storytelling PlayTank

Saturday, June 10

8:30 AM - 2:00 PM SIFF Film Center

Are you a filmmaker who wants to learn more about transitioning to 360/VR, or a VR dev who wants to connect with filmmakers to collaborate on a story-focused project? Do you have your own 360 or VR project in mind, and want to learn about the technology and find others passionate about this emerging space?

Are you an expert with knowledge to share, or a novice eager to absorb and learn? The 360/VR Storytelling PlayTank is an interactive event designed to bring together the Seattle film and VR communities in a space of sharing and receiving knowledge, hands-on demos and workshops, and connecting with like-minded creatives interested in this space.

The PlayTank will kick off with a Geekout Breakout Breakfast. Grab breakfast and coffee and join one of the topic-focused tables, where friendly mentors with expert knowledge of Spatial Audio, 360 Production and Post-Production, 360 Storytelling, 360 Documentary & Social Justice, Interactive Storytelling, and Ethics and Social issues in VR will guide low-key, organic discussions to kick off the day.

Downstairs in the SIFF Theater, Valve will be on hand to give a special presentation about what they’re working on with 360 distribution, and Mettle CEO Chris Bobotis, fresh off the recent announcement of Mettle’s collaboration with Facebook on 360 post-production tools, will be in attendance to present a handson workshop on Mettle’s 360 plug-in tools for Adobe Premiere. Bring your laptop (with Adobe Premiere full version or the free 30-day trial version installed!) to fully participate. Participants will receive a free temp license for Mettle’s plug-in tools as part of the workshop.

Upstairs in the PlayTank demo space, explore hands-on demos and mini-workshops from Google, Pixvana, Mechanical Dreams, SIXR/VR Gear Co-op, Seattle VR, and AIE, or grab another coffee and chat and connect organically with other participants. The SIFF PlayTank is an open and collaborative learning and sharing space. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops and headset demos to share with others.

SIFF LOUNGE/WORKS-IN-PROGRESS

INTRODUCING THE SIFF LOUNGE

The SIFF Lounge, presented by Vulcan Productions, is a place where filmmakers, guests, and SIFF passholders can gather at the center of the Festival to meet for happy hours, share ideas, and connect outside of theater walls. The SIFF Lounge is also the home to SIFF Forums and VR demonstrations. It won’t just be a gathering space for SIFF-goers, but will be the main hub of Festival activities.

Passholder Happy Hours

The SIFF Lounge will be open to all passholders from 5:00 PM-7:00 PM starting May 19 on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as well as Memorial Day Monday.

Festival Forums @ SIFF Lounge

Weekends from 12:00 PM-5:00 PM, SIFF’s Festival Forums set the stage for engaging discussions of some of the most important topics in film today.

Can’t make the post-show Q&A or Forum? Don’t worry! This year SIFF will be livestreaming and/or recording and broadcasting select SIFF events online. Visit SIFF.net for content and schedule.

WORKS-IN-PROGRESS @ SIFF FILM CENTER

In a collaboration that highlights the Festival’s reputation for unearthing global voices and recognizes its revered, cinephile audience, the new Works-in-Progress Forum will, for the first time, bring selected audience members into the creative process and add a dynamic, next-level component at a critical junction in the filmmaker’s journey. This inaugural initiative, held June 8-9, 2017, will comprise two fictional narratives and two documentaries culled from around the globe.

Also included in the program are mentors from film-industry sectors such as distribution, acquisitions, press, and representation, adding a wide breadth of diverse and independent voices to the conversation as an additional launch pad for the filmmaker’s work.

This Program is perfect for anyone who believes deeply in cinema and wants to be a part of the creative process in visual storytelling.

EDUCATION

SIFFsational CELLULOID SUMMER

JUN 30 - SEP 3

Revisit six of your favorite summer blockbusters on the big screen and see a seventh for free with a SIFFsational Summer Punch Card*

JAWS and JAWS 3D

DUEL

THE BIG LEBOWSKI

THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS

FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

E.T. STARSHIP TROOPERS RAIDERS of the LOST ARK REPO MAN

INDIANA JONES and the TEMPLE OF DOOM

BRAZIL MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN INDIANA JONES and the LAST CRUSADE JURASSIC PARK

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 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 juries will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each jury winner will receive $2,500 and also qualify to enter their respective Short Film category for the Academy Awards®.

When the Food Matters

KASPARS

CATERING & SPECIAL EVENTS

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

ShortsFest Opening Night ALT Shorts

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.

American Psychosis

USA 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Amanda Zackem

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges discusses modern-day consumerism, totalitarian corporate power, and living in a culture dominated by pervasive illusion.

Hold On

USA 2017, 9 minutes, Director: Christine Turner

Family bonds are tested when a young man is left to care for his grandmother one morning.

In a Nutshell

Switzerland 2017, 6 minutes, Director: Fabio Friedli

From a seed to war, from meat to love, from indifference to apocalypse—an attempt to capture the world in a nutshell.

Mixtape Marauders

USA 2017, 17 minutes, Director: Peter Edlund

Two young burnouts, Patrick and Cheech, live in a world of mindless day jobs, petty drug deals, and wildly unconventional musical tastes.

Mountain Fever

Germany 2016, 8 minutes, Director: Frédéric Hambalek

Trapped on a mountain in a terrible snowstorm in the dead of night, one of the climbers reports his tentmate missing. Now they have to embark on a dangerous search.

Nothing Ever Really Ends

Norway 2017, 23 minutes, Director: Jakob Rørvik

Taking place over three consecutive New Year’s Eves, Marius and Ebba´s dysfunctional relationship is one long struggle of failed attempts at breaking up.

The Spa

Australia 2016, 8 minutes, Director: Will Goodfellow

When retiree Don declares he no longer wants the new spa he’s just ordered, Ivan the deliveryman suspects there’s more to the story.

Waiting for Hassana

Nigeria 2017, 11 minutes, Director: Ifunanya Maduka

Jessica shares her haunting account of a friendship violently interrupted by Boko Haram.

Split screens, cinema collage, and formal experimentation take you deep into the medium of film itself.

All Flesh Is Grass

USA 2017, 12 minutes,

Director: Caryn Cline

World Premiere

Occasionally manipulated footage captures the peaceful restoration of a Missouri prairie.

Antarctica

USA 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: Salise Hughes

Charlton Heston and the 1965 Parade of Homes are both set against the icy backdrop of Antarctica.

Best of Luck With the Wall

USA 2016, 7 minutes,

Director: Josh Begley

An animated voyage across the U.S./ Mexico border, stitched together from 200,000 satellite images.

A City in Four Parts

USA 2017, 8 minutes,

Director: Jon Behrens

World Premiere

Hypnotic layers upon layers of the Seattle skyline as seen from the blue waters of Lake Union.

A DAD

Austria 2016, 12 minutes,

Director: Robert Cambrinus

A ridiculous and very funny film inspired by a classic art manifesto.

Duwamish Song

USA 2017, 6 minutes,

Director: Steve Demas

River shots and found footage embedded in dirty, layered, optically printed film images, with music by Hound Dog Taylor’s Hand.

Edge of Alchemy

USA 2017, 19 minutes,

Director: Stacey Steers

Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor are recast in an animated film about a scientist and a creature on a bee planet.

A Hard World for Little Things

USA 2017, 2 minutes,

Director: Sonja Bertucci

World Premiere

Inspired by Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter, the film examines the uncanny nature of toys and how objects of childhood can overload the imagination with violence.

Spaceships and Timemachines

USA 2017, 3 minutes,

Director: Eric Ostrowski

World Premiere

Beautiful colors, optically printed abstractions, tense sci-fi music, and footage that goes forward and backward in time.

Tri-Alogue #3

USA 2017, 3 minutes,

Directors: Reed O’Beirne, Caryn Cline, Linda Fenstermaker

Three filmmakers split the frame three ways, capturing three views of Seattle.

Vengeance

Australia 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: André Shannon

A typical happy family, except the faces are scratched out and the music is aggressively rhythmic.

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:15 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, MAY 25 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Animation4Adults Boy Trouble

SATURDAY, MAY 27 9:30 PM

From the depths of the ocean to the outer reaches of the galaxy, this year’s animation packages take you to the frontiers of imagination. Do not try these at home. Any of these.

Bartleby

USA 2016, 11 minutes, Director: Laura Naylor, Kristen Kee

When an unassuming Wall Street lawyer hires a new employee, a dogged battle of wills ensues.

Cerulia

Mexico 2017, 13 minutes, Director: Sofía Carrillo

US Premiere

Cerulia comes back home to bid her final farewell, but her childhood memories won’t let her go.

The Inksect

Mexico 2016, 9 minutes, Director: Pablo Calvillo

In NYC, an underground group of exiles risk their lives to save the last books from being destroyed.

I Want Pluto to Be a Planet Again

France 2017, 13 minutes, Director: Marie Amachoukeli, Vladimir MavouniaKouka

In a transhumanist near future, a young H- boy falls madly in love with an H+.

PENELOPE

Estonia/Finland 2016, 4 minutes, Director: Heta Jäälinoja Someone is at the door, but everything’s a mess.

Pussy

Poland 2016, 8 minutes, Director: Renata Gasiorowska

A young woman decides to spend the evening alone at home, but not everything goes according to plan.

The Servant

Iran 2017, 9 minutes, Director: Farnoosh Abedi

A bug becomes a servant, but who is the master?

The Stunt Manual

Spain 2016, 10 minutes, Director: Ben Fernández

Ben’s new 1968 Mustang is about to turn both his life and the whole LAPD upside down.

Throttled

South Korea 2017, 13 minutes, Director: KIM Ji-hyeon

US Premiere

When a young fisherman accidentally catches a mermaid, he decides to bring her home to care for her.

SUNDAY, MAY 28 6 PM

From hidden secrets to embracing your true self, first love, marriage, and the bittersweetness of loss—here is the gay experience with all its troubles and triumphs.

3 Friends

Ireland/USA 2016, 22 minutes, Director: Michael Moody Culpepper

Mourning his mother, Fergus confronts how his family and friends view him following a liberating trip to the seaside. Based on a Colm Tóibín story.

Better Known as Peaches Christ

USA 2016, 4 minutes, Director: Jeff Dragomanovich

Drag icon Peaches Christ offers a rare, intimate glimpse into her process of transformation, and describes the path from stifled teen to brazen cult hero.

Buddy

Netherlands 2016, 12 minutes, Director: Niels Bourgonje

When a young man is asked by his ex-boyfriend to support him during an HIV test, he sees an opportunity to find out if there’s still a chance for reconciliation.

Josie Grossy

USA 2016, 6 minutes, Director: Chris Baker

A hesitant guy walks into a bar and has an unforgettable experience.

The Last Party

United Kingdom 2017, 20 minutes, Director: Riccardo Angelucci

World Premiere

Jesus (yes, that one) has one last chance to admit who he truly is during a surrealistic last supper.

Seeking: Jack Tripper

USA 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Quinlan Orear

Married couple Tucker and Lance are looking to have a threesome in an attempt to overcome the rut in their relationship.

Swim

USA 2016, 12 minutes, Director: Mari Walker

As summer draws to a close, a teen finds freedom in a secret midnight swim.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Coming of Age Crossing Borders

MONDAY, MAY 29 11:00 AM

A program full of mystery, chaos, charm, and cinematic wonder that will remind you why short films should be seen on the big screen.

Coke Habit

USA 2016, 4 minutes, Director: Dress Code

During the summer after 10th grade, Mike’s love of Coca-Cola turns into an addiction.

Fanny

Norway 2017, 29 minutes, Director: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Fanny, a young woman in her mid-20s, has just moved back to her hometown to start at the local university. During orientation she struggles to bond with the other students, and decides to seek out an old friendship.

The Geneva Convention

France 2017, 15 minutes, Director: Benoit Martin

Some teenagers discuss the rules of engagement before a fight; a young woman then steps up to broker peace.

Good Luck, Orlo!

Slovenia/Croatia/Austria 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Sara Kern

In the wake of tragedy, little Orlo attempts to make his family whole again in an unexpected way.

La Seve

Switzerland 2016, 13 minutes, Director: Manon Goupil

A young girl covets her older sister’s boyfriend from the shadows in this nuanced anti-love story.

Red of the Yew Tree

Canada 2016, 12 minutes, Director: Marie-Hélène Turcotte

Stunningly sparse pen-and-ink animation, punctuated with bursts of red, explores femininity, life cycles, and the allegory of the hunt.

FRIDAY, MAY 26 1:30 PM

This collection of shorts will take you on an intense journey across borders.

Fluffy

Serbia/Montenegro/Canada 2016, 24 minutes, Director: Lee Filipovski

As they’re in the middle of packing to start a new life in Canada, a Serbian couple has to figure out what to do with their young daughter’s new fluffy friend.

Get There

Lesotho 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Meja Shoba

North American Premiere

A couple from Lesotho looks for a better life in South Africa.

Ijazeh

USA 2017, 8 minutes, Director: Waleed Alqahtani

US Premiere

A Muslim woman arrives in New York for one night to reconnect with her past.

A Place in Nowhere

Portugal 2016, 6 minutes, Director: Bárbara de Oliveira, João Rodrigues

North American Premiere

One day, when the first shot was fired, everyone had to leave their homes.

A Place in the Plane

Senegal 2016, 16 minutes, Director: Khadidiatou Sow

North American Premiere

Moussa, who has always dreamt of leaving Senegal, joins the stampede to get on a special plane to the U.S.

What Tears Us Apart

France 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Wei HU

Two families in a French home try to come to terms with the past.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOT IN YOUR VOCABULARY.

It’s not in ours, either. We are driven to explore every scientific possibility — and impossibility — in developing treatments and cures. This work takes imagination. It takes dedication. And it takes you. With you, we’ll shatter limits and shorten the distance from illness to healthier lives.

BECAUSE IMPOSSIBLE DOESN’T SAVE LIVES.

BEST OF SIFF 2017

BEST OF SIFF 2017

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

Award Winners & Audience Favorites

June 16∙22 SIFF Cinema Uptown

FRIDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM

Sometimes the best way to play with evil is to just jump right on in.

Bloody Mary

Sweden 2016, 3 minutes, Director: Alexander Ronnberg

Do you dare to say Bloody Mary three times?

The Call of Charlie

USA 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Nick Spooner

A trendy Los Angeles couple fixes up an Ancient Evil Deity From Beneath the Sea on a blind date.

The Cleansing Hour

USA 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Damien LeVeck

Lance and Drew have found success running a webcast that streams hoax exorcisms, but their latest episode is all too real.

Connie

United Kingdom 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Cat Davies

Dolly needs to find her comedic voice, and foul-mouthed Connie needs a body— who’s the dummy?

Couples Night

USA 2016, 4 minutes, Directors: Russell Summers, Robert Summers

A couples’ night goes off the rails when one couple reveals they’re bloodsacrificing devil worshippers. And then things get weird . . .

Popsy

France 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Julien Homsy

Forced to cover his debt to Mr. Rudy, Weber’s compulsive gambling leads him to make friends with a most unusual little girl. Based a Stephen King short story.

Unfinished Business

USA 2016, 13 minutes, Director: Adam Ganser

A newly hired office drone with the power to see dead people must help their spirits move on . . . by sending faxes and filing invoices.

The Family Picture Show

SATURDAY, MAY 27 11:00 AM

Bring the whole family to SIFF for a playful set of international animated and liveaction short films curated for the young and the young at heart.

Adija

USA 2016, 5 minutes,

Director: Apollonia Thomaier

A young girl in the Bronx finds escape from an unhappy family life through her graffiti art.

Arpeggio

Spain 2017, 6 minutes,

Directors: Adriana Uriguen Garcia, Pablo Perez Estevez

North American Premiere

A father and son are inseparable until adolescence threatens their special bond.

The Big Adventure of a Little Line

France 2017, 8 minutes,

Director: Antoine Robert

US Premiere

A small boy taking a walk picks up a little line he finds lying on the sidewalk. With a little creativity, this line just might take him places.

Dear Henri, USA 2017, 13 minutes,

Director: Matthew Sandager

World Premiere

An imaginative young girl searches for ways to communicate with her grandfather after he’s gone.

Dunder

Norway 2016, 11 minutes,

Director: Endre Skandfer

A trio of little monsters learn valuable lessons about friendship.

Expectations

USA 2016, 3 minutes,

Director: Andy Yanez

A young individual living on a small tropical island receives two crates from a distant land filled with clothes for boys and girls.

A Hole

Mexico 2016, 5 minutes,

Director: Maribel Suárez

A little girl longs for a playmate in the garden. Her efforts go unnoticed— until they finally take root.

Hoop Dreamin’

USA 2016, 6 minutes,

Director: Nick Brooks

Out of school on summer break, 8-year-old Tariq learns a powerful lesson about hard work and sacrifice.

Mamie

France/Canada 2016, 6 minutes,

Director: Janice Nadeau

Mamie’s life is turned upside down at the same time her granddaughter starts to question their bond.

No-no Wants to Try a Sport

France 2016, 6 minutes,

Director: Mathieu Auvray

North American Premiere

No-no must play a sport, but which one? He asks his friends for advice...

Pautinka

Russia 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: Natalia Chernysheva

A relationship between a woman and a spider turns from hostility to friendship.

Short Changed

USA 2017, 6 minutes,

Director: Barbara Mones

World Premiere

A devious figure invades the peaceful waters of a wishing fountain, intent on pilfering the coins within.

You Look Scary

USA 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: Xiya Lan

A crocodile fears the procedure to remove his tooth, but the dentist is just as afraid of the crocodile’s mouth.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

#FilmInWA FutureWave / Best of NFFTY

SUNDAY, MAY 28 12:00 PM

dancing to deviltry,

this diverse array of local shorts puts the breadth of our talented filmmaking community on full display.

8:AM

USA 2016, 7 minutes, Director: Emily Pando

A numbers-obsessed man misses an opportunity before the counters hit zero.

Aproximada

USA 2016, 15 minutes, Directors:

Kyle Carver, Dan Larson

An Orcas man decides to build a boat so he can sail to Cuba but in a sense, his travels have already begun.

Breathe, Just Breathe

USA, 2017, 3 minutes, Directors:

Cheryl Ediss, Carrie Robinson

World Premiere

Three characters navigate darkness, confusion, and internal struggles in a search for the truth.

The Devil Needs a Fix

USA 2017, 10 minutes, Director: Ian Ebright

World Premiere

A reporter’s interview with the devil will lead to the reporter’s big break—if everything goes as planned.

The Fish Farmer

Haiti/USA 2017, 9 minutes, Director: Andy Mininger

World Premiere

Meet the doctor who is re-creating the domestic fish trade in some of the world’s poorest villages.

The Hama Hama Way

USA 2016, 12 minutes, Director: Treva Wurmfeld

Oyster farming takes on a new life where the Hama Hama River meets the Hood Canal.

Ilaria

USA 2017, 15 minutes, Director: Minka Bleakley

World Premiere

A heartbroken man finds himself entangled in a romantic fantasy when he rents a stranger’s apartment.

Infinity Hotel

USA/Canada 2017, 4 minutes, Director: Neely Goniodsky

When guests arrive at the Infinity, all other guests shift one room over. Except one room

Minor

USA 2017, 10 minutes, Director: Brian Hutson

World Premiere

Trevor must bring his best friend back from the brink of doing something terrible.

One More Round

USA 2017, 13 minutes, Director: Moses Olson

World Premiere

When a disgraced boxer has to face his past, he’ll have to choose which path to take.

MONDAY, MAY 29 1:30 PM

Experience the extraordinary talent and unique voices of the next generation of filmmakers. These international shorts from filmmakers 18 and under point the way to an exceptional cinematic tomorrow.

Airship Serenity

USA 2017, 2 minutes,

Director: Alex Tanamura

World Premiere

16mm film strips are adorned with creative painting and scratching.

The Art of Memories*

USA 2017, 3 minutes,

Director: Kate Graves

A short experimental film that uses an array of cinematic visuals to convey the complex feelings different memories bring up.

Atlas World*

Canada 2017, 7 minutes,

Director: Morgana McKenzie

A malignant spirit forces a girl into a perilous journey through a watery underworld.

Battles

Canada 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: Karen Pinette Fontaine US Premiere

Everyone faces battles on personal and social fronts.

The Chatter Group of Moms and Grandmas

Taiwan 2017, 8 minutes,

Directors: Chen Tse-Chien, Chien PoHan, Hsu Yi-No, Lu Hsiang-Chen, Hsu Yao-Lin, Wu Yu-Ting

A local gathering place holds an important role in the community.

Family Shadows

USA 2016, 5 minutes,

Director: Laura Malatos

As a boy grows into a man, he watches his father lose his memory.

Flightless

USA 2017, 3 minutes,

Director: Sarah Fonville

A young kestrel earns its wings.

The Hampton Family Massacre

USA 2017, 8 minutes,

Director: Ben Schwartz

A boy returns home and his parents are nowhere to be found.

Heart of Gold

USA 2016, 11 minutes,

Director: Miles Andersen

18-year-old Bella Anderson attempts to stay positive as she waits for an organ donation that could potentially save her life.

Make It Float*

USA 2016, 6 minutes,

Director: Bhawin Suchak

Taofeek Abijako’s cultural and family background influences the art that he produces and how he intends to leave his mark on the world.

The Missing Part of Me

USA 2016, 8 minutes,

Directors: Elizabeth Hewlett

Feeling disconnected from her heritage, a young woman turns the camera on herself and discovers a sense of belonging while visiting distant relatives in Nicaragua.

The Petition

USA 2016, 8 minutes,

Director: Kibiriti Majuto, Riley Goodwin Students investigate the growing societal rift surrounding a controversial statue.

Popped*

USA 2017, 4 minutes,

Director: Leo Pfeifer

A young balloon falls in love, but his fairytale romance doesn’t go as planned.

The Race Project

USA 2016, 9 minutes,

Director: Brianna Mutsindashyaka

World Premiere

The Buffalo Youth Media Institute interviews community members about their perspective and experiences with race.

* Denotes Best of NFFTY selection

From

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Neighbors Indigenous Without Borders

SATURDAY, MAY 27 3:30 PM

From Standing Rock to Aotearoa, these shorts, directed by indigenous filmmakers, give passionate voice to the traditions and issues of indigenous populations around the globe.

Cree Code Talker

Canada 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Alexandra Lazarowich

Past code-talkers recount the history of the Cree language and its use in WWII as an unbreakable code.

Defend the Sacred

USA 2016, 18 minutes, Director: Kyle Bell

An inside look into the heart and soul of indigenous people that stood in solidarity at Standing Rock.

Four Faces of the Moon

Canada 2016, 10 minutes, Director: Amanda Strong

An episodic animation exploring Nationhood and the reclamation of language and peeling back the layers of Canada’s colonial history.

Gods Acre

Canada 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Kelton Stepanowich

An aboriginal man must abandon his birthplace or adapt to new conditions as climate change directly effects his world.

My Father’s Tools

Canada 2016, 7 minutes, Director: Heather Condo

A man continues to produce woven baskets in the tradition of his father.

Nutag - Homeland

Canada 2016, 6 minutes, Director: Alisi Telengut

This hand-painted visual poem explores the ideas of diaspora, homeland, and the mass deportations of the Kalmyk people during World War II.

The Promise of Piha

New Zealand 2016, 16 minutes, Director: Hanelle Harris

US Premiere

A young Samoan man has been chosen as the next leader of his community, but he must confess his true desire.

SATURDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM

What happens behind closed doors may surprise you.

Cold Storage

Finland 2016, 9 minutes, Director: Thomas Freundlich

A lonely fisherman discovers his newfound soul brother, a prehistoric man frozen in the sea ice.

Drawn & Recorded: Teen Spirit

USA 2017, 3 minutes, Director: Drew Christie

The story behind one of the most iconic songs ever written, animated in the style of a pop-up book.

Erosion

USA 2016, 6 minutes, Directors: Brandon Bloch, Tim Sessler

This poetic homage to New York’s creative culture, which is being pushed aside for luxury high-rise condos, presents an impressionistic story of four subway dancers who must adapt their art form as the urban environment shifts around them.

Fucking Bunnies

Finland 2017, 17 minutes, Director: Teemu Niukkanen

Raimo’s comfortable middle-class bubble is burst when a Satan-worshipping sex cult moves in next door.

Golgotha

Finland 2016, 28 minutes, Director: Ulla Heikkilä

It’s May Day, and 10-year-old Inari and her family are expecting visitors, only her father isn’t particularly in a party mood.

Lonely Cat Meowing

Iran 2016, 13 minutes, Director: Nina (Bayan) Zarabi Alipasha tires to fix his father’s mess, but it leads to a bigger mess.

Unwelcome

USA/Greece 2016, 16 minutes, Director: Ida Theresa Myklebost

Living in a makeshift refugee camp in Greece, Menwar and his family face the biggest decision of their lives.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

JACK SAYS: “cell phones off, JACK ON!”

Point of No Return POV

FRIDAY, MAY 26 4:00 PM

Sometimes a few seconds can change someone’s life . . .

Cast Off

Canada (Québec) 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers

Simon’s attempts to repair a wooden boat will decide whether or not he will accept his fate.

The Counselor

USA 2017, 11 minutes, Director: Guy Bauer

A crisis counselor’s first call will expose surprising truths about both his caller and himself.

Fight on a Swedish Beach!!

Sweden 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Simon Vahlne

A lovely summer day gets ruined by a pack of obnoxious teens, but makes for great social-media content.

Late Night Drama

Canada (Québec) 2016, 8 minutes, Director: Patrice Laliberté

1:34 A.M. A snowy suburb. Jérémie is not interested in his friends. Jérémie is looking for someone.

Plea

USA 2016, 20 minutes, Director: Joseph Oppenheimer

A public defender has only minutes to save her client; but to do so, she will have to break him.

Through the Haze

Australia 2017, 11 minutes, Director: Kieran Wheeler

North American Premiere

When a hazing ritual at a construction site goes horribly wrong, things quickly spiral out of control.

SUNDAY, MAY 28 3:30 PM

Sometimes reality is really just a question of perspective.

The Art of Not Appearing

Norway/USA 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Pernille Rivedal Hellevik

After years of lonely obsession, two ghosts cross paths and are forced to reconsider why they are haunting.

Close Ties

Poland 2016, 18 minutes, Director: Zofia Kowalewska

Barbara and Zdzislaw are soon to celebrate their 45th anniversary. It would have been quite the occasion had Zdzislaw not spent eight of those years living with another woman.

Drifting Away

Spain/Germany/France 2017, 14 minutes, Director: Cyprien Clément-Delmas

Through his depression, a father disappears literally before the eyes of his son Paul.

Fill In the Blanks

France 2016, 9 minutes, Director: Chloé Marçais

A laundry man listens to two girls’ intimate conversation. Unfortunately, several noises prevent him from hearing the most interesting details.

Harvest

USA 2016, 11 minutes, Director: Kevin Byrnes

Harvest follows the daily life of Jenni and the simple patterns that define her.

The Head Vanishes

France/Canada 2016, 9 minutes, Director: Franck Dion

Jacqueline isn’t quite in her right mind anymore, but she’s determined to take the train to the seaside, as she does every summer.

A Swedish Classic

Sweden 2017, 8 minutes, Director: Måns Berthas

World Premiere

A woman in a tattered wedding gown wakes in the forest to the sound of a deafening car horn and her husband in the crashed car nearby.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Women on the Verge ¡Tapas!

FRIDAY, MAY 26 6:00 PM

Get a taste of this year’s best and boldest batch of Spanish short films.

7 Beds

Spain 2016, 13 minutes, Director: Pedro Moreno del Oso

On the verge of infidelity, Eduardo experiences an unexpected setback.

Dead Horses

Spain 2016, 7 minutes, Directors: Anna Solanas, Marc Riba

In an isolated, wartorn countryside, a child is forced to flee.

Einstein-Rosen

Spain 2016, 10 minutes, Director: Olga Osorio

Summer of 1982: Teo claims he has found a wormhole. His brother Óscar does not believe him . . . at first.

MOTHERDAUGHTERSISTER

Spain 2017, 16 minutes, Director: Alfonso Nogueroles

World Premiere

Eli, a young divorcee, spends the weekend at her mother’s house along with her teenage half-sister.

The Ogre

Spain 2016, 10 minutes, Director: Jaime Dezcallar

North American Premiere

Inside a tent made of old bed sheets a man remembers four crucial moments in his life: some monsters behave like men, and some men behave like monsters.

Real Men Don’t Cry

Spain 2017, 19 minutes, Director: Lucas Castán

North American Premiere

A father wants to share his passion for ice hockey with his son, but they must face some harsh realities.

Sleepover

Spain 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Susana Casares

With the fear of losing her friends looming over her, Silvia invites them to a sleepover, but it’s not quite what they had in mind.

THURSDAY, MAY 25 3:30 PM

On the verge of what? Breakups, breakdowns, brilliance, or becoming themselves. However they get to where they are going, you cannot stop a woman on the verge.

A Brief History of Princess X

Portugal/France/United Kingdom 2016, 7 minutes, Director: Gabriel Abrantes

A supercharged history of sculptor Constantin Brancusi’s infamous sculpture, “Princess X,” and its inspiration, Princess Marie Bonaparte.

Joy Joy Nails

USA 2017, 19 minutes, Director: Joey Ally Korean manager Sarah gets possessive when she suspects Chinese new-hire Mia of eyeing her man—only to discover that everyone is a victim at Joy Joy Nails.

Lucia, Before and After

USA 2016, 13 minutes, Director: Anu Valia

Lucia is young, pregnant and poor but endures the rigors of applying for an abortion.

Sandy Beach

Greece 2016, 12 minutes, Director: Thanos Papastergiou

Late summer, southern Crete: a woman takes her father for their usual Sunday beach outing.

Wild Skin

Canada (Québec) 2016, 19 minutes, Director: Ariane Louis-Seize

A young woman’s quiet, solitary life transforms when a baby boa constrictor comes to live with her.

Women&Wine

Norway 2017, 21 minutes, Director: Liv Karin Dahlstrøm

The boundary of friendship is sorely tested when ex-school girlfriends get together for Greta’s birthday. How do you realize when the line is crossed?

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

ShortsFest Closing Night WTF?!

SUNDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM

A filthy, raunchy, bizarre set of short films to feast your eyes on. They’ll leave you asking yourself important questions like: Who? What? Why? WTF?

Call of Cuteness

Germany 2017, 4 minutes, Director: Brenda Lien

While we remain safe and sound, watching the highest-grossing cat-fail compilation, all that is kept out of sight gets back to us in this consumerist nightmare.

Fatima Marie Torres and the Invasion of Space Shuttle Pinas

25

Philippines 2017, 17 minutes, Director: Carlo Francisco Manatad

Set during the launch of the first space shuttle of the Philippines, an ordinary old couple living in the suburbs attempts to go about their life during this strange day.

Ghosting the Party

USA 2017, 8 minutes, Director: Carlos Alberto Fernandez Lopez

A gang of gal pals conjure up a frenzy at a Halloween party after a drug-fueled dare exposes the true nature of a mysterious guest.

La Petite Mort

USA 2017, 8 minutes, Director: Elizabeth Jaeleigh Davis

When a virginal girl follows her lover into a mysterious forest, a twist of fate wrenches them apart forever. The girl struggles to be ever closer to him in this fairytale about sex, death, and pie.

Les Animaux Domestiques

France 2017, 22 minutes, Director: Jean Lecointre

Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, a rich idle couple, successively adopt a dog, a cat, a fly, a toad and a moth . . . but they know nothing about animals.

Mouse

USA 2017, 11 minutes, Directors: Celine Held, Logan George

Fueled by coke, Vanessa and Danny attempt to capitalize on an unlikely opportunity.

The Robbery

USA 2017, 10 minutes, Director: Jim Cummings

Crystal robs a liquor store; it goes pretty OK.

The Suplex Duplex Complex

USA 2017, 12 minutes, Director: Todd Rohal

When a group of tag-team wrestlers lose their landlord, they learn that taking care of a duplex isn’t that easy.

MONDAY, MAY 29 6:00 PM

Delphi

Denmark 2017, 26 minutes, Director: Søren Peter Langkjær Bojsen

A pair of childhood friends have created an app that gives people advice on how to structure their daily lives. As the app becomes a huge success, its inventor starts to wonder if his creation is out of control.

The History of Magic: Ensueno

USA 2016, 6 minutes, Director: José Luis Gonzalez

Ester makes the most out of her bike ride home.

Little Potato

USA 2017, 14 minutes, Directors: Wes Hurley, Nathan M. Miller

Wes Hurley’s story of coming out/to America, told by him and his mom.

Victor & Isolina

USA 2016, 6 minutes, Director: William Caballero

An elderly Latino couple answer questions about their relationship.

Welcome to Canada

USA/Canada 2016, 19 minutes, Directors: Adam Loften, Mary Fowles

A young Syrian refugee granted asylum in Canada helps newly arriving refugee families resettle there and reclaim hope in the process.

Your Mother and I

Canada/United Kingdom 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Anna Maguire

Johnna’s parents changed the world. Or so her dad says.

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

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In 1967, Ste. Michelle Vintners produced its fi rst Cabernet Sauvignon, with guidance and support from the legendary international winemaker André Tchelistcheff.

It was the release that put the Washington state wine industry on the map. Still, there were skeptics in those days. “Wine from Washington?” sniffed one sarcastic critic. “What side of the Potomac do the grapes grow on?”

Undeterred, the early pioneers of Washington wine understood the state’s potential—with growing regions that share the same latitude and similar terroir as the great French Bordeaux vineyards. Fifty years later, Washington is the nation’s No. 2 producer of premium wine with more than 50,000 acres planted, nearly 1,000 wineries in operation and 14 designated appellations.

As the state’s leading winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle has enjoyed considerable acclaim with 22 “Top 100 Wineries of the Year” honors (Wine & Spirits) and 18 “Top 100 Wines” designations (Wine Spectator). Our landmark chateau near Seattle is one of the most visited wineries in the world.

We’re flattered, but we don’t spend a lot of time polishing our medals. Our goal is to blend craftsmanship with innovation to create exceptional wine experiences. Whether it’s a connoisseur opening a bottle of 93-point Cabernet Sauvignon from our Canoe Ridge Estate at a dinner party, or a newbie discovering a Columbia Valley Riesling at our Summer Concert Series.

So let’s toast our fi rst 50 years. But only as motivation to produce even more remarkable Chateau Ste. Michelle wines, moments and memories in the next 50.

Cheers. The best is yet to come.

Shorts Before Features

Bloom

China, 2017, 8 minutes,

Directors: Yiran Sun, Jiyao Xu

The friendship between Earthworm and Caterpillar takes flight. Screens before Tea Pets

Breathe, Just Breathe

USA 2017, 3 minutes,

Directors: Cheryl Ediss, Carrie Robinson

World Premiere

A search for the truth told through dance as three characters navigate darkness, confusion and internal struggle. Breathe, Just Breathe explores embracing the confusion and accepting it even if there are no answers or resolution.

Screens before Roberto Bolle - The Art of Dance.

Elephant King

China, 2017, 11 minutes,

Directors: Yan Fu, Yongchao Fu

World Premiere

An evil queen is confronted by the Elephant King about the horrors of animal poaching. Screens before Have a Nice Day.

Free Throw Line

China, 2017, 7 minutes,

Director: Yixin Zhang

A young basketball player endures all the challenges of taking the game-winning shot. Screens before Free and Easy.

A Hand of Bridge

USA/Ukraine, 2017, 15 minutes,

Directors: Frank Borin, David Miller

World Premiere

Two couples reveal their deepest fears, darkest secrets, and greatest fantasies while playing cards. Screens before The Paris Opera.

Haskell

USA, 2017, 11 minutes,

Director: James Allen Smith

Three moments in the life of Haskell Carlston, who was born with the ability to manipulate time. Screens before Rocketmen.

The Kidnapping of Richard Franco

United Kingdom, 2017, 14 minutes, Director: Dan Clark

North American Premiere

A married couple going through tough times decide to kidnap a has-been movie star. Screens before Better Watch Out.

I Come From Prairie

China, 2017, 8 minutes,

Director: Aersibieke Nuhan

World Premiere

10-year-old Aybar learns a valuable lesson about keeping the sheep safe from the wolves. Screens before The Song of Cotton.

Penelope in the Treehouse

USA, 2016, 13 minutes,

Director: Jonathan Langager

When a new stepfather moves in, Penelope escapes to a treehouse above the clouds. Screens before Revolting Rhymes.

Prestige Ingredients

France/USA, 2016, 26 minutes,

Directors: Danielle & Adrian Rubi-Dentzel

A stifled young Hollywood actress slips into a world of mouthwatering delicacies, sweet heartache, and bitter tears when she takes an unlikely job with an inspired rebel chef in Paris. Screens before Lives With Flavor.

Refugee

USA/Senegal 2016, 28 min,

Directors: Joyce Chen, Emily Moore

The story of a West African woman who left her five children in 2003 to come to the U.S. and provide them with a better future. Screens before 8 Borders, 8 Days.

Sakurada: Zen Chef

Japan 2016, 13 minutes,

Director: Hirokazu Kishida

The final 100 days of a renowned two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Kyoto, run by Isuzu Sakurada, who embodies the association between Japanese cuisine and the spirit of Zen. Screens before Kakehashi: A Portrait of Chef Nobuo Fukuda

The Sea

China 2016, 7 minutes,

Director: Yifan LI

A house by the sea reflects the greed of those who visit. Screens before The Door.

Sweet, Sour, Dill, and Everything in Between

USA 2016, 4 minutes,

Director: Justine Miller

A third-generation pickle maker reveals how it all started in 1897, and how they still make millions of pickles per year today. Screens before Fermented.

A Town Called Panic: Back to School

Belgium, 2016, 25 minutes,

Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar

Cowboy and Indian use a special shrinking potion to learn the answers that live only in Pig’s brain. Screens before Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess: Four Enchanting Tales.

FEATURE FILMS FROM A TO Z

For 43 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 broken down our feature film listings by genre (see Moods, page 33) and grouped them in traditional subject categories (see Film Programs, beginning on page 85). On the following pages, however, we’re offering you the whole world of cinema at once with our alphabetized list of feature films.

With a program that literally spans the globe, each page allows you to discover worlds both familiar and unknown, from inside the minds of two chefs prepping to open their very first restaurants to experiencing the shocking sociopolitical performance art of Russian activist Petr Andreyevich Pavlensky. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a teenage girl growing up in communes after the “Summer of Love”? We’ll take you back to northern California in 1974. Take a look at the very first documentary to win an Academy Award®, and discover the brilliance of the overlooked ChineseAmerican woman behind it. If awkward dinner parties are your thing, we’re sure the timely face-off between Salma Hayek and John Lithgow will get you going; and if you’re looking for something a bit more psychedelic, well, Alejandro Jodorowsky has a new film out. Need I say more? Whether you’re a Roald Dahl fan, a skeptic of the GMO controversy, a lover of low-budget, high-action flicks, or just want to get down and boogie to the techno dance tunes of Major Lazer in Havana, this year’s festival has something for you.

With 240 features from 56 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!

LA FILLE DE BREST

150 Milligrams

FRANCE 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, MAY 27 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 8:45 PM SHORELINE CC

A striking investigation challenging the multimillion-dollar French pharmaceutical industry, 150 Milligrams is based on the true story of Irène Franchon, who disclosed one of the biggest medical scandals of the past 10 years. Living in Brest, a French pulmonologist (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and her team decide to research strange cases of heart failure. They eventually bring to light the dangers of a weight-loss drug marketed by a major pharmaceutical group. 150 Milligrams tells an incredible and enlightening true story, backed by a strong scenario and renowned leading actors in Knudsen and Benoît Magimel. Intriguing and exciting, the thriller atmosphere perfectly suits their fight to disclose an inconvenient truth. At a time when the role of whistleblowers to alert society is questioned, this film highlights the energy and resolution of a small group of provincial doctors who enabled a tremendous change in the way French consumers perceive drugs and their industry.

Awards:

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016 (Special Award)

Director:

Emmanuelle Bercot

Producers: Carole Scotta

Caroline Benjo

Screenwriters:

Séverine Bosschem

Emmanuelle Bercot

Cinematographer:

Guillaume Schiffman

Editor:

Julien Leloup

Music:

Martin Wheeler

Cast: Sidse Babett Knudsen

Benoît Magimel

Charlotte Laemmel

Patrick Ligardes

Running Time: 140 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Wild Bunch

Film Website: wildbunch.biz

Selected Filmography:

Standing Tall (2015)

On My Way (2013)

The Players (2012)

Backstage (2005)

Clément (2001)

500 Years

USA 2017

THURSDAY, MAY 25 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 26 3:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Locating the source of Guatemala’s political woes requires a journey of not just a few decades, but of more than five centuries, as the title of Pamela Yates’ latest film suggests. This documentary, chronicling the 2013 trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for crimes of genocide, is part of a tragic arc of authoritarian rule in Guatemala since the time of the conquistadors. The film focuses on Montt’s 1982-83 U.S.-aided military campaigns against the Ixil people, a tribe descended from the indigenous Mayan peoples. 500 Years completes a trilogy of Yates’ films about the small Central American nation, dating back to 1983’s When the Mountains Tremble, about Montt’s coup d’etat. The second film, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, from 2011, shows how Yates’ 1983 film was useful in getting the Guatemalan court system to indict Montt for crimes against humanity that led to the deaths of more than 200,000 Mayans. After such tragedy, 500 Years concludes on an inspiring note: Soon after Montt’s sentencing, Yates followed the subsequent protest over corruption in the regime of then-president Otto Pérez Molina, which led to his downfall as well. Blending archival footage from Montt’s reign of terror and in-person interviews with those on both sides of the conflict, 500 Years stands as testimony that the true power of any government comes not from leaders but from its people.

Director: Pamela Yates

Producer: Paco de Onis

Cinematographers: Melle van Essen

Rene Soza

Editor: Peter Kinoy

Music: Roger C. Miller

Featuring: Irma Alicia Velásquez

Nimatuj

Matilde Terraza Gallego

Daniel Pascual Hernández

Andrea Ixchíu Hernández

Julio Solórzano Foppa

Running Time: 108 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

Print Source: Skylight

Film Website: 500years.skylight.is

Selected Filmography: Rebel Citizen (doc, 2015) Disruption (doc, 2014)

Mother Tongue (doc, 2014)

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (doc, 2011)

The Reckoning (doc, 2009)

State of Fear (doc, 2005)

Presumed Guilty (doc, 2002)

Poverty Outlaw (doc, 1997)

Takeover (doc, 1991)

Teatro! (doc, 1990)

When the Mountains Tremble (doc, 1983)

7 Minutes

ITALY/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND 2016

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 19 8:45 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:15 PM SIFF CINEMA

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 12:00 PM

Workers’ compensation, generational rivalries, and dignity of the human spirit weave together in this compelling drama about 11 female factory workers tasked with deciding their own fate and torn between two choices that may, in the long run, offer the same outcome. Michele Placido’s fact-based story tells of a longstanding Italian textile mill sold to a French conglomerate, a new ownership that asks the workers to sacrifice seven minutes of their break time to keep the factory open. But when sage Bianca, the 60-year-old elected leader of the workers’ council, realizes that seven minutes from each worker equals 900 hours of free labor a month, they risk losing much more than next month’s paychecks. These 11 women span a 40-year age gap and various citizenship statuses and beliefs, but all must find common ground in their plight as low-wage workers amid a crumbling macro-economy beset with corporate greed. Their grip upon solidarity is the only way to steel themselves in a storm of personal and national socioeconomic pressures, making for a poignant film in Europe’s broader political climate.

Awards:

FICE—Federazione Italiana Cinema d’Essai 2016 (Special Award)

Director: Michele Placido

Producer: Federica Vincenti

Screenwriters: Stefano Massini

Michele Placido

Cinematographer: Arnaldo Catinari

Editor: Consuelo Catucci

Music:

Paolo Buonvino

Cast: Ottavia Piccolo

Ambra Angiolini

Cristiana Capotondi

Fiorella Mannoia

Maria Nazionale

Violante Placido

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Golden Art Production

Film Website: 7minuti-ilfilm.it

Selected Filmography:

The Lookout (2013)

Angel of Evil (2010)

The Big Dream (2009)

Crime Novel (2005)

A Journey Called Love (2002)

Of Lost Love (1998)

Ordinary Hero (1995)

Close Friends (1992)

Tomato (1991)

8 Borders, 8 Days

LEBANON/USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 12:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 21 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

After Amanda Bailly, a documentary filmmaker, arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2015 to cover the plight of fleeing Syrian refugees, she noticed one strong woman, named Sham, confronting a riot-gear-clad Greek police officer. Bailly was instantly drawn to her fearlessness under desperate circumstances, and decided to make Sham’s harrowing journey the focus of her film. The result is 8 Borders, 8 Days, an unblinking portrait of this single mother’s determination to escape the horrors of the Syrian civil war with her two children. After applying for a U.S. Visa, submitting to medical tests, and taking English classes, Sham never heard back from officials after 15 months, so she finally decided to brave the hazardous waters between Syria and Lesbos on a leaky smuggler’s raft. This immersive doc crams the rest of Sham’s story into a thrilling 60 minutes as she negotiates her way through an increasingly unwelcoming European bureaucracy to save her family. Bailly said her intent with this, her first featurelength documentary, is to highlight the fact that much smaller, poorer nations have taken in millions of Syrian refugees while the U.S. has accepted only 2,000 since fighting broke out. 8 Borders, 8 Days is a sobering testament to the dire human consequences of closing our doors on people we once considered the foundation of the American experiment.

PRECEDED BY:

Refugee USA/Senegal, 2016, 28 minutes. Directors: Joyce Chen, Emily Moore

The story of a West African woman who left her five children in 2003 to come to the U.S. and provide them with a better future.

Director: Amanda Bailly

Producer: Amanda Bailly

Cinematographer: Amanda Bailly

Editor: Joseph Singer

Running Time: 61 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

Print Source: Amanda Bailly

Film Website: 8borders8days.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

LINCOLN SQUARE

UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Afterimage

POLAND 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 9:30 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 26 3:30 PM

Art is freedom. As Stalin rose to power, freedom was under attack; art was under attack. Afterimage, director Andrzej Wajda’s final film, follows the story of Wladyslaw Strzeminski (Boguslaw Linda), the most important Polish painter of the 20th century. World War I left him with a missing arm and leg, but this didn’t keep him from pursuing art. Strzeminski’s avant-garde paintings and sculptures were unlike anything of their time—abstract and playful, yet sophisticated. People recognized this, and his art became successful internationally. At the peak of his career, Stalin came to power, ordering all art to be objectified, serving as Soviet propaganda. Afterimage is a heartbreaking yet hopeful story of resilience. Its affecting score, by Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik, offers a glimpse into the emotions of those living in desperation, clinging to any amount of faith. The miserable, gray environment contrasts with the artist’s whimsical creations, reminding us that without art, life is joyless. Wajda passed away last October, at 90, shortly after his film’s release. Strzeminski’s story is one he had always wanted to tell—and he told it beautifully, allowing others to live it. Afterimage reminds us of the prolific careers of two artists.

Awards:

Official Oscar Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Andrzej Wajda

Producer: Michal Kwieciński

Screenwriters: Andrzej Mularczyk

Cinematographer: Pawel Edelman

Editor: Grazyna Gradon

Music: Andrzej Panufnik

Cast: Boguslaw Linda

Bronislawa Zamachowska

Zofia Wichlacz

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Polish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Film Movement

Selected Filmography: Walesa, Man of Hope (2013)

Sweet Rush (2009)

Katyn (2007)

The Revenge (2002)

Korczak (1990)

Danton (1983)

Man of Iron (1981)

The Girl From Wilko (1979)

Man of Marble (1977)

Land of Promise (1975)

Everything for Sale (1969)

Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

Kanal (1957)

A Generation (1955)

After the Storm

JAPAN 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM SIFF

SATURDAY, MAY 20 4:00 PM SIFF

Director Hirokazu Kore-eda (SIFF 2016’s

Our Little Sister) has carved out a cinema niche: naturalist examinations of middle-class Japanese families. Subtly conveying lessons through a unique blend of melancholy and generosity, Kore-eda has honed a focus on life’s various imperfections, a bittersweet outlook that eschews easy melodrama. Here, we meet Ryota (Hiroshi Abe, I Wish), a oncecelebrated novelist now scraping the bottom of the barrel in a commuter town on the outskirts of Tokyo. Barely making ends meet as a small-time private detective, the scant money he makes blackmailing cheating husbands goes directly to the bicycle racetrack, where he gambles away the child support he owes his ex-wife (Yoko Maki, Like Father, Like Son) and young son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa). To top it off, his own father has recently passed away, leaving his mother Yoshiko (Kilin Kiki, Still Walking) to pick up the remaining pieces of what she considers a heretofore wasted life. With little left to lose, Ryota invites his estranged ex-wife and son to his mother’s house for a potential reconciliation disguised as a casual dinner. But when a typhoon hits, all are forced into an all-nighter, where hard truths, personal disappointments, and lingering emotional doubts rise to the surface. Once again, Kore-eda’s profound insight into ordinary human life makes for stunning and gentle human drama.

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Producers: Kaoru Matsuzaki

Akihiko Yose

Hijiri Taguchi

Screenwriter: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Cinematographer: Yutaka Yamazaki

Editor: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Music: Hanaregumi

Cast: Hiroshi Abe

Yoko Maki

Taiyo Yoshizawa

Kilin Kiki

Running Time: 117 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Film Movement

Selected Filmography: Our Little Sister (2015) Like Father, Like Son (2013)

I Wish (2011)

Air Doll (2009)

Wishing You’re Alright (2008)

Still Walking (2008)

Hana (2006)

Nobody Knows (2004)

Distance (2001)

After Life (1998) Maborosi (1995)

CINEMA UPTOWN

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

UMI YORI MO MADA FUKAKU

Albüm

TURKEY/FRANCE/ROMANIA 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 4:15 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Bahar and Cüneyt are about to become parents. They’re adopting a baby, but, mindful of the social stigma attached to infertility, have decided to pretend it’s biologically their own. To bolster this claim, they set about creating a photo album to document the (fake) pregnancy, staging elaborate photo shoots complete with (artificial) baby bump and enlisting doctors and nurses at a local hospital to pose (awkwardly) with them in the maternity ward. All proceeds according to plan until, by chance, Cüneyt discovers that a record of their adoption exists in the files of the local police, threatening to collapse their charade. Albüm is a needle-sharp social satire with multiple targets—the notion of biological authenticity, the flexible approach to inconvenient facts, and our selfie-saturated age in which even our most meaningful life events are less meaningful unless they’re photographed. Fans of the Romanian New Wave will appreciate the film’s mordant dark humor and austere visual appeal.

Awards:

Cannes Film Festival 2016 (France 4 Visionary Award)

Sarajevo Film Festival 2016 (Best Film, C.I.C.A.E. Award, Cineuropa Award)

American Folk USA 2017

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 9:00 PM

Director:

Mehmet Can Mertoğlu

Producers: Yoel Meranda

Eytan İpeker

Cedomir Kolar

Marc Baschet

Danis Tanović

Oana Iancu

Călin Peter Netze

Screenwriter:

Mehmet Can Mertoğlu

Cinematographer:

Marius Panduru

Editors:

Ayhan Ergürsel

Mehmet Can Mertoğlu

Cast:

Şebnem Bozoklu

Murat Kılıç

Muttalip Müjdeci

Müfit Kayacan

Zuhal Gencer Erkaya

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Turkish, with English subtitles

International Sales:

The Match Factory

Print Source:

The Match Factory

Film Website: the-match-factory.de/ films/items/album.html

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SHORELINE CC

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Elliott (Joe Purdy) and Joni (Amber Rubarth) are two folk musicians who meet on a flight bound for New York: He’s a guitarist headed east to catch up with a touring band; she’s returning home from a wedding. Impressed with the music she hears emanating from his headphones, she plugs in her own, using a splitter for his portable CD player so they can both listen. They smile. The captain’s voice comes over the PA system: Due to an emergency, the plane must return to Los Angeles immediately. Back on the ground, Elliott and Joni find the airport in chaos as people take in the televised horrors of September 11, 2001. With U.S. airspace closed and both eager to make it out east as quickly as possible, Joni invites Elliott on an impromptu cross-country road trip in a family friend’s beat-up 1972 Chevy van. As they make their way across the shifting landscapes, the America they encounter is one of hushed silence, a society still trying to make sense of this strange new world. All Joni and Elliott can do in this time of tragedy is fill that hushed silence with their music, beautiful folk songs old and new, emanating from the hollow tin of their van past roadside motels and fireside gatherings.

Awards: Cleveland International Film Festival 2017 (Grand Jury Prize, American Independents)

Director: David Heinz

Producers: Matt Miller

Fiona Walsh

Screenwriter: David Heinz

Cinematographer: Devin Whetstone

Editor: David Heinz

Music:

Ben Lovett

Amber Rubarth

Joe Purdy

Cast:

Joe Purdy

Amber Rubarth

Krisha Fairchild

Bruce Beatty

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Vanishing Angle

Film Website: sept12thmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Angry Inuk

SUNDAY, MAY 28 11:30 AM

MONDAY, MAY 29 11:30 AM

For most people, a diet of seal meat is unthinkable. However, for director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and her clan in Kimmirut, a small traditional community near Baffin Island, it is ideal and the only fresh protein available in the Canadian Arctic. Seal-hunting became a moral hot topic in the ’70s and ’80s, and the laws to protect seals have a profound effect on the people who live the traditional lifestyle in the Arctic. They used to earn money from commercial sales of sealskin products, which helped subsidize the seal hunt, and share it with the community. Nowadays they struggle to earn a living and stand their ground against pressures from environmental organizations like Greenpeace and animal-rights groups. “We are casualties of a faraway war,” says Arnaquq-Baril, who, together with a new tech-savvy generation of Inuit, campaign and lobby in Europe to challenge negative perceptions of seal-hunting. Armed with social media and their own sense of justice and humor, this group is bringing an indigenous voice into the conversation and presenting themselves to the world as a modern people in need of a sustainable economy. Eight years in the making, Arnaquq-Baril builds this documentary around the voices and actions of her people: hunters, artisans, and the young generation who are passionate advocates for issues vital to Inuit survival.

Awards:

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2016 (Audience Award, Canadian Documentary Promotion Award)

Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017 (Social Justice Award)

Animal Crackers USA 1930

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Producers: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril Bonnie Thompson

Screenwriter: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Cinematographer: Qajaaq Ellsworth

Editor: Sophie Earkas-Bolla

Music:

Florencia Di Concilio

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

National Film Board of Canada

Print Source: Matson Films

Film Website: unikkaat.com/projects/ angry-inuk

Selected Filmography: The Embargo Project (2015)

SATURDAY, MAY 20 1:30 PM

“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.” Hooray for Captain Spaulding, and hooray for the Marx Brothers in their second film! Madcap mayhem, priceless puns, silly songs, and the best one-liners in cinema swirl together in this tornado of glorious pre-Code comedy from 1930. Groucho stars as Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding (the T stands for “Edgar”), a famed explorer back from his latest African expedition and the guest of honor at the biggest party in Long Island. And who will be providing the party’s music? Signor Emanuel Ravelli (Chico Marx) and his colleague the Professor (Harpo Marx), although they seem more interested in causing a ruckus and chasing women. Thanks to an increasingly ridiculous series of events involving the theft and counterfeit of a famed painting, the soiree quickly turns to chaos, and eternal straight performers Zeppo Marx and Margaret Dumont can only look on in horror as America’s greatest comic troupe wreaks havoc upon society’s good graces. Prepare your letter to Charles H. Hungerdunger, play that song about the Irish chiropodist, and put those chairs back where you found them.

Introduced by Marx Brothers expert Robert S. Bader

Director: Victor Heerman

Screenwriters: George S. Kaufman

Morrie Ryskind

Bert Kalmar

Harry Ruby

Pierre Collings

Cinematographer: George J. Folsey

Music: Harry Ruby

Bert Kalmar

Cast:

Groucho Marx

Harpo Marx

Chico Marx

Zeppo Marx

Margaret Dumont

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Universal Studios

Selected Filmography: Sea Legs (1930)

Rubber Heels (1927)

(The Dangerous Maid (1923)

The River’s End (1920)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Anishoara

GERMANY/MOLDOVA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 28 1:00 PM SHORELINE CC

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 9:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Divided into chapters by the four seasons, director Ana Felicia Scutelnicu’s second feature takes place in a small village in the Eastern European country of Moldova. The rural Moldovan countryside consists of sprawling hillsides and valleys, and is deeply rooted in its simplicity and traditions. Anishoara, a young girl who lives with her elderly grandfather and younger brother, spends her days completing chores around the house and occasionally traveling to town to participate in different festivals and social gatherings. A beautiful, strong young woman, Anishoara attracts several suitors, including an older foreigner who foolishly dyes his gray hair brown in a desperate attempt to appeal to her, a cocky childhood friend who gives her rides on his tractor, and a handsome boy named Dragosh who takes her to the sea for the first time. Mirroring a folk tale told at the beginning of this film, in which a girl rejects her suitors in favor of the unattainable king of the sun, Anishoara comes to terms with both sides of heartbreak. This quiet, gentle tale chronicles the difficult moments between childhood and adulthood in what feels like, at times, an isolated world.

Awards: Cleveland International Film Festival 2017 (Grand Jury Prize, George Gund Competition)

Director:

Ana Felicia Scutelnicu

Producer:

Ana Felicia Scutelnicu

Screenwriter:

Ana Felicia Scutelnicu

Cinematographers: Luciano Servio

Cornelius Plache

Max Preiss

Editor:

Hannah Schwegel

Music:

Stephan Franz

Stephan Bruns

Manja Ebert

Cast:

Ana Morari

Andrei Morari

Dragoş Scutelnicu

Petru Roşcovan

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Romanian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pluto Film Distribution

Print Source: Pluto Film Distribution

Film Website: anishoara-film.com

Selected Filmography: Panihida (2012)

AL FINAL DEL TÚNEL At the End of

the Tunnel

SPAIN/ARGENTINA 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 8:00 PM ARK LODGE

Reeling from loss and living in self-imposed exile, wheelchair user Joaquin (Leonardo Sbaraglia, Wild Tales) whittles his days away stewing in bitterness and fiddling with surveillance equipment in his grungy basement; but when a room-for-rent ad is answered by Berta (Clara Lago, Spanish Affair), Joaquin finds his antisocial way of life upended by the brash, sexy single mom and her mysterious young daughter. As his icy disposition slowly thaws, he uncovers a plot by a gang of criminals, led by psychopath Galetero (Pablo Echarri), to tunnel their way beneath his home and into the vault of a nearby bank. As his feelings for Berta grow and he discovers that the plot runs deeper and closer than he ever imagined, Joaquin is thrust into a dangerous game of survival and redemption in this wild, unpredictable roller-coaster ride of a thriller. Bolstered by tight editing and a rich, evocative sound design, writer/director Rodrigo Grande follows up his 2009 hit A Matter of Principles with an emotionally deep tale of two wounded souls struggling for connection inside a taut, absorbing cat-and-mouse thriller that would’ve made Hitchcock proud.

Director: Rodrigo Grande

Producers:

Mariela Besuievsky

Pablo Echarri

Gerardo Herrero

Screenwriter: Rodrigo Grande

Cinematographer: Félix Monti

Editors:

Leire Alonso

Manuel Bauer

Irene Blecua

Music:

Lucio Godoy

Federico Jusid

Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia

Federico Luppi

Clara Lago

Pablo Echarri

Uma Salduende

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Latido Films

Print Source: Latido Films

Film Website: latidofilms.com/at-theend-of-the-tunnel-2/

Selected Filmography: A Matter of Principles (2009)

Gangs From Rosario (2001)

Backpack Full of Cash USA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 3:30 PM

Bad Black

UGANDA 2016

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

At the start of the 2013-14 school year, South Philadelphia High School’s student-body poverty rate was in excess of 90 percent. The principal tried to cope with this by having no music teacher, no librarian, and just two counselors for more than 1,000 students. Meanwhile, just a few miles away, in North Philly, students are able to use high-tech tools to allow remote learning via laptop computer. What’s the difference? The school to the north is a “charter school”: a for-profit enterprise that accepts public funding in the form of “vouchers,” but is not held to the same standards as the public school to the south. This sobering documentary by Sarah Mondale, narrated by actor Matt Damon, explores the rising trend among many higher-income, socially conservative parents who want to spend their child’s “backpack full of cash”—their lifetime allotment of public-education dollars—at whichever school they choose. Mondale investigates schools across the country, visiting similar charter-schools—from Nashville, where eightyear-olds are given dozens of standardized tests in a school year, to New Orleans, where tax dollars are being siphoned from cashstrapped public schools to teach creationism as scientific fact. Backpack Full of Cash is a wake-up call for those who believe highquality public education should be available to people of all incomes and races and should not be left to the “free market” to decide.

Director: Sarah Mondale

Producers: Vera Aronow

Sarah Mondale

Screenwriter: Sarah Mondale

Cinematographer: Roger Grange

Editors: Vera Aronow

Marian Hunter

Narrator: Matt Damon

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Turnstone Productions

Film Website: backpackfullofcash.com

Selected Filmography: Megamall (2009)

Marcel Proust: A Writer’s Life (1993)

SATURDAY, MAY 20 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:30 PM MAJESTIC BAY

In the tin-roofed slums on the outskirts of Uganda’s capital, a one-of-a-kind movie industry dubbed “Wakaliwood” has arisen thanks to the tireless efforts of Nabwana I.G.G., who gathers together a literal village of amateurs to produce micro-budget kick-ass films filled with stunts, plot twists, and wonderfully cheap CGI effects. Nabwana’s latest breakneck gonzo epic is the story of a ruthless crime boss whose reign is challenged by an army of police, a kindly American doctor (producer Alan Hofmanis, a fan who moved to Uganda to help spread the word about Wakaliwood), and a scrappy local boy named Wesley Snipes (!) who teaches commando-approved kung fu. Filled with prison riots, motorcycle chases, gun fights, poo-poo, and insanely entertaining hype-man narration, Bad Black is such a raucous treat that it won the Audience Award at Austin’s Fantastic Fest despite being up against established filmmakers and bigbudget productions. “See a community represent itself onscreen simply because it must, the only way it knows how, with no regard for your ideas of narrative or aesthetic convention. Supa Action. Wakaliwood Forever!” — Matt Lynch, Scarecrow Video

Awards: Fantastic Fest 2016 (Audience Award, 1st Place, Action Features, Best Director)

Director: Nabwana I.G.G.

Producers: Alan Hofmanis

Nabwana I.G.G.

Screenwriters: Alan Hofmanis

Nabwana I.G.G.

Cinematographer: Nabwana I.G.G.

Editor: Nabwana I.G.G.

Cast: Nalwanga Gloria Alan Ssali Hofmanis

Bisaso Dauda

Running Time: 68 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital, in English and Luganda, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wakaliwood

Print Source: Wakaliwood

Film Website: watch.wakaliwood.com

Selected Filmography: The Return of Uncle Benon (2011)

Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010)

Bad Day for the Cut

SUNDAY, MAY 21 9:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 25 4:30 PM

It’s always the mild-mannered ones you have to watch out for. That’s the lesson learned by a succession of thugs who push middleaged farmer Donal (Nigel O’Neill) to the brink. Donal lives in the lush Northern Irish countryside, taking care of his elderly mother (Stella McCusker), having a pint at the pub, and occasionally working on customizing his camper van. This quiet existence is forever shattered when Donal awakens to find his mother brutally murdered in an apparent home invasion gone bad. Later, the killers return to finish off Donal, but he manages to capture one of them, Bartosz (Józef Pawlowski), a young man forced into criminality to protect his sister from human traffickers. As Bartosz agrees to provide information on the killers, with ties to the mob and the old IRA, the stage is set for a crackling revenge thriller—only Donal is no superhuman payback machine à la Charles Bronson. In his debut feature, director Chris Baugh does not aestheticize the bloody mayhem that follows. Each gangster is dispatched in a realistic and visceral manner that conveys the true cost of violence, but Baugh also allows humor to seep through— as Donal gets increasingly resourceful in his “MacGyver”-like methods of execution. Each character is also wisely given an extra layer of nuance, making the hugely entertaining Bad Day for the Cut a deeper, richer meditation on violence begetting violence.

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MAJESTIC BAY

Director:

Chris Baugh

Producers:

Katy Jackson

Brendan Mullin

Screenwriters: Chris Baugh

Brendan Mullin

Cinematographer: Ryan Kernaghan

Editor:

Brian Philip Davis

Music:

James Everett

Cast:

Nigel O’Neill

Stella McCusker

Susan Lynch

Józef Pawlowski

Stuart Graham

David Pearse

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: XYZ Films

Print Source: Well Go USA Entertainment

Film Website: sixmilehill.co.uk/bad-dayfor-the-cut

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

MALA JUNTA

Bad Influence

CHILE 2016

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 2:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Arrested after a violent gas-station robbery, troubled Santiago youth Tano (Andrew Bargsted) is remanded to the custody of his father Javier (Francisco Pérez-Bannen), an auto mechanic living in the small mountain community of Wallmapu. Soon the wayward teen befriends shy, awkward Cheo (Eliseo Fernández), whose indigenous Mapuche community fights against the displacement and destruction wrought by a massive local pulp mill. The connection between the two boys quickly deepens against the pressures of schoolyard cruelty and the troubled home lives of each, forcing a reckoning in either boy with himself and the world around him in this extraordinary debut feature from writer and director Claudia Huaiquimilla. Following her multiple-award-winning short “San Juan, the Longest Night,” Huaiquimilla, along with co-writer Pablo Greene, brilliantly weaves together themes both grand and intimate—a rich human tapestry played against an urgent social and environmental crisis. Rooted in strong performances and assured direction, Bad Influence is a heartfelt call to arms touching both heart and conscience.

Awards:

Valdivia Film Festival 2016 (Grand Prize)

Toulouse Film Festival 2016 (Audience Award)

Director: Claudia Huaiquimilla

Producers: Pablo Greene

Rebecca Gutierrez

Eduardo Villalobos Pino

Screenwriters: Claudia Huaiquimilla

Pablo Greene

Cinematographer: Matías Illanes

Editor: Valeria Hernández

Music: Miranda y Tobar

Cast: Andrew Bargstad

Eliseo Fernández

Francisco Pérez-Bannen

Verónica Medel

Alex Quevedo

Rosa Ramírez

Running Time: 89 minutes

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

International Sales: Alpha Violet

Print Source: Alpha Violet

Film Website: alphaviolet.com/ mala-junta

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF

Band Aid

SUNDAY, MAY 28 4:15 PM

MONDAY, MAY 29 5:30 PM

Anna (Zoe Lister-Jones, “Life in Pieces”) and Ben (Adam Pally, “Making History”) are a married couple in trouble. Neither have lived up to their true potential: she an aspiring novelistturned-Uber driver, he a graphic designer who would rather sit at home playing video games. When their marriage counselor suddenly moves to Canada, leaving their troubled marriage in therapy limbo, they have no outlet to work through their increasingly frequent emotional, verbal battles. But then Ben has a potentially great idea: start a band and turn their fights into music. Reluctantly roping in the skills of their recovering sex-addict neighbor Dave (Fred Armisen, “Portlandia”) on drums, they create songs that are simultaneously peppy, caustic, and perhaps a bit too TMI—on the lighter side, they have a song about their shared love of Papa John’s Pizza; on the darker side, the hummable hit “I Love You (But I Don’t Want to Fuck You).” But open-mic nights can’t fix deeply rooted problems, and the sins of their shared past make for an uncertain future. Lister-Jones, in her solo screenwriting and directorial debut, has fashioned a dramedy that’s honest, authentic, and deeply funny, with an ensemble filled with comedy mainstays, including Susie Essman (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Hannah Simone (“New Girl”), Retta (“Parks and Recreation”), and Erinn Hayes (“Children’s Hospital”).

EL BAR

The Bar

SPAIN 2017

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Zoe Lister-Jones

Producers: Natalia Anderson

Zoe Lister-Jones

Screenwriter: Zoe Lister-Jones

Cinematographer: Hillary Spera

Editor: Libby Cuenin

Music: Lucius

Cast: Zoe Lister-Jones

Adam Pally

Fred Armisen

Susie Essman

Hannah Simone

Retta

Erinn Hayes

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: William Morris Endeavor

Print Source: IFC Films

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SATURDAY, MAY 20 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 21 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 8:30 PM SHORELINE CC

Gorgeous and successful yet unlucky in love, Elena (Blanca Suárez) pops into a local pub to charge her phone en route to what she hopes will be a promising first date. But when a pair of patrons are promptly assassinated outside the bar’s front door and the streets quickly empty into an eerie silence, the motley group of barflies—including retired cop Andres (Joaquín Climent), crazed, scripturequoting Israel (Jaime Ordóñez), middle-aged gambling addict Trini (Carmen Machi), and jaded hipster Nacho (Mario Casas)—find their leisurely afternoon jaunt has become ground zero for a sinister government conspiracy. As survival instincts kick in and alliances quickly form, desperation drives the panicked strangers deeper into the city’s bowels and into a vicious dog-eat-dog struggle, revealing who each person truly is and leading to surprising twists in this lively, energetic comedic thriller. Acclaimed writer and director Álex de la Iglesia (My Big Night, Witching and Bitching) brings his signature fever-pitch style to this sharp dissection of modern Spain. From the moneyed elite to the bored middle class to desperate transients, The Bar gleefully strips away the veneer of “proper” society to reveal how quickly the fragile bonds of civilization can fray when desperation truly sets in.

Director: Álex de la Iglesia

Producers: Carolina Bang

Kiko Martínez

Álex de la Iglesia

Screenwriter: Jorge Guerricaechevarría Álex de la Iglesia

Cinematographer: Ángel Amorós

Editor: Domingo González

Music: Joan Valent

Cast: Blanca Suárez

Mario Casas

Carmen Machi

Joaquín Climent

Jaime Ordóñez

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

Selected Filmography: My Big Night (2015) Messi (doc, 2014)

Words With Gods (2014)

Witching and Bitching (2013)

As Luck Would Have It (2011)

The Last Circus (2010)

The Oxford Murders (2008)

El Crimen Perfecto (2004) 800 Bullets (2002)

Common Wealth (2000)

The Day of the Beast (1995)

Beach Rats

USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 21 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Frankie is currently in a strange stage of his life where everything around him seems to be teetering on the edge, threatening to shatter and change forever. He spends his days hanging out with his jock friends, with whom he’s not sure he has much in common anymore, working out, smoking pot, and impetuously hitting on girls he’s not even interested in. At home his mother roams the house like a ghost while his father lies bedridden as his cancer consumes him. It seems that the only place Frankie can be himself and shed these troubles is in Internet chatrooms, talking to other guys like him—other gay men. Frankie’s sexual coming of age is juxtaposed against the carefree and childish Coney Island boardwalk, where he hangs out with his brutish friends and ponders what may be the biggest turning point in his young adult life, and the one with the most at stake. Director Eliza Hittman showed off her skill as an unflinchingly honest storyteller in her first feature, It Felt Like Love (2013), and now comes through once again with a brooding, hypnotic study of masculinity and the journey toward adulthood.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic)

Beatriz at Dinner

USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 1:30 PM

Director: Eliza Hittman

Producers: Drew Houpt

Brad Becker-Parton

Paul Mezey

Andrew Goldman

Screenwriter: Eliza Hittman

Cinematographer: Hélène Louvart

Editors:

Scott Cummings

Joe Murphy

Cast:

Harris Dickinson

Madeline Weinstein

Kate Hodge

Neal Huff

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: NEON

Selected Filmography: It Felt Like Love (2013)

PACIFIC PLACE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

There’s nothing quite like a dinner party to add a little excitement to one’s life. The combination of new and old friends plus a couple— OK, several—glasses of wine can really break down social barriers and provoke some rather interesting conversation. There’s also always the small chance things will get out of hand, causing rifts between friends and clientele that may be irreconcilable. Affluent couple Cathy and Grant (Connie Britton and David Warshofsky) are hosting an evening gettogether for some close friends and acquaintances, including Grant’s billionaire boss, Doug Strutt (John Lithgow). When Beatriz (Salma Hayek), a holistic health practitioner from Mexico who works for the couple, is faced with car trouble down the road, she’s invited in as a last-minute guest. Immediately personalities clash, as do sociopolitical beliefs, as indignant Beatriz and imperious Doug face off in what might be the longest evening of these L.A. residents’ lives. This socially charged black comedy candidly deals with race, immigration, class, and other issues particularly relevant in this current politically heated age, and the performances of both Lithgow and Hayek are razor-sharp. Director Miguel Arteta reunites with writer Mike White to present us with this timely, sizzling showdown.

Director: Miguel Arteta

Producers: Aaron L. Gilbert

David Hinojosa

Pamela Koffler

Christine Vachon

Screenwriter: Mike White

Cinematographer: Wyatt Garfield

Editor: Jay Deuby

Music: Mark Mothersbaugh

Cast: John Lithgow

Salma Hayek

Chloe Sevigny

Connie Britton

David Warshofsky

Running Time: 79 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Roadside Attractions

Selected Filmography:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)

Cedar Rapids (2011)

Youth in Revolt (2009)

The Good Girl (2002)

Chuck & Buck (2000)

Star Maps (1997)

QINGHAI HUBAN

The Beautiful Kokonor Lake

CHINA 2017

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 6:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Actress Qin Yi, whose long and honored career has given her the freedom to explore her craft, originally wrote the screenplay for The Beautiful Kokonor Lake after hearing a radio news report 30 years ago. This film is based on the true story of an Australian couple, working on an artificial rain project on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, who documented the challenges they faced during their years in China. On the day before they are set to return to Sydney, an accident changes the course of their lives, leaving them in a new and unsettling situation. This pair and their work on the Plateau are instrumental in the development of first-aid stations along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. These stations give medical care to towns that would otherwise not have it, helping families that may have been in their situation. The supporting cast of characters help to bring this couple’s story to life, giving the audience a look into the everyday life of a foreigner living and working in a new country, trying to make a difference.

Director: Shen Xing-Hao

Producer: Qin Yi

Screenwriter: Qin Yi

Cast: Qin Yi Jiang Ping

Jennifer Shu Chang Huang Hong

Tony Rui-Xin

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

Print Source: Eastern Mordor

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Becoming Who I Was

SOUTH KOREA 2016 US PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 7:00 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

THURSDAY, MAY 25 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM SHORELINE CC

Angdu Padma is no ordinary boy. In his past life he was a revered Buddhist teacher. Now he is a young child who must learn from Buddhist teachers to prepare his ability to pass on the wisdom from his past incarnations. A village doctor in the isolated highlands of northern India has been working to prepare the young master, but he is not a Buddhist teacher and feels that the boy needs a true master to reach his full potential. Tibet, the center of Buddhist faith and Angdu’s homeland, is far from their village, and the conflict with China makes the thought of a trip extremely dangerous. Despite the dangers, Angdu and his mentor set out on foot toward Tibet, joined by ruminations of friendship and the nature of the world. Documentarians Chang-yong Moon and Jin Jeon followed the pair for eight years and have crafted a deeply moving portrait of the friendship between teacher and student as well as the strength of homeland to the Tibetan people. With a vérité narrative approach that finds a concentrated serenity even in times of conflict, this extraordinary documentary crescendos towards its moving final frames.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2017 (Grand Prix for Best Film)

Directors: Chang-yong Moon

Jin Jeon

Producers: Chang-yong Moon

Jin Jeon

Cinematographers: Chang-yong Moon

Jin Jeon

Editors: Chang-yong Moon

Jin Jeon

Music: Jung-li Seo

Featuring: Angdu Padma Ricken Urgyan

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hindi, Ladakhi, and Tibetan, with English subtitles

Print Source: Sonamu Films

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Behind the Curtain:

Todrick Hall

USA 2017

MONDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Described as “if Willy Wonka and Pee-wee Herman had a black child,” Todrick Hall is a YouTube celebrity, recording artist, songwriter, Broadway actor, “Drag Race” judge, and much, much more. But right now he has only four weeks to write, record, choreograph, film, stage, and design his upcoming “Straight Outta Oz” album and tour. Inspired by Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and spurred by not getting a hard-fought role as the Scarecrow on NBC’s “The Wiz Live!”, Hall imagines “Straight Outta Oz” as a confluence of L. Frank Baum’s oversized universe, Hall’s story of growing up as a gay black male in Arlington, Texas, with a Christian mother, and a rousing piece of activism. As every set piece, costume, bit of choreography, and note is painstakingly created, Hall and his wide-reaching team pull 16-hour days to create “something epic, but for less than epic price.” Behind the Curtain as open-hearted and frantic as documentaries get—mixes this behind-the-scenes tour with a look back at Hall’s own career and an examination of LGBTQ culture in the wake of the Pulse shooting, a nightclub near and dear to Hall’s heart. The result is an inspiring film about grit, perseverance, and the redemptive power of art.

Director:

Katherine Fairfax Wright

Producers:

Brian Robbins

Matt Kaplan

Todrick Hall

Cinematographer:

Katherine Fairfax Wright

Editor:

Katherine Fairfax Wright

Music:

Todrick Hall

WiiDOPE

Jeeve

Featuring:

Todrick Hall

Teresa Stanley

Wayne Brady

Chester Lockhart

Jesse Pattison

Brenda Cornish

Vonzell Solomon

Jenni Thommasson

Jazlyn Nicole Miller

Running Time:

105 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source:

The Film Collaborative

Selected Filmography: Call Me Kuchu (2012)

Better Watch Out

AUSTRALIA/USA 2017

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 MIDNIGHT SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN SUNDAY, JUNE 11 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Look out, yuletide horror films, there’s a new kid in town. His name is Luke (Levi Miller, Pan), he’s almost 13, mischievous, and actually excited that his parents (Patrick Warburton and Virginia Madsen) have hired a babysitter for the night while they head out to a Christmas party. That’s because the sitter is his 17-yearold crush, Ashley (Olivia DeJonge, The Visit), and Luke has made plans to finally declare his love for her. Unfortunately, their quiet suburban home is about to be visited by a very un-jolly intruder who plans to create a real nightmare before Christmas, trapping these teenagers—and even their friends and, yikes, boyfriends—in a twisted tale of terror. The second feature from director Chris Peckover (his first was the audacious 2010 immigration chiller Undocumented), Better Watch Out is a sharp, sadistic horror comedy that pays tribute to both John Hughes and Michael Haneke while offering a subversive twist on the home-invasion story that cleverly upends expectations. It is a truly grisly and demented film, one that horror fans are likely to make a holiday tradition for years to come.

Awards:

Monster Fest 2016 (Best Australian Feature Film, Best Performance in a Feature Film)

PRECEDED BY:

The Kidnapping of Richard Franco United Kingdom, 2017, 13 minutes. Director: Dan Clark North American Premiere A married couple going through tough times decide to kidnap a has-been movie star.

Director: Chris Peckover

Producers: Sidonie Abbene

Brion Hambel

Paul Jensen

Brett Thronquest

Screenwriters: Chris Peckover

Zach Kahn

Cinematographer: Carl Robertson

Editor: Julie-Anne De Ruvo

Music: Brian Cachia

Cast: Olivia DeJong

Levi Miller

Dacre Montgomery

Virginia Madsen

Patrick Warburton

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: XYZ Films

Print Source: Well Go USA

Selected Filmography: Undocumented (2010)

The Big Sick

THURSDAY, MAY 18 7:00 PM

Based on the true story of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (the film’s writers and a reallife couple), The Big Sick depicts the modern culture clash of the Pakistan-born Kumail’s relationship with an American woman. What begins as a one-night stand with grad student Emily, expertly played by Zoe Kazan (Meek’s Cutoff), quickly blossoms into a real relationship—one complicated by Kumail’s traditional Muslim parents. With his parents’ expectations resting heavily on his shoulders (they constantly try to set him up with Pakistani women for an arranged marriage) Kumail treads carefully through the world of dating and standup comedy. But when Emily suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness, Kumail is forced to deal with the crisis with her own parents, comedically played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. With so much comedy talent in front of and behind the camera, producers Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel and director Michael Showalter (“The State,” Hello, My Name Is Doris) steadily guide us through writer/star Nanjiani’s (“Silicon Valley”) autobiographical and uniquely Pakistani story of love, fear, and one-man shows.

Awards:

SXSW 2017 (SXSW Audience Award for Festival Favorites)

MCCAW HALL

Director: Michael Showalter

Producers: Judd Apatow

Barry Mendel

Screenwriters: Emily V. Gordon

Kumail Nanjiani

Cinematographer: Brian Burgoyne

Editor:

Robert Nassau

Music: Michael Andrews

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani

Zoe Kazan

Holly Hunter

Ray Romano

Anupam Kher

Running Time: 119 minutes

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

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Lionsgate

Film Website: thebigsickmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)

The Baxter (2005)

Bill Frisell, A Portrait

AUSTRALIA 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 2:30 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 23 4:00 PM

Bill Frisell is not simply a universally admired guitarist and composer—and very possibly the world’s nicest person, Emma Franz’s doc suggests—but a living embodiment of the inadequacy of the labels we attach to musical genres. He comes from the jazz world, but, especially in recent years, those who try to describe his output are as apt to mention country or Americana. Music that has germinated his abundantly imaginative improvisations includes the work of John Lennon, Aaron Copland, and Madonna; among his collaborators over the years have been Renée Fleming, Lucinda Williams, and the BBC Symphony— shown here in a generous amount of rehearsal footage for one of Frisell’s compositions. Franz also visits him at his Bainbridge Island home, full of his recordings (when Frisell says he’s made hundreds of albums, he’s not kidding) and his guitars (each one has a story). The talking heads here wax rapturous about not only Frisell’s versatility but, conversely, the personal, unmistakable style and sound he brings to everything he plays; fellow guitarist John Abercrombie perhaps sums it up best when he says “You hear the history of the guitar when he plays.”

Director: Emma Franz

Producer: Emma Franz

Screenwriter:

Emma Franz

Cinematographer: Emma Franz

Editor: Emma Franz

Music:

Bill Frisell

Featuring: Bill Frisell

Paul Motian

Jim Hall

Mike Gibbs

Jason Moran

Jim Woodring

Joey Baron

Tony Scherr

Kenny Wollesen

John Zorn

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Films Transit International

Print Source: Films Transit International

Film Website: billfrisellfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Intangible Asset No. 82 (2008)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

Black Code

CANADA 2016

THURSDAY, MAY 25 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 26 4:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 3:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

“We are going through the most profound change in communication technologies in all of human history right now,” says Ronald Deibert, political science professor and director of The Citizen Lab. “We’re leaving this digital exhaust that contains extraordinarily precise information about our lives, our social relationships, reduced to trillions of data points that form now this new ethereal layer around the planet that’s only growing.” He has a point. With mobile-phone usage, social media, and cloud computing, we put an awful lot of faith in companies to protect our private data. In truth, governments around the world are controlling, manipulating, and monitoring the Internet to their advantage. In this startling exposé, director Nicholas de Pencier shows us the connection between Big Data and Big Brother, meeting political activists, prisoners, protesters, and digital detectives from across the globe as they contend with this strange new world. Whether you’re protesting the Chinese occupation of Tibet, secretly recording the Syrian Civil War, or livestreaming a protest in an attempt to bypass government and media spin, somebody will always be watching. “It’s our responsibility to hold governments and companies accountable,” the film posits, so that they can’t infringe on our freedoms and rights.

DIE BLUMEN VON GESTERN

The Bloom of Yesterday

GERMANY/AUSTRIA 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 6:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Nicholas de Pencier

Producers: Nicholas de Pencier

Daniel Iron

Screenwriter: Nicholas de Pencier

Cinematographer: Nicholas de Pencier

Editor: Eric Pedicelli

Music:

Philip Strong

Featuring: Ronald Deibert

Felipe Altenfeldor

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English, Portuguese, Arabic, and Tibetan, with English subtitles

International Sales: Mongrel Media

Print Source: Upside Distribution

Film Website: upsidedistribution. com/?Black-Code

Selected Filmography: Four Wings and a Prayer (2007)

Is it possible to make a rom-com based on Holocaust research? German writer/director Chris Kraus’ audacious, provocative story about a misanthropic historian reluctantly paired with an ebullient intern appears, at first, to head toward a formulaic exercise in transgressive romance. But Kraus wisely chooses unexpected pivots toward more nuanced emotional material as his characters grapple with their shared tragic history. The film focuses on humorless Holocaust scholar Toto (Lars Eidinger), who is planning a conference about the legacy of the camps but chafes against the crassness of corporate sponsorship. So he’s already in a dismissive mood when he meets his polar opposite in Zazie (Adèle Haenel), the young, confrontational French woman who becomes his assistant. While she has her share of wisecracks (“A Holocaust researcher with a sense of humor is like a butt without a hole”) and impulsive tendencies (tossing a small dog out of a moving car), Kraus leavens the screwball antics with genuine emotions stirred up by the dark subject matter. When Toto and Zazie both realize they have ancestors on opposite sides during the Holocaust, they find a common bond that draws them together. The Bloom of Yesterday manages the difficult feat of finding humor in spite of the backdrop of systemized genocide, while acknowledging that the scars from the Third Reich are still tender, even three generations removed.

Director:

Chris Kraus

Producers: Danny Krausz

Kathrin Lemme

Chris Kraus

Gerd Huber

Kurt Stocker

Screenwriter: Chris Kraus

Cinematographer: Sonja Rom

Editor: Brigitta Tauchner

Music: Annette Focks

Cast: Lars Eidinger

Adèle Haenel

Jan Josef Liefers

Hannah Herzsprung

Running Time: 125 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

International Sales: Beta Cinema

Print Source: Beta Cinema

Film Website: betacinema.com

Selected Filmography: The Poll Diaries (2010)

4 Minutes (2006)

Shattered Glass (2002)

Awards: Tokyo International Film Festival 2016 (Grand Prix, WOWOW Viewer’s Choice Award)

Borders

BURKINA FASO 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Traveling from Dakar, Senegal, to Lagos, Nigeria, to buy goods for her women’s association, Hadjara (spectacularly played by Amélie Mbaye) is an independent woman with a job to do. Upon her journey she also meets Emma, an Ivorian retailer, who is a perpetual traveler going on 15 years; Micha, a Nigerian currently living in Burkina Faso, returning to make up with her family at her sister’s wedding; and Sali, who is carrying out an errand for her fiancé. The quartet travels across the various country borders—independent women traveling who must consistently free themselves from the men who stand in their way. Writer/director Apolline Traoré has brilliantly crafted a road movie in which women pass between countries that may have differing ideologies and procedures, but the universal challenge they face is the power that men believe they can exert over them. With a backdrop of beautiful cinematography that truly showcases the exquisite landscape of West Africa, Traoré builds the film gradually from small experiences to large dramatic gestures, eventually culminating in an epilogue of tremendous depth.

Awards:

FESPACO 2017 (Best West African Film, Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize)

Director: Apolline Traoré

Producer: Apolline Traoré

Screenwriter: Apolline Traoré

Cinematographer: Ari Lakrouf

Editor: Christian Billette

Music: Cyril Morin

Cast: Amélie Mbaye

Naky Sy Savane

Unwana Udobang Adizétou Sidi

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: Les Films Selmon

Film Website: facebook.com/selmonfilms

Selected Filmography: Moi Zaphira (2013) Sous la clarte de la lune (2004)

Kounandi (2004)

The Price of Ignorance (2000)

Boundaries

CANADA (QUÉBEC) 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 8:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 1:30 PM

Fifty kilometers off the coast of Labrador lies Besco, a tiny island nation about to be pulled kicking and screaming into the global arena. Newly elected Besco president Danielle Richard (Macha Grenon, Barney’s Version) has inherited an economic crisis, and with much trepidation calls an emergency summit to discuss potential foreign investment in her country’s iron ore. Enter the Canadian politicians, a blustering group of men in threepiece suits who will not hesitate stripping the island’s major natural resource for the lowest possible figure; among them is Félixe (Nathalie Doummar), a young, female Ottawa representative and the only one with a conscience. Between the two sides—ministers, developers, lobbyists—sits Emily (Emily VanCamp, ABC’s “Revenge”), the bilingual American negotiator desperately trying to hold things together. These meetings—appropriately set in schoolrooms and gymnasiums considering the schoolyard-esque bullying perpetrated by all parties—quickly spin out of control, a biting social commentary on small-scale politics writ large. Following up her triumphant, Cannesnominated debut Sarah Prefers to Run (2013), Chloé Robichaud fashions a feminist-leaning political satire with an impressive tonal range, spanning from humor to satire to terror, as these three women try to make good in a frustratingly sexist world.

Director: Chloé Robichaud

Producers: Fanny-Laure Malo

Pierre Even

Marie-Claude Poulin

Barbara Doran

Screenwriter: Chloé Robichaud

Cinematographer: Jessica Lee Gagné

Editor: Michel Arcand

Music: Simon Bertrand

Cast: Macha Grenon

Emily VanCamp

Nathalie Doummar

Rémy Girard

Alexandre Landry

Running Time: 100 minutes

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

International Sales: Indie Sales

Print source: Indie Sales

Selected Filmography: Sarah Prefers to Run (2013)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

Brainstorm

USA 1983

MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM

Scientists Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) and Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) lead a research team that has been working on Triad, a brain/computer interface that can record a person’s experiences onto videotape. But now they’ve added “higher brain functions” to the device and have discovered something truly remarkable: They are suddenly able to experience the emotions and sensations on those tapes. Ethical concerns arise immediately— Michael uses the device to get closer to his soonto-be-ex-wife Karen (Natalie Wood in her final film), who also works on Triad; another records himself having sex and passes the tape onto his colleagues—but none more disturbing than a sudden interest from the government, who wishes to use the project for military purposes. As the government’s true plans come into focus, the scientists stop at nothing to make sure Triad doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The second and final film directed by visionary effects artist Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Brainstorm is a mind-bending science-fiction parable.

In a post-screening discussion, panelists from the fields of film, storytelling, and science will examine new technologies’ effects on society today. The panel will delve into how emerging technologies like VR, AR, and AI offer innovative ways to tell stories, their effect on social interactions, human interaction, mental health, and more.

Co-presented with Seattle-based creative agency POP.

Awards: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1984 (Best Actress, Best Music)

Brigsby Bear

USA 2017

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Director:

Douglas Trumbull

Producer:

Douglas Trumbull

Screenwriters:

Philip Frank

Robert Stitzel

from a story by Bruce

Joel Rubin

Cinematographer: Richard Yuricich

Editors:

Freeman Davies

Edward Warschilka

Cast: Christopher Walken

Natalie Wood

Louise Fletcher

Cliff Robertson

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

Print Source: Warner Brothers

Selected Filmography: Silent Running (1972)

SATURDAY, MAY 20 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 21 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

In his debut feature film, director Dave McCary delivers this ode to fandoms everywhere in the form of James and his singular obsession. Living his entire life off the grid with no interest in the outside world, 25-year-old James (Kyle Mooney, “Saturday Night Live”) spends his days curating his fixation on “Brigsby Bear,” a television show he’s been dependent on since childhood. Through every episode, James is taught lessons that aim to squash curiosity of the world and instill trust in parental figures. Suddenly his life is thrown into utter chaos— and this offbeat dramedy follows James as he learns to navigate his new life while suffering what he views as the greatest loss of all, ”Brigsby Bear.” He makes it his life mission to create a “Brigsby Bear” movie, while simultaneously attempting to come to terms with what happened to him. Mooney’s outstanding performance as an adult still stuck in the throes of his prepubescence demonstrates his ability to creatively branch out from his “SNL” roots.

Director: Dave McCary

Producers: Andy Samberg

Jorma Taccone

Akiva Schaffer

William Rosenberg

Phil Lord

Chris Miller

Will Allegra

Mark Roberts

Al Di

Jason Zaro

Screenwriters: Kyle Mooney

Kevin Costello

Cinematographer: Christian Sprenger

Editor: Jacob Craycroft

Music: David Wingo

Cast: Kyle Mooney

Beck Bennett

Claire Danes

Mark Hamill

Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

Greg Kinnear

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Selected filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF

Bye Bye Germany

GERMANY/LUXEMBOURG/BELGIUM 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:00 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

TUESDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, MAY 29 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE ES WAR

At the end of the Third Reich, most surviving Jews from the Holocaust understandably left Germany as fast as possible. But former Sachsenhausen inmate David Bermann (Moritz Bleibtreu), among about 4,000 other real-life survivors who remained, sees his blasted homeland as a land of opportunity. He dreams of reopening his family’s seized linen business in Frankfurt, but American forces deny him a license; with his haughty demeanor and fancy suit, David is suspected to be a Nazi collaborator by occupation forces and is subject to questioning by Special Agent Sara Simon (Antje Traue). Undaunted, he gathers a group of Jewish salesmen to help him peddle imported linens door-to-door, stressing that they never resort to stoking German guilt to seal the deal—they are to be legitimate businessmen, not victims. Director Sam Garbarski maintains an upbeat tone for most of the film, wringing sly humor from the absurdities faced by the salesmen, but memories of the horrors they each faced lie just under the surface; David’s flashbacks to the camps reveal his survivor’s guilt as his smooth-talking of the guards helped save him from the ovens while the rest of his family perished. Garbarski’s adaptation of German-Swiss novelist Michel Bergmann’s “Teilacher” trilogy is a tale of reassimilation and rebirth, and of how maintaining a sense of humor is a vital step toward redemption.

Director: Sam Garbarski

Producer: Jani Thiltges

Screenwriter: Michel Bergmann

Cinematographer: Virginie Saint-Martin

Editor: Peter R. Adam

Music:

Carlo Thoss

Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu

Antje Traue

Tim Seyfi

Mark Ivanir

Anatole Taubman

Hans Löw

Pál Macsai

Václav Jakoubek

Running Time: 101 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Film Movement

Film Website: the-match-factory.com/ films/items/bye-byegermany.html

Selected Filmography: Vijay and I (2013) Quartier lointain (2010) Irina Palm (2007) Rashevski’s Tango (2003)

DAO KHANONG

By the Time It Gets Dark

THAILAND/FRANCE/NETHERLANDS/QATAR 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 7:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

By the Time It Gets Dark has little interest in straightforwardness, but that’s what makes it so intriguing. In Anocha Suwichakornpong’s second feature-length film, characters live a life in one scene and a completely different one in the next. The film revolves around a 1976 event in which students at Thamassat University in Bangkok were brutally suppressed while protesting a military leader’s return. In the most direct scenes, we encounter a former student protester who shares her reflections with a young filmmaker. At its most abstract, the film shows extended cuts of nature and recreates earlier scenes with different actors. The film’s ambiguity hints at the unfeasibility of fully grasping the essence of a historical event without being there. While little is definitive in By the Time It Gets Dark, one thing absolutely is: This film is a beautiful one. The non-linear story is told poetically, through both captivating camerawork and emotional dialogue. Even when it’s uncertain what By the Time It Gets Dark is trying to communicate, it’s evident that it’s doing so in an exquisitely unconventional way.

Awards:

QCinema International Film Festival 2016 (Asian Next Wave)

Thailand National Film Association Awards 2017 (Best Picture, Best Director)

Director: Anocha Suwichakornpong

Producers: Guillaume Morel

Maenum Chagasik

Screenwriter: Anocha Suwichakornpong

Cinematographer: Ming Kai Leung

Editors: Lee Chatametikool

Machima Ungsriwong

Music:

Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr

Cast: Arak Amornsupasiri

Atchara Suwan

Visra Vichit-Vadakan

Intira Jaroenpura

Rassami Paoluengtong

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Thai, with English subtitles

International Sales: Luxbox

Print Source: KimStim

Film Website: kimstim.com/daokhanong.html

Selected Filmography: Breakfast Lunch Dinner (2013)

Mundane History (2009)

Cabaret

An Evening of Cabaret With Robbie Turner USA 1972

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Very little was retained from the 1966 stage musical “Cabaret” when it was made into a film five years later, except the premise—but what a premise: the cruelly ironic contrast between the decadent floor show at Berlin’s seedy Kit Kat Club and the violent rise of the Third Reich outside the club’s walls. Screenwriter Jay Allen went back to Christopher Isherwood’s original stories of expat life in betweenthe-wars Berlin, replacing the subplots completely and modeling the male lead, Brian (played by Michael York), much more closely on Isherwood himself—making him, daringly for the time, bisexual. Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat’s free-spirited star, was transposed from Brit to Yank, providing Liza Minnelli with an iconic role and an Oscar® Academy Awards® also went to director Bob Fosse for his stunningly staged and shot production numbers and to Joel Grey for his unforgettably epicene and sinister Master of Ceremonies.

Dress in your finest cabaret-style duds and join us for an evening inside the fabled Kit Kat Klub as Seattle drag icon Robbie Turner (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) presents an original Cabaret-inspired revue followed by a screening of the film.

Awards:

Academy Awards® 1973 (Best Actress in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Director, Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Film Editing, Original Score)

BAFTA Awards 1973 (Best Actress, Art Direction, Direction, Film, Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, Soundtrack, Cinematography) Golden Globes 1973 (Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, Actress, Supporting Actor)

Director: Bob Fosse

Producer: Cy Feuer

Screenwriters: Joe Masteroff

John Van Druten

Jay Presson Allen

Cinematographer: Geoffrey Unsworth

Editor: David Bretherton

Music: John Kander

Lyrics: Fred Ebb

Cast: Liza Minnelli

Joel Grey

Michael York

Helmut Griem

Running Time: 124 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in English, German, Hebrew, and French, with English subtitles

Print Source:

Warner Bros

Selected Filmography: Star 80 (1983)

All That Jazz (1979)

Lenny (1974)

Sweet Charity (1969)

The Cage Fighter

USA 2017

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SUNDAY, JUNE 4 3:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

“The only time I feel like I have confidence in myself is when I’m fighting.” Joe Carman, nearly 40, face bruised from two rounds in the octagon, has just gone back on a promise to quit mixed-martial-arts cage fighting once and for all. His family is rightfully concerned that this man, who works for the Washington State Ferry system by day, could end up in a wheelchair within the next five years. But something drives him, an addiction to combat that compels him to plead with his beloved wife and children for just one more bout. Then two. Then three. He needs redemption. He needs closure on this part of his life. They relent, but hesitantly. As Joe goes back into an arduous, spirit-crushing training regimen—“This is what separates us from normal people,” his coach tells him—he must also contend with potential post-concussion syndrome, his wife’s mysterious illness, and a custody battle with his ex-wife. At least in the cage, an old fighter can go down swinging, trading his inner pain for physical blows. The Cage Fighter is a riveting local observational documentary culled from three years of unprecedented access to the Carman family, directed and framed by Jeff Unay with a strong visual eye and an even stronger emotional core.

Director: Jeff Unay

Producers: James Orara

Jeff Unay

Cinematographer: Jeff Unay

Editor: David Teague

Featuring: Joe Carman

Callie Carman

Delanee Carman

Vernon Beach

Running Time: 83 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Valve

Film Website: cinereach.org/films/ the_cage_fighter

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

USA 2017

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 7:00 PM

Based on the worldwide sensation and bestselling book series, and boasting an A-list cast of comedy superstars headed by Kevin Hart (The Secret Life of Pets) and Ed Helms (The Lorax), DreamWorks Animation brings audiences this longawaited global movie event. In this raucously subversive comedy for the entire family, George Beard (Hart) and Harold Hutchins (Thomas Middleditch, “Silicon Valley”) are best friends who spend their days creating comic books and dreaming up pranks. One day they accidentally hypnotize their school principal, Mr. Krupp (Helms), into believing that he is Captain Underpants, a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero whose costume consists of underwear and a cape. As if this isn’t bad enough, their newest teacher is a disgraced evil scientist, Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll, Sing), bent on exacting revenge at their school by whatever means necessary. George, Harold, and Captain Underpants must band together to thwart his evil agenda. Featuring voiceover work from comedy greats Kristen Schaal (“Bob’s Burgers”) and Jordan Peele (“Key and Peele”) and directed by David Soren (Turbo). Presented in 3D.

PACIFIC PLACE

Director: David Soren

Producers: Mireille Soria

Mark Swift

Screenwriters: Dav Pilkey

Nicholas Stoller

Music: Theodore Shapiro

Voices: Kevin Hart

Ed Helms

Nick Kroll

Thomas Middleditch

Jordan Peele

Kristen Schaal

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP 3D

Print Source: 20th Century Fox Film Website: dreamworks.com/ captainunderpants

Selected Filmography: Turbo (2013)

CAMALE Ó N Chameleon

CHILE 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Paulina begins putting away dishes from last night’s big party. Her partner, Paula, lounges in the yard, taking in the seaside view of their gorgeous estate. Although unhappy about Paulina’s impending cross-country move for work, they both decide to spend one last cozy day enjoying each other’s company. But then there’s a knock. What begins as a surprise visit from a party guest’s boyfriend, an apology, a bottle of wine, and an invitation to spend an hour in the garden soon turns into the women’s very own bourgeoisie nightmare. The more they talk to this young man, the more cracks Paulina sees in his exterior. When he goes to the restroom she snidely confides in Paula that she thinks he’s a phony—an irritating common gardener. But as quickly as the wine glasses empty, the man transforms from a soft-spoken handsome acquaintance into a predator who makes his way into their homes to brutalize their bodies and minds. This Chilean home-invasion thriller presents us with a villain who takes the prejudiced attitudes of the wealthy and shoves them back down their own throats with an explosively psychopathic vengeance. Soaked in sadistic social commentary and avoiding typical tropes of the genre, Chameleon is director Jorge Riquelme Serrano’s first gut-punching film.

Director: Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Producers: Karla Kri

Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Sandra del Valle Cassals

Daniel Diaz

Screenwriter: Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Cinematographer: Cristián Petit-Laurent

Editors: Valeria Hernández

Cast: Gastón Salgado

Paula Zúñiga

Paulina Urrutia

Alejandro Goic

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles Film Website: laberintofilm.com/ chameleon

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Chasing Coral

USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Coral reefs are disappearing worldwide. Sadly, this isn’t fiction, but reality. In his latest documentary, Chasing Coral, filmmaker Jeff Orlowski and his crew travel to coral reefs near Bermuda, Australia, and American Samoa to explore the devastating phenomenon. The film is driven by spectacular cinematography. Vibrant coral reefs—colorful nexuses of aquatic life—are captured beautifully, which makes it even more distressing to be exposed to the ones that aren’t thriving. Desolate and lifeless, dying reefs resemble a graveyard, a far cry from their former glory. As a filmmaker, Orlowski views himself as a translator for the scientific community; it can be hard for people to wrap their minds around charts and numbers, but when people are shown visuals that tell the same story, they understand it completely. Films have a profound impact, as Chasing Coral doesn’t merely open our eyes to the reality of dying coral reefs, it presents indisputable visual evidence that evokes an emotional response—the kind, we hope, that leads to change.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Audience Award, U.S. Documentary)

Director:

Jeff Orlowski

Producers:

Larissa Rhodes

Jeff Orlowski

Screenwriters:

Davis Coombe

Vickie Curtis

Jeff Orlowski

Cinematographers:

Andrew Ackerman

Jeff Orlowski

Editor:

Davis Coombe

Music:

Saul Simon MacWilliams

Dan Romer

Featuring:

Andrew Ackerman

Pim Bongaerts

Neal Cantin

Phil Dustan

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine

Film Website: chasingcoral.com

Selected Filmography: Chasing Ice (2012)

AMOR PURO Y DURO

Chavela

USA 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 6:00 PM SIFF

SATURDAY, MAY 20 11:00 AM

Born into Costa Rica’s middle class in 1917, Isabel Vargas Lizano seemed destined to live a life defined by heartbreak. Ostracized by family and church for not conforming to gender norms, the preternaturally gifted singer relocated to Golden Age-era Mexico City, transforming herself into Chavela and finding her voice as an androgynous, soul-baring, ranchera-singing sensation. Teaming with legendary composer José Alfredo Jiménez, Chavela would come to enjoy a long career as a heartworn and impassioned voice on the sorrows of love before succumbing to an unscrupulous record industry and her own longstanding battle with alcoholism. Out of style, out of money, and with few options left, she retreated to rural Mexico, eking out a modest living before an unexpected offer brought her back to the stage and into the hearts of the lovelorn the world over. More than 25 years in the making, directors Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi’s Chavela brilliantly captures the emotional intensity of the legendary singer’s life and loves. From the iconoclast who challenged a misogynistic culture by being the most macha of all the machos to the emotionally fragile cantadora whose searing tales of the tragic end of love made her a household name, Chavela is an extraordinary portrait of an unforgettable woman.

Directors:

Catherine Gund

Daresha Kyi

Producers:

Catherine Gund

Daresha Kyi

Screenwriter: Catherine Gund

Cinematographers: Natalia Cuevas

Catherine Gund

Paula Gutiérrez Orío

Editor: Carla Gutierrez

Music: Gil Talmi

Featuring: Chavela Vargas

Pedro Almodóvar

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Latido Films

Print Source: Aubin Pictures

Film Website: chavelavargasfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Dispatches From Cleveland (2017)

Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs Gravity (2014) What’s on Your Plate (2009)

CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

HARIKATHA PRASANGA

Chronicles of Hari

INDIA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 26 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 7:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

“I often wonder whether I am a man playing a woman, or a woman playing a man. What am I?” In India, in the theatrical style known as yakshagana, all the parts are played by men, and female roles go to those actors who are, as one troupe director describes, “so feminine in their gestures and movements people mistake them to be women.” Hari (Shrunga Vasudevan) is one such actor, delicate, graceful, and beautiful. But despite frequent accolades, Hari has trouble turning back to male when not onstage, and gradually decides to wear female dress in everyday life. As rumors swirl, Hari finds themself unloved and unmarriable, casting a heavy burden on their more traditional family who only wish the best for their son. Frustrated with an uncaring world and seemingly trapped between identities, Hari considers leaving town and joining a new troupe, but such decisions can have grave consequences. Based on the short story by Gopalkrishna Pai, Chronicles of Hari is colorful, subtle, and quietly affecting, its focus on transgender issues a rarity in Indian cinema.

Director:

Ananya Kasaravalli

Producer:

Basant Kumar Patil

Screenwriters: Girish Kasaravalli

Ananya Kasaravalli

Gopalkrishna Pai

Cinematographers: Udit Khurana

Balaji Manohar

Editor: Mohan Kamakshi

Cast: Shrunga Vasudevan

K.G. Krishanamurthy

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Kannada, with English subtitles

International Sales: Basil Content

Print Source: Basil Content

Film Website: facebook.com/harikathaprasanga

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

City of Ghosts

USA 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 26 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 27 2:30 PM

Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, SIFF 2015) returns to SIFF with another vitally relevant, sometimes graphic film about one of the world’s most dangerous conflicts. City of Ghosts chronicles the efforts of “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS), a handful of anonymous Syrian activists who risk their lives to tell the world about their city’s suffering. What begins as a group of young school friends reporting on the antiAssad movement during the Arab Spring of 2012 takes on a new purpose when the Islamic State arrives in 2014. These citizen journalists film demonstrations in the city’s Freedom Square, the public executions of demonstrators that ensued, street after street bombed to rubble, and long lines of citizens lining up for meager rations. In this way, RBSS wages a meaningful opposition to ISIS’s own media campaign of intimidation and propaganda (including that aimed at children). When one member of the group is captured and executed, along with his father, the remaining guerrilla reporters begin leaving, mostly for Turkey, and later for Berlin. Heineman meets them there, documenting with remarkable insight and intimacy their ongoing operations, the courage that sustains them, and the threat that follows them wherever they go in what is arguably the defining documentary about Syria to date.

Awards: Dallas International Film Festival 2017 (Silver Heart Award)

Director: Matthew Heineman

Producer: Matthew Heineman

Cinematographer: Matthew Heineman

Editors: Matthew Hamachek

Pax Wasserman

Matthew Heineman

Music: Jackson Greenberg

H. Scott Salinas

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Dogwoof International

Print Source: Amazon Studios

Film Website: cityofghosts.com

Selected Filmography: Cartel Land (2015)

Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare (2013) Our Time (2009)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

RODNYE

Close Relations

GERMANY/LATVIA/ESTONIA/UKRAINE 2016 US PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

In his newest film, director Vitaly Mansky crisscrosses Ukraine to explore the country’s society and culture following the 2014 Maidan Revolution. After his unflinching and controversial documentary Under the Sun (2015), in which he followed a North Korean family for a year as their daughter prepped to join the North Korean Children’s Union, Close Relations is a more personal look at his own family scattered among the remains of an imploding nation. Traveling through Ukraine, Lviv, Odessa, Donbass, and Sevastopol, Mansky seems to have relatives in every major city. He interviews his mother, aunts, uncles, and other family members about the atmosphere of the current dizzying political situation and how it effects their lives, wherever they may be located. With skill and raw emotional honesty, he reveals the internal crack in his family’s divided loyalties, and shows us the impressions these divisions make. Cinematographer Alexandra Ivanova’s camerawork catches the subtleties and homey details of each character’s environment, giving us a genuine, personal flavor of Mansky’s connections to his subjects. Close Relations chronicles a unique sort of family album, and revealing several lives that manage to sustain themselves as social constructs unravel.

Director:

Vitaly Mansky

Producers:

Simone Baumann

Guntis Trekteris

Natalya Manskaya

Marianna Kaat

Screenwriter: Vitaly Mansky

Cinematographer: Alexandra Ivanova

Editors:

Peteris Kimelis

Gunta Ikere

Music:

Harmo Kallaste

Mikael Tariverdiev

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian and Ukrainian, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Deckert Distribution

Print Source:

Deckert Distribution

Selected Filmography:

Under the Sun (2015)

Pipeline (2013)

Motherland or Death (2011)

Rassvet/Zakat. Dalai

Lama 14 (2008)

Virginity (2008)

Tender’s Heat: Wild Wild Beach (2007)

Columbus USA 2017

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 4:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Video-essay master Kogonada’s debut feature film showcases his deep knowledge of cinema. His deliberately paced drama unfolds as a gently drifting, deeply absorbing conversation that continues to reinvent itself. John Cho’s (Star Trek, Harold & Kumar) character takes the lead as Jin, a man stuck in Columbus, Indiana, while his father sits in a coma. Upon his arrival he encounters a young woman, Casey (Haley Lu Richardson, The Edge of Seventeen, Split), who had planned to see his father speak about architecture at her university. While Jin declares that he has no interest in architecture, the two form a bond as they tour the city, discussing its different distinctive architecture. Both are able to intimately explore with each other their conflicted emotions: Jin’s strained relationship with his father and Casey’s fear of leaving her previously drug-addicted mother alone to pursue her own dreams outside of the small town. Kogonada creates a piece that tests how we experience space and modern design. Although modern architecture can be seen as alienating, Kogonada demonstrates its spiritually healing effects for our lead characters and the way it provides a sense of home in this lyrical meditation on the modern world.

Director: Kogonada

Producers: Aaron Boyd

Giulia Caruso

Ki Jin Kim

Andrew Miano

Danielle Renfrew Behrens

Chris Weitz

Screenwriter: Kogonada

Cinematographer: Elisha Christian

Editor: Kogonada

Music: Hammock

Cast: John Cho

Haley Lu Richardson

Parker Posey

Rory Culkin

Michelle Forbes

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and Korean, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Visit Films

Print Source: Nonetheless Productions

Film Website: nonethelessproductions. com/Columbus

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

KEOM, TUGEDEO

Come, Together

SOUTH KOREA 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 8:45 PM

SHORELINE CC

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

For middle-aged white-collar worker Park Beom-gu, work is his whole identity as a human being. But when he’s suddenly laid off by his employer after 18 years, cracks form in the Park family foundation in this tense drama by director Shin Dong-il (Host & Guest). Beom-gu is not alone in feeling the pressure: His wife, Mi-young, tries to take up the slack by throwing herself into her credit-card sales job, resorting to desperate and unethical tactics, while the couple’s daughter, Ha-na, agonizes over her college entrance exams and a purgatorial college wait list. As the tension steadily rises, each Park is tempted to resort to increasingly desperate measures: Beom-gu becomes obsessed with noises coming from a neighbor’s house; Mi-young’s jealousy of a rival worker turns her office into a toxic work environment; Ha-na starts harboring fantasies of eliminating students ahead of her on the wait list. From this tableau of anxiety, director Shin lets each character’s humanity and dignity emerge. Both a gripping family drama and sharp social commentary on today’s ultracompetitive Korean society, Come, Together shows how working harder does not always lead to true happiness.

Director: Shin Dong-il

Producer: Shin Dong-il

Screenwriters: Han Ji-soo

Shin Dong-il

Cinematographer: Kim Bow-ram

Editor: Moon In-dae

Music:

Kwon Seong-mo

Cast: Lee Hae-eun

Im Hyeong-gook Chae Bin

Kim Jae-rok

Han Kyung-hyun

Running Time: 122 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

Print Source: Biashin Pictures

Selected Filmography: Bandhobi (2009)

My Friend & His Wife (2006)

Host & Guest (2005)

Cook Up a Storm

CHINA 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:30 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 28 4:15 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 6:30 PM

Most simply view cooking as a necessity. But for some, it’s an art, an act of self-expression, a lifestyle. Chinese director Raymond Yip Wai Man’s latest film tells the story of two men who have dedicated their lives to the art of food. Their passion may be the same, but their styles couldn’t be less alike; one is a Cantonese street cook, the other a Frenchtrained, Michelin-starred chef. As they prepare for a world-famous culinary competition, the rivals discover an unexpected mutual foe and realize they have more in common than they thought. Cook Up a Storm is Yip’s biggest film yet, and the production value speaks to this: Elaborately constructed environments aren’t just believable, they’re beautiful; professional kitchens are as pristine and flawless as the food created in them. The film is shot so well it’s hard to watch without longing for the food onscreen, but backing up its allure is an equally satisfying plotline. Dramatic yet affecting, it’s ultimately a story about coming together. Cook Up a Storm will inspire you to do more than take a cooking course, it will encourage you to realize you’re not so different from your enemies.

Director: Raymond Yip Wai Man

Producer: Mani Fok

Screenwriters: Jingling Li

Yi Liu

Manfred Wong

Cinematographer: Siuki Yip

Featuring: Alberto Calvet Gonzalez

You Ge

Yong-hwa Jung

Barbora Mottlová

Yan Tang

Running Time: 97 minutes

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

International Sales: Emperor Motion Pictures

Print Source:

Magnum Films / Top Key

Selected Filmography: Iceman 2 (2017)

Phantom of the Theatre (2016)

The House That Never

Dies (2014)

Blood Stained Shoes (2012)

In-Laws New Year (2012)

Young Bruce Lee (2010)

Lost on Journey (2010)

The Warlords (2007)

Dream Girl (2003)

City of Desire (2001)

Sixty Million Dollar Man (1995)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

LINCOLN SQUARE

Crazywise

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 1:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 22 7:00 PM

The diagnosis and treatment of mental-health issues is certainly a hot-button topic in the United States. Human-rights photographer and filmmaker Phil Borges has explored several indigenous tribes and Eastern cultures throughout his career, and has concluded that Western experts may be going at it all wrong. Crazywise recounts the journeys of two young Americans: Adam, 27, who has suffered several psychotic breaks and averse reactions to mood-stabilizing medications throughout his life, and Ekhaya, 32, who has struggled to overcome past trauma and deep depression since her childhood. To deal with his anger issues and medicinal side effects, Adam goes on a silent retreat, embracing meditation in the hope of recovery; while Ekhaya realizes that in order to heal she must confront her past, and decides to help others by becoming a traditional South African healer. Through several interviews with both Western mental-health professionals and psychologists as well as the family and friends of Adam and Ekhaya, this documentary explores their alternative, spiritual routes of healing, giving a fresh perspective to an age-old social issue in this modern world.

MAJESTIC BAY

PACIFIC PLACE

Directors:

Phil Borges

Kevin Tomlinson

Producers:

Julee Geier

Judy Kaplan

Debra Thompson Harvey

Sandy Jeglum

Screenwriter: Phil Borges

Cinematographers: Phil Borges

Kevin Tomlinson

Editors:

Jason Reid

Darren Lund

Music:

Jason Staczek

Featuring:

Adam Gentry

Ekhaya Esima

Gabor Maté

Robert Whitaker

Alberto Villoldo

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Phil Borges Productions

Film Website: crazywisefilm.com

Selected Filmography:

BORGES:

Postcards From Heaven (2010)

TOMLINSON:

Back to the Garden, Flower Power Comes Full Circle (2009)

Crown Heights

USA 2017

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE THURSDAY, JUNE 1 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Adapted from an episode of “This American Life,” this true story of Colin Warner, who was wrongfully convicted of murder, packs a punch. Matt Ruskin’s sophomore feature follows Warner, played with heartbreaking sincerity by Lakeith Stanfield (“Atlanta,” Short Term 12), from the moment before he’s accused of murder through the 21 years he serves in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. When Warner refused to cut a plea deal that would require him to admit guilt, his best friend Carl King, impressively played by Nnamdi Asomugha (former Oakland Raiders Pro Bowl cornerback and the film’s co-producer), devotes his life to proving his friend’s innocence. As Warner’s hopes wane, King’s devotion holds strong even as he risks his own family and finances for the cause. Writer/director Matt Ruskin worked closely to earn the trust of the real Colin Warner, and it shows in the film; its emotional authenticity sheds light on a painful, personal story and a horrifying systemic problem. Anchored by Stanfield and Asomugha’s powerful performances, Crown Heights unfolds a story of hope, endurance, and judicial error.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic)

Director:

Matt Ruskin

Producers: Nnamdi Asomugha

Natalie Galazka

Matt Ruskin

Screenwriter:

Matt Ruskin

Cinematographer: Ben Kutchins

Editor:

Paul Greenhouse

Cast:

Lakeith Stanfield

Nnamdi Asomugha

Natalie Paul

Bill Camp

Nestor Carbonell

Amari Cheatom

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: CAA

Print Source: IFC Films

Selected Filmography: Booster (2012)

Dara Ju

USA/NIGERIA 2017

TUESDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 9:15 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 6:30 PM ARK LODGE

Seyi Ogunde (Aml Ameen, “Sense8”) is a man of two worlds, and something of a stranger to both. A 24-year-old first-generation Nigerian American, he is the only black junior financier at Wall Street firm Brown Harmon, having to work Adderall-infused overtime hours just to be noticed. Back in Hackensack, New Jersey, he is trying to hold his immigrant family together, with most of his earnings going to his stroke-addled father’s medical bills and his emotional bandwidth to keeping one of his father’s shameful secrets. Just when his life starts looking up upon meeting Liz (Lucy Griffiths, “Preacher”), a white woman who has just returned from a Peace Corps stint in Cameroon, rumors of impending layoffs send his work and family lives into disarray. As he and his prescription-drug dependency spin out of control, Seyi considers sharing some insider trading tips—information muttered to him in passing at a booze-and-cocainefueled stockbroker party—in an attempt to keep his job, a decision as desperate as it is illegal. Making his feature debut, writer/director Anthony Onah paints a unique portrait of New York life, of a man trapped between generations and loyalties, featuring powerhouse performances from Souléymane Sy Savané (Goodbye Solo) and Michael Hyatt (“The Wire”) as his parents.

Director: Anthony Onah

Producers: Justin Begnaud

Anthony Onah

Kishori Rajan

Screenwriter: Anthony Onah

Cinematographer: David McFarland

Editor:

Grant Myers

Music:

Enis Rotthoff

Cast: Aml Ameen

Lucy Griffiths

Michael Hyatt

Peter Vack

Hope Olaidé Wilson

Souléymane Sy Savané

Craig muMs Grant

Bill Sage

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Yoruba and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales:

Preferred Content

Print Source:

Preferred Content

Film Website: darajufilm.com

Selected Filmography:

Debut Feature Film

A Date for Mad Mary IRELAND

2016

SATURDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 6:00 PM SHORELINE CC

In this wonderfully poignant Irish charmer from first-time director Darren Thornton, “Mad”

Mary McArdle returns to her suburban Dublin home after six months in gaol for an incident she’d rather forget. Meanwhile, her best friend, Charlene, is soon to be married, with Mary set to be her maid of honor—a situation neither woman seems particularly thrilled about. When Charlene refuses Mary a plusone on the grounds that she probably won’t find a date, Mary becomes determined to prove her wrong. But her attempts at dating are disastrous, and she winds up feeling even more alone than before—that is, until she meets Jess, Charlene’s wedding videographer, who, like Mary, is equally adrift around blissfully happy couples. Amid all the wedding madness, Mary and Jess connect, and what starts as a friendship soon becomes more intimate. However, when Charlene learns of Mary’s new love, it further complicates their already fraught friendship, and Mary realizes that if she doesn’t take responsibility for her life soon, she may lose both Charlene and Jess. As Mary, Seána Kerslake gives a breakthrough performance, investing her character with a foulmouthed charm that manages to be sassy and sardonic, yet vulnerably tender as well.

Awards:

Irish Film and Television Awards 2017 (Best Film, Supporting Actress)

Director: Darren Thornton

Producers: Juliette Bonass

Ed Guiney

Screenwriters: Colin Thornton

Darren Thornton

Cinematographer: Ole Bratt Birkeland

Editors:

Tony Cranstoun

Juangus Dinsmore

Music:

Stephen Rennicks

Hugh Drumm

Cast:

Seána Kerslake

Tara Lee

Charleigh Bailey

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Mongrel Media

Print Source: Wolfe Releasing

Film Website: facebook.com/ADateForMadMaryLocalCasting

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Dawson City: Frozen Time

USA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 9:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

Gold wasn’t the only thing found buried in the Yukon Territory. Dawson City: Frozen Time is a mesmerizing documentary that looks at how the Gold Rush at the end of the 19th century transformed a small First Nation fishing village into a boom-and-bust town, and does so thanks to a treasure trove of silent films that were discovered buried in an old swimming pool. Director Bill Morrison was the perfect person to bring this story to light. Famous for his 2002 film Decasia, which highlighted the beauty of decomposing silver nitrate films from the early days of silent cinema, here he not only tells the story of the town but also shows us films that were either shot or shown there. Along the way we get rare glimpses of the scandalous 1919 World Series, the hotel/ bordello history of Donald Trump’s grandfather, and never-before-seen looks at this Gold Rush boomtown. Since Dawson City was at the end of the distribution line, it was cheaper for them to discard the films than send them back to the studios. With music by Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers, who also composed the music to Captain Fantastic (SIFF 2016), this is a gorgeous and evocative look at a fascinating period of frozen time.

Director:

Bill Morrison

Producers: Madeleine Molyneaux

Bill Morrison

Screenwriter: Bill Morrison

Editor: Bill Morrison

Music: Alex Somers

Featuring: Bill Morrison

Kathy Jones-Gates

Michael Gates

Sam Kula

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Selected Filmography:

The Great Flood (2012)

Decasia (2002)

The Film of Her (1997)

Dean USA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE SATURDAY, MAY 27 1:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

“The first big thing in your life you’re never gonna get over” is how a friend of this film’s title character describes the unexpected death of Dean’s mother. For the rest of the film, Dean tries his best to do just that, and finds that the grieving process is long and takes many unexpected detours. Dean, played by first-time director and deadpan standup comic Demetri Martin, is a Brooklyn-based graphic artist who is cut adrift by his mother’s passing, spending much of his time doodling childlike drawings involving clever wordplay and the Grim Reaper. After dumping his fiancée and clashing with his father, Robert (Kevin Kline), who wants to move on quickly and sell the family house against Dean’s wishes, Dean flees to Los Angeles, where he reluctantly works with a vapid marketing company that wants to use his artwork for an ad campaign. Though ill-suited for the L.A. lifestyle—or acting like a responsible adult—Dean meets Nicky (Gillian Jacobs), who gives him a reason to put down roots in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Robert begins to put his life back together after striking up a romance with his real-estate agent (Mary Steenburgen). With nods to other meandering romantic-comedy classics like Annie Hall and Garden State, Dean is a clever, funny and insightful meditation on the various ways the human spirit processes loss and takes its time to seek new pathways toward acceptance.

Director: Demetri Martin

Producers:

Giles Andrew

Elliott Watson

Jessica Latham

Demetri Martin

Charles James Denton

Screenwriter:

Demetri Martin

Cinematographer: Mark Schwartzbard

Editor: Joshua Salzberg

Music: Orr Rebhun

Mark Noseworthy

Cast:

Demetri Martin

Kevin Kline

Gillian Jacobs

Mary Steenburgen

Rory Scovel

Ginger Gonzaga

Peter Scolari

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: CBS Pictures

Film Website: honora.tv/films/dean

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Awards:

Tribeca Film Festival 2016 (Best Narrative Feature)

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 3:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Marsha P. Johnson was a legendary New York drag queen, a veteran of the Stonewall Riots, and, as a co-founder of the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a prominent figure in the gay and transgender liberation movements. On July 6, 1992, her dead body was found in the Hudson River near Christopher Street. She was 46 years old. The police ruled the death a suicide and investigated no further, but those close to her and in her community suspected murder. 25 years later, crime-victim advocate Victoria Cruz of the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) has reopened this investigation, only one of many cold cases on file, hoping to shed some light on Johnson’s death. “They’re yelling out from their graves for justice,” Cruz says of the LGBTQ and HIV-affected communities the AVP focuses on. “If we can’t bring justice for Marsha, how can we bring justice for all these other unsolved cases?” As Cruz attempts to get to the bottom of the death by interviewing friends and family and contacting lawenforcement officials who want nothing more to do with the case, Oscar®-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague, SIFF 2012) provides a bevy of archival videos, chronicling Marsha’s life and her place as a true pioneer in the history of the modern trans movement.

Director:

David France

Producers: L.A. Teodosio

Kimberley Reed

David France

Screenwriter: David France

Mark Blane

Cinematographer: Thomas Bergmann

Adam Uhl

Editor: Tyler Walk

Music: Bryce Dessner

Featuring: Marsha P. Johnson

Sylvia Rivera

Victoria Cruz

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: The Film Collaborative Film Website: facebook.com/MarshaMovie/

Selected Filmography: How to Survive a Plague (2012)

SMRT U SARAJEVU

Death in Sarajevo

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA/FRANCE 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 6:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Hotel Europe is a luxury hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Today, it is the commemoration center of the centennial of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, which led to the First World War. Its close proximity to the historical spot makes the hotel a very busy place, and the staff is going all out to prepare for this VIP multicultural celebration. Omer, the hotel manager, attempts to keep things running smoothly as he deals with a bank manager who threatens to repossess the hotel. Chief receptionist Lamija balances everyone’s needs brilliantly until her mother leads the kitchen and laundry staff on strike. Up in the penthouse, the French EU guest practices his speech. Meanwhile, interviews are taking place on the rooftop with historical experts. Even handsome Gavrilo Princip, a namesake descendant of the assassin, attends. Despite all the excitement surrounding this event, security is lacking and tensions run high. This fast-paced microcosmic model of chaos reveals the lingering wounds and conflicts from top management down to the laundry room. Death in Sarajevo is director Danis Tanović’s (Academy Award® winner for No Man’s Land) sixth film and the first one shot in his hometown.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2016 (Silver Bear) Official Oscar Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

Director: Danis Tanović

Producers: François Margolin

Amra Bakšić Čamo

Screenwriter: Danis Tanović

Cinematographer: Erol Zubcevic

Editor: Redzinald Simek

Music: Mirza Tahirovic

Cast: Jacques Weber

Snežana Marković

Izudin Bajrović

Vedrana Seksan

Muhamed Hadzovic

Faketa Salihbegovic

Edin Avdagic

Running Time: 85 minutes

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

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: The Match Factory

Selected Filmography: An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013)

Triage (2009)

Hell (2005) No Man’s Land (2001)

LA LIBERTAD DEL DIABLO

Devil’s Freedom

MEXICO 2017

US PREMIERE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 8:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

An unflinching and uncompromising look at the pervasiveness of violence at every level of life in contemporary Mexico, director Everardo Gonzalez (El Paso, Drought), has crafted a searing, hard-to-shake portrait of a nation and its people defined by a culture of unspeakable, almost commonplace terror. Given anonymity by form-fitting, flesh-colored masks, victims and assassins alike openly and intimately recount their involvement in the country’s almost routine acts of violence. One by one, episodes of their daily lives are framed by detailed and shocking stories, and a portrait of a society emerges, in which deep fears and the absence of justice rule. Filmed in an evocative, high-contrast visual palette by cinematographer María Secco and bolstered by a moody score by composer Quincas Moreira, Devil’s Freedom brilliantly captures the realities of living in a traumatic moment in a nation’s history and the very real human cost paid to a deeply broken, inhuman system.

Awards:

Guadalajara International Film Festival 2017 (Best Mexican Film, Ibero-American Documentary, Cinematography, Press Award for Best Documentary)

Director: Everardo González

Producers: Robert Garza

Inna Payán

Screenwriter: Everardo González

Cinematographer: María Secco

Editor: Paloma López Carrillo

Music:

Quincas Moreira

Running Time: 74 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Films Boutique

Film Website: facebook.com/lalibertaddeldiablo

Selected Filmography: El Paso (2016)

Drought (2011)

Old Thieves: The Legend of Artegio (2007) Pulque Song (2003)

Diamond Island

CAMBODIA/FRANCE/GERMANY 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 12:30 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

MONDAY, JUNE 5 8:45 PM ARK LODGE

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Bora hasn’t seen his older brother Solei in the six years since he left their home in rural Cambodia. When he shows up at the construction site of Bora’s new job near Phnom Penh smoking a cigarette and sporting cool clothes and an edgy haircut, Bora’s anxious to find out what he’s been up to. Solei introduces him to the local scene of “Diamond Island,” a nickname for the luxury area Bora’s working on developing. Soon he’s immersed in the nightlife—spending evenings at hip clubs, riding with a cute girl on the back of his motorbike, and texting people with his fancy new iPhone. But life’s not as cut-and-dried as the sleek architecture of Diamond Island would suggest, and tragedy shakes reality back into the rural-born teen, forcing him to think about what’s really important. Diamond Island brings to mind the natural 20-something dialogue of Richard Linklater and the neon atmosphere of Wong Kar-Wai. Cinematographer Thomas Favel creates a truly captivating ambience, with sweeping, glittering 360-degree shots and faces sometimes lit only by disco lights and cell-phone screens. This narrative debut by Davy Chou is a tender and bittersweet drama about teenage self-discovery.

Awards: Cannes Film Festival 2016 (SACD Prize)

Director: Davy Chou

Producer: Charlotte Vincent

Screenwriters: Davy Chou

Claire Maugendre

Cinematographer: Thomas Favel

Editor:

Laurent Leveneur

Music: Jérémie Arcache

Christophe Musset

Cast: Sobon Noun

Cheanik Nov

Madeza Chhem

Mean Korn

Samnang Nut

Running Time: 101 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Khmer, with English subtitles

International Sales: Les Films du Losange

Print Source: Les Films du Losange

Film Website: filmsdulosange.fr/fr/ film/230/diamond-island

Selected Filmography: Golden Slumbers (doc, 2009)

Dina

USA 2017

TUESDAY, MAY 23 4:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 7:00 PM

What has been described as an unconventional love story turns out to be not so far from the beaten path in this rom-com documentary from directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles. Dina and her boyfriend, Scott, have decided to move in together with the understanding that they are testing it out to see if a marriage between them would work. They both bring baggage to the table, with Scott’s Asperger syndrome and Dina’s autism and a previous abusive relationship, but are determined to work through their problems. Dina draws the audience in with its light sense of humor, a drastic dichotomy to the sensitive topics addressed. As a whole, Dina and Scott are no different than any other couple, dealing with familiar challenges of striving to coexist in an environment for the first time, only with a few additional problems in the process. They navigate sex, intimacy, family drama, and displays of affection like any other couple. Santini and Sickles show the audience that Dina and Scott are not letting their differences hinder them, providing a beautiful portrait of a modern relationship.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary)

Directors: Dan Sickles

Antonio Santini

Producers: Antonio Santini

Dan Sickles

Cinematographer: Adam Uhl

Editor: Sofía Subercaseaux

Featuring: Dina Buno

Scott Levin

Running Time: 101 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: The Orchard

Selected Filmography: Mala Mala (2014)

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey USA 2017

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Mountaineering boasts many heroic figures: Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, George Mallory. And then there are the “dirtbags”: the rebellious, fearless climbers who forgo material needs, homes, manners, friendships, lovers—virtually everything—in pursuit of the next summit. Fred Beckey is the quintessential and original dirtbag climber, who, at 93, has made hundreds of first ascents since the 1940s and inspired countless young climbers to plan their next Alpine routes. With a gruff style that is off-putting to some, Beckey has also accumulated a mountain of hurt feelings and broken relationships along the way, but his prolific writings in 13 guidebooks have been widely praised among the mountaineering community. For decades he kept journals of his many exploits both on and off the mountains, describing the challenges he overcame and the breathtaking vistas that few other humans have witnessed. In Dirtbag, the eventful life of this stubborn Northwest native and proto-environmentalist is captured by director Dave O’Leske, who spent 10 years shadowing Beckey as he continued his journeys in the mountains of China and North America. With illuminating interviews of fellow climbers, including Conrad Anker, Reinhold Messner, and Jim Whittaker, plus spectacular aerial photography and rare archival footage, O’Leske’s documentary reveals the soul of a solitary, complex, sometimes infuriating athlete who is as misunderstood today as he was in his prime, but is no less respected by his peers.

Director: Dave O’Leske

Producers: Dave O’Leske

Jason Reid

Colin Plank

Andy McDonough

Cinematographers: Dave O’Leske

Jeff Wenger

Editors:

Jason Reid

Darren Lund

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: 2R Productions

Film Website: dirtbagmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Spirit of Snow (2002)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

Divine Divas

BRAZIL 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 30 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Long before making a name as an actress throughout Brazil, director Leandra Leal enjoyed the kind of early life most of us could only dream of. As the granddaughter of famed producer and theater owner Américo Leal, the future star made her childhood home backstage and in the dressing rooms of Rio de Janeiro’s Rival Theater, among the first theaters to welcome cross-dressing performers more than 50 years ago. Discovering later that her beloved theater was a cherished safe haven for drag performers in a repressive, intolerant society, Leal was moved to create this loving tribute to the divas who shaped her childhood as they prepare for one final performance. From demure and beguiling Camille K, whose appearances in public caused riots, and the glamorous Valeria, who learned her craft from the most infamous Parisian showgirls and whose show-stopping rendition of “My Way” will make you break out the handkerchief, to outspoken Eloína Dos Leopardos, fully committed to being a woman from an early age, and multitalented Marquesa, born into privilege and living life as a man but for the stage, the Rival’s legendary divas share life stories filled with humor and heartbreak, sadness and strength. Using rich archival clips mixed with backstage footage and rollicking interviews, Divine Divas, the Audience Award winner at both Rio 2016 and this year’s SXSW Film Festival, is a director’s poignant and unforgettable return to the arms of the divas who raised her.

Awards:

SXSW 2017 (SXSW Audience Award, Global) Rio Film Festival 2016 (Audience Award)

Dolores

USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 27 5:30 PM

Director:

Leandra Leal

Producers:

Carol Benjamin

Leandra Leal

Natara Ney

Rita Toledo

Screenwriters:

Carol Benjamin

Leandra Leal

Lucas Paraizo

Natara Ney

Cinematographer: David Pacheco

Editor:

Natara Ney

Music: Plinio Profeta

Featuring:

Brigite de Buzios

Marquesa

Jane Di Castro

Camille K

Fujika de Halliday

Rogéria

Divina Valéria

Eloína dos Leopardos

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

Print Source:

Daza Filmes

Film Website: facebook.com/docdivinas

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 29 2:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 3:30 PM ARK LODGE

Director Peter Bratt follows the life of civilrights icon Dolores Huerta in this documentary, constructed significantly from archival footage from the 1960s and 1970s. This character study on the “most vocal activist no one has ever heard of” follows Huerta as she rejected the standard 1950s-housewife role and put her life on display to drive home the fight for racial, class, and gender equality. While Cesar Chavez is often thought to be the mastermind behind the Agricultural Workers Associations (later known as the United Farm Workers), Huerta was in fact the instigator. She was eventually pushed to defend her rights as a woman when she was subsequently forced to leave the union she helped establish. Juggling her responsibilities as a mother of 11, she was a key leader in the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, which compelled 17 million Americans to boycott grapes to bring attention to the plight of farm workers. Dolores Huerta lived her life overshadowed by men, but is now celebrated as a role model in feminism and the fight for equality.

Director: Peter Bratt

Producers: Brian Benson

Peter Bratt

Screenwriters: Peter Bratt

Jessica Congdon

Cinematographer: Jesse Dana

Editor: Jessica Congdon

Music: Mark Killian

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Ro*co films

Print Source: PBS

Selected Filmography: La Mission (2009) Follow Me Home (1996)

WAN MEI YOU DUO MEI

The Door

CHINA 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Picture your life. Through all your trials and tribulations, wins and losses, ups and downs, decisions large and small, one thing is certain: Your life is categorically yours. Now imagine you found a door to a parallel dimension that contained everything you lost, everything you gave up. Would you venture into that new world, or stay put? Tianle has found that door, hidden behind his cabinet, and he wastes no time crossing the threshold. In this new world, he seems to have it all: a college crush-turned-international-celebrity is now his girlfriend, and he’s gone from lowly mechanic to respected CEO of a high-class automobile manufacturer, lording over the same people who, one world over, made his life miserable. But perceived perfection comes with a price, discovering that his barren wife in World A now has children in World B—but with someone else. Worse, his emotional support group is in tatters in World B, finding his beloved mother deceased. As Tianle’s seemingly flawless new existence crumbles around him, he travels back and forth between the two worlds, each trip causing more disastrous ripples in his newly complicated life. The Door considers the many choices buried in everyone’s heart and encourages us to tackle them head-on.

PRECEDED BY:

The Sea

China, 2016, 7 minutes. Director: LI Yifan A house by the sea reflects the greed of those who visit.

EJHDEHA VARED MISHAVAD!

A Dragon Arrives!

IRAN 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 6:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, MAY 22 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Liang Dong

Producers: Shuo Shen

Sun Wei

Yu Run Song

Screenwriter: Liang Dong

Cinematographer: Xie Zheng Yu

Editor:

Liang Dong

Music:

Dong Dongdong

Cast: Jiang Wu Jiang Qinqin

Zhu Xu

Fu Ying

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

Print Source: Dalian Hua Shang –Universal Film and Television

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

It’s 1965, and a flame-orange Chevy Impala pulls up to a shipwreck on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz. A police inspector, a sound engineer, and a geologist get out; they’ve come to investigate the suspicious death of a banished political prisoner. Inside the wreck, the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotations, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, all this evidence, plus subsequent recordings by the intelligence services—ones that suggest that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested—is found in a chest passed down to the film’s director, Mani Haghighi. This twisty tale of spies and counterspies winds its way through multiple genres—noir, mockumentary, mystery, ghost story—and is rife with surrealist black humor and references to Iranian popular cinema of the ’60s and ’70s. It may be an allegory for the country’s political present and recent past, or it may be a supernatural tale of graveyard earthquakes and dragons that make men speak in foreign tongues. Either way, it’s a spectacular exercise in flash and panache, not to be missed.

Director: Mani Haghighi

Producer: Mani Haghighi

Screenwriter: Mani Haghighi

Cinematographer: Houman Behmanesh

Editor: Hayedeh Safiyari

Music: Christophe Rezai

Cast: Amir Jadidi

Homayoun Ghanizadeh

Ehsan Goudarzi

Kiana Tajammol

Running Time: 105 minutes

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

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: The Match Factory

Film Website: the-match-factory.de/ films/items/a-dragonarrives.html

Selected Filmography: Modest Reception (2012) Canaan (2007) Men at Work (2006)

Sponsored by Anonymous, Sinikka and Babak Parviz, Neda and Michael Nassirian, ARVR Academy, Persian & Iranian Studies at UW Near-Eastern Languages & Civilization Department, Naimor Inc., American Iranian Business Council, Nima Foroutan DDS, Homes and Equity Mortgage, UW IranianAmerican Faculty, Naini Family Foundation, Iranian American Community Alliance

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde With live soundtrack by The Invincible Czars USA 1920

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 7:00 PM

After more than a decade of silent-film scores that beautifully blend rock and orchestral music, cinematic Austin band The Invisible Czars, regarded by many as the Alloy Orchestra of the South, now unleash their spooky sonic reimagining on the first great American horror film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This 1920 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic tale features John Barrymore’s first virtuoso film performance as the visionary scientist who separates his good and evil personalities— with dire results. The Invincible Czars have crafted a haunting and understated minimalist soundtrack that matches the introspective, philosophical nature of the film, incorporating music by Erik Satie and Claude Debussy.

DOOR

Director:

John S. Robertson

Producer:

Adolph Zukor

Screenwriters:

Clara Beranger

After the novel by Robert

Louis Stevenson

Cinematographer: Roy F. Overbaugh

Editor:

Karl Malkames

Cast:

John Barrymore

Brandon Hurst

Martha Mansfield

Charles Lane

Cecil Clovelly

Running Time: 79 minutes

Presentation Format: BluRay

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Selected Filmography: Oyr Little Girl (1933)

The Phantom of Paris (1931)

Tess of the Storm Country (1922)

The Dumb Girl of Portici USA 1916

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 11:30 AM

Two of the most iconic and talented women of the 20th century, Lois Weber and Anna Pavlova, teamed up to create this romantic silent drama. Shot in 1915 and recently restored, The Dumb Girl of Portici follows the love affair of the mute Fenella, a poor Italian girl, and her lover, the wealthy Spanish aristocrat Alphonso. In her only starring role in film, prima ballerina Pavlova (1881-1931) portrays Fenella. Gesturing with her whole body, her graceful dominance commands the screen to the point that the audience is almost grateful for the lack of dialogue; any distraction from her performance would be criminal. Weber (1879-1939), a pioneering auteur and arguably the most powerful woman director in film history, simultaneously captures the intimacy of an illicit love affair and the war and chaos stirred by it. The Dumb Girl of Portici showcases the extreme responsibility each woman takes on in regards to her craft. Together they created a film that asserts its significance over a century after its creation.

Directors:

Lois Weber

Phillips Smalley

Producers:

Carl Laemmle

Lois Weber

Screenwriter:

Lois Weber

Cinematographers: L.D. Clawson

Allen G. Siegler

R.W. Walters

Cast:

Anna Pavlova

Rupert Julian

Wadsworth Harris

Douglas Gerrard

Jack Holt

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Milestone Films

Selected Filmography:

WEBER:

White Heat (1934)

The Angel of Broadway (1927)

Sensation Seeker (1927)

The Blot (1921)

Suspense (1913)

Shadows of Life (1913)

SMALLEY:

Forbidden (1919)

For Husbands Only (1918)

Wanted: A Home (1916)

The Eye of God (1916)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TRIPLE

Ears

ITALY 2016

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 1:30 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN ORECCHIE

In this absurdist comedy, a man (Daniele Parisi) wakes up in his girlfriend’s apartment with a persistent ringing in his ears, and discovers a note on the fridge telling him that his friend Luigi has died; funeral at 7 p.m. Disoriented and concerned, for our unnamed protagonist doesn’t know anyone named Luigi, he stumbles out of the apartment to try to sort things out. He meets several doctors, one of whom briefly convinces him he is with child as a joke, but none of them can find anything wrong with his ears. The man bumps into his friend and his mistress, who not only call into question our hero’s own romantic issues but insist they use his apartment as a love-den for just an hour or two. After a failed attempt at delivering a bouquet of flowers to his girlfriend at work and bumping into his selfie-obsessed mother and her new young boyfriend, Parisi’s character accepts his fate, and arrives at the mysterious Luigi’s funeral. Filmed in black and white with a slowly increasing aspect ratio from 1:1 to the modern 1:85:1—perhaps to emphasize the man’s expanding connections—this Kafkaesque tale plunges the viewer into the folly of the world.

Emma’ (Mother)

Director: Alessandro Aronadio

Producer: Costanza Coldagelli

Screenwriters: Alessandro Aronadio

Astutillo Smeriglia

Cinematographer: Francesco Di Giacomo

Editor: Roberto Di Tanna

Music: Santi Pulvirenti

Cast:

Daniele Parisi

Silvia D’Amico

Pamela Villoresi

Rocco Papaleo

Piera Degli Esposti

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: 102

Distribution

Print Source: 102

Distribution

Film Website: 102distribution.com/en/ orecchie

Selected Filmography: One Life, Maybe Two (2010)

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER ATHIRAH

Set in the post-revolution environment of 1950s Indonesia, Emma’ is the story of a wife and mother who is stretched thin when her husband makes a life-altering decision. Athirah, also known as Emma, lives in the port town of Makassar with her husband, Puang Aji, a businessman at a trading company, and her teenage son Ucu. Fully committed to her family, Emma dutifully cooks them lavish meals every night and works at a textile factory during the day to help provide financially. When Emma discovers that Puang has taken on another wife while on business in the booming capital of Jakarta, she is silently devastated. Although polygamy was a very real and common practice in Indonesia for Muslims until the 1970s, her new position comes as a heartbreaking surprise. As the days drag on, her husband’s empty seat at the dinner table becomes a slap in the face, and Emma must struggle to keep herself and her family together. Adapted from a novel by the author Alberthiene Endah, filmmaker Riri Riza stoically molds this emotional tale of familial power structures, loyalty, and independence that realistically the historical domestic situations for many Indonesian Muslims.

Director: Riri Riza

Producer: Mira Lesmana

Screenwriters: Riri Riza

Salman Aristo

Cinematographer: Yadi Sugandi

Editor: W. Ichwandiardono

Music: Juang Manyala

Cast: Cut Mini

Christoffer Nelwan Arman Dewarti

Jajang C. Noer

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Indonesian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Miles Films

Selected Filmography: Laskar Pelangi (2008)

Eliana, Eliana (2002)

Gie (2005)

Sokola rimba (2013)

Drupadi (2008)

Three Days to Forever (2007) Kuldesak (1999)

POESÍA SIN FIN

Endless Poetry

FRANCE/CHILE 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 8:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

Famed Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky delivers the second film in his proposed pentalogy of memoirs with Endless Poetry This emotionally resonant entry takes place after the end of 2015’s Dance of Reality, with Alejandro (Adan Jodorowsky) as a young man beginning to realize his ambitions as an artist, and desperately trying to escape his father’s suffocating hold on his life. He flees his family home after declaring he wants to be a poet, and escapes to a bohemian artist commune in Santiago. Surrounding himself with all sorts of characters, including a constantly tiptoed ballerina, Alejandro is still yearning for a muse. He ends up meeting the voluptuous, red-haired, scowling goddess Stella (who, in a Freudian twist, is played by Pamela Flores, who also plays the role of his mother), and falls head over heels. The rest of the film is a phantasmagorical journey of his self-discovery, peppered with circus-like characters and dreamy backdrops, as well as moments of biting humor and deep melancholy, ending with a critical confrontation between father and son. Jodorowsky, who became a household name for midnight-moviegoers and arthouse aficionados alike with his surrealist western El Topo in 1970, shows no sign of letting up in this intensely personal and whimsically grotesque account of his past.

Entanglement

CANADA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:15 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 2:00 PM

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Producer:

Xavier Guerrero

Screenwriter:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle

Editor: Maryline Monthieux

Music:

Adan Jodorowsky

Cast:

Adan Jodorowsky

Pamela Flores

Brontis Jodorowsky

Leandro Taub

Running Time: 128 minutes

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

International Sales: Le Pacte

Print Source: Abkco Films

Film Website: endlesspoetrythemovie. com

Selected Filmography:

The Dance of Reality (2013)

The Rainbow Thief (1990)

Santa Sangre (1989)

Tusk (1980)

The Holy Mountain (1973)

El Topo (1970)

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 9:15 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

A comedy about learning to let go, and how everything is amazingly and incredibly connected. Newly divorced Ben (Thomas Middleditch, “Silicon Valley”) has hit rock bottom, but fate seems to intervene each time he tries to kill himself. Six months after his best suicide attempt, he’s doing slightly better thanks to therapy and the kindness of his neighbor Tabby (Diana Bang, “Bates Motel”) until he gets some life-altering news: His parents had adopted a baby girl but gave it up once they found out that they were pregnant with Ben. Armed with adoption-agency records, he believes he’s found his “sister” in Hanna (Jess Weixler, “The Good Wife”), a textbook manic pixie dream girl he’d coincidentally met at the pharmacy the day before. There’s a strange, otherworldly spark between them, and against their better judgement they find themselves falling for each other. But sometimes things are too good to be true, and Ben soon learns that the world might just be more inexplicable than he ever imagined. Entanglement is a fascinating piece of cinema, a philosophical comedy with a twisted heart about how life teaches us lessons in the strangest possible ways.

Director: Jason James

Producers: Jason James

Amber Ripley

Screenwriter: Jason Filliatrault

Cinematographer: James Liston

Editors:

Jamie Alain

Gareth C. Scales

Christopher Watson

Cast:

Thomas Middleditch

Jess Weixler

Diana Bang

Running Time:

85 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales: Thunderbird Films

Print Source: Resonance Films, Inc.

Film Website: entanglementthefilm.com

Selected Filmography: That Burning Feeling (2013)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

Escape Room

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 9:30 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 9:30 PM

SIFF

Christen (Elisabeth Hower, MTV’s “I Just Want My Pants Back”) has a surprise for her boyfriend Tyler (Evan Williams, “Awkward.”) and their friends. For his 30th birthday party, she has booked them into the most exclusive game in town: Escape Room, an underground interactive experience in which teams are locked together in a room and given one hour to untangle a series of cryptic clues in order to secure their freedom. Though tensions among the friends begin percolating as soon as the doors are locked, they must work together to solve a series of increasingly difficult challenges whose answers prove to be literally life or death. (“Fuck this puzzle!” cries out one of the frustrated players in the face of certain death.) Based on one of the biggest crazes in decades—invented in Japan in 2007, over 900 escape-room attractions have opened in the U.S. since 2014—director Will Wernick’s devilishly clever and claustrophobic horror thriller borrows some elements of the disturbing Saw franchise and marries them with ingeniously creative puzzles, even more creative kills, and a ticking clock of doom.

Director: Will Wernick

Producers: Sonia Lisette

Kelly Delson

Jeff Delson

Will Wernick

Screenwriter: Noah A.D.

Cinematographer: Jason Goodell

Editor:

Cris Mertens

Music: Jinxx

Cast: Evan Williams

Annabelle Stephenson

Elisabeth Hower

Dan J. Johnson

John Ierardi

Kelly Delson

Billy Flynn

Running Time: 81 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Voltage Pictures

Print Source:

Escape Productions

Selected Filmography: Alone (2010)

Ethel & Ernest

LUXEMBOURG/UNITED KINGDOM 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE SUNDAY, MAY 21 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Celebrated British illustrator and cartoonist Raymond Briggs is best known for his awardwinning picture book “The Snowman” and its film and stage reworkings. But perhaps closest to his heart is his 1998 graphic novel “Ethel & Ernest,” a sweet, heartfelt account of his parents’ life together, adapted here in beautiful hand-drawn animation and featuring splendid vocal performances from Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies) and Jim Broadbent (Iris) as the eponymous couple. The story starts in 1928; she’s a lady’s maid, he’s a lowly milkman, and they make eyes at each other every day as he passes by her window. When Ernest finally musters the courage to ring her doorbell with flowers in hand, they date, marry, and begin a working-class life in the London suburb of Wimbledon. Soon they welcome a third member to the family in young Raymond, but outside the warmth of their domestic life, the world is in turmoil. As World War II ramps up and the bombs start falling, Ethel and Ernest tearfully say goodbye to Raymond as he is evacuated from the city for his own protection. Ethel & Ernest is a quietly beautiful history of England’s 20th century through the eyes of two kind souls, their undying love for each other, and the life they gave their undeniably talented son.

Director: Roger Mainwood

Producers: Camilla Deakin

Ruth Fielding

Screenwriter: Roger Mainwood, based on the graphic novel by Raymond Briggs

Editor: Richard Overall

Music:

Carl Davis

Voices: Brenda Blethyn

Jim Broadbent

Luke Treadaway

Raymond Briggs

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Vertigo Releasing

Print Source: The Little Film Company

Film Website: ethelandernestthemovie. com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

CINEMA EGYPTIAN

PACIFIC PLACE

The Fabulous Allan Carr

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 20 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Academy Award® camp followers cherish the memory of 1989’s infamously wrong opening number, starring Snow White, Rob Lowe, dancing tables and chairs, and cameos by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Its mastermind, Allan Carr, and his glittering pink disco ball of a career are affectionately recounted in Jeffrey Schwarz’s doc. After growing up gay in the suburbs in the ’50s—already in high school a legendary party-thrower—the budding impresario bounced from theater producer to manager (Marvin Hamlisch, Mama Cass, Ann-Margret) to Hollywood, where he made his first fortune repackaging a Mexploitation cheapie for Americans; Survive! (Andes, plane crash, cannibalism) enabled him to buy Ingrid Bergman’s house, and he was off. Recordbreaker Grease! made him La-La-Land’s beloved clown prince, but the failures of Can’t Stop the Music, Grease 2, and Where the Boys Are ’84 were poleaxe blows, and that Oscar ceremony finished him off. Former beneficiaries of his Auntie-Mame-ian bon vivantisme—a generosity as expansive as his trademark caftans—now turned their backs, and Carr descended nearly alone to the grave a decade later. The Fabulous Allan Carr is an appreciation, not a reappraisal; it celebrates him as the kitschmeister he was always (more or less) content to be. Like Oscar Wilde, Hollywood’s last great showman could say “I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my work.”

The Farthest

IRELAND 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:00 PM

Director:

Jeffrey Schwarz

Producers: John Boccardo

Jeffrey Schwarz

David Permut

Larry Spitler

Cinematographers: Jeff Byrd

Matt May

Keith Walker

Editors:

Carl Pfirman

Jeffrey Schwarz

Music:

Michael Cudahy

Featuring:

Allan Carr

Robert Osborne

Maxwell Caulfield

Steve Guttenberg

Randal Kleiser

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Selected Filmography: Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)

Am Divine (2013)

Vito (2011)

MAJESTIC BAY

SATURDAY, MAY 20 5:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Launched 16 days apart in the autumn of 1977, the twin Voyager space probes are perhaps humankind’s greatest achievement. The probes have traveled 12 billion miles in 40 years, leaving our solar system behind for the vastness of interstellar space, the first human-made objects to do so. In this powerful and poetic feature documentary, director Emer Reynolds celebrates these magnificent machines, the men and women who built them, and the vision that propelled them farther than anyone could ever have hoped. Beginning with stock footage of the original design and construction process, the documentary relates how this monumental project was conceived and executed, including the famous Golden Record bearing recordings and images of life on Earth. The probes were the pinnacle of technology when launched but have less computing power than a modernday hearing aid. Yet the two probes on their revolutionary odyssey have unlocked stunning secrets within our solar system, from the discovery of volcanic activity on Jupiter’s moons to the “great dark spot” on Neptune. Featuring stunning imagery from the Voyager probes, The Farthest is both an intimate love letter to science and technology as well as a genuinely cinematic, epic-scale adventure.

Awards: Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2017 (Audience Award, Best Irish Documentary)

Director: Emer Reynolds

Producers:

John Murray

Clare Stronge

Screenwriter: Emer Reynolds

Cinematographer: Kate McCullough

Editor:

Tony Cranstoun

Music: Ray Harman

Featuring: Frank Drake

Carolyn Porco

John Casani

Lawrence Kraus

Timothy Ferris

Running Time:

121 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source:

Crossing the Line

Productions

Selected Filmography: Here Was Cuba (2013)

PIUMA

Feather

ITALY 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 9:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 8:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

Basking in a post-graduation glow, Roman teenagers Cate (Blu Yoshimi Di Martino, Arianna, SIFF 2015) and Ferro (Luigi Fedele) feel like adults already. Planning a vacation to Morocco, getting jobs, and moving in together are just a few of the things this young couple are taking on. Oh, and having a baby. This last doesn’t necessarily sit well with their parents, with Cate’s irresponsible free-spirited father not being much of a financial help and Ferro’s bickering parents constantly criticizing all his decisions. Yet they carry on, with both naive optimism and a comic awareness of their “colossal mistake.” Heartfelt moments are matched with cartoonish humor, with writer/director Roan Johnson’s script inspiring laughs and a comparison to family-dramedy authority Wes Anderson. Relative newcomers Di Martino and Fedele have an undeniable chemistry, combining relatable teenage anxieties with a strong calm that is only inspired by huge changes. Organized in nine-month segments leading up to the pregnancy, Johnson’s third feature is a breezy family tale as lightweight and flowing as its title suggests.

Director: Roan Johnson

Producers: Carlo Degli Esposti

Nicola Serra

Screenwriters: Roan Johnson

Ottavia Madeddu

Carlotta Massimi

Davide Lantieri

Cinematographer: Davide Manca

Editors: Paolo Landolfi

Davide Vizzini

Music: Lorenzo Tomio

Cast: Luigi Fedele

Blu Yoshimi Di Martino

Sergio Pierattini

Michela Cescon

Francesco Colella

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: True Colours Glorious Film

Print Source:

True Colours Glorious Film

Selected Filmography: So Far So Good (2014)

The First on the List (2011)

The Feels

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

This intimate hangout movie chronicles the weekend getaway of a group of friends celebrating lesbian couple Andi (Constance Wu, “Fresh Off the Boat”) and Lu’s (Angela Trimbur, The Final Girls) impending marriage. The trip is full of dancing, drinks, and laughs, but isn’t without its fair share of drama. Lu’s strained relationship with her older sister (played by writer/director Jenée LaMarque), who is currently going through a divorce, becomes a main point of contention over the weekend, and the presence of Andi’s lothario male friend Josh (Josh Fadem, “Better Call Saul”) doesn’t help. During a wild night of partying, a spontaneous drug-riddled conversation reveals that Lu, contrary to Andi’s belief, has never had an orgasm. The tension among the group grows as secrets are revealed and relationships— both romantic and platonic—are put to the ultimate test. Mixing all the best elements of The Big Chill and Bridesmaids, LaMarque’s The Feels is a touching and humorous film, relatable regardless of sexuality, and accompanied by a rad ’90s top-40 R&B and girl electro-pop soundtrack.

Director: Jenée LaMarque

Producer: Steven J. Berger

Screenwriters: Jenée LaMarque

Lauren Parks

Cinematographer: Kristin Fieldhouse

Editor: Steph Zenee Perez

Music: Julian Wass

Cast: Constance Wu

Angela Trimbur

Jenée LaMarque

Lauren Parks

Ever Mainard

Josh Fadem

Kárin Tatoyan

Doug Purdy

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Provenance Pictures

Film Website: thefeelsmovie.com

Selected Filmography: The Pretty One (2013)

Fermented

USA 2017

MONDAY, MAY 29 6:00 PM

SHORELINE CC

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Chef and author Edward Lee hosts what he calls a “human process and journey” to discover the answer to the question: What is fermentation? Along with director Jonathan Cianfrani, Lee travels all over the world to introduce the audience to the people who live and breathe fermentation daily: food writer/activist Sandor Katz, America’s live-culture guru; Soyoung Scanlan, an experienced cheesemaker; and Augustino and Antonio Fiasche, a father/son salami-making team. These creators show the audience that fermentation is not a cooking technique or strictly a science experiment; it’s an art of letting nature take its course. Lee is able to explain the complex process of fermentation in a way that’s interesting even to those who got a D in high-school biology, and aims to simplify it so that anyone can see fermentation as a lifestyle that’s possible, not a task that’s unconquerable. Vegetables, cheese, beer, bread, salami, and so much more—this documentary is the gateway to a behind-thescenes look at the culinary process that has fascinated and inspired different cultures (pun intended) for centuries.

PRECEDED BY:

Sweet, Sour, Dill, and Everything in Between USA, 2016, 4 minutes. Director: Justine Miller

A third-generation pickle maker reveals how it all started in 1897, and how they still make millions of pickles per year today.

Director:

Jonathan Cianfrani

Producers:

Jared Andrukanis

Joe Caterini

Christopher Collins

Lydia Tenaglia

Screenwriter: Edward Lee

Cinematographers: David Gorn

Jeremy Leach

Ethan Mills

Editor:

Jonathan Cianfrani

Featuring: Edward Lee

Running Time: 67 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Zero Point Zero

Production

Film Website: fermentedfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Finding KUKAN

USA 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 27 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:30 PM ARK LODGE

It was the first documentary to ever win an Academy Award®, so why have so few people heard of Kukan: The Story of Inconquerable China and the woman behind it? Li “Gladys” Ling-Ai was a second-generation Chinese woman born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1908. Her love and respect for Chinese culture inspired her to create the documentary with American photojournalist Rey Scott about war-torn China and its resistance against Japan in World War II. Filmed in color and featuring shocking ground-level footage of the bombings in Chungking, Kukan was the first film available to the U.S. that portrayed China in a factual, unprejudiced light, and in 1942 won the Oscar® for Best Documentary—yet Li, despite her involvement in the story’s conception and funding, sadly went uncredited, and the film became lost and eventually forgotten. Finding KUKAN director Robin Lung embarks on a seven-year quest to discover as much as she can about Ling-Ai Li and her involvement, and to see if any of the film can be salvaged and restored. Featuring clips of Li’s final interview in 1993, conversations with her living friends and relatives, archived footage, and correspondence between her and Scott, Finding KUKAN celebrates this female filmmaking pioneer and shines a light on what is undoubtedly an essential piece of cinematic and world history.

Awards:

Hawaii International Film Festival 2016 (Special Mention)

Director: Robin Lung

Producers: Robin Lung

Shirley Thompson

Screenwriters: Robin Lung

Shirley Thompson

Cinematographers: Ann Kaneko

Frank Ayala

Ron Darby

Stanford Chang

Andrew Truong

Editors: Shirley Thompson

Robin Lung

Music: Miriam Cutler

Featuring: Kelly Hu

Wan-Chao Chang

Clay David

Daniel Dae Kim

Richard Balin

Running Time: 75 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Nested Egg Productions, LLC

Film Website: findingkukan.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Fixer

ROMANIA/FRANCE 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 2:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Radu (Tudor Aaron Istodor) is an ambitious young journalist with a scoop on a lurid sex scandal: Two underage Romanian girls forced into prostitution have just arrived back in Romania after being repatriated from France. Interested in making a name for himself and strengthening his connections with the international press, Radu gives the low-down to a French TV journalist who hires Radu as the local fixer. However, Radu’s obsession with the case soon threatens to compromise his work and his own family relationships. The Fixer deals with the lines between morality, abuse, and exploitation. Is Radu able to hold up emotionally when faced with the suffering endured by these girls? Will he do whatever it takes for the journalists? And what exactly is the difference between journalism and activism? Infused with natural lighting and handheld camera movement, The Fixer has the feel of a documentary with solid direction from Romanian New Wave filmmaker Adrian Sitaru (Illegitimate). Istodor also shines in a sobering performance, conveying the major emotional upheavals Radu goes through with subtle nuance, navigating his career between the exploited girls and the media circus.

Director: Adrian Sitaru

Producers: Anamaria Antoci

Adrian Silisteanu

Screenwriters: Claudia Silisteanu

Adrian Silisteanu

Cinematographer: Adrian Silisteanu

Editor:

Mircea Olteanu

Cast:

Tudor Aaron Istodor

Mehdi Nebbou

Nicolas Wanczycki

Diana Spatarescu

Adrian Titieni

Running Time: 98 minutes

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

International Sales: MPM Film

Print Source: MPM Film

Film Website: 4prooffilm.ro/fixeur

Selected Filmography:

In the Same Garden (2016)

Illegitimate (2016)

Domestic (2012)

Best Intentions (2011) Hooked (2008)

Food Evolution

USA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 20 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Are GMOs safe? Only 30% of the public thinks so, while a whopping 88% of scientists firmly believe GMOs are safe to consume. This creates the largest disparity in any politicized scientific poll to date. This documentary, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, focuses on both sides of this raging debate. We witness the conflict in Hawaii, where GMO products are temporarily banned with the exception of the rainbow papaya, a fruit that depends on genetic modification to survive. In Uganda, bananas are the country’s most important food—providing security to more than 1/3 of the population—yet the majority of the fruit faces something called “banana wilt,” a seemingly unstoppable rot that can be resisted only using GMO modification. In both environments the arguments between concerned citizens, mothers, farmers, and scientists are heated. GMOs certainly lower the nutritional value of food, but are the links to cancers, autism, and other harmful effects actually backed by science? In Food Evolution, director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (Academy Award®nominated The Garden) uses interviews with Ugandan and Hawaiian farmers, leaders of anti-GMO organizations such as “Moms Across America,” and scientists who work with agricultural biotechnology to encourage a well-rounded discussion of genetically modified foods.

Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Producers: Trace Sheehan

Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Cinematographer: Larkin Donley

Editors:

Alex Blatt

Scott D. Hanson

Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Music: William Kingswood

Featuring: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Bill Nye

Michael Pollan

Charles Benbrook

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Film Sales Company

Print Source: The Film Sales Company

Film Website: foodevolutionmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Fame High (2012)

The Garden (2008)

OT: Our Town (2002)

SUR QUEL PIED DANSER

Footnotes

FRANCE 2016

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 8:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 12:00 PM

KIRKLAND PC

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Social realism and musical fantasy seamlessly blend in Paul Calori and Kostia Testut’s debut feature film. Things seem to be looking up when 20-something Julie leaves a thankless job and lands a position at a designer shoe factory famous for adorning the feet of fashion-forward women all over Paris. She quickly makes friends with the quirky receptionist and even learns how to dodge the flirtatious advantages of the charming factory truck driver. However, her dreams of steady employment and fancy footwear start to fall apart when she learns that the facility may close temporarily due to low demand and financial difficulty. Julie’s new co-workers convince her to accompany them to the factory’s headquarters in Paris, where they plan to protest the closure and safeguard their careers. Stuck in the middle as a new employee without too much at stake, yet wanting to stand strong with her female colleagues, Julie must decide whether to lie low or fight back. Inspired by the works of Jacques Demy and Stanley Donen, Footnotes is a toe-tapping, working-class musical comedy with a social conscience—boasting impressive song-anddance numbers complete with choreography and original songs by contemporary musicians.

Directors: Kostia Testut

Paul Calori

Producer: Xavier Delmas

Screenwriters: Paul Calori

Kostia Testut

Cinematographer: Julien Meurice

Editor: Damien Maestraggi

Cast:

Pauline Etienne

Olivier Chantreau

François Morel

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Monument Releasing

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Force

USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 8:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 21 1:30 PM

Considered one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., Oakland and its police force have been placed under federal oversight since 2002 in response to a string of misconduct cases. The Force, shot in a crucial time period (2014-16), overlaps with the Black Lives Matter movement and nationwide public scrutiny of police brutality. Director Peter Nicks captures the voices of local residents and activists who still have issues with the department that turned a blind eye to four veteran officers, dubbed the “Oakland Riders,” who allegedly planted evidence and kidnapped their own citizens; and also offers the audience an internal perspective of the Oakland Police Department through Chief Sean Whent, a man with the noble goal of cutting police shootings and violence. The implementation of body cameras and seminars from AfricanAmerican community liaisons reinforce the chief’s ideology to serve the community as best his department can. But when a sex scandal erupts involving 14 Oakland officers and an underage girl, Whent considers resignation. In his refusal to draw a conclusion, Nicks leaves the audience pondering what force is to blame.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Directing Award: U.S. Documentary)

Director: Peter Nicks

Producers: Linda Davis

Lawrence Lerew

Peter Nicks

Screenwriters: Linda Davis

Lawrence Lerew

Peter Nicks

Cinematographer: Peter Nicks

Editor: Lawrence Lerew

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: theforcefilm.com

Selected Filmography: The Waiting Room (2012)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

TEHORA LA’AD

Forever Pure

ISRAEL/UK/IRELAND/NORWAY 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 21 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 6:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Beitar Jerusalem is the most popular—and most controversial—soccer team in Israel, long associated with the conservative Likud political party and the only club in the Israeli Premier League never to sign an Arab player. They are equally well known for a prominent supporters’ group, La Familia, notorious for anti-Arab chants and banners that read “Forever Pure”—fans who pride themselves on being the most racist in the league. When Arcadi Gaydamak, the team’s Russian billionaire owner, hires two Chechen Muslim players in the middle of the 2012-13 season, it sparks a calamitous battle between the team leadership and its extreme-right-wing fan base. Maya Zinshtein captures this battle, including amazing interviews with all concerned—from the fans themselves to team management to the mothers of the Chechen players. The result is a troubling tale of nationalism and mob mentality in Israel—but with a special significance for the U.S., where hate speech and hate crimes are on the rise.

Awards: Jerusalem Film Festival 2016 (Best Director, Documentary)

Director:

Maya Zinshtein

Producers: Geoff Arbourne

Maya Zinshtein

Alan Maher

Tortstein Grude

Screenwriter: Maya Zinshtein

Cinematographers: Sergei Freedman

Yaniv Linton

Ross McDonnell

Editors: Justine Wright

Noam Amit

Featuring: Eli Cohen

Arcadi Gaydamak

Ariel Harush

Dzhabrail Kadiyev

Itzik Korenfine

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hebrew, with English subtitles

International Sales: Dogwoof

Print Source: The Film Collaborative Film Website: foreverpurefilm.com

Free and Easy

CHINA 2017

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director Jun Geng (Youth) presents a dry tragicomedy set in a nameless Chinese burg and featuring several quirky characters all involved in some sort of con. There’s the traveling soap salesman (Zhang Ziyong) who entices the townspeople to smell his sweet product—and as soon as they take a whiff, he robs their unconscious bodies blind. And of course there’s the wily Buddhist monk (Xu Gang) trying to push his overpriced talismans on anyone who looks his way; not to mention the ostensibly simple Christian man (Gu Benbin) looking for his mother who mysteriously went missing years ago, and a couple of bumbling cops (Zhang Xun, Yuan Liguo) who can’t seem to get a grasp on any of these criminals. The residents are pitted against each other as the day goes on, with absurd results. In this rural portrait of crooked characters, the plot plays out with a deadpan sense of humor and several befuddling twists and turns. Jun Geng’s Free and Easy has been stylistically compared to the works of Jim Jarmusch, the Coen Brothers, and Aki Kaurismaki, securely placing his clever criticism of corrupt society up there with the best.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (World Cinema: Dramatic Special Jury Award)

PRECEDED BY:

Free Throw Line

China, 2017, 7 minutes. Director: Zhang Yixin

North American Premiere

A young basketball player endures all the challenges of taking the game-winning shot.

Director: Jun Geng

Producers: Wang Zijian

Wang Xuebo

Guo Dong

Wu Leilei

Screenwriter: Jun Geng

Cinematographer: Wang Weihua

Editors: Guo Xiaodong

Zhong Yijuan

Music: Second Hand Rose

Cast: Zu Gang

Zhang Ziyong

Xue Baohe

Wang Xuxu

Gu Benbin

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

Print Source:

Film Rise

Selected Filmography: Chuizi liandao dou xiux (2014)

Youth (2009)

Gholam

UNITED KINGDOM 2017

THURSDAY, MAY 25 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 26 6:30 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:00 PM SHORELINE CC

Iranian actor Shahab Hosseini is having a terrific year! First he starred in Asghar Farhadi’s Academy Award®-winning film The Salesman, for which he won the Best Actor prize at Cannes; now he gives a no less mesmerizing performance in Mitra Tabrizian’s debut film, Gholam. Gholam (“Boy” in Farsi) is an Iranian immigrant living in London, where he drives a cab and moonlights as a mechanic. He lives a quiet life and generally tries to keep to himself. Nevertheless, one day he is approached by two unnamed Iranian men from an unknown underground movement. One of them remembers him as a heroic soldier in the Iran-Iraq War and is keen to enlist him in their mission. Meanwhile, Gholam finds a mission of his own in his friendship with an elderly woman in the neighborhood whose young grandson was killed by racist thugs, still roaming the streets. Set in 2011 against the backdrop of the reemergence of Iran’s Green Movement (which was swiftly and violently suppressed), the film creates a portrait of the limited options and difficult choices faced by that country’s citizens, both at home and abroad.

Sponsored by Anonymous, Sinikka and Babak Parviz, Neda and Michael Nassirian, ARVR Academy, Persian & Iranian Studies at UW Near-Eastern Languages & Civilization Department, Naimor Inc., American Iranian Business Council, Nima Foroutan DDS, Homes and Equity Mortgage, UW IranianAmerican Faculty, Naini Family Foundation, Iranian American Community Alliance

Ghost Hunting

PALESTINE/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND 2016 US PREMIERE

MONDAY, MAY 22 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 27 7:30 PM

Director: Mitra Tabrizian

Producer: Zadoc Nava

Screenwriters: Mitra Tabrizian

Cyrus Massoudi

Cinematographer: Dewald Aukema

Editor: Brand Thumim

Music: “Hunt 2013” by “Niyaz”

Ramin Torkian and Azam Ali

Cast: Shahab Hosseini

Nasser Memarzia

Corinne Skinner Carter

Tracie Bennett

Running Time: 94 minutes

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

Print Source: Gholam Ltd

Film Website: gholamfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Director Raed Andoni (who previously made the Sundance-nominated 2009 documentary Fix Me) places a newspaper advertisement in Ramallah looking for former inmates of the infamous al-Moskobiya interrogation and detention center in Jerusalem. In his ad, he also specifies that respondents should have experience as craftsmen, architects, or actors. Together with those selected, Andoni begins construction of a replica of the center’s interrogation rooms and cells built to scale inside a large warehouse in Ramallah, based on the recollections of the former prisoners. In this realistic setting, the men subsequently re-enact their interrogations and seek to process longrepressed memories and unresolved trauma in a bid for some semblance of catharsis. Part improvised docudrama and part grouptherapy session, the experience involves angry eruptions, wrenching confessions, and minor outbursts of violence—some staged, others real. (A psychologist was present on set to monitor the cast and crew.) Andoni himself participates both in front of and behind the camera, as he tries to come to terms with his own detention and torture at the prison some 30 years prior.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2017 (Glashutte Original Documentary Award)

Director: Raed Andoni

Producers: Palmyre Badinier

Screenwriter: Raed Andoni

Cinematographer: Camille Cottagnoud

Editor: Gladys Joujou

Cast: Ramzi Maqdisi

Mohammed ”Abu Atta”

Khattab

Raed Andoni

Atef Al-Akhras

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Arabic and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Urban Distribution

International

Print Source: Urban Distribution

International

Film Website: urbandistrib.com/films/ ghost-hunting

Selected Filmography: Fix Me (doc, 2009)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF FILM CENTER

ISTIYAD ASHBAH

A Ghost Story

USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 9:30 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 2:30 PM

Director David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) returns to indie film with this unforgettable film about love, grief, and what we leave behind. Reuniting his Ain’t Them Bodies Saints co-stars, Academy Award® winner Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) and Rooney Mara (Carol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Lowery creates a haunted story unlike any you’ve seen, one conceived in secret and fueled by the pure spirit of creative expression. The sparseness of Lowery’s narrative elevates the simple story of a man who once was (Affleck), taken from the Earth before his time. He returns home after his death, as a ghost shrouded in a white sheet, to haunt his grieving lover (Mara), only to see what was once his home become something completely foreign as time passes. Going back to his filmmaking roots, Lowery makes use of his masterful skills as a storyteller, visual artist, and craftsman in this avant-garde story of loneliness and finding one’s place. A Ghost Story is a constant reminder of your history in every step you take and every place you call home.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: David Lowery

Producers: Toby Halbrooks

Adam Donaghey

James M. Johnston

Screenwriter: David Lowery

Cinematographer: Andrew Droz Palermo

Editor:

David Lowery

Music: Daniel Hart

Cast: Casey Affleck Rooney Mara Will Oldham

Sonia Acevedo

Rob Zabrecky

Liz Franke

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: WME

Print Source: A24 Films

Film Website: aghoststory.movie

Selected Filmography: Pete’s Dragon (2016)

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)

St. Nick (2009)

LA JEUNE FILLE SANS MAINS

The Girl Without Hands

FRANCE 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 27 11:00 AM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, MAY 30 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Brothers Grimm are known worldwide for bringing fairy tales such as “Cinderella” and “The Frog Prince” to life in the pages of their books. But one of their lesser-known stories caught the eye of French director Sébastien Laudenbach. Known for his work in animated short films such as Regarder Oana (2009) and Vasco (2010), he was drawn to the Grimms’ story of the miller’s daughter. After she is sold to the Devil to help her family during hard times, she manages to escape—but at the cost of her hands. Her journey to understand and work through what’s happened during the remainder of her life is depicted in this three-act version of the tale. Laudenbach uses a simple animation method to recreate this story, but the emotion that explodes across the screen in the film’s delicate colors and soft drawings evokes the ambience of the Grimm original. The brushstroke technique in the animation gives The Girl Without Hands a painterly, Impressionist elegance, in a nod toward the director’s French heritage.

Director: Sébastien Laudenbach

Producer: Jean-Christophe

Soulageon

Screenwriter: Sébastien Laudenbach

Cinematographer: Sébastien Laudenbach

Editors: Santi Minasi

Sébastien Laudenbach

Music: Olivier Mellano

Voices: Anaïs Demoustier Jéremie Elkaïm Philippe Laudenbach

Olivier Broche

Running Time: 76 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pyramide International

Print Source: GKids

Film Website: gkids.com/films/the-girlwithout-hands

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Give Me Future

USA/CUBA 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 3:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MAJESTIC BAY

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:00 PM ARK LODGE

A young Cuban woman plays around on her MP3 player and laments, “I live in a city that is stuck in time, all the noises are old”: So begins Austin Peters’ Major Lazer concert doc. The trio of musicians—Diplo, Jillionaire, and Walshy Fire—pride themselves on touring nontraditional areas such as Jakarta and Islamabad with their dancers and ever-growing family of collaborators. The focus of the doc is Major Lazer’s now-legendary Havana concert. Taking place in the José Martí AntiImperialist Platform, a venue where various anti-American rallies had been held over the years, Major Lazer’s performance to a crowd of nearly 500,000 rightfully feels like so much more than just an EDM show. Peters beautifully weaves stories of Cuban youth and the politics of information-sharing in the 21st century around local performances and concert footage. As Major Lazer’s album titles suggest, “Peace Is the Mission” and “Music Is the Weapon,” and once the group takes the stage in front of half a million, the goal is felt— and is truly a sight that must be experienced to understand.

Director:

Austin Peters

Producers:

Jay Peterson

Jack Turner

Cinematographers: Deering Regan

Eric Yue

Editors:

Ezra Paek

Sheila Shirazi

Zachary Stuart-Pontier

Eugene Yi

Nathan Carpenter

Music:

Ben Flesch

Running Time: 85 minutes

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

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Matador Content

Film Website: matadorcontent.com/ category/give-me-futuremajor-lazer-in-cuba

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SLAVA

Glory

BULGARIA/GREECE 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

Glory is a social-realist parable about two people from opposite ends of society: an honest railroad worker and a public-relations diva. When railway lineman Tsanko Petrov (Stefan Denolyubov) finds money on the railroad tracks and decides to turn the large amount over to the police, the state awards him a Good Samaritan diploma, which their aggressive workaholic PR woman, Julia Staykova (Margita Gosheva), whips up into a media blitz. Julia is the antithesis of Tsanko; self-involved and confident, she fails to treat him with the dignity he deserves, and the attention she thrusts upon him comes off as less of an honor and more like excruciating torture. Written and directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (The Lesson), Glory is the second film in their proposed “newspaperclippings trilogy.” Described by Indiewire as “Frank Capra meets the Dardenne brothers,” this is an unpredictable and well-written film that sneaks up on you, with visceral cinematography courtesy of Krum Rodriguez (Viktoria, SIFF 2014). A darkly comic look at moral bankruptcy in Bulgaria, this satire posits that glory isn’t all it’s trumped up to be.

Awards: Locarno International Film Festival 2016 (Special Mention)

Directors: Peter Valchanov

Kristina Grozeva

Producer: Kristina Grozeva

Screenwriters: Kristina Grozeva

Petar Valchanov

Decho Taralezhkov

Cinematographer: Krum Rodriguez

Editor: Peter Valchanov

Music: Hristo Namliev

Cast: Stefan Denolyubov

Margita Gosheva

Ana Bratoeva

Nadejda Bratoeva

Nikola Dodov

Stanislav Ganchev

Mira Iskarovam

Hristofor Nedkov

Running Time: 101 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Bulgarian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wide Management

Print Source: Film Movement LLC

Film Website: widemanagement.com/ glory-1

Selected Filmography: The Lesson (2014)

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

God of War

CHINA 2017

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 26 9:45 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 9:30 PM SIFF

Action-movie great Gordon Chan (Beast Cops, Fist of Legend) has directed yet another exhilarating epic. In the 16th century, Japanese pirates have swarmed the Chinese coastline and taken over the cities of Cengang and Zhejiang. After months of fighting to reclaim territory, Commander Yu (martial-arts megastar Sammo Hung, Magnificent Butcher), General Qi (Vincent Zhao, True Legend), and their army succeed. However, the pirates find a way to escape, resulting in an ongoing battle of blockbuster proportions. Hong Kong filmmaker Gordon Chan is acclaimed for his mastery of the action genre, and God of War further proves he deserves to be. With largerthan-life effects, a dramatic score, and a story that keeps the audience in a constant state of anticipation, the film simply feels huge—a hallmark of all great action films. Its production values rival, if not exceed, that of most Hollywood hits; Chan’s latest is a film so enormous that it doesn’t just keep your attention, it demands it. And it surely won’t disappoint.

Director: Gordon Chan

Producers: Paul Cheng

Gordon Chan

Chun Pong

Screenwriters: Zhaozheng Xiong

Maria Wong

Frankie Tam

Mengzhang Wu

Cast:

Sammo Hung

Vincent Zhao

Regina Wan

Yasuaki Kurata

Keisuke Koide

Running Time: 130 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Media Asia

Print Source: Well Go USA

Selected Filmography:

The Four 3 (2014)

Lawless Kingdom (2013)

Mural (2011)

The King of Fighters (2010)

Painted Skin (2008)

The Medallion (2003)

Beast Cops (1998)

Fist of Legend (1994)

God’s Own Country

UNITED KINGDOM 2017

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

For sheep farmer Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor), virtually every aspect of his life is cold and brutal. Whether he is performing the messy work of animal husbandry on the graygreen hills of northern Yorkshire, numbing his mind at the local pub, or finding the occasional partner for joyless gay sex, Johnny’s life is largely devoid of human connection. When his father Martin (Ian Hart) suffers a stroke just before lambing season, Johnny and his mother Deidre (Gemma Jones) are forced to hire Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian migrant worker. At first, Johnny treats Gheorghe with disdain as they focus on birthing lambs. But soon Johnny notices an inherent warmth in Gheorghe. As they spend more time alone, a physical attraction develops that Johnny and Gheorghe act upon through aggressive mud wrestling, which later becomes unexpectedly intimate. In the hands of first-time writer/director Francis Lee, the men’s relationship is refreshingly matterof-fact and free of the homophobic overreaction so often depicted in stories about rural gay culture. While comparisons to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain are inevitable, God’s Own Country stands on its own not as a coming-out melodrama but as a heartfelt romance between characters learning how to welcome tenderness and vulnerability into their colorless lives.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic)

Director: Francis Lee

Producers: Manon Ardisson

Jack Tarling

Screenwriter: Francis Lee

Cinematographer: Joshua James Richards

Editor: Chris Wyatt

Music: Anna Bertmark

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Cast: Josh O’Connor

Alec Secareanu

Ian Hart

Gemma Jones

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales:

Protagonist Pictures

Print Source: Protagonist Pictures

Film Website: protagonistpictures.com/ films/gods-own-country

Selected Filmography: The Last Smallholder (2014)

Bradford-Halifax-London (2013)

The Farmer’s Wife (2012)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

CINEMA UPTOWN

YI LU SHUN FENG

Godspeed

TAIWAN 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 6:00 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

After a lifetime of petty crime, Na Dow (Na Dow) had finally found his calling as a drug mule, carrying high-grade heroin in a taxi from one end of Taiwan to the other. The job pays well but is rather dull—until the day Na Dow steps into a cab driven by Old Xu, played by legendary Hong Kong comedian Michael Hui. Almost immediately the plan takes a detour, as the shady owners of Na Dow’s package take a keen interest in where the courier is headed. As Old Xu slowly charms the recalcitrant Na Dow during their day-long journey, they get tangled in a rivalry between two gangs, leading to extortion, kidnapping, murder, and other mayhem. Skillfully balancing buddy-picture laughs with the grit and menace of a crime drama, director Chung Mung-Hong steers this black-comedy road picture into unexpected directions, with witty, rapid-fire dialogue and unusual, offbalance compositions. The veteran Hui stands out in an uncharacteristically restrained performance as the desperate, talky cab driver/ philosopher in way over his head as his taxi becomes the most sought-after car in Taiwan. Godspeed is a rare treat that combines character-driven humor, shocking gangster violence, and spine-tingling suspense into an entertaining caper about chance encounters and the fickle nature of fate.

Awards: Golden Horse Awards 2016 (Best Art Direction)

Going to Brazil

FRANCE 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 26 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 3:30 PM SHORELINE CC

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Chung Mung-Hong

Producers: Ju-feng Yeh

Shao-Chien Tseng

Screenwriter: Chung Mung-Hong

Cinematographer: Chung Mung-Hong

Editor: Lai Hsiu-hsiong

Music:

Si-ming Tseng

Cast: Michael Hui Na Dow Leon Dai

Running Time: 112 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Min Nan, with English subtitles

International Sales: MandarinVision

Print Source: MandarinVision

Selected Filmography: Soul (2013)

The Fourth Portrait (2010) Parking (2008)

In this feminine French Hangover-style misadventure, four childhood friends reunite for a wedding, only for everything to go to hell in outrageous and violent ways. Agathe, Lily, and Chloé are going through the motions of young adulthood: Meek schoolteacher Agathe is the responsible one, her younger sister Lily has a temper, and Chloé is a sous chef going through a crummy breakup. Out of nowhere, they hear that estranged friend Katia, who now lives in Brazil, is seven months pregnant, and has invited them to her impending nuptials. Although the three have a checkered past with the bride-tobe—a business venture collapsed when Katia “ditched us”—they can’t say no to the free destination wedding, and they arrive in Rio ready to tear up the town and forget about their troubles back home. But while carousing at a rollicking party, Lily defends herself from being assaulted by a man high on Ecstasy, kicking him off a balcony to his death many stories below. The four soon run afoul of the “Meat King,” a fearsome gangster and politician who will stop at nothing to avenge the death. A wild and funny travelogue through the nightclubs, slums, and jungles of Brazil, Going to Brazil is a tense and exciting story of sisterhood in the face of insanity.

Director: Patrick Mille

Producers: Benjamin Elalouf

Dimitri Rassam

Screenwriters: Julien Lambroschini

Sabrina Amara

Patrick Mille

Cinematographer: André Szankowski

Editor: Samuel Danesi

Music:

Florent Marchet

Cast: Alison Wheeler

Vanessa Guide

Margot Bancilhon

Philippine Stindel

Patrick Mille

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: WTFilms

Print Source: Gravitas Ventures

Film Website: wtfilms.fr

Selected Filmography: Bad Girl (2012)

Goldstone

AUSTRALIA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 22 7:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 8:45 PM

Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) is no stranger to the Seattle International Film Festival, having ridden up in his sheriff’s truck back at SIFF 2014 with the crime thriller Mystery Road. In this sequel, Swan is sent to get his act together while investigating the disappearance of a young woman. As he travels deeper down the rabbit hole, he realizes that the very depth of the hell he’s been struggling to leave for years is dragging him back down, this time involving the small, curious town of Goldstone. The web of lies and deceit he finds there teaches Jay that the truth is not always black-and-white. Goldstone has the same pace and mannerisms as its predecessor, but includes a supporting cast that brings a new layer to the proceedings, including Alex Russell (Chronicle), David Wenham (The Lord of the Rings, Lion), and Oscar®-nominated actress Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom). While Detective Swan is still the tough, independent cop that audiences will remember, he learns to trust his instincts and rely only on those who can prove their worth. Goldstone is a welldeveloped and captivating sequel that will leave its audience awaiting a third entry in this Australian crime saga.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Ivan Sen

Producers:

David Jowsey

Greer Simpkin

Screenwriter:

Ivan Sen

Cinematographer: Ivan Sen

Editor:

Ivan Sen

Music:

Ivan Sen

Cast:

Aaron Pedersen

Alex Russell

Pei Pei Cheng

David Gulpilil

David Wenham

Jacki Weaver

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Arclight Films

Print Source: Lightyear Entertainment

Film Website: goldstonethemovie.com

Selected Filmography:

Mystery Road (2013)

Toomelah (2011)

Dreamland (2009)

A Sister’s Love (2007)

Beneath Clouds (2002)

Gook

USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 6:30 PM

ARK LODGE

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Set on the first day of the Los Angeles riots in 1992, Gook gives us a glimpse into the lives of two Asian-American brothers, Eli and Daniel, as they run their father’s shoe shop. In their neighborhood of Paramount, bordering East Compton, racial tensions run high among Asians, African Americans, and Latinos. The brothers’ unlikely friendship with a young black girl named Kamila who hangs around the shop is another point of contention, drawing the attention of her older brother, who blames the Asian community for the violent death of their mother. As the day goes on, different facets of the community are connected through the ongoing Rodney King trial and subsequently shocking verdict, which plays out on the television and the radio. News of riots and looting in South Central L.A. spread like wildfire, creating chaos in the neighborhood and providing a forceful backdrop for the film’s emotional climax. Director Justin Chon also wrote and stars in this mesmerizing reflection of the sociopolitical climate in L.A. in the early ’90s. With its entirely diverse cast, racially charged themes, and slacker sensibility, Gook is not afraid to be confrontational, and doesn’t lose itself to its influences (among them Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing); rather, Chon’s poignant second feature stands proudly on its own two feet.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Audience Award, NEXT)

Director: Justin Chon

Producers: Alex Chi

James J. YI

Screenwriter: Justin Chon

Cinematographer: Ante Cheng

Editors: Rooth Tang

Reynolds Barney

Cast: Justin Chon

Simone Baker

David So

Curtiss Cook Jr.

Sang Chon

Ben Munoz

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Selected Filmography: Man Up (2015)

The Grifters USA 1990

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Master of the small-time con, Roy (John Cusack) has a talent for rigging dice games and grabbing a few extra dollars here and there. You can say it runs in the family. He gets it from his estranged mother, Lilly (Anjelica Huston), who spends her time at the horse races making bets for big-time bookmaker Bobo. The two are brought together again after a scam gone wrong leaves Roy bleeding internally in a hospital bed. Lilly busts back into Roy’s life, meets his girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening), and doesn’t hide her strong disapproval. She urges Roy to get out of the game while he can—but at the same time Myra is intent on convincing him to be her partner in a dangerous long con. Skeptical of both women’s motives, Roy desperately tries to resist being violently pulled in either direction, and the two women turn on each other. The Grifters boasts phenomenal performances by its leading ladies: Huston received her third Academy Award® nomination for her blistering performance as Roy’s hard-asnails mother, and Bening was also nominated for her role as his wickedly scheming girlfriend. Hidden cash, stolen identities, and shadowy pasts make up this seductive neo-noir directed by Stephen Frears and based on the classic pulp novel by Jim Thompson.

Awards: Academy Awards® 1991 (Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director)

LOS NIÑOS

The Grown-Ups

CHILE/THE NETHERLANDS 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 5:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Stephen Frears

Producers:

Robert A. Harris

Jim Painten

Martin Scorsese

Screenwriters: Jim Thompson

Donald E. Westlake

Cinematographer: Oliver Stapleton

Editor: Mick Audsley

Music:

Elmer Bernstein

Cast: Anjelica Huston

John Cusack

Annette Bening

Jan Munroe

Robert Weems

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Park Circus

Selected Filmography: Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Philomena (2013)

Tamara Drew (2010)

The Queen (2006)

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

High Fidelity (2000)

Mary Reilly (1996)

The Snapper (1993)

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987)

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

Quickly establishing herself as one of cinema’s foremost documentarians, Chilean writer/ director Maite Alberdi follows up her 2014 festival sensation Tea Time with this wholly absorbing, touching, and at times infuriating glimpse into the lives of four middle-aged friends grappling with the reality of living with Down syndrome. In the catering wing of a school for people with developmental disabilities, Andres, a born leader who’s absorbed more than a bit of his culture’s machismo, dreams of one day living with warm and forthright Anita, the film’s narrative and emotional center; Ricardo juggles two jobs yet sees his dream of an independent life forever on the horizon in a country where people with Down can be paid well below minimum wage; and childlike Rita, who flits among joy, pettiness, anger, and glee on a moment-to-moment basis, learns painful lessons on respecting boundaries. Filled with empathy and urgency, The Grown-Ups is an immersive, unforgettable look at four friends navigating love, sex, responsibility, and the realities of being “conscious adults” in a world that still wants to regard them as children.

Awards: Miami Film Festival 2017 (Zeno Mountain Award)

Director: Maite Alberdi

Producers: Denis Vaslin

Fleur Knopperts

Screenwriter: Maite Alberdi

Cinematographer: Pablo Valdes

Editors: Menno Boerema

Juan Eduardo Murillo

Music: Miguel Miranda

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cat&Docs

Print Source: Cat&Docs

Selected Filmography: I Am Not From Here (2016)

Tea Time (2014) The Lifeguard (2011)

Handsome Devil

IRELAND 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Ned (Fionn O’Shea) is resigned to the fact that he’s going to be an outcast at his new school no matter how hard he tries. The students at this all-boys prep school seem to care only about boosting their masculinity through intense rugby matches and viciously bullying anyone slightly different. Ned dyes his hair, loves David Bowie, plays guitar, and is not quite sure of his sexuality. He’s an introvert, and besides actively avoiding head tormenter Weasel, he’s not necessarily looking to change everything about himself just to avoid a beat-down. His new dorm roommate Conor (Nicholas Galitzine) is a handsome, broody transfer student—a great addition to the rugby team and popular-kid crowd. Conor’s mysterious expulsion from his previous school and mutual interest in music propels him and Ned toward an unexpected friendship—despite the homophobic slurs and immature remarks from both their peers and their brutish rugby coach. When a new English professor with an eye for potential encourages the boys to play guitar at their sister school’s talent show, Ned and Conor are confronted with the decision whether to dive headfirst into self-discovery or try to blend with the crowd. Director John Butler (The Bachelor Weekend) delivers a portrait of growing up as well as a biting commentary on hetero-masculinity in this touching drama that recalls Dead Poets Society and Sing Street.

Have a Nice Day

CHINA/HONG KONG 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

John Butler

Producers:

Rebecca O’Flanagan

Robert Walpole

Screenwriter: John Butler

Cinematographer: Cathal Watters

Editor:

John O’Connor

Music:

John McPhillips

Cast:

Fionn O’Shea

Nicholas Galitzine

Moe Dunford

Michael McElhatton

Andrew Scott

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Radiant Films International

Print Source: Breaking Glass Pictures

Selected Filmography: The Bachelor Weekend (2013)

Your Bad Self (2010)

You wouldn’t think noir and Chinese animation were capable of coinciding—that is, until you see Have a Nice Day. Director Liu Jian’s unique take on the genre is far from expected and immensely rewarding. Desperate to pay for his fiancé’s corrective plastic surgery, disheartened construction worker Xiao Zhang steals a case filled with one million yuen. Hired killers, desperate lowlifes, and crazed inventors are all in pursuit of Xiao’s newfound treasure. Like its characters, the film’s animation style is unnervingly but captivatingly downtrodden. Bleak urban landscapes drawn simply yet layered richly make up the world of Have a Nice Day; there’s an odd beauty to be found in its mundanity, and its muted color palette and minimalist style somehow both contrast with and complement its eccentric characters. While motivations differ, everyone’s innate desire is shared: a desperation for freedom. In their grim world, money equals freedom. Each character is shrewdly determined, peculiar, and morally gray at best. At the same time, they’re honest and relatable. And that’s what makes this film so disturbingly irresistible.

PRECEDED BY:

Elephant King

China, 2017, 11 minutes. Directors: Fu Yan, Fu Yongchao World Premiere

An evil queen is confronted by the Elephant King about the horrors of animal poaching.

Director: Liu Jian

Producers: Yang Cheng

Liu Jian

Screenwriter: Liu Jian

Cinematographer: Lin Shan

Editor: Minbing Xiaoliu

Music:

The Shanghai Restoration

Project

Cast: Yang Siming

Cao Kou

Ma Xiaofeng

Zhu Changlong

Running Time: 77 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Memento Films

International

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Selected Filmography: Piercing I (2010)

RÉPARER LES VIVANTS

Heal the Living

FRANCE/BELGIUM 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 21 8:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 23 4:30 PM

Life and death, the two ideas that bracket the very idea of existence, both come mysteriously and unexpectedly. Katell Quillévéré’s latest film tells three stories woven together through an organ transplant: a teenager whose surfing trip ends disastrously, a woman who learns her heart is weakening, and two teams of doctors who struggle daily to save lives. Tragedy for one family means hope for another in this emotional odyssey, which revolves around the concepts of trauma, heartbreak, fate, and of course, life and death. The ocean, shown frequently throughout the film, acts as a visual metaphor for life, and perhaps its ability to be swept away so quickly. The film’s tenderness is emboldened by its heartrending score by Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech, The Imitation Game). Simple piano contrasts beautifully with dramatic crescendos, mirroring the fragility and enormity of what it means to be alive. Heal the Living is a film that acknowledges despair yet chooses optimism, and ultimately chooses life and beauty.

Director: Katell Quillévéré

Producers: David Thion

Justin Taurand

Philippe Martin

Screenwriters: Katell Quillévéré

Gilles Taurand

Cinematographer: Tom Harari

Editor: Thomas Marchand

Music:

Alexandre Desplat

Cast: Tahar Rahim

Emmanuelle Seigner

Anne Dorval

Bouli Lanners

Kool Shen

Monia Chokri

Dominique Blanc

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Films Distribution

Print Source:

Cohen Media Group

Selected Filmography: Suzanne (2013)

Love Like Poison (2010)

HJARTASTEINN

Heartstone

ICELAND/DENMARK 2016

MONDAY, MAY 22 4:00 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Adolescence is usually a lonely, difficult experience, but living on the far edge of a rocky island, far out on the outskirts of Europe, has to make the ordeal feel even more confusing and cruel. It’s summer in eastern Iceland, and 14-year-old Thor (Baldur Einarsson) and Kristján (Blær Hinriksson) are practically inseparable as they try to find ways to pass the time on the bleak landscape. They, like a lot of teenage boys, spend their days wrestling, smashing things, making up games, and hurling casual homophobic insults. Once they catch the eye of two local girls in the village, however, this fragile equilibrium begins to break down, and Kristján, the taller and more protective of the two, becomes increasingly jealous of Thor’s time spent with his new girlfriend. As tensions mount, Kristján’s unrequited feelings for Thor begin to cross the line between friendship and romantic love. With neither boy equipped to understand or express their conflicting emotions, they drift apart and threaten to deepen rifts within the village community. Director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s debut feature captures the dreamlike state of this universal rite of passage, echoing the boys’ roiling moods through the spectacular but forbidding scenery. Heartstone is a gripping portrayal of an oft-covered coming-ofage story, providing a fresh perspective on the meaning of sexual identity, friendship and the loss of innocence.

Awards:

Göteborg International Film Festival 2017 (The Lorens Award)

Dallas International Film Festival 2017 (Special Jury Prize)

Director: Guðmundur Arnar

Guðmundsson

Producers: Guðmundur Arnar

Guðmundsson

Jesper Morthorst

Lise Orheim Stender

Anton Máni Svansson

Screenwriter: Guðmundur Arnar

Guðmundsson

Cinematographer: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen

Editors: Janus Billeskov Jansen

Anders Skov

Anne Østerud

Andri Steinn

Music: Kristian Eidnes Andersen

Cast: Baldur Einarsson

Blær Hinriksson

Diljá Valsdóttir

Katla Njálsdóttir

Søren Malling

Running Time: 129 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Icelandic, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Films Boutique

Print Source: Breaking Glass Pictures

Film Website: heartstone-thefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Films

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MAJESTIC BAY

INHEBBEK HEDI

Hedi

TUNISIA/BELGIUM/FRANCE/QATAR/UAE 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 1:00 PM SHORELINE CC

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Poor Hedi. A hapless, apathetic young man, he’s used to letting his strong-willed mother run his life: she’s arranged his job as a Peugeot salesman (he hates it); she’s chosen his brideto-be (he’s ambivalent); she’s even constructed the apartment where the couple will live after their marriage—a home right above her own. Hedi, dutiful if somewhat sullen, goes along with it all, his only escape the notebook of surrealist drawings that he secretly dreams of publishing someday. But one week before his marriage, Hedi goes on a sales visit to the coastal city of Mahdia and meets Rim, a free-spirited woman working as a dancer at his hotel. Five years older than Hedi, well-traveled and independent, she opens a vista of liberation that threatens to upend the life he’s always known. While the film is set in the wake of the Arab Spring, this drama of self-realization is unmistakably universal, a resonance reflected in the film’s Arabic title, Inhebbek Hedi (“We love you, Hedi”). We cheer him on with the same optimistic goodwill we might feel for anyone who has ever embarked on such a path, hoping the best for him, and for ourselves.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2016 (Best First Feature, Silver Bear for Best Actor)

Director:

Mohamed Ben Attia

Producer: Dora Bouchoucha Fourati

Screenwriter: Mohamed Ben Attia

Cinematographer: Frederic Noirhomme

Editors: Azza Chaabouni

Ghalya Lacroix

Hafedh Laaridhi

Music:

Jean Sebastien Garbe

Cast:

Majd Mastoura

Rym Ben Messaoud

Sabah Bouzouita

Hakim Boumessaoudi

Ombia Ben Ghali

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Luxbox

Print Source:

Luxbox

Film Website: luxboxfilms.com/2016/ inhebbek-hedi

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Hello Destroyer

CANADA 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Win or lose, leave your blood on the ice. Young Tyson Burr (Jared Abrahamson, “Fear the Walking Dead”) knows only hockey. As one of the newest members of the minorleague outfit the Prince George Warriors, this fourth-line brawler is willing to do whatever it takes to make his mark, taking the team’s hazing rituals in stride and their coach’s insistence on on-the-ice aggression to heart. But when Tyson makes a mid-game illegal body check and critically injures an opponent, he is suspended from the game. Then the season. Then the team. As the league figures out what to do with him and the lawsuit surrounding his split-second mistake, he moves back in with his parents and finds work in a slaughterhouse. Tyson shrinks before the real world, cast out into a society for which he hasn’t prepared; not even drunken nights out on the town or the occasional bear-league game can alter his downward trajectory. In the purgatorial, frozen landscape of northern British Columbia, there is no escape from the deafening silence. Kevan Funk’s debut feature Hello Destroyer is a brilliant, clear-eyed, and crushing critique of institutionalized violence, the social construct that is masculinity, and the commodification of bodies, and is one of the strongest Canadian films of the year.

Awards: Vancouver International Film Festival 2016 (Best Emerging BC Filmmaker)

Director: Kevan Funk

Producers: Haydn Wazelle

Daniel Domachowski

Screenwriter: Kevan Funk

Cinematographer: Benjamin Loeb

Editor: Ajla Odobašić

Music: Edo Van Breemen

Cast: Jared Abrahamson

Kurt Max Runte

Joe Dion Buffalo

Paul McGillion

Ian Tracey

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Dada Films

Film Website: hellodestroyer.net

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Hero

SATURDAY, MAY 27 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 1:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Lee Hayden is an actor in the twilight of his years, known for his run of Westerns, his gruff but warm voice, and his luxuriant mustache. This also perfectly describes Sam Elliott, who imbues The Hero’s lead character with a lifetime of experience, passion, and regret. Now in his 70s, Lee’s career is in a downswing, with only the occasional commercial voiceover work to tide him over. (“Lone Star Barbecue Sauce—the perfect pardner for your chicken.”) He has no support network to speak of—his photographer ex-wife (Katharine Ross) and advertising-executive daughter (Krysten Ritter, “Jessica Jones”) barely speak to him—and what free time he has is spent getting high with former TV co-star-turned-weed dealer Jeremy (Nick Offerman, “Parks & Recreation”). Worse, he is reeling from a pancreatic cancer diagnosis and a series of increasingly troubling nightmares. Just as Lee is ready to ride off into the sunset, he meets Charlotte (Laura Prepon, “Orange Is the New Black”), a comedian many years his junior, who catches his eye and attempts to revitalize his aging heart. Elliott and director/co-writer Brett Haley return to SIFF after wowing Seattle audiences with their 2015 romantic charmer I’ll See You in My Dreams. Here, the pure essence of Elliott has never been better utilized; he offers a beautifully vulnerable performance in this thoughtful, bittersweet drama.

The Hippopotamus

UNITED KINGDOM 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM

Director: Brett Haley

Producers: Sam Bisbee

Houston King

Erik Rommesmo

Screenwriters: Brett Haley

Marc Basch

Cinematographer: Rob Givens

Editor: Brett Haley

Music: Keegan Dewitt

Cast: Sam Elliott

Laura Prepon

Krysten Ritter

Nick Offerman

Katharine Ross

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: WME

Print Source: The Orchard

Selected Filmography: I’ll See You in My Dreams (2015)

The New Year (2010)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 6:30 PM SHORELINE CC

English comedian, writer, intellectual, and activist Stephen Fry (“A Bit of Fry and Laurie”) gets the adaptation treatment with The Hippopotamus, the film version of Fry’s biting, brash 1994 novel. The titular “hippopotamus” is Ted Wallace (Roger Allam, “The Thick of It”), a disgraced poet prone to long baths, whom we meet being fired from his position as a theater critic after drunkenly antagonizing an abysmal production of “Titus Andronicus.”

Desperate for money, Ted runs into Jane (Emily Berrington, “Humans”), the daughter of a former flame. Diagnosed with leukemia, Jane has a lucrative opportunity for him: Go to the country manor of Swafford Hall, reignite contact with her rich uncle Michael Logan (Matthew Modine), and investigate the potentially miraculous “healing hands” of Michael’s son and Ted’s godson David. At the estate, Ted must put away the whiskey bottle and get to work, but finds no clues and a cold welcome from a family who wants nothing to do with him. As the mystery deepens and the bon mots fly—“Existential crises are for wankers and characters in Scandinavian films,” says the good poet—The Hippopotamus charges head-on, culminating in an outrageous and exceptional climax. Fry’s dry wit is apparent in every second of this dark comedy, simultaneously acerbic, maudlin, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Director: John Jencks

Producers:

Alexa Seligman

Jay Taylor

Screenwriters: Tom Hodgson

Blanche Mcintyre

From the novel by Stephen Fry

Cinematographer: Angus Hudson

Editors: Robin Hill

John Richards

Music: Samuel Karl Bohn

Cast:

Roger Allam

Matthew Modine

Emily Berrington

Tommy Knight

Fiona Shaw

Geraldine Somerville

Running Time:

89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Truffle Pictures

Print Source:

Lightyear Entertainment

Film Website: film.britishcouncil.org/ the-hippopotamus

Selected Filmography: The Fold (2013)

Discover London and beyond

Explore London and beyond with British Airways. Take advantage of our twelve weekly flights from Seattle and enjoy the comfort and luxury of our four classes of cabin on board our 777 and 747 aircraft. Our schedule will allow you to arrive into London for a full day ahead of discovery in the city, or connect to any of our 110 destinations in the UK and Europe.

Book now at ba.com

I, Daniel Blake

UNITED KINGDOM/FRANCE/BELGIUM 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

MONDAY, JUNE 5 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

A journey of self-discovery and a battle cry for those ignored and rebuked by society, I, Daniel Blake tells the story of a man in the fight for his life against the people who are supposed to save him. After suffering a major heart attack at work, 59-year-old Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is baffled when he is deemed fit to work by the Work Capability Assessment test, despite being told the opposite by his cardiologist. He comes to find out that, while he may appeal the assessment of the WCA, he must wait months for the court to make their decision. Daniel, along with single mother Katie and her children, proceed to try to understand the welfare system that seems determined to screw them over. Director Ken Loach utilizes Daniel to meticulously analyze the defects of today’s welfare system. Loach’s detailed demonstration of the hoops people are required to jump through within the system presents a stark reality of the life of the deprived. Armed with spray paint, an attitude, and not much else, Daniel Blake shows the system that he refuses to be treated as a number instead of a person.

Awards: Cannes Film Festival 2016 (Palme d’Or)

Locarno International Film Festival 2016 (Prix du Public UBS Award)

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016 (San Sebastian, European Capital of Culture 2016 Audience Award)

Director: Ken Loach

Producer: Rebecca O’Brien

Screenwriter: Paul Laverty

Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan

Editor: Jonathan Morris

Music: George Fenton

Cast:

David Johns

Hayley Squires

Dylan McKiernan

Briana Shann

Kate Rutter

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Sundance Selects

Selected Filmography: Jimmy’s Hall (2014)

The Spirit of ’45 (2013)

Looking for Eric (2009)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

Land and Freedom (1995)

Riff-Raff (1991)

Fatherland (1986)

Black Jack (1979)

Kes (1969)

I Dream in Another Language

MEXICO 2017

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 9:30 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 5 9:30 PM

Determined to record and preserve Mexico’s dying indigenous languages, idealistic linguistics student Martín (Fernando Álvarez Rebeil) journeys deep into the jungles of Veracruz in order to record the two remaining speakers of Zikril, elders Isauro (José Manuel Poncelis, Herod’s Law) and Jacinta (Monica Miguel). But when Jacinta dies and Martín discovers the existence of another native speaker, cantankerous and standoffish Evaristo (Eligio Meléndez), the young linguist quickly realizes that convincing Evaristo to share his knowledge will not be easy: The two elders share a devastating secret that has kept them apart for 50 years. Working with Evaristo’s beautiful granddaughter Lluvia (Fátima Molina), Martín slowly unravels a decades-old mystery, leading to unexpected revelations in a race to save a dying way of life in this lush epic.

Working from a script co-written by his brother Carlos, the newest film from director Ernesto Contreras (The Obscure Spring, Blue Eyelids) is a gripping multigenerational love story set within the twilight of a hidden culture. Gorgeously filmed by D.P. Tonatiuh Martinez, I Dream in Another Language is not only an impassioned plea to save the world’s vanishing dialects but a masterful exploration of the language of the heart.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Audience Award: World Cinema—Dramatic) Guadalajara International Film Festival 2017 (Best Performances (Leads))

Director: Ernesto Contreras

Producers: Luis Albores

Erika Avila

Monica Lozano

Eamon O’Farrill

Screenwriter: Carlos Contreras

Cinematographer: Tonatiuh Martinez

Editor: Jorge Macaya

Music: Andres Sanchez

Cast: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil

Eligio Meléndez

José Manuel Poncelis

Fátima Molina

Monica Miguel

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Mundial

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: revolver.nl/en/ work/2135/i-dream-inanother-language

Selected Filmography: The Obscure Spring (2014)

Seguir siendo: Café Tacuba (2010) Blue Eyelids (2007)

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUENO EN OTRO IDIOMA

Infinity Baby USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 3:30 PM ARK LODGE

Commitment: For some, it’s the scariest word in the English language. In Bob Byington’s wry new comedy, fear of decision-making is taken to absurd and hilarious extremes. In this semi-dystopian tale of the near future, couples who want babies but hate the idea of constant loving care can order an “Infinity Baby”—an actual three-month-old human child that has been genetically modified to never age and never cry, and needs only a feeding and diaper change once a week. One salesman who provides this service is Ben (Kieran Culkin), an equally commitmentphobic person who serially dates women until he gets bored, whereupon he introduces them to his hypercritical mother (Megan Mullally), who always scares the girlfriends away. Into this idyllic Neverland for the millennial generation, wrenches are thrown in the form of Ben’s latest girlfriend, Allison (Trieste Kelly Dunn), who is wise to his manipulations, and an Infinity Baby that is rejected by its clients, throwing the whole operation into chaos. Writer Onur Turkel’s crackling, witty script keeps the action moving at a brisk pace in this scathing satire. Featuring an inspired performance by actor Nick Offerman as the mad genius behind the Stepford babies. Infinity Baby is a bracing antidote to slacker culture, featuring grown-up laughs about those who refuse to grow up.

Director: Bob Byington

Producer: Barry Lacina

Screenwriter: Onur Turkel

Cinematographer: Matthias Grunsky

Editor: Kris Boustedt

Music: Aesop Rock

Cast: Kieran Culkin

Martin Starr

Trieste Kelly Dunn

Nick Offerman

Kevin Corrigan

Megan Mullally

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Happyness Films

Film Website: twitter.com/infinitybabymov

Selected Filmography: 7 Chinese Brothers (2015)

Somebody Up There Likes

Me (2012)

Harmony and Me (2009)

RSO [Registered Sex Offender] (2008)

The Inland Road

NEW ZEALAND 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Hitchhiking is a risky leap of faith for anyone, but few journeys are as fateful and life-changing as the ride taken by Tia (Gloria Popata), a 16-year-old Maori girl meandering through New Zealand’s rugged countryside. In short succession, the car has a blowout, flips over, kills one of the occupants, Matt, and injures the driver, a Scotsman named Will (David Elliot). With only minor scrapes, Tia is able to find help to rescue Will, and then decides to stick around to pay her respects to Matt’s family by attending his funeral. Will, grateful for his life, allows Tia to stay indefinitely with him and his wife, Donna (Chelsie Preston Crayford), and his 6-yearold niece, Lily (Georgia Spillane). After much exposition in the early scenes, first-time director Jackie van Beek slows the pace, allowing the characters to gradually reveal their secrets through conversation in an organic, naturalistic manner. Tia helps young Lily comprehend the monstrous loss of her father and discusses the reasons she ran away from her mother. Meanwhile, Donna’s jealousy over the smoldering chemistry between Tia and her husband manifests itself in unexpected ways. Vying with the actors for screen time, the jaw-dropping splendor of the mountainous Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island is practically another supporting character. By focusing on acts of familial kindness in the face of tragedy, The Inland Road takes a path less traveled toward healing and understanding.

Director: Jackie van Beek

Producer: Aaron Watson

Screenwriter: Jackie van Beek

Cinematographer: Giovanni C. Lorusso

Editors: Luca Cappelli

Tom Eagles

Music: James Kenyon

Nick Huggins

Cast: Gloria Popata

David Elliot

Chelsie Preston Crayford

Georgia Spillane  Jodie Hillock

Running Time: 79 minutes

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

International Sales: LevelK

Print Source: LevelK

Film Website: levelk.dk/films/the-inlandroad/3632

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

In Syria

LEBANON/FRANCE/BELGIUM

2017

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 21 8:30 PM

Hiam Abbass (May in the Summer, SIFF 2014) turns in a powerhouse performance as Oum Yazan, a Syrian woman trying to protect her household from the war that is raging just beyond her doors. Barricaded inside the apartment are her elderly father-in-law, her young son, two daughters, their teenage friend, a housemaid, and a young neighbor couple with a baby. Under siege, they try to approximate some kind of normalcy despite the most abnormal circumstances. Outside their building in an increasingly deserted city, bombs are falling, invisible snipers target anyone they see, and armed men fight their battles street by street. As these dangers draw ever closer, every decision could be a matter of life or death, forcing difficult moral choices in the struggle to survive. Director Philippe Van Leeuw (The Day God Walked Away) and the cast—all of whom come from war-torn countries, including Syria—have publicly discussed their intentions in making this film: to share with the world what life is like for ordinary Syrians. This intimate drama does just that, revealing the personal stories too often eclipsed by the headlines of geopolitical crisis.

Awards:

Berlin Film Festival 2017 (Panorama Audience Award)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Philippe Van Leeuw

Producers:

Guillaume Malandrin

Serge Zeitoun

Screenwriter:

Philippe Van Leeuw

Cinematographer: Virginie Surdej

Editor:

Gladys Joujou

Music:

Jean-Luc Fafchamps

Cast:

Hiam Abbass

Diamand Bou Abboud

Juliette Navis

Mohsen Abbas

Moustapha Al Kar

Alissar Kaghadou

Ninar Halabi

Mohammas Jihad Sleik

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Film Movement

Film Website: insyriated.com

Selected Filmography: The Day God Walked Away (2009)

In the Radiant City USA 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 8:45 PM SHORELINE CC

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

When teenage Beth (Madisen Beaty, “The Fosters”) encounters grisly, 30-something Andy (Michael Abbott Jr., Loving, Mud) outside a gas station before a party, her only thoughts are: “This guy can buy me beer.” What she didn’t realize is that meeting him would be opening a whole closet of skeletons, bringing to light a dark family history that she’s been shielded from her entire life. After what feels like a lifetime hiatus, Andy is back in the town he grew up in, which he hasn’t returned to since he testified against his younger brother in court—sending him to jail for life—around 20 years ago. Tension runs high as Andy’s return throws a wrench into the already shattered life of his estranged family, especially his resentful sister Laura (Marin Ireland, “Sneaky Pete,” Hell or High Water), who continues to blame him for the tragedy that tore them apart. This brooding, tightly wound drama by first-time narrative director Rachel Lambert explores the nature of violence, issues in the criminal-justice system, and if blood really is thicker than water, all in the context of a small town.

Director:

Rachel Lambert

Producers:

Sonny Mallhi

Jeff Nichols

Screenwriter:

Rachel Lambert

Nathan Gregorski

Cinematographer: Zoë White

Editor:

Julia Bloch

Music:

West Dylan Thordson

Cast: Michael Abbott Jr.

Marin Ireland

Madisen Beaty

Celia Weston

Jon Michael Hill

Paul Sparks

Deirdre O’Connell

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Distiller Films

International Sales: Peter Van Steemburg, ICM

Selected Filmography: Mom Jovi (doc, 2016)

VAROONEGI

Inversion

IRAN 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 26 1:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 4:00 PM SHORELINE CC

Niloofar is happy with her life, working as the owner of a successful tailoring business in Tehran that she has built up over a decade. But when her mother, who suffers from chronic pulmonary disease, lands in the emergency room, that life begins to crumble. The doctor gathers Niloofar, her older brother Farhad, and her sister Homa, and insists that their mother leave Tehran immediately to escape its polluted atmosphere. Farhad and Homa confer and decide that the most logical solution is for Niloofar to move with their mother to the country. Never mind that this will require her to give up her business; in fact, that would be convenient for Farhad, who wants to rent her shop to pay off his debts. Niloofar, unmarried and without children (unlike Homa), is assumed to be utterly dispensible. Thermal inversion, a meteorological condition that contributes to pollution, is part of what’s causing the oppressive atmosphere surrounding Niloofar, but it’s the realization of just how little her wishes matter that prompts her to realize that it might be time for a time for a change of air.

Director: Behnam Behzadi

Producer: Behnam Behzadi

Screenwriter: Behnam Behzadi

Cinematographer: Bahram Badakhshani

Editor: Meysam Molaei

Music:

Sahar Sakhaei

Cast: Sahar Dowlatshahi

Ali Mosaffa

Ali Reza Aghakhani

Setareh Pesyani

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Persian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Noori Pictures

Film Website: nooripictures.com

Selected Filmography: The Rule of Accident (2013)

We Only Live Twice (2009)

TAHQIQ FEL DJENNA

Investigating Paradise

FRANCE/ALGERIA 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 6:00 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 25 3:00 PM

From leading Algerian director Merzak Allouache (SIFF 2013’s The Repentant, SIFF 2014’s The Rooftops) comes this documentary in a narrative frame. Investigating Paradise recounts what happens when Nedjma, an Algerian journalist, sets out to explore how her fellow citizens envision the afterlife. Of particular interest to her, and to the film, is a particular strain of Salafist propaganda, used to recruit young men to jihad, which promises that martyrs for Islam will each be received in paradise by 72 beautiful virgins. Her concerns range from the theological (there’s no mention of the 72 virgins in the Koran; what awaits women in paradise?) to the logistical (aren’t 72 of anything kind of a lot?). She and her colleague, Mustafa, embark on a road trip that takes them across the country from the capital city to the rural south, meeting with intellectuals, artists, boys on the street, religious figures, and political activists. Thoroughly engaging and intellectually rigorous, their wide-ranging conversations raise a variety of issues: how canny political actors use religion for their own ends; how religion promises future compensation for current deprivation; and how different ideas of what happens after death inform the way that people live their lives, for better and for worse.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Merzak Allouache

Producers: Bahia Allouache

Merzak Allouache

Screenwriters: Merzak Allouache

Bahia Allouache

Cinematographer: Hocine Hadj Ali

Editor:

Bahia Allouache

Music:

Yahia Bouchaala

Running Time: 135 minutes

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

International Sales: Les Asphofilms

Print Source: Les Asphofilms

Selected Filmography: The Rooftops (2013)

The Repentant (2012)

Normal! (2011)

Harragas (2009)

Bab el web (2007)

Chouchou (2005)

The Other World (2001)

Salut Cousin (1996)

Bab el Oued City (1993)

Un Amour à Paris (1986)

L’Homme qui Regardait les Fenêtres (1983)

Mughamarat Batal (1976)

Omar Gatlato (1976)

Sponsored by Anonymous, Sinikka and Babak Parviz, Neda and Michael Nassirian, ARVR Academy, Persian & Iranian Studies at UW Near-Eastern Languages & Civilization Department, Naimor Inc., American Iranian Business Council, Nima Foroutan DDS, Homes and Equity Mortgage, UW IranianAmerican Faculty, Naini Family Foundation, Iranian American Community Alliance

SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW ON SALE SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE AUGUST 1

WORLD DANCE SERIES

WORLD MUSIC & THEATER SERIES

INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES

PRESIDENT'S PIANO SERIES

JUSTE LA FIN DU MONDE

It’s Only the End of the World

CANADA (QUÉBEC)/FRANCE 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

The latest from French-Canadian enfant terrible Xavier Dolan is a dark family drama adapted from a 1990 play by Jean-Luc Lagarce. After a 12-year absence, Louis (Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent) returns to his hometown to reunite with his estranged family and to break some important news—he’s suffering from AIDS. But when he arrives he can hardly get a word in. His mother (Nathalie Baye, Laurence Anyways) nervously chatters away and bickers with his younger sister (Léa Seydoux, Blue Is the Warmest Color), who is almost a complete stranger to Louis now. His stone-faced older brother (Vincent Cassel, Jason Bourne) does little to mask his negative opinions about his long-lost sibling, while his timid wife (Marion Cotillard, Allied) sits quietly—as uncomfortable an observer as Louis is. As the evening wears on, tension and deep-rooted resentments come to a head, making for a series of explosive confrontations. It’s Only The End of the World creates an all-encompassing experience of domestic claustrophobia and high suspense, the intensity of the acting and invasive camerawork adding to the weight of this emotional family melodrama.

Awards:

Cannes Film Festival 2016 (Grand Prix)

Official Oscar® Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

Ivan

RUSSIA 2016

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 3:30 PM

Director: Xavier Dolan

Producers: Sylvain Corbeil

Xavier Dolan

Nancy Grant

Nathanaël Karmitz

Screenwriter: Xavier Dolan

Cinematographer: André Turpin

Editor: Xavier Dolan

Music: Gabriel Yared

Cast: Nathalie Baye

Vincent Cassel

Marion Cotillard

Léa Seydoux

Gaspard Ulliel

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Seville International

Print Source: Seville International

Film Website: itsonlytheendoftheworld. com

Selected Filmography:

Mommy (2014)

Tom at the Farm (2013)

Laurence Anyways (2012)

Heartbeats (2010)

I Killed My Mother (2009)

In this often funny and tender drama, a charming yet sassy ten-year-old girl gives an ex-pilot a chance to redeem himself. Ivan, played adroitly and naturally by Kirill Polukhin (The Fool), used to spend his days as an Air Force pilot as well as flying a helicopter. Now he lives in a very small town, drives an ambulance, and has long since given up his old dreams and passions. His brother lives outside of Russia and consistently tries to convince Ivan to leave and start fresh somewhere—but Ivan would never do that. He, like many people of his generation, has settled into complacency with his slow-paced, never-changing life. However, when Ivan meets a young girl named Tonya (Polina Gukhman) and her little dog Tuzik, his world forever changes. Tonya’s habit of running toward conflict head-on instead of away from it does more than just clash with Ivan’s apathetic mindset—it shakes him to his core, inspiring him to make some muchneeded changes. In her debut film, Alyona Davydova crafts an intriguing examination of the human condition.

Director: Alyona Davydova

Producer: Alexei German Jr

Screenwriter: Alyona Davydova

Cinematographer: Artem Dzharayan

Editor: Nelly Arzhkova

Music: Leonid Fedorov

Cast: Kirill Polukhin

Polina Gukhman

Anastasia Melnikova

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

Print Source: Sever Film Studio

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess: Four Enchanting Tales

FRANCE 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 20 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 21 3:30 PM MAJESTIC BAY

A young girl who lives in a monster-fearing underground community gains the courage to face her fears and challenge her society in “The Mistress of the Monsters.” A poor Persian boy becomes apprentice to a powerful enchanter, only to learn of his dastardly ulterior motives in “The Sorcerer’s Pupil.” A put-upon ward on a pirate ship outsmarts his captain during a stop in India in “The Ship’s Boy and His Cat.” And the son of a dying Russian tsar races against time to find a cursed princess in “Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess.” These are the four enchanting tales imagined, conceived, and designed by three people—a boy, a girl, and an old technician—who meet nightly at a dilapidated movie theater and share stories. As they consider the morals and gender ramifications of each yarn they’d like to spin, each tale comes alive as expressive silhouettes in front of opulent, country-specific backgrounds. Celebrated director Michel Ocelot (Tales of the Night) does it again, infusing these deeply rooted archetypes and fables with life, verve, and his gorgeous animation style.

PRECEDED BY:

A Town Called Panic: Back to School Belgium, 2016, 25 minutes. Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar Cowboy and Indian use a special shrinking potion to learn the answers that live only in Pig’s brain.

IL PIÚ GRANDE SOGNO I Was a Dreamer

ITALY 2016

Director: Michel Ocelot

Producer: Christophe Rossignon

Screenwriter: Michel Ocelot

Cinematographer: Ghislaine Serre

Editor: Patrick Ducruet

Music: Christian Maire

Voices: Marine Griset

Julien Béramis

Michel Elias

Olivier Claverie

Yves Barsacq

Running Time: 57 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Studio Canal

Print Source: Septième Factory

Film Website: michelocelot.fr/#ivantsarevitch-and-thechanging-princess

Selected Filmography:

Kirikou and the Men and Women (2012)

Tales of the Night (2011)

Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005)

Princes and Princesses (2000)

Kirikou and the Sorcesress (1998)

US PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 6:00 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 4:00 PM

In his debut feature film, Italian director Michele Vannucci aims to answer the age-old question: Can a leopard really change his spots? This tale of redemption follows the “Mighty Mirko” (Mirko Frezza) as he attempts to clean up his community and restore himself as a father, a son, a friend, and a neighbor. After serving time in prison, Mirko returns to his neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome, still as distressed as it was when he left years before. His homecoming leads to his election as president of the homeowners’ committee. Mirko’s journey to earn penance for his past sins prompts him to try to save the community he believes he helped destroy. He aims to provide a future for those who can’t build one themselves, while still walking the fine line between atonement and the temptation of his former life of crime. Between easy banter and shared moments of hope, the exceptional supporting cast builds a community of friendship and support. I Was a Dreamer proves that a band of misfits and outcasts can learn to work for a future they finally believe they can have, thanks to the Mighty Mirko.

ARK LODGE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Michele Vannucci

Producer:

Giovanni Pompili

Screenwriters:

Michele Vannucci

Anita Otto

Cinematographer: Matteo Vieille

Editor: Sara Zavarise

Cast: Mirko Frezza

Alessandro Borghi

Vittorio Viviani

Milena Mancini

Ivana Lotito

Ginevra De Carolis

Running Time:

100 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Italian, English, with English subtitles

International Sales:

True Colours Glorious Film

Print Source: True Colours Glorious Film

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Journey

MONDAY, JUNE 5 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

With the world watching, the St. Andrews Agreement was founded in October 2006, securing peace in Northern Ireland. Nick Hamm’s stylized drama depicts the key negotiations between former protestant leader Ian Paisley and Catholic Sinn Féin head Martin McGuiness that ultimately laid the groundwork for a peaceful resolution. A budding bromance evolves between stark political rivals as they’re forced to spend hours in a car together—only instead of deciding who gets the girl, they’re determining the devolution of power of a nation rife with decades of civil conflict. Staunch evangelist and British loyalist Paisley must return home for his 50th wedding anniversary. To avoid political fallout and mounting mistrust, the equally witty and rebellious McGuiness decides to attend as a sign of good faith. The resulting road trip and forced proximity offers an opportunity to transcend political barriers against crass partisanship as both realize they seek the same goal: independence and prosperity for their country. History lessons abound as this film takes on modern relevance with our increasingly politicized society, promising it’s never too late to reach across the aisle.

Awards:

Irish Film and Television Awards 2017 (Best Actor)

Director:

Nick Hamm

Producers: Piers Tempest

Mark Huffam

Nick Hamm

Matt Jackson

Stuart Ford

Screenwriter: Colin Bateman

Cinematographer: Greg Gardiner

Editor: Chris Gill

Music: Stephen Warbeck

Cast: Timothy Spall

Colm Meaney

John Hurt

Toby Stephens

Freddie Highmore

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: IM Global

Print Source: IFC Films

Selected Filmography: Killing Bono (2011)

Godsend (2004)

The Hole (2001)

The Very Thought of You (1998)

Talk of Angels (1998)

Jungle Trap USA 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 MIDNIGHT

Maverick exploitation filmmaker James Bryan had a legendary career making adult movies, action epics (Lady Street Fighter), biker flicks (Hell Riders), and drive-in classics (Don’t Go in the Woods). But his most bizarre undertaking may have been his final film, Jungle Trap, a homemade, shot-on-video horror adventure about a doctor (Bryan’s frequent collaborator and star Renee Harmon) who leads an expedition deep into the jungles of South America and directly into the territory of an extinct native tribe that may not be as dead as they thought. Filled with excessive decapitations, murderous ghost warriors, and alcoholic airplane pilots, this oddball gem was shot in 1990, just as the direct-to-video market was starting to wane. Unable to find the money to complete the film, Bryan filed away the raw footage and abandoned the project. 26 years later, the team at independent horror and exploitation label Bleeding Skull! discovered Bryan’s forgotten footage and their jaws hit the floor. Working under the director’s guidance, they launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the final editing, sound mixing, and creation of an original retro-synth film score, and now the lovably silly Jungle Trap is finally ready for the world.

Director: James Bryan

Producers: Renee Harmon

Joseph A. Ziemba

Annie Choi

Zack Carlson

Screenwriters: James Bryan

Renee Harmon

Cinematographer: Robert Avila

Editor: Don Swaynos

Music: Taken By Savages

Cast: Renee Harmon

Frank Neuhaus

Heidi Ahn

Tim de Haas

Bill Luce

Jan Vanderberg

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: Digital

Print Source:

Bleeding Skull! Video

Selected Filmography: Bizarre Encounters (1986)

Hell Riders (1984)

Don’t Go in the Woods (1981)

Boogievision (1977)

I Love You, Love You Not (1974)

The Dirtiest Game (1970)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Kakehashi: A Portrait of Chef

Nobuo

Fukuda

MONDAY, MAY 29 5:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 4:45 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:30 PM KIRKLAND PC

Andrew Gooi’s Kakehashi is far from your typical culinary documentary. Sure, all the food is sumptuously photographed and the philosophies of various dining experiences and cultural practices are examined vis-àvis the dinner table—yet it is the focus of the film, 2007 James Beard Award Winner Nobuo Fukuda, that elevates Gooi’s documentary to so much more. A chef whose charm is as irresistible as his brilliant recipes, Fukuda traverses the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Gooi in tow, and reminisces about the moments that have filled his life as full as his plates. A chef for 30 years in Arizona, Fukuda grows from a roughhouse-loving Benihana chef to the cultural bridge—or kakehashi— that he has become today. Utilizing the four courses of his famed Teeter House restaurant (Hassun, Sashimi Spoons, Guinea Fowl, and Shabu Shabu) as both eye candy and personal metaphors, the link between food and life has rarely been clearer. Though small and simple, both Gooi’s masterful food doc and Fukuda’s dishes are every bit as powerful as their grandest predecessors.

PRECEDED BY:

Sakurada: Zen Chef

Japan, 2016, 13 minutes. Director: Hirokazu Kishida

The final 100 days of a renowned two-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto, run by Isuzu Sakurada, who embodies the association between Japanese cuisine and the spirit of Zen.

Kalushi

SOUTH AFRICA 2016

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 6:30 PM

ARK LODGE FRIDAY, JUNE 9 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Andrew Gooi

Producer:

Andrew Gooi

Cinematographer:

Andrew Gooi

Editor: Andrew Gooi

Music: Premiumbeat.com

Featuring: Nobuo Fukuda

Sarah Fukuda

Kazuko Fukuda

Running Time: 46 minutes

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

Film Website: foodtalkies.com/ kakehashi andrewgooi.com/#/ kakehashi

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Kalushi is the true story of a young street salesman from a small township outside of Pretoria in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. After being brutally beaten by apartheid police in 1976, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu (Thabo Rametsi) joins the South African liberation movement and enrolls in military training in Angola. En route to Johannesburg after completion of his training, his fellow soldier and friend Mondi (Thabo Malema) accidentally provokes a shooting on the streets, killing two innocent civilians and sending them to trial. Although Mahlangu did not commit the shooting, the state seeks the highest punishment from the court: death by hanging. Director Mandla Dube prepared for this mix of cinema and history by interviewing several of Mahlangu’s friends and family members and poring over old newspapers and national archives to be able to tell this story in the most authentic way. With a crew and cast consisting solely of South African citizens—a rare occurrence in movies about apartheid— Kalushi is an examination of grief as well as an historical illustration of political persecution, and depicts the immense effect the death of Kalushi Mahlangu had on the South African people on that day in June 1976.

Awards: BRICS Film Festival (Best Actor)

Director: Mandla Dube

Producers: Walter Ayres

Mandlakayise Walter Dube

Screenwriters: Mandla Dube

Leon Otto

Cinematographer: Tommy Maddox-Upshaw

Editor: Craig Hayes

Music: Rashid Lanie

Cast: Thabo Rametsi

Thabo Malema

Welile Nzuza

Jafta Mamabolo

Pearl Thusi

Gcina Mhlophe

Running Time: 107 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in English and other languages, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Film Festival Doctor

Print Source: Times Media

Film Website: kalushimovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Kati Kati

KENYA/GERMANY 2016

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 6:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 5 9:00 PM

A woman dressed in a hospital gown appears in a field, unsure where she is. Across the way she spots a wilderness lodge. Venturing inside, she discovers an activity timetable and, more important, a list of residents. Underneath each name is an epitaph. One catches her eye: “Kaleche Miano (1984-2012).” She hears a commotion outside, follows the voices, and interrupts a game of “Celebrity” in progress. A man stands in front of the group of people, some of them dressed strangely—like the man still in his graduation robe—and addresses the woman. “Welcome. My name is Thoma. This is Kati Kati. And you are here because you are dead.” Aghast, the woman runs out into the field—and smack-dab into an invisible barrier that knocks her back. The truth settles in: She’s no longer in the land of the living. Director Mbithi Masya’s directorial debut, produced by Tom Tykwer’s African film workshop One Fine Day Films, is a humane, quietly engrossing, and surprisingly funny film about the afterlife and the metaphorical scars we carry throughout our existence. As Kaleche’s memories of her life slowly come into focus, she learns what each of these purgatorial residents must accomplish in order to move on to the next plane of existence.

Awards: Toronto International Film Festival 2016 (Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics for the Discovery Programme)

TISZTA SZÍVVEL

Kills on Wheels

HUNGARY 2016

ARK LODGE

Director: Mbithi Masya

Producers: Sarika Hemi Lakhani

Katja Lebedjewa

Marie Steinmann-Tykwer

Tom Tykwer

Ginger Wilson

Guy Wilson

Screenwriters: Mbithi Masya

Mugambi Nthiga

Cinematographer: Andrew Mungai

Editor: Louizah Wanjiku

Music: Sean Peevers

Ibrahim Sidede

Cast: Nyokabi Gethaiga

Elsaphan Njora

Paul Ogola

Peter King Mwania

Running Time: 75 minutes

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

International Sales:

The Festival Agency

Print Source:

The Festival Agency

Film Website: mbithi.co/films/#/kati-kati

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 9:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 12:30 PM

This 2016 Hungarian Oscar® submission is a coming-of-age film disguised as an action comedy thriller. Two disabled youngsters, Zoli and Barba, make friends with wheelchair user and hitman Rupaszov to form a handicapped gang of hired assassins. This is a story of unlikely heroes who, in each other’s company, find reasons to carry on regardless of their daily handicaps. Imre Juhász’s camera work, which uses a wheelchair-camera point of view, gives the film that realistic feel. Various storylines and hand-drawn art edited into live-action sequences add to the dynamics. Director/writer Atilla Till’s original screenplay was inspired by his volunteer work with the disabled, and the film benefits from his knowledgeable, sensitive direction and the casting of non-pros. Kills on Wheels is no heavy, hopelessly bleak story of being handicapped in Hungary, but an energetic and Tarantinoesque thriller. Disabled or not, live life as much as you can, when you can. What do you have to lose? As in all stories, things are never as they first appear.

Awards:

Official Oscar® Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

Director: Attila Till

Producer: Judit Stalter

Screenwriter: Attila Till

Cinematographer: Imre Juhász

Editor: Márton Gothár

Music:

Csaba Kalotás

Cast:

Szabolcs Thuróczy

Zoltán Fenyvesi

Adám Fekete

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hungarian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Magyar Filmunió/Hungarian National Film Fund

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: laokoonfilm.com/movies/ item/kills-on-wheelstiszta-szivvel

Selected Filmography: Panic (2008)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

KONGENS NEI

King’s Choice

NORWAY 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 6:45 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Based on true extraordinary events, King’s Choice revives a terrifying yet pivotal time in Norwegian history. The film spans three days in April 1940 during WWII, as Nazi Germany is demanding the surrender of neutral Norway for its own “protection.” With a strategic goal to secure the coastline and harvest iron ore for the war effort, Nazi Germany sends envoy Kurt Bräuer (Karl Markovics) to negotiate with Norway’s reigning monarch, King Haakon VII (Jesper Christensen), who struggles with making the right choice: If he delays the surrender and continues pushing back against the German forces, many innocent lives will be lost in the crossfire; but in handing over Norway, he will lose his country to Nazi influence and the respect of his people, and be deemed a traitor. Against a backdrop of German ships and planes, the king consults his government and issues an ultimatum: abdication of the throne. Coming to an agreement, the Norwegian government relays their refusal to surrender, triggering Nazi Germany to carry out an airstrike in attempt to assassinate the king. King’s Choice is a remarkable story of rebellion and backroom bureaucracy during a time of international chaos.

Awards:

Official Oscar® Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film) Motion Picture Sound Editors 2017 (Golden Reel Award)

Director:

Erik Poppe

Producers:

Finn Gjerdrum

Stein B. Kvae

Screenwriters:

Harald Rosenløw Eeg

Jan Trygve Røyneland

Cinematographer:

John Christian Rosenlund

Editor:

Einar Egeland

Music:

Johan Söderqvist

Cast:

Jesper Christensen

Anders Baasmo Christiansen

Karl Markovics

Tuva Novotny

Sofie Falkgård

Ingrid Ross Raftemo

Running Time: 130 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Norwegian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Beta Cinema

Print Source:

Beta Cinema

Film Website: nfi.no

Selected Filmography: 1,000 Times Good Night (2013)

Troubled Water (2008) Hawaii, Oslo (2004)

QING

Knife in the Clear Water

CHINA 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 1:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

When the beloved wife of Ma Zishan falls ill and dies, he and his son must prepare for the Arba’een, a Muslim ceremony held 40 days after a death to pay respect to the dead. Because of the large number of guests expected to attend and his mother’s honorable legacy, Ma’s son is determined to convince his father to slaughter his only bull for the ceremony. Dealing with the devastating loss of his soulmate, Ma cannot imagine killing this animal, with which he has developed a bond. The old bull almost immediately weakens and begins refusing meals, strengthening cultural superstitions that an animal becomes aware of when it’s been marked for slaughter, and Ma must quickly make a decision. This somber look at familial differences and the jarring confrontation of mortality was framed for a 4:3 aspect ratio, intentionally ignoring the sweeping rural landscapes to focus instead on a glimpse of humanity under one roof. Director Wang Xuebo delivers his first feature with a soft-spoken minimalist approach, reflecting on smaller themes as well as shining a light on the Hui, a group of Chinese-Muslim people, and their beliefs.

Awards: Busan International Film Festival 2016 (New Currents Award)

Director: Wang Xuebo

Producer: Wang Zijian

Screenwriters: Shi Shuqing

Wang Xuebo

Cinematographer: Wang Weihua

Editor: Wang Weihua

Music: Kang Fu

Cast: Yang Shengiang

Zhou Jinhua

Yang Fan

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Asian Shadows

Film Website: chineseshadows.com/ knife-in-the-clear-water

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Lady Macbeth

UNITED KINGDOM 2016

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Bundled with a sale of land, young Katherine is sold by her father to an elderly aristocrat who in turn forces her to marry his boorish, middleaged son, Alexander. When they meet he offers no kindness and cannot even consummate the nuptials, leaving Katherine with an overwhelming sense of despair. Ordered to stay within the walls of their crumbling family mansion while her new husband and fatherin-law are away on business, Katherine meets a rebellious servant named Sebastian (played with delicious moodiness by musician-turnedactor Cosmo Jarvis), who opens her eyes and hands her the key to emotional—and sexual—freedom. Their affair intensifies and cannot be kept secret for long. When her husband returns, Katherine decides to defend her newfound fulfillment at any cost, no matter how much blood is shed. Based on Russian writer Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novella “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” and led by relative newcomer Florence Pugh (The Falling) in a mesmerizingly self-assured performance, this Victorian melodrama is not only a tragic story of forbidden romance, but, perhaps more important, an explosive feminist tale of vengeance.

Awards: San Sebastian Film Festival 2016 (FIPRESCI Award)

Lake Bodom

FINLAND/ESTONIA 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:45 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 21 9:00 PM

Director: William Oldroyd

Producer: Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly

Screenwriter: Alice Birch

From the novel by Nikolai Leskov

Cinematographer: Ari Wegner

Editor:

Nick Emerson

Music: Dan Jones

Cast: Florence Pugh Cosmo Jarvis

Paul Hilton

Naomi Ackie

Christopher Fairbank

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Protagonist Pictures

Print Source: Roadside Attractions

Film Website: williamoldroyd.com/ lady-macbeth

Selected Filmography: In Mid Wickedness (2013)

In an infamous 1960 murder case that remains unsolved to this day, an unknown maniac attacked a group of teenagers camping in a remote lake in Finland. Lake Bodom uses this real-life incident as the spark for an imaginative new twist on the classic don’t-go-inthe-woods slasher film, as a group of teens travel to the same campsite half a century later. What true-crime nerd Atte and tattooed Elias haven’t told their female companions, religious wallflower Ida and her tomboy best friend Nora, about the trip is that they are planning to reconstruct the exact circumstances of the 1960 murders to solve the mystery. As the reenactment ensues, a darker and bloodier truth begins to emerge—and the real carnage begins. Strikingly filmed to bring out the eerie luminescence of the mist-shrouded forests and featuring a hypnotic electronic score, Lake Bodom is an unabashed throwback to the old-school slasher film. But director Taneli Mustonen isn’t simply rehashing genre constructs; instead he layers the story with unexpected turns that change power dynamics and highlight the real terrors of teenage life, which are infinitely more disturbing than a faceless killer.

Awards: Jussi Awards 2017 (Best Sound Design) Screamfest 2017 (Best Actress)

Director: Taneli Mustonen

Producer: Aleksi Hyvärinen

Screenwriters: Aleksi Hyvärinen

Taneli Mustonen

Cinematographer: Daniel Lindholm

Editor: Aleksi Raij

Music: Panu Aaltio

Cast: Nelly Hirst-Gee Mimosa Willamo Mikael Gabriel Santeri Helinheimo

Running Time: 90 minutes

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

International Sales:

Film Constellation

Print Source: Film Constellation

Film Website: donfilms.fi

Selected Filmography: Reunion (2015) Ella and Friends (2012)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Landing

USA 2016

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 6:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 9:15 PM

KIRKLAND PC

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In 1973 the United States’ manned space program experienced an extraordinary tragedy—an event that, despite its place as one of the most disturbing episodes of the space race, was nevertheless all but ignored during the emerging Watergate scandal that ultimately claimed the presidency of President Nixon. Returning from a successful lunar landing mission, NASA’s Apollo 18 suffered what appeared to be a computer error that forced command-module pilot Bo Cunningham to take manual control of the spacecraft to make an emergency landing in the remote Takla Makan desert of western China, far from the intended splashdown target in the Pacific Ocean. Thirty-six hours would pass before NASA located the spacecraft, and when U.S. officials finally arrived on site, they discovered two crew members, Ed Lovett and Al Borden, dead. Cunningham returned home a seemingly tragic hero, but investigators soon uncovered alarming evidence concerning the post-crash events—was malice and foul play involved?

In The Landing, co-directors David and Mark Dodson offer a riveting examination into the notorious circumstances surrounding Apollo 18: interviews with witnesses and participants, conducted on the 25th anniversary of the incident, reveal new layers of a mystery that continues to obsess investigators and which nearly destroyed an American institution.

Awards:

Boston Science Fiction Film Festival 2017 (Best Directors)

Directors:

Mark Dodson

David Dodson

Producers:

David Dodson

Don Hannah

Mark Dodson

Screenwriters:

David Dodson

Mark Dodson

Cinematographer: Bryan Cooke

Editor:

David Dodson

Mark Dodson

Music:

Brian Carr

Cast:

Don Hannah

Warren Farina

Jeff McVey

Arlene Hughes-Martinez

Cindy Lou Adkins

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: The Landing, LLC

Film Website: thelanding-movie.com

Selected Filmography: MARK DODSON:

Debut Feature Film

DAVID DODSON:

Love in Vegas (2014)

8 Pervykh Svidaniy (2012) Ascension (2000)

Landline

USA 2017

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director Gillian Robespierre and comedian/ star Jenny Slate are at it again, but this time they’re stuck in 1995 Manhattan: smoky bars, no cell phones, and complete family meltdowns. As eldest daughter Dana, played by the endlessly funny Slate (My Blind Brother), prepares to enter married life with fiancé Ben (Jay Duplass, Manson Family Vacation), a wild streak begins. Meanwhile, her highschool-age sister Ali, played by newcomer Abby Quinn, lives a secret life of sex, drugs, and clubbing. When the sisters discover love letters their father has been writing to a mystery woman, the pair team up to expose his affair while keeping their mother out of the know. In Robespierre’s follow-up to SIFF 2014 hit Obvious Child, she again creates a subversive comedy that explores how families grow stronger when forced to deal with their problems. John Turturro and Edie Falco co-star as the daughter’s unraveling parents in this ’90s nostalgia piece that provides constant reminders of the era, including references to thenstyle icon Hillary Clinton and brick-and-mortar record stores. Landline’s portrayal of sibling rivalry, parental errors, and self-indulgent characters all add up to an honest portrait of a painfully flawed family.

Director: Gillian Robespierre

Producers: Elisabeth Holm

Russell Levine

Gigi Pritzker

Screenwriters: Elisabeth Holm

Gillian Robespierre

Cinematographer: Chris Teague

Editor:

Casey Brooks

Music: Chris Bordeaux

Jordan Cohen

Clyde Lawrence

Cast: Jenny Slate

John Turturro

Edie Falco

Abby Quinn

Jay Duplass

Finn Wittrock

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Amazon Studios

Selected Filmography: Obvious Child (2014)

Lane 1974

USA 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 2:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Clane Hayward’s memoir “The Hypocrisy of Disco” comes to life in this quiet portrait of a young girl on the outskirts of ’70s counterculture in Northern California. 13-year old Lane (Sophia Mitri Schloss) is content enough living on a commune in an old school bus with several other children her age, even though her mother, Hallelujah (Katherine Moennig, “The L Word”), can be a bit oppressive with her anti-materialism and overprotective alternative parenting. When Hallelujah falls out with their existing “family,” Lane and her two younger siblings are forced to wander from place to place, having to depend on their increasingly unpredictable mother and their own limited knowledge of the outside world. Filmed on the coast and in the forests of Northern California, the gentle atmosphere is a constant reminder of, and true contrast to, the fine line Lane walks between security and falling victim to the whirlwind path of her mother. Drawing from both Hayward’s personal experiences as well as first-time director SJ Chiro’s own upbringing in a commune, Lane 1974 is a fiercely authentic diary of girlhood.

Director: SJ Chiro

Producer: Jennessa West

Screenwriter: SJ Chiro

Cinematographer: Sebastien Scandiuzzi

Editor: Celia Beasley

Music: Jason Staczek

Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss

Katherine Moennig

Annette Toutonghi

Sara Coates

Linas Phillips

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Film Website: lane1974film.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Last Animals

USA/UNITED KINGDOM 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 27 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 6:30 PM ARK LODGE

Director Kate Brooks, who has spent the past two decades photographing and filming pieces on various human-rights issues, takes her experience to a new level with this incredibly moving wildlife documentary. Within the past 10 years, international wildlife conservation has been at an all-time low, with the horns and tusks of elephants being the most soughtafter material. Ivory, which has a higher market value than cocaine, is poached on the black market and sold for the enjoyment of people, while thousands of animals suffer from this loss every year. As a result, elephants and rhinos are falling into extinction. This documentary follows a team of wildlife conservationists as they travel the globe to record the response of this epidemic on people all over: in Africa, where the elephants and rhinos originate; in the Asian markets where the ivory is sold; and on American soil, to those who have no clue of the slaughter that went into this process. The Last Animals is about those who try to make a difference and save the last of the animals.

Director: Kate Brooks

Producers: Stephanie Soechtig

Kate Brooks

Screenwriter: Mark Monroe

Cinematographers: Kate Brooks

Andrew Thompson

Editors: Brian Anton

Doug Blush

Music: Paloma Estevez

Featuring: Kate Brooks

Running Time: 92 minutes

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

Print Source: The Last Animals

Film Website: thelastanimals.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

OSTATNIA RODZINA

The Last Family

POLAND 2016

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:00 PM SHORELINE CC

A structurally fascinating and harrowing portrait of an artist, The Last Family tracks 30 years in the life of eccentric 20th-century Polish surrealist Zdzisław Beksiński, whose varied and controversial career included sculpture, photography, drawing, and graphics. Disturbing, obsessive, ironic, and piercingly poignant, this family drama takes place in two of Warsaw’s monolithic postwar apartment buildings; Beksiński (Andrzej Seweryn, The Promised Land) and his wife Zofia (stage actress Aleksandra Konieczna) live across the field from their troublesome and manic-depressive son Thomaz (Dawid Ogrodnik, Ida), a DJ, music critic, and translator of English-language films. Together they make up a bitter, emotionally perilous brood, careening into each other like dysfunctional meteors. The film combines docudrama with letters, stories, and meticulous home-video reenactments, allowing screenwriter Robert Bolesto (The Lure, 2015) and director Jan P. Matuszyński—making his narrative feature debut—to create a rich, intimate, textured, and unflinching examination of the bonds, scars, and demons of one family. Featuring Salingeresque dialogue, Hitchcockian flourishes, a remarkable soundtrack (Tchaikovsky mixes with the Moody Blues), and scenes shot in hypnotic and unbroken takes, The Last Family slowly gets under your skin, providing a wholly unique cinematic experience.

Awards:

Locarno International Film Festival 2016 (Best Actor)

Gdynia Film Festival 2016 (Best Film, Audience Favorite, Best Actor)

Lemon USA 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 1:30 PM

Director: Jan P. Matuszyński

Producers: Leszek Bodzak

Aneta CebulaHickinbotham

Screenwriter: Robert Bolesto

Cinematographer: Kacper Fertacz

Editor: Przemyslaw

Chruścielewski

Music:

Atanas Valkov

Featuring: Andrzej Seweryn

Dawid Ogrodnik

Aleksandra Konieczna

Andrzej Chyra

Running Time: 124 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Polish, with English subtitles

International Sales: New Europe Film Sales

Print Source: New Europe Film Sales

Selected Filmography: Deep Love (2013)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Los Angeles can be an anxious, unnerving place, and nobody understands that better than writer/director Janicza Bravo, who doubles down on the city’s uniquely deranged qualities and magnifies them into twisted ludicrousness. 40-year-old Isaac (co-writer Brett Gelman, “Another Period”) is an acting teacher, a misanthrope, and an allaround loser who thrusts his unearned holierthan-thou attitude upon anybody within his orbit: his blind girlfriend Ramona (Judy Greer, “Archer”); the poor actors forced to endure his risible direction of Chekhov’s “The Seagull”; his long-suffering agent who can land him nothing but TV spots about STDs. When Ramona, done with his toxicity, finally breaks up with him, Isaac enters a self-destructive spiral with seemingly no end. Featuring bizarre sequences that feel like if David Lynch and Paul Bartel co-directed a French cringe comedy—a venomous Passover Seder, a Jamaican barbecue that descends into madness—this is a comically absurdist film that bursts from the screen with vigor. Rounding out the cast are actors at the top of their game, including Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”) and Gillian Jacobs (“Community”) as horribly mismatched actors, Fred Melamed (A Serious Man) and Rhea Perlman (“Cheers”) as Isaac’s parents, and Nia Long (The Best Man) as a romantic interest and Isaac’s last hope.

Director: Janicza Bravo

Producers: David Bernon

Paul Bernon

Houston King

Sam Slater

Screenwriters: Janicza Bravo

Brett Gelman

Cinematographer: Jason McCormick

Editor: Joi McMillon

Music:

Heather Christian

Cast:

Brett Gelman

Judy Greer

Michael Cera

Nia Long

Shiri Appleby

Fred Melamed

Gillian Jacobs

Rhea Perlman

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: ICM

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

A Life in Waves

USA 2017

MONDAY, MAY 29 1:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 30 8:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 9:15 PM ARK LODGE

“Traditional instruments always have a limit to what sounds they can make, but electronic instruments have an unlimited palette,” says Suzanne Ciani, a Grammy Award-nominated composer, electronic-music innovator, and bestselling neoclassical recording artist whose career has spanned nearly 40 years. Beginning as a classically trained pianist, in the late ’60s Suzanne became immersed in the world of modular synthesized compositions but found it difficult to break into the male-dominated electronic-music scene. Ingeniously shifting her talents, Suzanne started her own production company, providing award-winning sound designs for jingles (Atari), theme songs (“3-2-1 Contact”), special effects (Coca-Cola’s “Pop ’n’ Pour” sound), and even pinball machines—her electronic creations as well as her voice are an integral part of the iconic game Xenon. Never overlooking her passion for composition, Suzanne also began her own New Age record label, Seventh Wave, and in the past decade her earliest, pioneering electronic compositions have been rediscovered and embraced by a new generation of artists. Utilizing a wealth of archival footage, insightful conversations, and Suzanne’s endless catalog of music, filmmakers Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason (The Rock-afire Explosion) present her fascinating story, offering a feminine, philosophical glimpse into the evolution of a groundbreaking artist.

Awards: Boston Underground Film Festival 2017 (Best Feature)

The Little Hours

USA/ITALY 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 27 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 28 12:30 PM

Director:

Brett Whitcomb

Producers: Bradford Thomason

Brett Whitcomb

Screenwriter: Bradford Thomason

Cinematographer: Brett Whitcomb

Editor: Bradford Thomason

Music: Suzanne Ciani

Featuring: Suzanne Ciani

Robert Aiki

Aubrey Lowe

Kitaro

Peter Baumann

Dorit Chrysler

Sarah Davachi

Don Buchla

Running Time: 75 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Window Pictures, LLC

Film Website: alifeinwaves.com

Selected Filmography: County Fair, Texas (2015)

GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (2012)

The Rock-afire Explosion (2008)

Fleeing the estate of his burly, mustachioed boss after being caught with his wife, servant boy Massetto (Dave Franco, Neighbors) finds himself in what he assumes is the safest place around—the local convent. Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) sets him up with a job as a handyman, persuading him to pretend to be deaf and mute so that the resident nuns won’t be bothered by him. But these sisters are restless, bored, and lascivious, and before you know it, habits are thrown in a scramble to seduce the goofy, gardening stranger. Jeff Baena (Joshy, Life After Beth) directs this 14th-century medieval raunch-com, complete with swearing, Valley-girl nuns, and a Monty Python sensibility and filmed on location in the villages of Tuscany. The Little Hours boasts one of the most impressive comic casts to date: featuring Aubrey Plaza (“Parks & Recreation”), Alison Brie (“Community”), and Kate Micucci (“The Big Bang Theory”) as the catty young sisters, Molly Shannon as Mother Superior, and Jemima Kirke (“Girls”) as a witchy woman of the woods. Nick Offerman (“Parks & Recreation”), Adam Pally (“The Mindy Project”), Paul Reiser (“Stranger Things”), and Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”) also join the cast for this raucous, old-timey romp that delighted audiences at Sundance earlier this year.

Director: Jeff Baena

Producers: Elizabeth Destro

Aubrey Plaza

Screenwriter: Jeff Baena

Cinematographer: Quyen Tran

Editor: Ryan Brown

Music: Dan Romer

Cast: Alison Brie

Dave Franco

Kate Micucci

Aubrey Plaza

John C. Reilly

Molly Shannon

Fred Armisen

Nick Offerman

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: CAA

Print Source: Gunpowder & Sky

Film Website: gunpowdersky.com/ projects/the-little-hours

Selected Filmography: Joshy (2016)

Life After Beth (2014)

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

VIDAS CON SABOR

Lives with Flavor

MEXICO 2017 WORLD PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 20 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, MAY 26 2:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Cook and restaurateur Ricard Muñoz Zurita believes that food is about much more than simply the taste. He feels that to achieve the greatest gastronomical experience, there needs to be atmosphere. The plating, tables, and glassware all need to be a certain way. The napkins in his restaurant are all handembroidered by local women, and the bowl’s edges are curved just right. Zurita believes that for a meal to be truly phenomenal, it should tell a cultural story. And the flavor? The flavor should always taste like a memory. In this documentary, Zurita explains his philosophy surrounding Mexican food and its cultural significance. As a preserver of culinary tradition, he goes from market to market in different neighborhoods and sits at many family dinner tables in order to truly understand Mexico’s gastronomical environment. Zurita owns several restaurants in Mexico City, and sends trucks to pick up products from different communities in order to represent them and introduce them to customers at his table. Director Pablo Gasca Gollas’ Lives with Flavor stresses the importance of simplicity, history, and experience when it comes to dining, and spotlights Mexico’s unparalleled cuisine.

PRECEDED BY:

Prestige Ingredients

France/USA, 2016, 26 minutes.

Directors: Danielle Rubi-Dentzel, Adiran Rubi-Dentzel

A stifled young Hollywood actress slips into a world of mouthwatering delicacies, sweet heartache, and bitter tears when she takes an unlikely job with an inspired rebel chef in Paris.

Love and Duty

CHINA 1931

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 6:00 PM

Director:

Pablo Gasca Gollas

Producer:

Ruth Zachs

Screenwriters:

Ruth Zachs

Pablo Gasca

Cinematographers: Ivan Morales

Pablo Gasca

Editor:

Pablo Gasca

Music:

Ernesto Anaya

Featuring: Ricardo Muñoz Zurita

Marco Beteta

Martha Ortiz

Israel Ronzon

Alberto Albarran

Patricia Muñoz Zurita

Salomé Freixas

Gonzalo Serrano

Running Time:

52 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

Print Source: Sanson Media

Film Website: vidasconsabor.com

Selected Filmography:

Monarca Espiritu del Bosque (2016)

Cine Opera (2014)

Violon Opus 4 (2007)

Project Fibonacci (2007)

Those who pursue what they know is right, despite pressure to settle for the conventional and expected, are the ones we admire most. In Love and Duty, a 1931 work by Chinese film pioneer Bu Wancang, the young and passionate Yang Naifan runs from her arranged marriage to be with her true love. Love and Duty’s renowned cast, remarkable cinematography, and affecting story made it one of the biggest films of its time in China; it’s considered one of Bu’s best, impressive considering his prolific 40-year career. For many years, the film was believed lost, until a complete print was found in Uruguay in the 1990s. In 2014, it underwent a 2K digital restoration and was screened at the Shanghai Film Festival the same year. The film has gained a welldeserved second life, and many years after its production, Love and Duty is inspiring a new generation of romantics. Live accompaniment provided by Donald Sosin.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Bu Wancang

Producer: Lai Minwei

Screenwriter: Shilin Zhu

Cinematographer: Huang Shaofen

Cast: Chen Yen Yen

Jin Yan

Ruan Lingyu

Running Time: 153 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, silent, with English and Mandarin intertitles

Print Source: Taipei Film Archive

Selected Filmography: Dream of the Red Chamber (1945)

Eternity (1942)

The Family (1941)

Mulan Joins the Army (1939)

A Spray of Plum Blossoms (1931)

Peach Blossom Weeps

Tears of Blood (1931)

A Couple in Name Only (1927)

LIAN

MESTEREN

The Man

DENMARK 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 8:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

TUESDAY, MAY 23 4:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 8:15 PM

Masculinity is becoming an increasingly vague concept, an idea Danish filmmaker Charlotte Sieling explores in her latest film. Simon is an artist, one who unabashedly embraces the artist archetype. He’s not traditionally masculine in any sense—his personality is as outrageous as his wardrobe. But this doesn’t stop him from being the man. However, when his distant adult son Casper shows up, Simon loses confidence: Not only is he reminded of leaving the woman he loved and the crippling regret that followed, Casper may even be the better artist. In The Man, reserved Danish humor meets larger-than-life characters, making for a memorable experience. The sets are every bit as modernist as you’d expect the Copenhagen art scene to be; understated Danish design is a hallmark of the film. The Man is a stylish film, but, more important, a poignant one. As Simon’s relationship with Casper is slowly redeemed, he once again redefines masculinity, putting his ego aside and allowing himself to love.

KIRKLAND PC

Director: Charlotte Sieling

Producer: Lars Bredo Rahbek

Screenwriter: Charlotte Sieling

Cinematographer: Rasmus Arrildt

Editor: Sverrir Kristjánsson

Music: Nicholas Sillitoe

Cast: Jakob Oftebro

Søren Malling

Ane Dahl Torp

Søren Pilmark

Sus Wilkins

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Danish, with English subtitles

International Sales:

AB Svensk Film Industries

Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Selected Filmography: Above the Street, Below the Water (2009)

Manifesto

GERMANY/AUSTRALIA 2017

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:30 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

The changes associated with revolutions are usually expressed in their manifestos. “The Communist Manifesto” is the obvious example, but you can also look to the artistic revolutions of abstract expressionism or constructivism or surrealism and find their rules and regulations. In Manifesto, German-based film and video artist Julian Rosefeldt teams with the amazing actress Cate Blanchett to examine and explore 13 of the most important manifestos of the 20th century. Originally a site-specific installation on 13 screens, this single-channel feature-film version draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, and Fluxus artists, all the way up to the Dogme 95 filmmakers, and filters their words through 13 different characters played by Blanchett: In one she’s a puppeteer talking about surrealism; in another a broker talking about futurism; in yet another she’s both a news anchor and a reporter talking about conceptual art and minimalism. With immaculate cinematography and gorgeous production value, this acting tour-de-force is as like nothing else at the Festival. Instead of simply words from history, the performance of these manifestos can work as anything from amusing anecdotes to a contemporary call to action.

Director: Julian Rosefeldt

Producer: Julian Rosefeldt

Screenwriter: Julian Rosefeldt

Cinematographer: Christoph Krauss

Editor: Bobby Good

Music:

Nils Frahm

Ben Lukas Boysen

Cast: Cate Blanchett

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Film Rise

Film Website: filmrise.com/manifesto

Selected Filmography: The Creation (2015)

Ma’ Rosa

PHILIPPINES 2016

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 1:00 PM

ARK LODGE

MONDAY, JUNE 5 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In the dirty and poverty-stricken neighborhoods of the Philippines, sari-sari convenience stores serve as the hub of economic and social transactions. Director Brillante Mendoza’s story of a shopkeeper couple, Rosa (Jaclyn Jose, 2016 Cannes Best Actress award winner) and Nestor (Julio Diaz), reveals the harsh reality of a family’s day-today survival. To make ends meet for their three children, Rosa peddles “ice,” or crystal meth, at her family-owned store. But on the eve of Nestor’s birthday, local corrupt policemen raid the store on a customer’s tip and arrest the couple. During the interrogation, the policemen demand a bribe of 200,000 pesos from Rosa and her husband for their release. Unable to pay, the couple’s children, Jackson (Felix Roco), Erwin (Jomari Angeles), and Raquel (Andi Eigenmann), are forced to raise the bail money. In a race against time, Raquel begs for money from family relatives and Jackson attempts to sell their belongings, while Erwin takes a riskier and more significant approach by sleeping with an older man for money. The gritty style of the filmmaking gives Ma’ Rosa a documentary feel, refusing to shield the audience from the realities of the chaotic streets of Manila.

Awards:

Cannes Film Festival 2016 (Best Actress)

Official Oscar Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

The Marseille Trilogy: Marius

FRANCE 1931

SATURDAY, MAY 27 11:00 AM

Director:

Brillante Mendoza

Producer:

Larry Castillo

Screenwriter: Troy Espiritu

Cinematographer: Odyssey Flores

Editor:

Diego Marx Dobles

Music:

Maria Teresa Barrozo

Cast:

Jaclyn Jose

Julio Diaz

Andi Eigenmann

Jomari Angeles

Felix Roco

Mercedes Cabral

Jomari Angeles

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Tagalog, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Distribution

Print Source:

First Run Features

Film Website: filmsdistribution.com

Selected Filmography:

Trap (2015)

Thy Womb (2012)

Captive (2012)

Service (2008)

Foster Child (2007)

Summer Heat (2006)

The Masseur (2005)

On the waterfront in Marseille, Marius (Pierre Fresnay) and Fanny (Orane Demazis) always seemed destined to be together. They would flirt while Marius worked at a bar owned by his father, César (Raimu), and she sold cockles on the docks nearby. But Marius’ passion for the seafaring life and Fanny’s persistent suitor, the much older widower Honoré Panisse (Fernand Charpin), lead the would-be lovers in different, meandering directions with unexpected consequences. So begins one of the more enduring and beloved trilogies in French cinema, and one of the earliest examples of neorealism on screen. Marius (1931) is the first of three films based on the works of playwright Marcel Pagnol—the others being Fanny (1932) and César (1936)—following the intersecting arcs of the same characters over a 20-year period, but each helmed by a different director. Adapted by for the screen by Pagnol himself, and directed by Alexander Korda, Marius breathes life into these star-crossed characters, adding rich details and filling them with equal parts poignancy and humor. This SIFF 2017 Archival Presentation is your chance to see on the big screen the entire “Marseille Trilogy” following a recent, luminous 4K restoration—a veritable seminar in early French cinema and the vibrant pageant of working-class life at a bustling Mediterranean seaport.

PACIFIC PLACE

Director: Alexander Korda

Producers: Robert Kane

Marcel Pagnol

Screenwriter: Marcel Pagnol

Cinematographer: Theodore J. Pahle

Editor:

Roger Mercaton

Music:

Francis Gromon

Cast: Raimu

Pierre Fresnay

Fernand Charpin

Alida Rouffe

Paul Dullac

Running Time: 127 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Films

Film Website: janusfilms.com

Selected Filmography: An Ideal Husband (1947)

That Hamilton Woman (1941)

Rembrandt (1936)

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

The Girl From Maxim’s (1933)

The Marseille Trilogy: Fanny

MAY 28 11:00 AM

This sequel to Alexander Korda’s 1931 Marius begins where the previous film ended, with Marseille seafood vendor Fanny (Orane Demazis) bidding farewell to her secret lover, Marius (Pierre Fresnay), who cannot resist the inexorable pull of the sea. Already distraught, Fanny soon realizes she is pregnant. Her longtime suitor, Honoré Panisse (Fernand Charpin), an older widower and wealthy merchant, agrees to keep the baby’s provenance a secret, and she accepts his gallant offer of marriage. This cozy arrangement is upended, however, when Marius returns unexpectedly from the sea to butt heads with his protective father, César (Raimu). Fanny is the middle installment of the famous “Marseille Trilogy” based on the works of French playwright Marcel Pagnol, who also penned the screenplay. Each of the films has a different director—Fanny was directed by Marc Allégret while the final film, César (1936), was helmed by Pagnol—yet each one maintains a similar humanist glow, with Marseille acting as a distinct character, full of life, energy, and working-class wit. The film was given a Technicolor reboot nearly 30 years later, starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, and Charles Boyer, but this original 1932 work is no less stunning in its location shots of the teeming port city— especially in this radiant 4K restoration. Don’t miss your chance to see this rare gem about love, loss, and the power of reconciliation.

Director: Marc Allégret

Producers: Marcel Pagnol

Roger Richebé

Screenwriter: Marcel Pagnol

Cinematographer: Nikolai Toporkoff

Editors: Raymond Lamy

Jean Mamy

Music: Vincent Scotto

Cast: Raimu

Pierre Fresnay Orane Demazis

Fernand Charpin

Auguste Mouriès

Running Time: 127 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Film

Selected Filmography:

The Ball of Count Orgel (1970)

The Man From Chicago (1963)

Be Beautiful but Shut Up (1958)

Plucking the Daisy (1956)

Blanche Fury (1948)

The Marseille Trilogy: César

FRANCE 1936

MONDAY, MAY 29 11:00 AM

In this final installment of the “Marseille Trilogy,” written by playwright Marcel Pagnol, César begins 20 years after the characters in the previous film, Fanny, have found an uneasy stability. Fanny (Orane Demazis) and her much-older husband, Honoré Panisse (Fernand Charpin), have raised their son, Césariot, as their own, although the real father was secretly Fanny’s former lover, Marius (Pierre Fresnay). But as the elderly Panisse lies on his deathbed, Fanny finally reveals the truth, telling Césariot about his biological father, a former seaman-turned-mechanic. Posing as a journalist, Césariot seeks out and spends time with the destitute Marius, but it is not until Marius’ father, César, shows up as an intermediary that the scattered family can begin to heal old wounds. While the first two films, Marius (1931) and Fanny (1932), were adaptations of Pagnol’s stage plays, this final film in the trilogy was the only one written and directed by Pagnol himself as an original screenplay, which provided more of a spotlight on the César character—the gruff, emotional, and comic glue that holds the family together. Played with scene-stealing gusto by a music-hall comedian known as Raimu, César helps bring the epic love story to a satisfying conclusion. Presented at SIFF after a stunning digital 4K restoration, César and the rest of the trilogy are not-to-be-missed classic tales of sacrifice, redemption, and the unbreakable bonds of family.

Director: Marcel Pagnol

Producer: Marcel Pagnol

Screenwriter: Marcel Pagnol

Cinematographers: Willy Faktorovitch

Grischa (as Gricha)

Roger Ledru

Editor:

Suzanne de Troeye

Music:

Vincent Scotto

Cast: Raimu

Pierre Fresnay

Fernand Charpin

Orane Demazis

Running Time: 142 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

Print Source: Janus Film

Film Website: janusfilms.com

Selected Filmography: Letters From My Windmill (1954)

Manon of the Spring (1952)

Topaze (1951)

The Pretty Miller Girl (1950)

The Well-Digger’s Daughter (1940)

The Baker’s Wife (1938) Merlusse (1938)

SUNDAY,

PACIFIC PLACE

PACIFIC PLACE

Maurice

MONDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, Maurice is another gem from Merchant-Ivory productions, based on an adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel that, due to its taboo gay subject matter, went unpublished during the author’s lifetime. Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret. But after their friend, Lord Risley, is arrested and disgraced for “the unspeakable vice of the Greeks,” Clive abandons his forbidden love to marry a rich, naive young woman. Maurice, however, struggles with his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his undeniable urges. But while staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne, Maurice is seduced by their affectionate and yearning servant, Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves), an event that brings about profound changes in Maurice’s life and outlook. Universally acclaimed upon its release in 1987, the film won the Silver Lion for Best Director at that year’s Venice Film Festival, while Wilby and Grant deservedly split the Best Actor award.

Awards: Venice Film Festival 1987 (Silver Lion, Best Score, Best Actors)

Director: James Ivory

Producers: Ismail Merchant

Paul Bradley

Screenwriters: Kit Hesketh-Harvey

James Ivory

From the novel by E.M. Forster

Cinematographer: Pierre Lhomme

Editor:

Katherine Wenning

Music: Richard Robbins

Cast: James Wilby

Hugh Grant

Rupert Graves

Running Time: 140 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Cohen Media Classics

Selected Filmography: The City of Your Final Destination (2009)

The White Countess (2005)

The Divorce (2003)

A Soldier’s Daughter

Never Cries (1998)

Surviving Picasso (1996)

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Howards End (1992)

Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990)

A Room with a View (1985)

Heat and Dust (1983)

The Europeans (1979)

QUE DIOS NOS PERDONE

May God Save Us

SPAIN 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 8:00 PM SHORELINE CC

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Madrid, the sweltering summer of 2011: As Spain’s capital prepares to welcome the throngs attending a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, an austerity crisis sparks violent protests and a serial killer quietly hunts elderly women throughout the city’s core. Pressured by officials to make an arrest while keeping the murders out of the public eye, bookish and introverted Detective Velarde (Antonio de la Torre, Unit 7) and troubled, combative Detective Alfaro (Roberto Álamo, The Skin I Live In) find themselves pulled into the violent psyche of a madman, each struggling to contain his own inner darkness while racing against time to stop the increasingly gruesome murders, leading to an unexpected and shocking finale in this tense, unforgettable film. A suspenseful follow-up to his crowd-funded second feature Stockholm, writer (with Isabel Peña) and director Rodrigo Sorogoyen has crafted not only a taut psychological thriller but a damning indictment of a power structure that will stop at nothing to save face, as well as a complex character study of masculinity in crisis. Grabbing you from its opening moments and never letting go, May God Save Us will undoubtedly take its place among the greatest hard-boiled detective films.

Awards: Goya Awards 2017 (Best Actor)

San Sebastián Film Festival 2016 (Jury Prize for Best Screenplay)

Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Producers: Mercedes Gamero

Gerardo Herrero

Mikel Lejarza

Screenwriters: Isabel Peña

Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Cinematographer: Álex de Pablo

Editors: Alberto del Campo

Fernando Franco

Music: Oliver Arson

Cast: María Ballesteros

Joxean Bengoetxea

Jesús Caba

Antonio de la Torre

Roberto Álamo

Running Time: 127 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Latido Films

Print Source: Latido Films

Film Website: latidofilms.com/may-godsave-us

Selected Filmography: Stockholm (2013)

8 Dates (2008)

Meatball Machine Kodoku

SATURDAY, MAY 27 MIDNIGHT

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

TUESDAY, MAY 30 9:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 8:30 PM ARK LODGE

Yoshihiro Nishimura, director of some of the most bonkers action films of all time—including Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl—returns with a new hyperviolent, blood-drenched riot. When the villainous alien Necroborg arrive in Japan, they turn everyday humans into half-robot killing machines, and it’s up to a nebbish debt collector, whose deadly cancer cells somehow keep the creatures from taking him over completely, to save the world and win the girl. Along the way, blood will be spilled (four tons of fake blood, according to the director), limbs will fly, and nipple guns will be fired with maniacal glee. In addition to directing, Nishimura is a renowned master of special effects whose credits include 2005’s original Meatball Machine (of which this is essentially a remake), and his creations add a deranged hallucinatory brilliance to the proceedings that is manna for fans of Tetsuo: The Iron Man or the more gonzo films of Takashi Miike and Sion Sono. If you only see one utterly insane, blood-andguts-soaked, action-packed Japanese cyberpunk comedy this year—well, this is probably the only one, so just see it already.

Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura

Producers:

Toshiaki Sakamoto

Tomoharu Kusunoki

Yudai Yamaguchi

Yukihiko Yamaguchi

Screenwriters: Yoshihiro Nishimura

Sakichi Satô

Cinematographer: Keizô Suzuki

Editor: Yoshihiro Nishimura

Music: Takashi Nakagawa

Cast: Yoji Tanaka

Yurisa

Takumi Saito

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: King Record Co., Ltd.

Print Source: King Record Co., Ltd.

Film Website: kodoku-mb.net

Selected Filmography: The Ninja War of Torakage (2014)

Gekijo-ban: Harapeko

Yamagami-kun (2012)

Helldriver (2010)

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

ES ESMU ŠEIT Mellow Mud

LATVIA 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 5:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 29 3:15 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 1:00 PM

With her father deceased, her mother having abandoned her and her brother for a new life in London, and her grandmother threatening to sell their house, teenage Raya feels she has no one to depend on but herself. When she and her younger brother Robis return from school one day to find their grandmother dead, they decide to bury the body and take control of the household. Embracing her new independence, Raya is determined to win her high school’s English language competition so she can travel to London and confront her estranged mother. Her dreams of freedom and indulgence quickly devolve into the harsh reality of responsibility and consequence when the tasks of avoiding a nosy social worker, taking care of the increasingly rebellious Robis, and beginning a lascivious relationship with her English teacher all come to a tipping point. In this understated Latvian drama, first-time director Renārs Vimba’s sparse script and muted colors do well to emphasize the despondency of Raya’s situation, and the naturalistic acting ability of Elina Vaska make her a fierce protagonist whom audiences constantly root for in the face of her untimely adulthood.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Renārs Vimba

Producers: Aija Bērziņa

Alise Ģelze

Screenwriter: Renārs Vimba

Cinematographer: Arnar Thorisson

Editor: George Mavropsaridis

Music: Eriks Esenvalds

Cast: Elīna Vaska

Andžejs Jānis Lilientāls Edgars Samitis

Zane Jančevska

Ruta Birgere

Rēzija Kalniņa

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Latvian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pluto Film

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Menashe

USA/ISRAEL 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:30 PM

MONDAY, MAY 22 3:30 PM

After traveling the world for a decade as a documentary filmmaker, director Joshua Weinstein comes back to American soil to tell the story of a man in a custody battle for the son he would do anything to keep. Tucked away in Borough Park in Brooklyn is the small Jewish community where widower Menashe and his son live. A grocery-store clerk with the best intentions but not always the best decisions, Menashe is an outcast in his own neighborhood, which already lives by its own rules and rituals. As Menashe’s faith is examined and tested, he must decide what he is willing to compromise and how much he is willing to trust the beliefs he practices. He must prove that he can be the father his son needs. Weinstein’s film provides an impeccably authentic look at New York’s Hasidic community. Menashe is the first film in almost 80 years to be shot almost entirely in Yiddish. As such, it provides a rare and insightful glimpse inside a tight-knit and closed community as one of their own fights for his right to parenthood in modern society, while still striving to uphold the values and traditions he holds dear.

Director:

Joshua Z Weinstein

Producers:

Alex Lipschultz

Traci Carlson

Joshua Z Weinstein

Danny Finkelman

Yoni Brook

Screenwriters:

Joshua Z Weinstein

Alex Lipschultz

Musa Syeed

Cinematographers: Yoni Brook

Joshua Z Weinstein

Editor:

Scott Cummings

Music:

Dag Rosenqvist

Aaron Martin

Cast:

Menashe Lustig

Ruben Niborski

Running Time: 81 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Yiddish and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales: Mongrel Media

Print Source:

A24 Films

Selected Filmography: Flying on One Engine (2008)

Drivers Wanted (2012)

LA SAGE FEMME

The Midwife

FRANCE 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:15 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 20 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, MAY 30 9:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

The Midwife is the story of Claire (ten-time César Award nominee Catherine Frot), a gifted midwife, who one day receives a phone call from Beatrice (cinema legend Catherine Deneuve), her father’s ex-mistress who vanished from their lives 30 years ago. Claire is nonplussed—Beatrice’s disappearance wrought havoc in her life at the time— but nevertheless she agrees to meet. They make the oddest of odd couples: Beatrice is a boozy blonde who smokes like a chimney and orders the biggest piece of meat on the menu; Claire, a teetotalling vegetarian, is a fundamentally decent person, maybe a little dull. But Beatrice is a force of nature, and Claire is gradually swept up into her orbit. Nor is this the only upheaval she’s facing: Claire’s son is dropping out of medical school, her struggling maternity clinic is closing, and a new man has come into her life. Meanwhile, Beatrice is facing changes of her own. Hailed as Deneuve’s best role in years, The Midwife is a chance to see two consummate actresses at the top of their game.

Director: Martin Provost

Producer: Olivier Delbosc

Screenwriter: Martin Provost

Cinematographer: Yves Cape

Editor: Albertine Lastera

Music: Grégoire Hetzel

Cast: Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Frot

Olivier Gourmet

Running Time: 117 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Memento Films International

Print Source: Music Box Films

Film Website: international.mementofilms.com

Selected Filmography: Violette (2013)

The Long Falling (2011)

Séraphine (2008)

Le ventre de Juliette (2003)

Tortilla y cinema (1992)

PACIFIC PLACE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Moka

FRANCE/SWITZERLAND 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Along the shores of Lake Geneva, a fire is raging. Diane (Emmanuelle Devos, Coco Before Chanel) is grieving, her son the victim of a fatal hit-and-run accident seven months prior. With the police no closer to identifying a suspect and her marriage in shambles, Diane enlists the help of a private detective, who tracks down the make and model of the car—a mocha-colored SL 1972 Mercedes— that permanently altered her family’s life. Diane travels across the Swiss-French border with a list of owners of this rare automobile, finally settling on Marlène (Nathalie Baye, Day for Night) and Michel (David Clavel), a wellto-do Évian couple who fit the sole witness’ description perfectly. With her prey in sight, a pistol in hand, and revenge her sole remaining instinct, Diane carefully, methodically invades the couple’s seemingly comfortable life, waiting for the right moment to strike. Devos and Baye, two renowned veterans of French cinema, share the screen for the first time, going toe-to-toe in this slow-burning psychological thriller of obsession, paranoia, and unbreakable maternal instinct, based on the novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and handled with Highsmith/Hitchcockian panache by Swiss director Frédéric Mermoud (“Les Revenants”).

Awards: Locarno International Film Festival 2016 (Variety Piazza Grande Award)

Director: Frédéric Mermoud

Producers: Julien Rouch

Tonie Marshall

Damien Couvreur

Screenwriters: Frédéric Mermoud

Antonin Martin-Hilbert

Cinematographer: Irina Lubtchansky

Editor: Sarah Anderson

Cast: Emmanuelle Devos

Nathalie Baye

Diane Rouxel

Samuel Labarthe

David Clavel

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Pyramide International

Print Source: Film Movement

Selected Filmography: Complices (2010)

Mr. Long

JAPAN/HONG KONG/CHINA/TAIWAN/GERMANY 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 9:15 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Maverick Japanese director Sabu is a SIFF mainstay, having brought us such visually lush, darkly comic films as Kanikïsen (SIFF, 2010) and the horror satire Miss Zombie (SIFF, 2014). This year he’s cooked up a surprisingly tender modern fable, one that packs a hefty emotional wallop while still delivering the boldness we’ve come to expect. Mr. Long (Chang Chen, The Assassin) is a taciturn, knife-wielding hitman out of Taiwan. On his latest mission in Japan, the assignment goes terribly wrong, and the injured assassin is forced to hide out in a nearby village; this town has seen better days, many of its buildings abandoned or filled with heroin-addicted junkies. Still, despite not knowing a word of Japanese, Mr. Long is taken in by the townsfolk, people whose kindness overwhelms the dilapidation around them. With many days left before he can catch the next boat back to his homeland, the culinarily adept Long is convinced by his new neighbors to start a Taiwanese noodle stand. As his cooking skills give him a new life and identity, his violent past eats away at him, threatening to rear its ugly head at any moment. Mr. Long can maybe best be described as Yojimbo meets Tampopo, a seemingly effortless mix of genres that portrays humanity at its best and its worst.

Director: Sabu

Producers: Shozo Ichiyama

Koki Kageyama

Yoichi Shimizu

Jacky Pang

Stephan Holl

Screenwriter: Sabu

Cinematographer: Kôichi Furuya

Editor: Georg Petzold

Music: Junichi Matsumoto

Cast: Chang Chen

Shô Aoyagi

Yiti Yao

Runyin Bai

Running Time: 129 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Mandarin, Japanese, and Taiwanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Jet Tone Films

Print Source: Jet Tone Films LTD

Film Website: mr-long.jp

Selected Filmography: Happiness (2016)

Chasuke’s Journey (2015)

Miss Zombie (2013) Bunny Drop (2011)

Dead Run (2005)

Hold Up Down (2005)

Blessing Bell (2002)

Unlucky Monkey (1998)

LINCOLN SQUARE

My Happy Family

GEORGIA/GERMANY/FRANCE 2017

TUESDAY, MAY 30 6:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Manana, a teacher, lives with her large, loud, and lively family—three generations of them— in a cramped apartment in Tbilisi, Georgia. But one day she finds that the nagging and the shouting, the demands on her time and attention, the complete lack of privacy or quiet have all become too much. She’s had enough; she decides to move out. Her family is incredulous and utterly uncomprehending; they’re more concerned with what their friends and neighbors will think of her unconventional behavior. Manana perseveres. She finds a modest two-room flat across town, and she breathes easier from the moment she opens the French doors to let in the fresh air. Her freedom has been hard-won, and she savors it, thriving like the tomato plants she cultivates on her windowsill—until an eventful high-school reunion forces her to reconcile the present with the past. In their second feature together, directors Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross (In Bloom) continue their thoughtful, nuanced examination of women’s lives in Georgia, where individual acts of resistance can have dramatic consequences, and patriarchal traditions are changing—slowly.

Awards:

Lecce Festival of Europa Cinema 2017 (Best Film, Best Cinematography)

Sofia International Film Festival 2017 (Best Director) Hong Kong International Film Festival 2017 (Golden Firebird Award)

Directors:

Nana Ekvtimishvili

Simon Gross

Producers: Jonas Katzenstein

Maximilian Leo

Screenwriter:

Nana Ekvtimishvili

Cinematographer:

Tudor Vladimir Panduru

Editor:

Stefan Stabenow

Music:

Paata Godziashvili

Cast: Ia Shugliashvili

Merab Ninidze

Berta Khapava

Tsisia Qumsishvili

Giorgi Tabidze

Dimitri Oragvelidze

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Georgian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Memento Films International

Print Source: Memento Films International

Film Website: international.mementofilms.com/now/myhappy-family

Selected Filmography:

In Bloom (2013)

Fata Morgana (2007)

VOYAGE À TRAVERS LE CINÉMA FRANÇAIS

My Journey Through French Cinema

FRANCE 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 3:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 7:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect guide to the glories of French cinema than Bertrand Tavernier. The award-winning filmmaker began his career as a press agent and assistant director to Jean-Pierre Melville before setting out to make his own closely observed, psychologically astute films about dedicated professionals, from dogged detectives to gifted musicians. Instead of organizing 50 years of films by genre, Tavernier focuses on the actors and directors who made an impression on him, from Jacques Becker to Jean-Paul Belmondo and Simone Signoret, with a spotlight on indelible duos, like the Jean Renoir/Jean Gabin partnership that led to masterpieces such as Grand Illusion. As with 1995’s A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, the result plays more like a freewheeling lecture hosted by an erudite and engaging professor than a staid, talking-head-studded documentary. (Fittingly, Scorsese has proclaimed it “outstanding” and “highly intelligent.”) If anyone understands that film is a collaborative medium, it’s a veteran filmmaker like Tavernier, who doesn’t stint on the history, biography, and contributions of key crew members like composer Maurice Jaubert and cinematographer Raoul Coutard, who helped to shape all these ravishing visions.

Awards: Lumiere Awards 2017 (Best Documentary)

Director: Bertrand Tavernier

Producers:

Agnes Le Pont

Frédéric Bourboulon

Matthew Belghiti

Bertrand Tavernier

Screenwriters: Bertrand Tavernier

Thierry Fremaux

Cinematographers: Jerome Almeras

Simon Beaufils

Julien Pamart

Editors: Guy Lecorne

Marie Deroudille

Music:

Bruno Coulais

Running Time: 190 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Gaumont

Print Source: Cohen Media Group

Selected Filmography: The French Minister (2013)

The Princess of Montpensier (2010)

In the Electric Mist (2009)

Holy Lola (2004)

Safe Conduct (2002)

Death Watch (1980)

Napping Princess

JAPAN 2017

MONDAY, MAY 29 12:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 6:30 PM

Welcome to the world of machines. Not so far from our present day, a young woman, Kokone, is having trouble staying awake while studying for her college entrance exams. As she naps, her strange dreams reveal a land of magic-wielding princesses and machines at war, and she is surprised by occasional hints that her family may be involved. But her father, a brilliant mechanic who spends his time repairing and modifying cars, is too busy to notice her, much less address her questions about any truth behind the family connections. As the dreams continue to grow in intensity, Kokone realizes that there may be stronger connections between her dreams and reality, leading her closer to her family history than ever before. Napping Princess has all the features of the best anime films, expertly layering its narrative to fuse two worlds that appear separate on the surface. Young viewers will be immediately engrossed in the world that director Kenji Kamayama (“Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”) has created, continuing his specialization in crafting unforgettable stories about the nature of society.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Kenji Kamiyama

Producers: Naoki Iwasa

Yoshiki Sakurai

Screenwriter: Kenji Kamiyama

Cinematographer: Hiroshi Tanaka

Music: Yôko Shimomura

Voices: Yôsuke Eguchi

Rie Kugimiya

Shin’nosuke Mitsushima

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Warner Bros Pictures

Print Source: GKids

Film Website: warnerbros.co.jp/ hirunehime

Selected Filmography:

Cyborg 009: Call of Justice (3 Parts) (2016)

009 Re: Cyborg (2012)

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—The Laughing Man (2005)

GEUMUL

The Net

SOUTH KOREA 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 11:00 AM

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 3:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Poor North Korean fisherman Nam Chul-woo (Ryoo Seung-bum) lives in a shack with his wife and daughter by the river that divides North Korea and South Korea. Content with a simple life, every day he fishes on the river to provide for his family. One day, as he attempts to draw in his net, it tangles and jams the motor. Heavy tides push him past the invisible border into the waters of South Korea. Immediately upon reaching shore, South Korean authorities arrest Nam on the grounds of being a defector and spy. As he is taken into Seoul, Nam refuses to open his eyes, believing it will help prove his innocence when he returns to his home country. On a personal vendetta, the Inspector (Kim Youngmin) brutally interrogates Nam, who refuses to be groomed into lying. Nam soon befriends his guard, Oh Jin-woo (Lee Wong-gun), who believes his innocence and thinks he should be granted passage home to his family. Though Oh’s superiors also believe Nam’s story, they decide to force “democracy” upon him and attempt to liberate him from North Korea’s dictatorship. Caught between the net of two opposing ideologies, Nam realizes his simple life will never be the same even if he closes his eyes.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Kim Ki-duk

Producer: Kim Soon-mo

Screenwriter:

Kim Ki-duk

Cinematographer:

Kim Ki-duk

Editor: Park Min-sun

Music:

Park Young-min

Cast:

Jeong Ha-dam

Sung Hyun-Ah

Ryoo Seung-bum

Lee Won-geun

Kim Young-min

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Finecut Co. Ltd

Print Source: Finecut Co. Ltd

Selected Filmography: Moebius (2013)

Pieta (2012)

Arirang (2011)

Time (2006)

3-Iron (2004) Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring (2003)

Bad Guy (2002)

Address Unknown (2001)

The Isle (2000)

Crocodile (1996)

New Chefs on the Block

USA 2016

MONDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 6:00 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 11:30 AM

Nearly 30% of new restaurants fail and close their doors within the first year. This is a reality Washington, D.C., chefs Aaron Silverman and Frank Linn have to acknowledge as they take on the challenge of opening their debut restaurants. This inspirational documentary follows two young and hopeful restaurateurs from lease signings to first reviews, featuring all the troubles and triumphs along the way.

Silverman’s “Rose’s Luxury” aims to celebrate innovative yet accessible cuisine, while Linn wants his pizzeria “Frankly . . . Pizza” to reflect the hard work of his friends and family, and the delicious taste of fresh, lightly charred pies. Their days as pop-up runners and food-truck owners are behind them as they struggle to stay on budget, keep their staff and patrons happy, and cross their fingers for opening night at their new brick-and-mortars. You don’t have to be a food critic or live in D.C. to appreciate New Chefs on the Block, with its insider look at what it takes to open and run a successful restaurant and its fascinating interviews with all involved. Toward the end of this documentary you’ll be rooting for Silverman and Linn to succeed, and eagerly Googling newly opened food joints in your area.

Awards: Cinequest 2017 (Audience Award, Documentary)

Newton

INDIA 2017

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Producers: Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Adrian Muys

Screenwriter: Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Cinematographer: Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Editors: Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Adrian Muys

Music:

Wytold and Ivan Trevino

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Film Website: newchefsontheblock.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 28 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Newton Kumar (Rajkummar Rao), a rookie government clerk, has been guided his whole life by his famous name. People expect him to be a genius—and in a way, he is. Persistence and fairness are what drives his values, and he tries to be an honest man in what he believes is a dishonest world. His mother’s nagging worry is that her only son is not interested in marriage or starting a family. Newton believes that before all else, he has to make a difference in the world around him. He’s on assignment deep in the mountains to oversee the latest Indian election in a remote part of Chhattisgarh, where Maoists and police forces compete. Despite obstacles such as the apathy of security forces, the harshly determined police group, and the threat of guerrilla attacks, Newton is dead-set on conducting fair voting on Election Day, no matter what. Amit V. Masurkar’s political black comedy deals with the various issues of democracy in Indian culture, all laced with humor, irony, and hope and constructed with a mature vision.

Director:

Amit Masurkar

Producers: Manish Mundra

Pramila Mundra

Screenwriters: Mayank Tewari

Amit Masurkar

Cinematographer: Swapnil S. Sonawane

Editor: Shweta Venkat

Music:

Naren Chandravarkar

Benedict Taylor

Cast: Rajkummar Rao

Anjali Patil

Pankaj Tripathy

Raghubir Yadav

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hindi, with English subtitles

International Sales: Ramonda Films

Print Source: Ramonda Films

Film Website: pascaleramonda.com/ newton

Selected Filmography: Sulemani Keeda (2014)

The Nile Hilton Incident

SWEDEN/DENMARK/GERMANY 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 19 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In Cairo, weeks before the 2011 revolution, rising young police detective Noredin is working at the infamous Kasr el-Nil police station when he is assigned to investigate a suspicious death at the Nile Hilton Hotel in downtown Tahrir Square. A beautiful singer has been murdered in what may be a professional hit; the sole witness is an undocumented Sudanese maid, now on the run. Noredin is no stranger to the corruption that plagues his department—he is, after all, the nephew of the district police chief. Nevertheless, he finds himself compelled to pursue the investigation, especially once it begins to lead in the direction of a wealthy real-estate developer and member of parliament who also happens to be a personal friend of President Hosni Mubarak. His inquiries take him from the grimy back streets of the immigrant slums to the sumptuous villas of the power elite, and set him on a collision course with those who would rather not see justice prevail. Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, this smart and sexy thriller blends police procedure and political commentary to create a noir for our times.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)

Director: Tarik Saleh

Producer: Kristina Åberg

Screenwriter: Tarik Saleh

Cinematographer: Pierre AÏm

Editor: Theis Schmidt

Music:

Fredrik Jonsäter

Cast: Fares Fares

Mari Malek

Mohamed Yousry

Yasser Ali Maher

Ahmed Selim

Hania Amar

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales:

The Match Factory

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: atmo.se/films/the-nilehilton-incident

Selected Filmography: Tommy (2014) Metropia (2009) Gitmo (2005)

Nocturama

FRANCE/BELGIUM/GERMANY 2016

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In this provocative and ambiguous terrorist thriller by French auteur Bertrand Bonello, a group of seemingly random strangers—mostly young, beautiful, and content on the outside— gather on the Paris Metro. As they settle into their seats, they subtly glance at each other but do not make deliberate contact. From the train, they each disperse across the City of Light, picking up mysterious objects and depositing unmarked packages at various locations. The tone is casual, but the meticulousness of each of character’s actions give the first half of the film a palpable sense of dread: These are people with malevolent intent, despite their pleasant countenances. In the second half, after something terrible has happened, the same group of people—except for one—arrive at various times at a luxurious Paris department store (the now-defunct Le Samaritaine) that same evening. Each one finds a hiding place until the store closes, leading to a shocking conclusion. In a story sadly imbued with heightened impact in the wake of actual coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris in February and November 2015 (both of which took place after filming had wrapped), Bonello’s Nocturama is less concerned with politics and motivation for terrorism than with the mechanics and style of rebellion. This challenging and controversial film about the intertwining of art, consumerism, and radical protest is sure to spark many post-screening conversations.

Awards: San Sebastián Film Festival 2016 (SIGNIS Award)

Director: Bertrand Bonello

Producers: Édouard Weil

Alice Girard

Screenwriter: Bertrand Bonello

Cinematographer: Léo Hinstin

Editor: Fabrice Rouaud

Music: Bertrand Bonello

Cast: Finnegan Oldfield

Vincent Rottiers Hamza Meziani

Manal Issa

Martin Petit-Guyot

Jamil Mc Craven

Rabah Nait Oufella

Hermine Karagheuz

Adèle Haenel

Running Time: 130 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Grasshopper Film

Selected Filmography: Saint Laurent (2014) House of Tolerance (2011)

ETIQUETA NO RIGUROSA

No Dress Code Required

MEXICO 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 21 1:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

An engrossing portrait of a fierce love unbroken by forces of bigotry and hate, director Cristina Herrera Borquez’s rousing debut feature follows Victor and Fernando, an unassuming Baja California couple who in 2013 unwittingly found themselves in the center of a social firestorm over their simple desire to be married. Weighing all their options—including having the ceremony in Mexico City, where same-sex marriage was made legal in 2010— the pair instead opt to stay in their hometown, Mexicali, where the issue remained unsettled, and fight for their most basic of rights, setting off a series of increasingly absurd roadblocks by the local government and galvanizing legions of both supporters and detractors alike. Aided by a pair of committed attorneys and strengthened by backgrounds shaped by struggle and poverty, Victor and Fernando withstand a seemingly never-ending series of bizarre hurdles and bureaucratic nitpicking with grace and dignity, culminating in one of the most unexpected and emotional wedding ceremonies ever captured on film. Proving again that love trumps hate, No Dress Code Required is a rallying cry for equality, a testament to the power of ordinary people to become agents of change, and above all an unforgettable love story that touches the heart and stirs the conscience.

Awards:

Palm Springs International Film Festival 2017 (John Schlesinger Award)

Director:

Cristina Herrera Bórquez

Producers:

Cristina Herrera Bórquez

Sabrina Almandoz Gerbolini

Screenwriter:

Cristina Herrera Bórquez

Cinematographer:

Cristina Herrera Bórquez

Editor:

Cristina Herrera Bórquez

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Outsider Pictures

Print Source: Outsider Pictures

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Nowhere to Hide

NORWAY/SWEDEN 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:00 PM SIFF FILM CENTER SATURDAY, MAY 20 6:30 PM SIFF FILM CENTER

When Nowhere to Hide took top honors at IDFA, the largest documentary film festival in the world, the jury statement read in part, “There are those films which are wonderful to see and there are films that the world needs to see. The film we [chose] is both of these things. The experience was immersive and left us deeply touched. The director respected the unique perspective that only the subject could have and in doing so he gave us an unprecedented window into the real-life lasting consequences of war.” This first-hand account was filmed over four turbulent years following the American retreat from Iraq in 2011, by an Iraqi nurse named Nori Sharif working in a hospital in Jalawla, in the Diyala province. Using a small video camera given to him by director Zaradasht Ahmed, Sharif documented his daily life and those of his colleagues and patients, until he and his family were themselves forced to flee by the arrival of ISIS in 2014. While the film may not explain the internecine political realities, which remain murky even to the people on the ground, it will make the moral urgency of the refugee crisis crystal clear.

Awards:

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2016 (Best FeatureLength Documentary)

Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2016 (International Selection, Audience Award)

Director: Zaradasht Ahmed

Producers: Mette Cheng MuntheKaas

Hans Husum

Stina Gardell

Screenwriter: Zaradasht Ahmed

Cinematographers: Nori Sharif

Zaradasht Ahmed

Editor: Eva Hillström

Music: Jiwan Haco

Gaute Barlindhaug

Running Time: 85 minutes

Presentation

Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: East Village Entertainment

Print Source: East Village Entertainment

Film Website: nowheretohide documentary.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Oath

ICELAND 2016

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 4:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Blinded by new love and a burgeoning habit of “powdering her nose,” Anna’s dropped out of college, is unemployed, and continues to rely on her father to help her keep her head above water. Her father, Finnur, a wealthy cardiac surgeon recently remarried with another school-aged young daughter, is hit with a wave of realization after his own father passes away—he needs to up his parenting game and step in before Anna’s life spirals out of control. Her new boyfriend, Ottar, is obviously a bad influence, surrounding her with shady drug dealers and keeping her out all hours of the night. When Anna calls Finnur in a drug-induced hysteria, he decides he has to get Ottar to leave her alone for good—at any cost. But calling the cops to their apartment does nothing but get a large stash of Ottar’s drugs confiscated, and soon Finnur is violently confronted with the task of repaying his daughter’s boyfriend back the huge sum of money, or he’ll continue to hurt his family. The tension and threats between Ottar and Finnur escalate to terrifying heights before eventually exploding in a violent and bloody conclusion. This gritty high-stakes thriller by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur (Everest, 2 Guns) also stars him as Finnur; stylistically taut and glossy, it makes excellent use of the dramatic Icelandic landscapes.

Awards:

Edda Awards, Iceland 2017 (Best Supporting Actor, Actress, Music, Best Sound, Make Up)

L’ODYSSÉE

The Odyssey

FRANCE/BELGIUM 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:30 PM

Director: Baltasar Kormákur

Producers: Baltasar Kormákur

Magnús Viðar Sigurðsson

Screenwriters: Ólafur Egilsson

Baltasar Kormákur

Cinematographer: Óttar Guðnason

Editor:

Sigvaldi K. Kárason

Music: Hildur Guðnadóttir

Cast: Hera Hilmar Baltasar Kormákur

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson

Running Time: 104 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Icelandic, with English subtitles

International Sales: XYZ Films

Print Source: Gunpowder & Sky

Film Website: icelandicfilms.info

Selected Filmography: Everest (2015) 2 Guns (2013)

The Deep (2012)

Contraband (2012)

Brúðguminn (2008)

Jar City (2006)

The Sea (2002)

SHORELINE CC

SATURDAY, MAY 27 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 29 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

It is worth noting that the crisp underwater photography seen in Jérôme Salle’s latest film, The Odyssey, would likely not exist without the subject of his biopic: oceanographer, explorer, author, and conservationist Jacques Cousteau, one of the few real-life people worthy of a Homeric title. Covering about 30 years of the Frenchman’s eclectic life, the film recounts some of Cousteau’s greatest accomplishments—from the development of the first “Aqua-Lung” underwater breathing device to the launching of his research vessel “Calypso” to his more than 120 TV documentaries that turned him and his family into global stars. Played by Lambert Wilson, Cousteau cuts a dashing figure, but Salle does not shy away from the pain the captain left in his wake, including the many marital infidelities endured by his long-suffering wife, Simone (Audrey Tautou). Like a shadow across a crystalline lagoon, the tragic end of Cousteau’s son, Philippe in a 1979 seaplane crash lingers over the film as a somber framing device for the elder Cousteau’s legacy. Meticulously researched by Salle and brought to vivid life by cinematographer Matias Boucard, The Odyssey reveals the true man behind the iconic red watch cap and gives viewers a chance to swim in harmony with the leviathans of the deep.

Awards:

San Sebastián Film Festival 2016 (Greenpeace - Lurra Award)

Director: Jérôme Salle

Producers: Nathalie Gastaldo Godeau

Philippe Godeau

Olivier Delbosc

Marc Missonnier

Screenwriters: Jérôme Salle

Laurent Turner

Cinematographer: Matias Boucard

Editor: Stan Collet

Music: Alexandre Desplat

Cast: Lambert Wilson

Pierre Niney

Audrey Tautou

Laurent Lucas

Benjamin Lavernhe

Vincent Heneine

Running Time: 122 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source:

Wild Bunch

Film Website: lodyssee-lefilm.com

Selected Filmography: Zulu (2013)

Largo Winch II (2011)

Largo Winch I (2008)

Anthony Zimmer (2005)

On the Road

UNITED KINGDOM 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 3:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 7:00 PM

GLEISSENDES GLÜCK

Original Bliss

GERMANY 2016

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, The Trip) gives the viewer a backstage pass to the European tour of the alternativerock band Wolf Alice in this rock-’n’-roll docudrama. Among the very real documentary footage, Winterbottom blurs the line between fact and fiction by interweaving a romantic relationship that blossoms between tour manager Estelle (Leah Harvey) and roadie Joe (James McArdle). Though not real, this storyline adds depth to the film, showcasing the bonds that are formed in seedy bars, concert halls, tour buses, and the like. Winterbottom takes a fly-on-the-wall approach, with no formal sitdown interviews. He instead chooses handheld cameras to follow the band and crew to press interviews, rehearsals, shows, and afterparties. Through stressful nights on the bus to awkward interactions with fans and everything in between, Winterbottom and his crew are able to capture the essence of the music industry in a raw, sensational form. What at first seems to be a never-ending cycle of simply loading and unloading a tour bus transforms into an in-depth examination of the “glamorous” tour life, bringing a newfound appreciation to music fans everywhere.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Producers:

Melissa Parmenter

Anthony Wilcox

Screenwriter:

Michael Winterbottom

Cinematographer: James Clarke

Editor:

Marc Richardson

Music:

Wolf Alice

Featuring:

Wolf Alice

James McArdle

Leah Harvey

Swim Deep

Bloody Knees

Running Time:

112 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales:

Independent Film Sales

Print Source: Independent Film Sales

Selected Filmography:

The Trip to Spain (2017)

The Trip to Italy (2014)

The Look of Love (2013)

Everyday (2012)

Trishna (2011)

The Trip (2011)

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

A Mighty Heart (2007)

The Road to Guantanamo (Doc, 2006)

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

9 Songs (2004)

Code 46 (2003)

In This World (2002)

24 Hour Party People (2002)

The Claim (2000)

Wonderland (1999)

I Want You (1998)

Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)

Jude (1996)

Go Now (1995)

Butterfly Kiss (1995)

FRIDAY, MAY 26 12:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM SHORELINE CC

MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

The Lives of Others co-stars Martina Gedeck and Ulrich Tukur are reunited in a provocative, thoughtful, nontraditional modern romance that asks the question “Do we deserve love?” Gedeck gives a remarkably nuanced performance as Helene Brindel, a woman trapped in a loveless, sometimes violent marriage and undergoing a profound psychological and religious crisis that is causing bouts of crippling insomnia. One day she hears a radio show featuring self-help guru Eduard Glück, whose last name literally means “happiness,” and is compelled to travel to a conference in Hamburg to seek his advice. The urbane doctor and the inhibited suburban housewife develop an unexpected attraction and fall into a relationship, but soon Helene discovers that Eduard is harboring a shameful secret. Adapted from the short story by esteemed Scottish writer A.L. Kennedy, director Sven Taddicken delicately shows the characters’ abuse, self-loathing, and emotional turmoil in realistic scenarios that are grittily dramatic but often very funny, as this unlikely couple slowly comes to recognize the love and affection they have both long been seeking.

Awards: Film by the Sea International Film Festival 2016 (Film and Literature Award)

Director: Sven Taddicken

Producers: Manuel Bickenbach

Alexander Bickenbach

Screenwriters: Sven Taddicken

Stefanie Veith

Hendrik Hölzemann

Cinematographer: Daniela Knapp

Editor: Andreas Wodraschke

Music: Riad Abdel-Nabi

Wouter Verhulst

Cast: Martina Gedeck

Ulrich Tukur

Johannes Krisch

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German, with English subtitles

International Sales:

Picture Tree International

Print Source: Picture Tree International

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

Selected Filmography: 12 Paces Without a Head (2009)

1. Mai (2008)

Emma’s Bliss (2006)

My Brother the Vampire (2001)

The Ornithologist

PORTUGAL/FRANCE/BRAZIL 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 9:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, JUNE 5 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Navigating between calm waters and a whimsical forest under the bright sun of Portugal, The Ornithologist is a poetic and meditative journey about a man facing the mysteries of nature. Birdwatcher Fernando (Paul Hamy) is preparing a scientific observation by himself on a river when he is swept away by the rapids and falls unconscious. Rescued by two Chinese girls, he wakes up in the forest. While recovering and finding his way out, he experiences strange and enigmatic encounters that will not leave him unchanged. Mingling with a mystical but dangerous outdoors, the cinematography enhances the lush flora; mountains, woods, and water are wrapped in a splendid natural light. Set in an environment that feels almost frozen in time, the story is complex, intriguing, and introspective. Yet the narrative flows like a river thanks to a mesmerizing performance by Hamy, centerpiece of the journey. With a strong sense of symbolism and engaging Christlike references in which the sacred meets the profane, The Ornithologist is a peaceful, oneiric panorama that invites the viewer into a delicate mystery.

Awards:

Locarno International Film Festival 2016 (Best Direction)

Director: João Pedro Rodrigues

Producers: João Pedro Rodrigues

Diogo Varela Silva

Screenwriters: João Pedro Rodrigues

João Rui Guerra da Mata

Cinematographer: Rui Poças

Editor:

Raphaël Lefèvre

Cast: Paul Hamy

Xelo Cagiao

João Pedro Rodrigues

Han Wen

Chan Suan

Juliane Elting

Running Time: 118 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, English, Mandarin, Mirandese, and Latin, with English subtitles

International Sales: Films Boutique

Print Source: Strand Releasing

Film Website: filmsboutique.com/movies/the-ornithologist

Selected Filmography:

The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012), To Die Like a Man (2009)

Two Drifters (2005) O Fantasma (2000)

The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One

AUSTRALIA 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 9:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY MONDAY, MAY 29 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Earnest, exciting, and refreshingly irony-free, The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume

One is a rip-roaring Australian throwback to ’80s/’90s B-movies and the film serials of yore. It’s the future, and Earth conglomerate Exor is in the business of terraforming and colonizing other planets. Under their employ is Kane Sommerville (Daniel MacPherson), a disgraced pilot-turned-military contractor who lives in a flotilla above a distant planet. On the surface below, where Kane’s daughter lives, convicts have taken over Ovir Ultramax Prison and are threatening to unleash a worlddestroying virus within the next 24 hours. Or at least that’s the story Exor CEO General Lynex (Rachel Griffiths, “Six Feet Under”) is telling people, when in reality they have secretly created an army of vicious monsters to exterminate indigenous populations cheaply and efficiently. When Kane gets wind of the truth— that Exor is about to poison the world below to cover its tracks and is using the prison riot as a convenient excuse—he flees to the planet, banding with an escaped convict (Kellan Lutz, The Twilight Saga) and a couple of gas-huffing criminals (Isabel Lucas and Luke Ford) to save his daughter before time runs out. A science-fiction adventure reminiscent of Serenity, Fortress, and the Buck Rogers films, The Osiris Child is a welcome respite from the overblown tentpole films of today.

Director: Shane Abbess

Producers: Sidonie Abbene

Shane Abbess

Matthew Graham

Brett Thornquest

Screenwriters:

Shane Abbess

Brian Cachia

Cinematographer: Carl Robertson

Editor: Adrian Rostirolla

Cast: Kellan Lutz

Daniel MacPherson

Isabel Lucas

Luke Ford

Rachel Griffiths

Temuera Morrison

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: XYZ Films

Print Source: RLJ Entertainment

Selected Filmography: Infini (2015)

Gabriel (2007)

Paradise

RUSSIA/GERMANY 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 8:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Written, directed, and produced by esteemed Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky (Runaway Train, Shy People), Paradise tells the compelling story of three individuals whose paths cross in 1942 amid the devastation of war. Olga, a Russian aristocratic immigrant, employee of Vogue, and member of the French Resistance, is arrested by Nazi police for hiding Jewish children. They send her to jail, where she meets Jules, a French-Nazi collaborator assigned to investigate her. Jules offers to go light on Olga’s punishment in exchange for sexual favors. Although Olga agrees, willing to do whatever it takes to avoid harsh persecution, her hope for freedom quickly fades when she is shipped to a concentration camp. To her surprise, she crosses paths with a highranking German SS officer, Helmut, who falls madly in love with her, and they embark on a twisted and destructive relationship. The title refers to the Aryan idyll that the Nazis attempted to create; yet Konchalovsky wants us to like these characters, insinuating that evil is a much more sophisticated concept than it seems. Stunningly shot in monochrome by cinematographer Alexander Simonov, this is an emotionally rich film that created waves and a fair share of controversy at its Venice Film Festival world premiere, where it won the prize for Best Director.

Awards:

Venice Film Festival 2016 (Best Director)

Official Oscar Submission 2017 (Foreign Language Film)

Director:

Andrei Konchalovsky

Producer:

Andrei Konchalovsky

Screenwriters:

Andrei Konchalovsky

Elena Kiseleva

Cinematographer:

Aleksandr Simonov

Editor:

Ekaterina Vesheva

Music:

Sergei Shustitsky

Cast:

Julia Vysotskaya

Christian Clauss

Philippe Duquesne

Victor Sukhorukov

Peter Kurth

Running Time: 130 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Russian, German, French, and Yiddish, with English subtitles

Print Source: Film Movement

Selected Filmography:

The Postman’s White Nights (2014)

House of Fools (2002)

Tango & Cash (1989)

Shy People (1987)

Runaway Train (1985)

Andrei Rublev (1966)

L’OPÉRA

The Paris Opera

FRANCE/SWITZERLAND 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

It’s audition day at the Paris Opera, and a director of an upcoming production is flipping through photos online, seeking just the right casting for a role. This one’s too hard to work with, that one’s too tall—ah, this one is golden. Literally. He’s checking out not sopranos, but bulls—he needs a Golden Calf for Schoenberg’s “Moses und Aron”—and spending an hour on the equivalent of Bovine Tinder is just another task at one of the world’s most prestigious opera and ballet houses, the subject of Jean-Stéphane Bron’s doc. They worry about how the bull will behave onstage, but a more pressing concern is the chorus, who complain that the set’s acoustic anomalies make it too hard to hear each other. The director counter-complains: What about my concept? These are just two of the buffet of stories Bron ambles among with his unobtrusive camera; others include a star-struck Russian baritone getting his big break, a lead singer canceling two days before opening night, and staffing cuts mandated by the Ministry of Culture. (There is an upside to having a government that ignores art.) The first performance given after the Bataclan nightclub massacre and young string players sawing their way through Beethoven’s Seventh as their mentor beams beatifically provide contrasting emotional high points in this easygoing portrait of a complex, drama-filled organization.

PRECEDED BY:

A Hand of Bridge USA/Ukraine, 2017, 15 minutes. Directors: Frank Borin, David Miller World Premiere

Two couples reveal their deepest fears, darkest secrets, and greatest fantasies while playing cards.

Director: Jean-Stéphane Bron

Producers: Philippe Martin

David Thion

Screenwriter: Jean-Stéphane Bron

Cinematographer: Blaise Harrison

Editor: Julie Léna

Featuring: Stéphane Lissner

Benjamin Millepied

Mikhail Timoshenko

Gerald Finley

Bryn Terfel

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Les Films du Losange

Print Source: Film Movement

Film Website: filmsdulosange.fr/fr/ film/234/l-opera

Selected Filmography: L’expérience Blocher (2013)

Cleveland vs. Wall Street (2010)

Mon frère se marie (2006)

LES DERNIERS PARISIENS

Paris Prestige

FRANCE 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 8:30 PM

KIRKLAND PC

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Set in the iconic district of Pigalle in the heart of Paris, this directorial debut from former rap duo Hamé Bourokba and Ékoué Labitey is an energetic display of the capital’s popular life from the perspective of its various inhabitants. After being released from prison after serving time for minor crimes, Nas (Reda Kateb) comes back to his old neighborhood. Working for his big brother Azerki (Slimane Dazi) in the family bar Le Prestige, he decides to do everything he can to make a name for himself. Always lively, the Pigalle setting is enhanced by a dynamic soundtrack and punchy neon cinematography, perfectly portraying the neighborhood’s heritage and nightlife identity. The central story of brotherhood is endearing, engaging with a profound realism that never succumbs to traditional ex-convict clichés. The result is a compelling family drama led by a bevy of charismatic actors that includes Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), a welcome feminine addition in this very masculine environment. Paris Prestige is a catchy story about the desire to fight your way up from the bottom, and live a better life than the one in your past.

Directors:

Hamé Bourokba

Ékoué Labitey

Producers: Hamé Bourokba

Benoit Danou

Ekoué Labitey

Screenwriters: Hamé Bourokba

Eboué Labitey

Cinematographer: Lubomir Bakchev

Editor:

Karine Prido

Cast:

Reda Kateb

Slimane Dazi

Yassine Azzouz

Elisa Bachir Bey

Mylene Bude

Running Time: 106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Memento Films International

Print Source: Memento Films International

Film Website: hautetcourt.com/film/ fiche/285/les-derniersparisiens

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Patti Cake$

USA 2017

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:15 PM

Derived from the Jersey of his childhood, director Geremy Jasper introduces the world to the spirited Patricia Dombrowski (Danielle Macdonald). Otherwise known as Patti Cake$, her drama tells of the determination and drive it takes to achieve a dream, no matter how impossible it may seem. An aspiring rapper, plus-sized Patti spends her days practicing her technique and rocking the stage in imaginary performances, ignoring the haters who’ve labeled her “Dumbo.” It’s not until she meets and collaborates with the bitter and reclusive Basterd (Mamoudou Athie) that her dreams start to look like a reality. Her eccentric group of oddballs in tow, Patti ignores the cynics telling her to dream a little smaller. This film is written from the heart of the director and the memory of his own upbringing, growing up in New Jersey and surrounded by strong and animated women who didn’t understand and wouldn’t accept the meaning of the words “Sit down and shut up.” In drugstore aisles, gasstation parking lots, strip clubs, and bars, the New Jersey that Patti calls her own transforms from a prison to a kingdom of hope for this young dreamer.

Director: Geremy Jasper

Producers: Michael Gottwald

Noah Stahl

Rodrigo Teixeira

Dan Janvey

Chris Columbus

Daniela Taplin Lundberg

Screenwriter: Geremy Jasper

Cinematographer: Federico Cesca

Editor: Brad Turner

Music: Geremy Jasper

Jason Binnick

Cast: Danielle Macdonald

Bridget Everett

Siddharth Dhananjay

Mamoudou Athie

Cathy Moriarty

Running Time: 108 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: CAA

Print Source:

Fox Searchlight

Selected Filmography: Outlaws (2015) Glamouriety (2012)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

PAWLENSKI—DER MENSCH UND DIE MACHT

Pavlensky—Man

and Might

GERMANY 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 3:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Pyotr Andreyevich Pavlensky is an artist who passionately lives by the belief that situations give rise to action—and that we must speak up, refute, and resist. His actions and political demonstrations have gained him the attention of not only Russian authorities, but also the world. In 2013, Pavlensky sewed his own mouth shut in protest against the incarceration of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot, and in the same year, he nailed his scrotum to Red Square on Police Day, saying it was “a metaphor of apathy, political indifference, and fatalism.” In another shocking spectacle in 2015, he attempted to burn down the door of the famous Lubyanka Prison: the headquarters of the Federal Security System. Government officials have tried numerous times to have him committed, but doctors continuously find him mentally sound. Where does the line between outrageous performance art end and a politically committed life begin? Pavlensky is an artist who completely throws himself into his beliefs and protests. For him, the private is political and there is no other way to live. Pavlensky and his partner Oksana Shalygina founded the independent online newspaper “Political Propaganda,” dedicated to contemporary art in the context of gender equality and overcoming cultural chauvinism. Pavlensky is no mere hooligan, but a man with a mission who lives, breathes, and externalizes the art of protest.

Director: Irene Langemann

Producer: Wolfgang Bergmann

Screenwriter: Irene Langemann

Cinematographers: Maksim Tarasyugin

Franz Koch

Editor:

Lena Rem

Music: Daniel Langemann

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Deckert Distribution

Print Source:

Deckert Distribution

Film Website: deckert-distribution.com

Selected Filmography: Rubljovka—Strasse zur Glückseligkeit (2007) Die Martins-Passion (2004)

Russia’s Wonder Children (2000)

Pendular

BRAZIL/ARGENTINA/FRANCE 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 2:00 PM

SUNDAY, MAY 28 9:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 29 2:00 PM

Dividing their expansive, rundown factory loft in half with a single strip of tape, grizzled sculptor He (Rodrigo Bolzan) and modern dancer She (in a revelatory performance by newcomer Raquel Karro) establish workspaces in order to further their respective crafts while grappling with the pressures of sharing space against the realities of a volatile relationship. As the balance between mutual support and competition slips away, resentments mount and once-suppressed tensions erupt into anger and acts of raw sexuality. The couple is soon pushed to their breaking point in a dance between two wounded souls in this carnal and evocative romantic drama. Following her acclaimed 2011 feature Found Memories, writer and director (along with Matias Mariani) Julia Murat expands the possibilities of dance in cinema while pushing against the boundaries of the classic relationship drama with this unique and extraordinary film. Winner of the FIPRESCI award for Best Film in the Panorama Section at this year’s Berlinale, Pendular is a lyrical, uncompromised look at the creative process and a searing and unforgettable love story.

Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2016 (FIPRESCI: Panorama)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Júlia Murat

Producers: Júlia Murat

Tatiana Leite

Screenwriters: Júlia Murat

Matias Mariani

Cinematographer: Soledad Rodriguez

Editors:

Lia Kulakauskas

Marina Meliande

Music: Lucas Marcier

Fabiano Krieger

Cast: Raquel Karro

Rodrigo Bolzan

Neto Machado

Marcio Vito

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Still Moving

Print Source: Still Moving

Film Website: english.pendular.art.br

Selected Filmography: Found Memories (2011)

Person to Person

USA 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Echoing the ’70s big-city character studies of filmmakers John Cassavetes and Woody Allen, Person to Person introduces us to several individuals over the course of one autumn day in New York. Journalist and metal-head Phil (played with signature uncomfortable charm by Michael Cera) takes trainee Claire (Abbi Jacobson, “Broad City”) on a jaunt throughout the city that, to Claire’s unease, quickly becomes a murder investigation. Recordcollector Benny (Bene Coopersmith) sets out to meet a guy about a rare vinyl and ends up getting ripped off, kick-starting a bicycle chase through the alleys of Manhattan. His roommate Ray (George Sample III) tries to reconcile with his girlfriend after lashing out and posting nude pictures of her on the Internet—something he’s devastatingly ashamed of—and last but not least, anxious teen Wendy (played to perfection by Tavi Gevinson, Enough Said) is trying to decipher her fluid sexuality after some unexpected feelings show up for her best friend’s boyfriend’s friend. These vignettes, though they don’t pointedly interact, are all connected by the city and the themes that surround them. Shot on opulent Super 16mm film, Dustin Guy Defa expands on his 2014 short of the same name and directs an ensemble indie cast that is both charming and timeless.

Director:

Dustin Guy Defa

Producers: Sara Murphy

Toby Halbrooks

James Johnston

Screenwriter: Dustin Guy Defa

Cinematographer:

Ashley Connor

Editor:

Dustin Guy Defa

Cast:

Abbi Jacobson

Michael Cera

Tavi Gevinson

Philip Baker Hall

Bene Coopersmith

George Sample III

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: UTA

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Selected Filmography: Bad Fever (2011)

Pow Wow

USA 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 7:00 PM

PLACE MONDAY, JUNE 5 6:30 PM ARK

A stunning view of lush green golf courses in the Coachella Valley overshadows the stark Mojave Desert next door. Throughout Robinson Devor’s film, black-and-white title transitions divide 14 short “chapters,” following the differing accounts of a 1908 manhunt of 28-year-old Chemehuevi-Paiute Indian “Willie Boy” in the desert and the flashy celebration of a modern-day “pow wow” by country-clubgoers. After killing the father of his 16-year-old cousin and lover, Willie Boy and Carlota evade authorities by fleeing across a stretch of 500 miles of desert in blistering heat. In the present day, beneath the valley’s surface, fights over a massive aquifer sitting on Native American land remain hidden, while above, the partygoers frolic in feathers and cowboy boots as “time swims.” Panning over the burned desert and electronic surveillance fences designed to keep outsiders off luxury golf courses, Devor seems to be asking: Has anything changed in the past 100 years? Excerpts from the movie Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), along with narration by various desert characters, provide commentary on the ongoing and uncertain past and present struggles for water and freedom in the Coachella Valley.

Director: Robinson Devor

Producer: Victoria Nevinny

Screenwriters: Robinson Devor

Michael McConville

Cinematographer: Sean Kirby

Editor: Adam Sekuler

Running Time: 75 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Vins

Film Website: kickstarter.com/ projects/1346353365/ pow-wow

Selected Filmography: You Can’t Win (2016) Zoo (2007)

Police Beat (2005)

The Woman Chaser (1999) Angelyne (1995)

PACIFIC

LODGE

Prom King, 2010

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 2:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

His favorite films are the classics—ones with quirky meet-cutes and grand displays of passion: Breakfast At Tiffany’s and Manhattan, for starters. But even though Charlie lives in this romantic New York where supposedly anything can happen, finding love is not as easy as his onscreen heroes make it seem. First off, he’s in love with his best friend, affectionately nicknamed “Hubs,” who has recently set up some confusing boundaries for their friendship because of his new boyfriend. Charlie’s girlfriends seem to jump at every opportunity to hook him up with someone they may or may not have heard was also gay, and a complicated tryst with an older, cynical waiter proves casual sex may not be Charlie’s thing. Each encounter with dating apps, midnight drinks, and awkward family dinners make him less and less hopeful for that Hollywood fairy-tale connection he so fervently wants. Gorgeous camerawork, most notably the wide, vibrant shots of New York, by cinematographer and colorist Aharon Rothschild recall and pay homage to the very films Charlie holds so dear. Directed by and starring impressive newcomer Christopher Schaap, Prom King, 2010 is a personal film about sexual awakening and yearning for love in this age of incredible disconnect.

Awards:

Cinequest 2017 (New Vision Award)

Pyromaniac

NORWAY 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 1:00 PM

Director:

Christopher Schaap

Producer:

Isabella Jackson

Screenwriter:

Christopher Schaap

Cinematographers: Aharon Rothschild

Aitor Mendilibar

Editor:

Nikolai Metin

Music:

Dylan T. E. Payne

Cast:

Christopher Schaap

Rosanne Rubino

Richard Brundage

Nicole Wood

David Siciliano

Running Time: 102 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source:

Christopher Schaap

Film Website: promking2010.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

MAJESTIC BAY

MONDAY, MAY 22 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 6:30 PM SHORELINE CC

Set in a coastal town in Norway in 1978, and based on actual events, Pyromaniac introduces us to a small tight-knit community where everyone knows your name and no one has any secrets. After a year in the military, 19-yearold Dag returns to his parents’ house and joins his father, the local fire chief, volunteering for the fire brigade. However, this summer isn’t as laid-back as everyone expects, as a series of seemingly random arson incidents create a sense of unease that spreads throughout the town. What starts as burnt-down shacks and empty barns soon threatens local businesses and family homes, and the mystery erupts into a full-blown panic. Family ties are severed and relationships crumble as the search for the culprit accelerates—but no one could suspect the handsome, young war-hero son of the fire chief, could they? From the director of Insomnia (1997) and Prozac Nation comes a menacing, slow-burning (pun intended) psycho-thriller that will make you cautious of campfires and suddenly suspicious of your next-door neighbor.

Awards:

Les Arcs European Film Festival 2016 (Best Cinematography)

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg

Producer: Erik Skjoldbjærg

Screenwriter: Bjørn Olaf Johannessen

Cinematographer: Gösta Reiland

Editor: Sverrir Kristjánsson

Music: Gaute Tönder

Cast: Trond Hjort Nilssen

Per Frisch

Liv Bernhoft Osa

Henrik Rafaelsen

Agnes Kittelsen

Gerdi Schjelderup

Running Time: 96 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Norwegian, with English subtitles

International Sales: TrustNordisk

Print Source: Norwegian Film Institute

Selected Filmography: Pioneer (2013 Nokas (2010)

An Enemy of the People (2005)

Prozac Nation (2001) Insomnia (1997)

NE GLEDAJ MI U PIJAT

Quit Staring at My Plate

CROATIA/DENMARK 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Jonathan Olshefski is not a filmmaker. Or at least he wasn’t until he started taking pictures of the Rainey “Quest” family and their home recording studio in North Philadelphia. Over 10 years ago, Olshefski was drawn to Christopher Rainey and the family he’d built through blood and community. His army of hip-hop artists, neighbors, and fellow African Americans prompted Olshefski to start filming the ups and downs of this extended family to showcase life in the rough urban neighborhoods across America. Shot over eight years, the team follows the Raineys and their community as they deal with social and human-rights issues, as well as personal challenges stemming from their environment. They rally together in support of Barack Obama’s two election campaigns, and support each other through local shootings that directly affect the families of this neighborhood, to name a few. What started as a simple documentary about a home recording studio turned into a portrait of struggle and hope in a world that does them no favors. This community of dreamers and doers presents a united front as they stand together and prove themselves through tragedy and success, and their strength in the face of adversity is a beacon of hope under the red fluorescent lights of their basement studio.

Awards:

Director: Jonathan Olshefski

Producer: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon

Cinematographer: Jonathan Olshefski

Editor: Lindsay Utz

Featuring: Christopher Rainey

Christine’a Rainey

Patricia Rainey

William Rainey

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: The Film Collaborative

Film Website: quest-documentary.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

US PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 27 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 9:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In this raw Croatian drama, domesticity is seen as a prison for teenage Marijana, who lives in a tiny, over-cluttered home with her toughas-nails father, captious mother, and mentally stunted older brother. When her father suffers a stroke and enters a coma, their routine— albeit dysfunctional—is dramatically altered. He lies, unresponsive and undisturbed, in the only bedroom, while Marijana, her mother, and her brother practically pile atop each other in front of the living room’s television night after night. With the fall of the family patriarch comes not only discomfort, but new responsibility for Marijana, who must now work to pay for her family’s well-being while her mother starts taking day trips to the seaside and her brother brings the neighborhood kids to stare and poke at their comatose father. Marijana’s recent forced independence brings a sudden and unexpected appreciation of her sexuality, an eagerness to be the object of desire for any man who crosses her path, and a new thirst for control. Hana Jušić’s debut feature is a gritty and realistic drama, peppered with dark humor. Its moody tone is emphasized by Jana Plećaš’ beautiful cinematography and an unsettling electronic score by Hrvoje Niksic.

Awards: Tokyo Film Festival 2016 (Award for Best Director) Venice Film Festival 2016 (Best European Film)

Director: Hana Jušić

Producer: Ankica Jurić Tilić

Screenwriter: Hana Jušić

Cinematographer: Jana Plećaš

Editor: Jan Klemsche

Music: Hrvoje Niksic

Cast: Mia Petrićević Nikša Butijer

Arijana Ćulina

Zlatko Burić

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Croatian, with English subtitles

International Sales: New Europe Film Sales

Print Source: New Europe Film Sales

Film Website: kinorama.hr/en/filmovi/ Quit-Staring-at-MyPlate/40

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Dallas International Film Festival 2017 (Grand Jury Prize)

Cleveland International Film Festival 2017 (Special Jury Prize)

The Reagan Show

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 8:45 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 2:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 4:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Decades before 24-hour cable channels, Twitter posts, reality-TV shows, fake news outlets, and Russian hacking scandals, there was Ronald Reagan, the original Performerin-Chief. When the Hollywood actor—known for his onscreen personae as cowboys, tough guys, and, infamously, a bachelor babysitter to a chimp—took over the White House in 1981, his public-image-savvy administration redefined the look and feel of what it meant to be the President of the United States. Chock-full of wit and political irony, filmmakers Pacho Velez (Manakamana) and Sierra Pettengill (Town Hall) have crafted an innovative documentary using nothing but archival 1980s network news broadcasts and rarely seen videotapes created by the media-fueled Reagan administration itself to showcase their made-for-TV approach to government, with special focus on his finger-on-the-button rivalry with charismatic Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. “There’s just something about this time in American politics where political discourse goes from being about speech and rhetoric and starts being about images,” says director Velez. The Reagan Show reveals how one President’s carefully orchestrated image translated into real political power, an effect whose repercussions we are feeling more than ever today.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Directors:

Pacho Velez

Sierra Pettengill

Producer: Sierra Pettengill

Screenwriters: Josh Alexander

Pacho Velez

Editors: Francisco Bello

Daniel Garber

David Barker

Music:

Laura Karpman

Running Time: 75 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Film Website: pachoworks.com/index/#/ the-reagan-years-inproduction

Selected Filmography:

VELEZ:

Manakamana (2013) Bastards of Utopia (2010) Orphans of Mathare (2003)

PETTENGILL:

Town Hall (2013)

Revolting Rhymes

UNITED KINGDOM 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Did Cinderella boogie to Latin music? Did Snow White hitch a ride on a hippie bus? Roald Dahl’s classic skewering of traditional fairy tales with revisionist storylines is now a delightfully delicious double feature from BBC One. Created by the production team behind the Oscar®-nominated The Gruffalo, this animated film crackles with Dahl’s exceptional poetic and naughty prose from the tongue of narrator Dominic West. Presented in two parts, the first features the story of Little Red Riding Hood fused with Snow White and ends in a wicked cliffhanger. Then, before tying up those loose ends, the second segment ups the ante with its twisted perspective on Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella, building toward a finale both biting and celebratory. Strong British voice talent (including Rob Brydon and Tamsin Greig) joyously adapt each character and their quirky looks into their performances. Perfectly calibrated for older elementary students yearning to find themselves outside the box of traditional narratives, Revolting Rhymes is an antidote for anyone looking for a happy ending that is more mischievously sticky than sweet.

PRECEDED BY:

Penelope in the Treehouse USA, 2016, 13 minutes. Director: Jonathan Langager When a new stepfather moves in, Penelope escapes to a treehouse above the clouds.

Directors: Jakob Schuh

Jan Lachauer

Producers: Martin Pope

Michael Rose

Screenwriters: Jan Lachauer

Jakob Schuh

Editor: Benjamin Quabeck

Music: Ben Locket

Voices: Rob Brydon

Bertie Carvel

Gemma Chan

Tamsin Greig

Isaac Hempstead Wright

Rose Leslie

Bel Powley

David Walliams

Dominic West

Running Time: 58 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Magic Light Pictures

Print Source: Magic Light Pictures

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

ROBERTO BOLLE—L’ARTE DELLA DANZA

Roberto Bolle–The Art of Dance

ITALY 2016 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 28 7:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 29 3:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Full of passion and grace, Roberto Bolle is the epitome of a I, the highest praise for a ballerino. An internationally renowned principal dancer at the famous La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, he has helped bring ballet to the forefront of mainstream culture. In this documentary following three dates of the “Roberto Bolle & Friends” tour, which includes dancers from companies across Europe and America, Bolle offers a backstage glimpse and perspective on the art of dance. He believes ballet creates the perfect combination of beauty and harmony. But risks and challenges often arise from unknown factors: unstable flooring, new partnerships, weather conditions. In bringing choreography to life onstage and backstage, Bolle’s companions remark on the honor of dancing with him and dote on his ability to not only teach, but continuously strive to push his body to its limits. The tour also captures the extraordinary beauty of venues such as the Arena in Verona, the Teatro Grande at Pompeii, and the Caracalla Baths in Rome. Shot in elegant lighting with delicate framing, Roberto Bolle—The Art of Dance is a masterpiece thanks to Bolle’s powerful narrative style of dance; he entrances the audience with not only his movements but also his unspoken words.

PRECEDED BY:

Breathe, Just Breathe USA, 2016, 3 minutes. Directors: Cheryl Ediss, Carrie Robinson World Premiere

A search for the truth told through dance as three characters navigate darkness, confusion, and internal struggle. Breathe, Just Breathe explores embracing the confusion and accepting it even if there are no answers or resolution

Rocketmen

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 7:00 PM

Director: Francesca Pedroni

Producers: Piero Maranghi

Emanuela Bolle

Screenwriters: Roberto Bolle

Piero Maranghi

Cinematographer: Krishna Agazzi

Editor: Aline Herve

Music: Paolo Piccardo

Featuring: Roberto Bolle

Nicoletta Manni

Melissa Hamilton

Eric Underwood

Matthew Golding

Jiří Bubeníček

Otto Bubeníček

Anna Tsygankova

Maria Kochetkova

Joan Boada

Alexandre Riabko

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

International Sales: Nexo Digital

Print Source: Nexo Digital

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, MAY 28 3:30 PM SHORELINE CC

MONDAY, JUNE 5 4:00 PM

Fans of retro sci-fi and old-school special effects will find much to love in this comedy web seriesturned-feature flick by local director Webster Crowell, winner of “The Stranger” Genius Award for film in 2003. Originally filmed as a seven-part miniseries, Rocketmen follows an FDR-era jobs program comprising men in tight leather jackets with rockets on their backs, their sole goal to defend the good ol’ U.S. of A. from Communist invasions and giant robots. The only problem is America was never attacked by such forces, leaving Rocketmen by the wayside 70 years later. That is, until a new threat arrives in Seattle’s airspace, while goofy realities float into the surreal when their hydrogen-powered rockets release hallucinogenic gas. The Rocketmen’s job woes are inspired by Crowell’s own experiences of the Great Recession, commenting on the importance of government-provided jobs. Shot in and around the Emerald City, scene locations bounce from coffee shops to Pioneer Square, downtown, and the International District. This local ensemble cast, brilliantly orchestrated by Crowell, presents a hardily quirky testament to Seattle’s creative spirit.

PRECEDED BY: Haskell

USA, 2017, 11 minutes. Director: James Allen Smith Three moments in the life of Haskell Carlston, who was born with the ability to manipulate time.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Webster Crowell

Producer: Alycia Delmore

Screenwriter: Webster Crowell

Cinematographer: Nathan M. Miller

Editor: Britta Johnson

Music: Jason Staczek

Cast: Alycia Delmore

Basil Harris

Christopher Dietz

Ian Fraser

Ben Laurance

Running Time: 67 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Rocketmen, LLC

Selected Filmography: Borrowing Time (2004)

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World

CANADA 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 26 7:00 PM

PARAMOUNT

SATURDAY, MAY 27 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

From Charley Patton and Mildred Bailey to Link Wray and Jimi Hendrix; from Jesse Ed Davis and Buffy Sainte-Marie to Robbie Robertson and Randy Castillo, the contributions of Native Americans to the soundtrack of popular culture—blues, jazz, folk, pop, rock, heavy metal—are as undeniable as they are underreported. In the celebratory exposé Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (inspired by the Smithsonian Institution exhibit “Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture,” created by Tim Johnson and guitarist Stevie Salas), director Catherine Bainbridge takes us through a roller-coaster of fantastic music and wide-ranging interviews—Martin Scorsese and Taj Mahal rub shoulders with Pat Vegas and late poet John Trudell—while never losing sight of the politically precarious place Indigenous persons hold in America’s troubled history, in which Native culture has been systematically silenced. “Be proud you’re an Indian,” says Robertson, recounting advice he once received, “but be careful who you tell.” Loud, lively, and endlessly illuminating, Rumble is as powerful as the 1958 Link Wray song it’s named after—one of the rare instrumental tracks banned (of course) from radio airwaves, since it supposedly “glorified juvenile delinquency.”

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling)

Sami Blood

SWEDEN/NORWAY/DENMARK 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 4:30 PM

Director:

Catherine Bainbridge

Alfonso Maiorana

Producers:

Christina Fon

Lisa M. Roth

Catherine Bainbridge

Linda Ludwick

Screenwriters:

Catherine Bainbridge

Alfonso Maiorana

Cinematographer: Alfonso Maiorana

Editors:

Jeremiah Hayes

Ben Duffield

Music:

Benoít Charest

Featuring:

Robbie Robertson

Buffy Sainte-Marie Martin Scorsese

Tony Bennett

Steven Tyler

Iggy Pop

Running Time: 103 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Films Transit

Print Source:

Kino Lorber

Film Website: rumblethemovie.com

Selected Filmography: Reel Injun (2009)

MAJESTIC BAY

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Few know the history of the Sami people, a group native to Europe’s northernmost region, Lapland. Those who do know it’s a history marked by devastation. Sami Blood, the latest project of filmmaker Amanda Kernell, is set in 1930s Sweden and tells the story of Ella Marja, a reindeer-breeding Sami girl who attends a Swedish boarding school. Fitting into Swedish society proves more challenging than she thought, and she quickly learns that to integrate, she must break all ties with her family and culture. Ella comes to the heartbreaking realization that no matter how desperately she tries, she will never be fully accepted. Despite the prejudice of many, the compassion of a few shines through, offering Ella a sense of hope in her otherwise bleak world. The film’s characters, whether they’re easy to adore or entirely loathsome, are always believable. The film takes place in untamed Lapland as well as refined urban Sweden, two incredibly different yet distinctly Swedish locations. A muted color palette conveys beauty and subtlety—two very Scandinavian traits. While the region has always been at the forefront of social progressiveness, no place is immune from prejudice. Sami Blood reminds us of the pervasiveness of harmful ideas and encourages us to acknowledge and challenge them.

Awards:

Tokyo Film Festival 2016 (Special Jury Prize, Best Actress)

Gotebörg Film Festival 2017 (Dragon Award Best Nordic Film, Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award)

Venice Film Festival 2016 (Label Europa Cinemas)

Director:

Amanda Kernell

Producer: Lars Lindström

Screenwriter:

Amanda Kernell

Cinematographers: Sophia Olsson

Petrus Sjövik

Editor: Anders Skov

Music: Kristian Eidnes Andersen

Cast:

Lene Cecilia Sparrok

Mia Sparrok

Maj-Doris Rimpi

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Swedish, Saami, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Swedish Film Institute

Print Source: Synergetic Distribution

Film Website: facebook.com/pg/ sameblod

Selected Filmography: Northern Great Mountain (2015)

Paradiset (2014)

SANTA Y ANDRÉS

Santa and Andrés

CUBA/COLOMBIA/FRANCE 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 8:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 2:30 PM

Banished to a small town in the east of Cuba for having dared to challenge the government through his novels, openly gay writer Andrés (Eduardo Martínez, Best Actor, Miami International Film Festival) one day finds himself under the watchful eye of hard, humorless local party operative Santa (Lola Amores, Best Actress, Miami International Film Festival), sent to ensure that Andrés does not disrupt a gathering of international journalists--though the warden soon realizes that her prisoner is not a wild subversive but a shy homebody. But after Andrés is brutally attacked by troubled local youth, Santa’s tough facade falls and she quickly takes over as caregiver and companion. Two lonely souls unexpectedly find comfort in one another and question their accepted identities and roles within the Revolution in this powerful and controversial second feature by writer/director Carlos Lechuga. Winner of four awards at this year’s Guadalajara International Film Festival, including Best Ibero-American Fiction Feature, Best Actress (Lola Amores) and Best Script, Santa and Andrés is a moving, deeply felt exploration of how ideology shapes our identities and how unexpected moments of grace can bring us back to who we really are.

Awards:

Miami International Film Festival 2017 (Best Actor, Actress)

Guadalajara International Film Festival 2017 (Best Ibero-American Fiction, Actress, Script)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Carlos Lechuga

Producers: Claudia Calviño

Carlos Lechuga

Screenwriter: Carlos Lechuga

Cinematographer: Javier Labrador

Editor: Joanna Montero

Cast: Lola Amores

Eduardo Martínez

George Abreu

Luna Tinoco Cesar Domínguez

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Habanero Film Sales

Print Source: Habanero Film Sales

Selected Filmography: Molasses (2013)

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:15 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 1:00 PM

The awkward, angsty plight of the teenage experience is examined and appreciated in this debut feature film by director Nick Naveda. Meet Sam (Travis Tope, “Boardwalk Empire”), an 18-year-old high-school graduate, looking to fill his time in the summer before he leaves for college. When his childhood crush and new friend Ellie (Katherine Hughes, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) offers him a job at Video Flicks, he jumps on the opportunity to spend time with her. But Ellie does not play her part in this film as the standard “manic pixie dream girl,” only there to enhance Sam’s efforts to improve his own personal life; she has her own fears and dreams and attitudes about the world. As these two learn to navigate the highs and lows of life after high school, they explore what it means to find the person you need in your life at a certain point in time. Paired with a quirky and expressive supporting cast, Naveda’s relationship-centered film accepts the uncertainty of young adulthood and empowers those who feel lost to allow themselves to not be alone in their ambiguity and search for answers.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Nick Naveda

Producers: Nancy Taylor

Taylor Grabowsky

Screenwriter: Nick Naveda

Cinematographer: Jac Fitzgerald

Editor:

Javier Alvarez

Music: Mitchell Owens

Cast: Travis Tope

Katherine Hughes

Michelle Forbes

Sam Trammell

Israel Broussard

Adam Hagenbuch

Morgan Krantz

Running Time: 97 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: United Talent Agency

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

MALIGLUTIT

Searchers

CANADA 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 3:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 29 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

It’s 1913, and Inuit hunter Kuanana and his son appear onscreen as specks among the frozen, limitless tundra of the Canadian Arctic. They are returning home after a caribou hunt and wish for a warm welcome and the loving embrace of their family. Instead, they discover their camp ransacked, bodies strewn about the snow, and Kuanana’s wife and daughter missing. With only dogsleds and two bullets on hand, Kuanana gives chase, hoping to catch up with the posse before it’s too late. If this tale sounds familiar, then you and Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, SIFF 2002) are both fans of John Ford’s epic 1956 western The Searchers, of which this is a spiritual remake; here, though, Kunuk tells the story from an indigenous perspective, changing the dynamic so that both heroes and kidnappers are Inuit and opting out of the original film’s racial relations between John Wayne’s cowboy and the Native American tribe who ran off with young Natalie Wood. The result is a widescreen marvel of a Western (or should we say “Northern”), with long, lingering takes and a revenge plot that is just as violent and cold as the desolate Nunavut territory they traverse.

Directors:

Zacharias Kunuk

Natar Ungalaaq

Producers:

Jonathan Frantz

Zacharias Kunuk

Cara Di Staulo

Screenwriters:

Norman Cohn

Zacharias Kunuk

Cinematographer: Jonathan Frantz

Editors:

Norman Cohn

Zacharias Kunuk

Music:

Chris Crilly

Tanya Tagaq

Cast:

Benjamin Kunuk

Karen Ivalu

Jonah Qunaq

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Dada Films

Selected Filmography: The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006)

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)

BA N GÁI TÔI LÀ SE Ŝ P

She’s the Boss

VIETNAM 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 26 9:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:00 PM ARK LODGE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 7:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Vietnam’s highest-grossing film over the Lunar New Year has made its way to the United States, and it’s a kinetic romantic comedy of office culture, monetary windfalls, crocodiles, and true love. Oanh (Miu Lee) is the strict office manager for a giant national bank, where employees are forced to sign a contract prohibiting interoffice fraternization. What her boss and co-workers don’t know, however, is that Oanh has been secretly dating junior employee Cuong (Do An) for three years. When they finally set a wedding date, they realize they must go public with their relationship. While each tries to force the other to resign, their bank is hit with a terrible crisis, losing 240 million Vietnamese dongs due to an ATM software malfunction in the nearby city of Can Tho. Oanh and Cuong make a bet: Whoever can recover the money first gets to keep their job; the other must quit. When they both reach Can Tho, though, they are unprepared for the wacky, dangerous adventures ahead of them, including the likes of two suddenly rich teenage lovers in the throes of ecstasy, a dog-obsessed laundromat owner, and the boss’ obnoxious, horny, hashtagobsessed douchebag of a son. She’s the Boss is a hyperactive, colorful, and ultimately endearing tale about the compromises we’re forced to make in life, love, and employment.

Director: Ham Tran

Producers: Anderson Le

Nguyen Ngoc Lam

Trinh Thi Thanh Tam

Screenwriters: Ham Tran

Trang Cong Minh

Cinematographer: Trang Cong Minh

Editor: Ham Tran

Music:

Tran Huu Tuan Bach

Tristen Lerla Goh

Cast:

Miu Le

An Do

Khanh Thanh Pham Le

Ngoc Thao

Hoang Phi

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Vietnamese, with English subtitles

Print Source: Old Photo Films

Selected Filmography:

Bitcoins Heist (2016)

Hollow (2014)

How to Fight in Six Inch

Heels (2013)

Journey From the Fall (2006)

DRÆBERNE FRA NIBE

Small Town Killers

DENMARK 2017

US PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 20 8:30 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 4:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

The title says it all in this Danish black comedy about the unforeseen consequences of planning the perfect crime. Best buddies Ib (Nicolas Bro) and Edward (Ulrich Thomsen), both laborers in a rural town, are hard workers who have moonlighted on the side for years, developing a substantial nest egg for their futures. They both agree that their main obstacles to happiness are their loveless marriages to their complaining wives, Gritt (Mia Lyhne) and Ingrid (Lene Maria Christensen). One night, after both couples have a major fight, the two men get drunk and hatch what they believe to be a fiendishly clever solution: pay a contract killer to do away with both wives so they can use the money as they want. Their plot, however, goes awry when the Russian hitman they hire is more interested in vodka than vengeance. To make matters worse, the scheming Ib and Edward are no match for their better halves. When Gritt and Ingrid find out about the contract on their lives, they decide to hire their own hit-woman from England, named “Miss Nippleworthy,” and soon the hapless hunters become the hunted. Played in Nordic deadpan style, with hints of Coen Brothers-style absurdity, this screwball premise from writer/director Ole Bornedal will give married viewers a new appreciation for their own non-lethal spouses.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Ole Bornedal

Producers: Jonas Allen

Peter Bose

Screenwriter: Ole Bornedal

Cinematographers: Dan Laustsen

Linda Wassberg

Editor: My Thordal

Music: Joachim Holbek

Cast: Ulrich Thomsen

Nicolas Bro

Lene Maria Christiansen

Mia Lyhne

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Danish, with English subtitles

International Sales: TrustNordisk

Print Source: Danish Film Institute

Film Website: dfi.dk/faktaomfilm

Selected Filmography:

The Possession (2012)

Deliver Us From Evil (2009)

Just Another Love Story (2007)

The Substitute (2007)

I Am Dina (2002) Nightwatch (1997)

LA PASSEUSE DES AUBRAIS

The Smuggler and Her Charges

FRANCE 2016

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 6:00 PM

FRIDAY, MAY 26 12:00 PM

Occupied France lives and breathes through this heavy Holocaust documentary by Michaël Prazan. Although a thoroughly documented subject, this film twists and turns subtly as a mystery thriller wrought with villains, trials, and unlikely heroes. Prazan takes us along a personal journey by recounting his father Bernard’s escape from Nazi-controlled France as a child in the early 1940s. His story was possible only with the help of a young barmaid, Thérèse Leopold. A fresh life of comfort and wealth is ripped from Bernard as his parents are sent away on trains never to be seen again. She barely knew her young Jewish charges, yet Thérèse risked everything for their survival and suffered greatly. Bernard kept these details, among others, from his son, discovered only through investigation. In turn he was able to live a harsh childhood in hiding throughout the war. For her efforts, Thérèse was turned in by French Gestapo agent Pierre Lussac—a man whose real cruelty shames fictional Machiavellian villains—and spent the war across several concentration camps. Interviews with Bernard and Thérèse, well into her 90s at the time of filming, interspersed by dramatized scenes, bring their tragically inspiring tale to life.

Director: Michaël Prazan

Producer: Sylvie Blum

Screenwriter: Michaël Prazan

Cinematographer: Laurent Chalet

Editor: Yvan Gaillard

Music:

Laurent Thomas

Guillaume Solignat

Running Time: 81 minutes

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

International Sales: INA

Print Source: INA

Selected Filmography: Le dernier combat d’Ariel Sharon (2008)

Nankin, la memoire et l’oubli (2006)

The Trial of Adolf Eichmann (1997)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

MAHBAS

Solitaire

LEBANON/JORDAN/EGYPT 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 21 8:45 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 23 3:30 PM

In this dark(ish) romantic comedy, family is the perfect metaphor for Lebanon and Syria, two countries that have so much in common, both positive and, well, otherwise. It’s been 20 years since the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and Thérèse still hasn’t gotten over her brother’s death, caused by a Syrian bomb. She chats regularly with the many photographs of him that decorate the house. (He chats back.) This longstanding grief has morphed into present-day prejudice; she turns off a Syrian song on the radio and refuses food made by a Syrian refugee. But a happy occasion is at hand: Her only daughter is getting engaged and the groom’s family is due for an overnight visit. Aware of her mother’s prejudice, daughter Ghada has concealed one important detail: Her sweetheart, Samer, and his family are Syrian. Determined to thwart the union, Thérèse embarks on a series of Machiavellian maneuvers designed to tear the lovers apart, including enlisting the aid of one of Ghada’s former boyfriends. Not that Samer and his family, replete with prejudices of their own, help matters much. Will decades-old resentments triumph, or will love forge a different future? Diamonds sparkle, but they’re also harder than rock.

PACIFIC PLACE

Director:

Sophie Boutros

Producer:

Nadia Eliewat

Screenwriters:

Sophie Boutros

Nadia Eliewat

Cinematographer:

Rachel Aoun

Editor:

Fadi G. Haddad

Music:

Ziad Boutros

Cast:

Julia Kassar

Ali El Khalil

Bassam Koussa

Nadine Khoury

Betty Taoutel

Jaber Jokhadar

Serena Chami

Said Serhan

Running Time: 92 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

Print Source: MENA

Film Website: facebook.com/MahbasSolitaire

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Song of Cotton

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN FRIDAY, JUNE 9 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

Director Zhu Yuancheng brings to life a story of relationships, based on National Book Award-winning author Ha Jin’s short story “A Pension Plan.” This film follows Mianhua, a young woman looking for a job to give her a little independence. After much searching, she is hired as a full-time caretaker for Mr. Sheng, an ex-boxer who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Mianhua must learn to deal with the stubborn, petulant old man as well as convince his distrustful daughter Qin that she is perfect for the job, despite having no prior experience. As she gets to know Mr. Sheng and develop a relationship with him, she must navigate her feelings and separate the real from the imagined. The Song of Cotton addresses the struggles that come to young people figuring out their life, as well as the challenges faced when they fear they have made the wrong decision. Zhu is able to creatively tell this story onscreen with the same astute attention to detail that Jin utilizes in his writing.

PRECEDED BY:

I Come From Prairie China, 2017, 8 minutes. Director: Aersibieke Nuhan World Premiere 10-year-old Aybar learns a valuable lesson about keeping the sheep safe from the wolves.

Director: Zhu Yuancheng

Producers: Zhang Huijun

Sun Laigui

Sun Jing

Screenwriters: Zhu Yuancheng

Wu Bo

Cinematographer: Qiu Zhen

Editor: Peng Dong

Music: Wang Yuxiang

Cast: Ai Liya

Wang Deshun

Yan Bingyan

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Movie View International

Print Source:

Movie View International

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Soul on a String

CHINA 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 12:00 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 5:30 PM

Dense forests, jagged rocks, rolling hills, and scorching sands are the backdrop for this mystical western set in Tibet. After a close call with a lightning bolt, a dead deer, and a compassionate Buddhist, ex-con Tabei embarks on a quest to deliver a sacred stone to the top of a fabled mountain. Once he completes this task, all his many sins will be forgiven. What he doesn’t know is that Guori, a man hell-bent on avenging his father’s death by a killer also called Tabei, is on the hunt slaying anyone of that name. Before their paths cross, each traveler attracts several quirky and mysterious followers, among them a loyal elf, a love-struck woman, and a mute psychic. This tale of parallel journeys dips its toes into several genres, blending aspects of the classic Western with epic fantasy, all the while paying homage to Tibetan folklore. Soul on a String shows its characters battling the harsh physical elements of nature as well as their own spiritual demons, constructing a portrait of vengeance and redemption as lush and sprawling as its surroundings.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Zhang Yang

Producers: Li Li

Zhang Yang

Screenwriters: Tashi Dawa

Zhang Yang

Cinematographer: Daming Guo

Editor: Yang Hongyu

Music: Jian Zhang

Cast: Kimba

Quni Ciren

Siano Dudiom Zahi

Solange Nima

Running Time: 142 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Tibetan, with English subtitles

International Sales: Asian Shadows

Print Source: Film Movement

Selected Filmography:

Paths of the Soul (2015)

Full Circle (2012)

Driverless (2010)

Getting Home (2007)

Sunflower (2005)

Quitting (2001)

Shower (1999)

Spicy Love Soup (1997)

Step USA 2017

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 22 4:00 PM

Amanda Lipitz has worked for both stage and screen, filming documentary shorts about first-generation college students and producing Broadway shows (from Legally Blonde the Musical to A View From the Bridge). She combines these two worlds in her documentary Step. Her first feature film follows an all-girl high-school step team in Baltimore through their senior year. Lipitz originally met the stars of her documentary when they were in the sixth grade, and followed their academic careers for years before learning of this extracurricular activity. This emotional and heartfelt documentary observes the team as they navigate the odds stacked against them as minorities from the inner city, in the midst of the riots that ensued after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015. The sisterhood, the struggles, the heart—all is highlighted in Step as Lipitz follows these girls as they try to get into college on top of working to become a championship step team. Through music and step, their pride for Baltimore is evident throughout the film, sparking a rally of hope and resilience that seems to pour out from the screen.

Awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Special Jury Award, U.S. Documentary)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: Amanda Lipitz

Producers: Steven Cantor

Amanda Lipitz

Cinematographer: Casey Regan

Editors: Arielle Davis

Penelope Falk

Music:

Laura Karpman

Raphael Saadiq

Running Time: 82 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: WME

Print Source: Fox Searchlight

Film Website: stepmovie.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Struggle for Life

BELGIUM/FRANCE 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 6:30 PM

SATURDAY, MAY 20 6:00 PM

MONDAY, MAY 22 4:30 PM

French director Antonin Peretjatko shows the rougher side of European living in this unconventional and absurd comedy about a man’s unusual journey of self-discovery. Marc Chataigne (Vincent Macaigne) is stuck in a 10-year stint as an intern, trying to figure out how to move on with his life. He is sent by the Ministry of Standards in Paris to the island of Guiana to confirm that all European standards are being upheld in the first Amazonian ski resort to be built. Armed with his “Code of Standards” and smartphone, Marc delves into the jungle, led by the lovely Tarzan (Vimala Pons). What keeps up the rhythm of this bizarre tale is the randomness of the film’s different elements. From the arrogant Damien, who somehow pops up after being killed on numerous occasions, to the jungle creatures that mosey across the screen without a second glance from the characters, Struggle for Life cherishes its right to the weird and offbeat. Marc himself is able to sum up the entirety of the film when confiding in Tarzan, “I never felt alive before I came to the jungle.”

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN LA LOI DE LA JUNGLE

Director:

Antonin Peretjatko

Producer:

Alice Girard

Screenwriters:

Antonin Peretjatko

Frédéric Ciriez

Cinematographer: Simon Roca

Editors:

Antonin Peretjatko

Xavier Sirven

Cast:

Vincent Macaigne

Vimala Pons

Pascal Légitimus

Mathieu Amalric

Running Time: 99 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Be For Films

Film Website: beforfilms.com/strugglefor-life

Selected Filmography: La fille du 14 juillet (2013)

NINKÔ NO JUNAN

Suffering of Ninko

JAPAN 2016

US PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SATURDAY, MAY 27 9:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

MONDAY, MAY 29 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

In Edo-era Japan, Ninko, one of the youngest novice monks at Japan’s Enmeiji Temple, is also one of the hardest-working and most devout among his peers. But he has one problem: Ladies just won’t leave him alone. His asceticism is sincere, but whenever he humbles himself for alms in the street, women cannot help but throw themselves at him. Even some of his fellow monks start giving Ninko the eye. As he sees temptation around almost every corner, Ninko begins having hallucinations of erotic encounters, which we see in a series of live-action and animated montages, some cleverly based on Japanese art forms, including ukiyo-e woodblock prints, shunga erotic drawings, and traditional folklore. Feeling desperate, Ninko turns to a samurai named Kanzo, who gives him a possible solution—a mountain goddess named Yama-onna is terrorizing a nearby village by absorbing the life force of the men who live there. Could defeating Yama-onna be the cure for Ninko’s “female problems”? In this feature debut by director, writer, producer, editor, and animator Norihiro Niwatsukino, he elevates what could be an exploitative plotline to create a provocative and original interpretation of ancient Japanese culture, as well as commentary on modern sexual identity in Japan. Profane, witty, and entertaining, Suffering of Ninko is proof that the Buddha works in mysterious— and sometimes hilarious—ways.

Director: Norihiro Niwatsukino

Producers: Norihiro Niwatsukino

Katsuyuki Takemoto

Screenwriter: Norihiro Niwatsukino

Cinematographers: Takayuki Okazaki

Shunichiro Yamamoto

Editor: Norihiro Niwatsukino

Music:

Office Higuchi Inc.

Cast: Masato Tsujioka

Miho Wakabayashi

Hideta Iwahashi

Yukino Arimoto

Running Time: 70 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Japanese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Asian Shadows

Print Source: Asian Shadows

Film Website: asian-shadows.com/ suffering-of-ninko

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Susanne Bartsch: On Top USA

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 7:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 9 4:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

“Susanne Bartsch picked up where Warhol left off,” says RuPaul. The doyenne of NYC nightlife for decades and still at it, she’s stirred together the art, fashion, and gay dance-club worlds to create extravagant spectacles, planning her parties as theater—essentially, art exhibits for artists whose art is themselves. Her bland childhood gave her much to rebel against (“Maybe it’s the Swiss background, where everything was clockwork,” she explains), and she soaked up London’s punk fashion innovations as a teenager before opening a New York boutique and becoming one of the people who made the ’80s the ’80s. Along the way she married (bodybuilder/gym mogul David Barton) and had a son (now a classics major at Brown, who seems to have turned out perfectly unscarred not despite but because of his upbringing at the bohemian Chelsea Hotel surrounded by drag queens). These phases of nurturant normalcy never slowed Bartsch’s mentoring of a generation or two of club kids or becoming a pioneering AIDS-research fundraiser (her 1989 “Love Ball” exposed Madonna to Harlem’s voguing drag balls as well as raised $2.5 million). In a way, Anthony & Alex’s documentary presents Bartsch’s life as an allegory of American gay history—from a suffocating youth and feelings of isolation to flamboyant liberation, darkened but unbowed by loss, and unfailingly fabulous.

Swallows and Amazons

UNITED KINGDOM 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 1:00 PM

Directors: Anthony & Alex

Producers: Michael Beach Nichols

Christopher K. Walker

Screenwriters: Anthony & Alex

Cinematographer: Michael Beach Nichols

Editor: Taryn Gould

Music: Liam Finn

Featuring: Susanne Bartsch

David Barton Bailey Barton RuPaul

Running Time: 84 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Cinetic Media

Print Source: Cinetic Media

Film Website: facebook.com/SusanneBartsch-On-TopDocumentary832082263569180/

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 12:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

Hoist the sails for an adventure on the high seas—or rather, a serene lake. It’s the 1930s, and Mrs. Walker (Kelly MacDonald, “Boardwalk Empire”) and her four children board a train for their vacation, but during the trip the children encounter some suspicious trench-coated men looking for someone. Once they reach their summer cottage destination, the children have a strong desire to take the caretaker’s boat, “Swallow,” out to a wooded island in the middle of the lake. Upon their arrival they find another boat bearing the name “Amazon,” and shortly thereafter encounter a pair of costumed young women who lay claim to the island and demand that the vacationing kids— deemed the Swallows—push off and never return. The children eventually stumble upon Mr. Flint (Rafe Spall), and, based on their curiosity about the man, inadvertently get pulled into a more dangerous plot around stolen military papers. Director Philippa Lowthorpe has crafted a yarn with strong female roles, beautiful locations, and a pace that accelerates as the narrative ups the intensity, making Swallows and Amazons a truly rousing adventure for the whole family.

Director: Philippa Lowthorpe

Producers: Nick Barton

Nick O’Hagan

Joe Oppenheimer

Screenwriter: Andrea Gibb

Cinematographer: Julian Court

Editor: Dave Thrasher

Music: Ilan Eshkeri

Cast: Rafe Spall

Andrew Scott

Kelly Macdonald

Orla Hill

Dane Hughes

Bobby McCullock

Teddie-Rose MallesonAllen Seren Hawkes

Hannah-Jayne Thorp

Running Time: 96 minutes

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

subtitles

International Sales: The Festival Agency

Print Source: Hanway Films

Film Website: swallowsandamazons forever.co.uk/

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

BEST OF SIFF 2017

BEST OF SIFF 2017

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton

USA/BERMUDA 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 30 7:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 3:15 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 3:15 PM

What does it take to be the face of a worldwide phenomenon? How does one continue to measure up through decades of innovation in a life on the water? Laird Hamilton would know, and shares his story in this documentary from director Rory Kennedy. Though known for her political documentaries, Kennedy (Last Days in Vietnam) takes on a new challenge in Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton, the story of a surfer who became a household name. At only 52, Hamilton has drastically challenged the sport. He is credited with riding the famous surf break at Pe’ahi on the island of Maui, dubbed “Jaws,” in the early 1990s, along with Tahiti’s Teahupo’o wave—sometimes reaching more than 20 feet high—in 2000. His freedom comes from his refusal to participate in any competitive surfing contests, despite reaching the pinnacle of fame. He rejects the idea that he can be judged for the sport he cherishes, as he considers surfing an art form. Kennedy’s documentary profiles Hamilton as a reserved, dedicated surfer whose pathbreaking has changed the sport for all its participants.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

KIRKLAND PC

Director: Rory Kennedy

Producers: Mark Bailey

William Cawley

Jonathan S. Marshall

Jason Rem

Paul Speaker

Jed Pearson IV

Jack Youngelson

Screenwriters: Mark Bailey

Jack Youngelson

Cinematographers: Alice Gu

Don King

Editor: Azin Samari

Music: Nathan Larson

Featuring: Laird Hamilton

Gabrielle Reece

Nick Carroll

Darrick Doerner

Running Time: 117 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Film Website: takeeverywave.com

Selected Filmography:

Last Days in Vietnam (2014)

Ethel (2012)

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (2007)

Taste of Cherry IRAN/FRANCE 1997

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 4:00 PM

In tribute to the late, legendary Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, SIFF presents the distinctive Palme d’Or-winning film Taste of Cherry on its 20th anniversary. Mr. Badii, a middleaged man in Tehran, is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. In this quest, he drives around the city, meeting numerous candidates. The first is a shy, young Kurdish soldier who refuses to do the job and flees from Badii’s car in alarm. His second recruit is an Afghani seminarian, who also declines because he has religious objections to suicide. The third is an Azeri taxidermist; he is willing to help Badii because he needs the money to care for a sick child. But as their conversation continues, the Azeri begins to try to talk him out of his plans. The film, considered by many Kiarostami’s masterwork, is narratively simple and emotionally rich, the distillation of a philosophical inquiry into those things that make life worth living— including, for one of the great directors of our time, the cinematic form itself.

Director: Abbas Kiarostami

Producers: Alain Depardieu Abbas Kiarostami

Screenwriter: Abbas Kiarostami

Cinematographer: Homayun Payvar

Editor: Abbas Kiarostami

Cast:

Homayoun Ershadi

Abdolrahman Bagheri

Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: 35mm, in Persian, with English subtitles

International Sales: MK2

Print Source: Janus Films

Selected Filmography: Like Someone in Love (2012)

Certified Copy (2010)

The WInd Will Carry Us (1999)

Through the Olive Trees (1994)

Close-Up (1990)

Where Is the Friend’s Home? (1987)

Sponsored by Anonymous, Sinikka and Babak Parviz, Neda and Michael Nassirian, ARVR Academy, Persian & Iranian Studies at UW Near-Eastern Languages & Civilization Department, Naimor Inc., American Iranian Business Council, Nima Foroutan DDS, Homes and Equity Mortgage, UW Iranian-American Faculty, Naini Family Foundation, Iranian American Community Alliance

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Tea Pets

CHINA 2017 WORLD PREMIERE

SATURDAY, MAY 20 1:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 11:30 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 1:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

You’ve seen tea pets before—those cute little clay figures you find on trays next to your daily kettle of boiling refreshment. Pour tea on them and watch them change color, or to see if your brew is hot enough. Ah Tang is one such figure, now living among a special collection of them in a local tea shop, but he rarely gets the pours he so desires. Why? He is unfinished, the final handiwork of a tea-pet master who, when tragedy struck, shuttered his workshop. An outcast among his own, Ah Tang’s color will never deepen, his purpose incomplete. But fate intervenes when a mysterious orb-shaped robot crashes into the shop. The robot, whom the pets name Xiao Lai, claims it is from the future but otherwise has no memories of its homeland or the specifics of its creation. With nothing left to lose, Ah Tang joins Xiao Lai in an action-packed adventure through the city’s underground tunnels and sewers, avoiding the wrath of henchmen rats and a feared thief named Flash on their journey to find the fabled Tree Hole Man, who will unlock the answers to their identities. Popping off the screen with vivacious colors and beautifully composed action sequences, Tea Pets rivals the best of Pixar, a deeply moving, exciting tale of finding yourself.

PRECEDED BY:

Bloom

China, 2017, 8 minutes. Directors: Yiran Sun, Jiyao Xu

North American Premiere

The friendship between Earthworm and Caterpillar takes flight.

Terror 5

ARGENTINA 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 9:30 PM

Director:

Gary Wang

Producers: Zhou Yu

Ye Yuan

Screenwriter: Gary Wang

Cinematographer: Tianyi Liu

Voices: Lei Shi

Zeyu Yuan

Guanlin Ji

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Chinese, with English subtitles

Print Source: Light Chaser Animation

Film Website: zhuiguang.com

Selected Filmography: Little Door Gods (2016)

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A grinning maniac in full Gene Simmons KISS makeup tears down the street on a scooter. As a man in a leather gimp mask watches through a two-way mirror, a pair of lovers meets in a motel room. On their first date, a mysterious young woman encourages her suitor to break into an unsavory conservatory that pits students against teachers. On the anniversary of a deadly building collapse, a memorial takes place in protest of the negligent politician who has yet to face judgment for his role in the accident. Set over the course of a single night in Buenos Aires, Terror 5 unspools these overlapping stories, each based on a different regional urban legend, in a gruesome, dreamlike swirl of snuff films, illicit sex, cruel bullying, poetic justice, and a horde of the undead. With a hypnotic style more in line with the work of Nicolas WindingRefn than a traditional genre film, filmmakers Sebastián and Federico Rotstein use the conventions of horror and suspense to craft a sociopolitical portrait of modern Argentina, from youth culture to rampant corruption, bringing it all together in a climax as beautiful as it is terrifying.

Directors: Federico Rotstein

Sebastián Rotstein

Producers: Sebastián Perillo

Federico Rotstein

Sebastián Rotstein

Daniel Werner

Screenwriters: Sebastián Rotstein

Nicolás Gueilburt

Cinematographer: Marcelo Lavintman

Editors: Nicolás Goldbart

Federico Rotstein

Music: Pablo Borghi

Cast: Rafael Ferro

Jorge Prado

Gastón Cocchiarale

Walter Cornás

Lu Grasso

Julián Larquier

Agustín Rittano

Running Time: 79 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Reel Suspects

Print Source: Reel Suspects

Film Website: reelsuspects.com/ portfolio-item/terror-5

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

This Is Our Land

FRANCE/BELGIUM 2016

MONDAY, MAY 29 3:30 PM

SHORELINE CC

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 1:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Practically bursting from today’s headlines, This Is Our Land dramatizes how the siren song of populism has taken over politics in parts of France, leading to the rise of real-life right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. In this fictionalized account of the rise of Le Pen’s Front National (FN) party, the film focuses on Pauline (Émilie Dequenne), a single mother of two making ends meet as a nurse and taking care of her elderly father, a socialist former union organizer. When she reconnects with a high-school sweetheart, now affiliated with the FN surrogate “Patriotic Bloc” party, the previously apolitical Pauline becomes seduced by the narrative that hard-working “regular” people like her (read: white, poor) have been marginalized by “outsider” politicians. Soon Pauline agrees to run for mayor as the Patriotic Bloc’s “woman of the people” candidate, dyeing her hair blonde to better fit the crypto-fascist tinge of the rhetoric. The setting of Lucas Belvaux’s scathing film in Pas de Calais is no accident—as the scene of countless incursions on Gallic pride, northern France is a Le Pen stronghold. While Belvaux’s cautionary tale is decidedly French, This Is Our Land’s themes are universal—and particularly relevant to the resurgence of xenophobic movements elsewhere in the world, such as the UK’s “Brexit” vote and a certain Twitterobsessed, part-time White House occupant.

Those Redheads From Seattle in 3D USA 1953

TUESDAY, MAY 23 6:30 PM

Director:

Lucas Belvaux

Producer:

David Frenkel

Screenwriters:

Lucas Belvaux

Jerôme Leroy

Cinematographer:

Pierric Gantelmi d’Ille

Editor:

Ludo Troch

Music:

Frédéric Vercheval

Cast:

Émilie Dequenne

André Dussolier

Guillaume Gouix

Catherine Jacob

Anne Marivin

Patrick Descamps

Running Time: 114 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Le Pacte

Print Source: Le Pacte

Film Website: le-pacte.com/international/upcoming-films/ single/this-is-our-land

Selected Filmography: 38 Witnesses (2012)

Rapt (2009)

The Right of the Weakest (2006)

After Life (2002)

An Amazing Couple (2002)

On the Run (2002)

Just for Laugh (1996) Parfois Trop D’Amour (1992)

“No wonder the Klondike is all fired up!” the trailer to this 3-D musical western exclaims. “Those redheads from Seattle are headed that way in this lusty musical story of the Gold Rush days.” It’s 1898, and Mrs. Edmonds (Agnes Moorehead) and her four daughters head up to Dawson City, Yukon to find their fortune, perform in the local burlesque hall, and reconnect with their patriarch. But when they find him deceased, they attempt to put together the pieces of his untimely demise while still kicking up their heels. Predating Kiss Me Kate by a full month, Those Redheads From Seattle was the first movie musical shot in 3-D. However, by the time it premiered at Seattle’s own Paramount Theatre on September 23, 1953, the filmmaking device was already on its way out, viewed as a passing gimmick and marred by subpar projection. Thanks to a brand-new restoration, this singing-and-dancing Klondike extravaganza is back in its original form for the first time in over 60 years. Time to head to the wild North in this Technicolor marvel, co-starring Rhonda Fleming, chart-topping chanteuse Teresa Brewer in her only film, and 1950s singing sensation the Bell Sisters, featuring original songs by Bob Merrill, Johnny Mercer, Ray Evans, and Jay Livingston.

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director:

Lewis Foster

Producers:

William H. Pine

William C. Thomas

Screenwriters:

Lewis R. Foster

Daniel Mainwaring

George Worthing Yates

Cinematographer: Lionel Lindon

Editor:

Archie Marshek

Music:

Sidney Cutner

Leo Shuken

Cast:

Rhonda Fleming

Gene Barry

Teresa Brewer

The Bell Sisters

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Selected Filmography: The Sign of Zorro (1958)

Crashout (1955)

Tropic Zone (1953)

El Paso (1949)

Those Shocking Shaking Days

AUSTRIA/BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 2016

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 7:00 PM

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 9:00 PM

This thought-provoking, radically unconventional documentary looks back at the Bosnian war of the 1990s, one of the most heavily televised in Europe, and uses it as the jumpingoff point for bigger philosophical questions. Through onscreen text and calming images of abandoned houses, Those Shocking Shaking Days skips past the typical use of emotionally manipulative footage of war atrocities and strives for a sort of intellectual comprehension. For example, there is no narrator or music to tell you how to feel—not initially. Instead, the movie asks you to consider things such as how overuse of the typical images in war documentaries may deaden their impact. Writer/director Selma Doborac asks a lot of questions, and certainly makes you think. Then, just as you may reach the point of growing tired of her cinematic strategy, she changes it up. Throughout the film, her self-aware and self-questioning text adds a certain lightness to such a dark subject matter. Watching the movie is like being part of a deconstructed TED Talk. Those Shocking Shaking Days is much about war documentaries as it is about war. Be prepared to engage with this film, because it’s not one where you can just sit back and passively take it all in.

SIFF FILM CENTER

SIFF FILM CENTER

Director: Selma Doborac

Producer: Selma Doborac

Screenwriter: Selma Doborac

Cinematographer: Selma Doborac

Editor: Selma Doborac

Featuring: Steve Crilley

Paul Kraker

Running Time: 88 minutes

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

Print Source: sixpackfilm

Film Website: sixpackfilmdata.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Those Who Remain

LEBANON/UAE 2016

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 12:30 PM

Haykal Mikhael is a 60-year-old Christian farmer struggling to hold onto the land he has tilled for decades in Lebanon’s picturesque Akkar District, which adjoins Syria and comprises Christian, Shia, and Sunni towns. He has a sheep farm and apple orchards, and is building, stone by stone, a large house for himself and his family, as well as a restaurant for those who live nearby. One glance at the landscape and you’ll begin to understand Haykal’s attachment. The Akkar District boasts Lebanon’s largest and most pristine forest; wooded slopes alternate with fields of wildflowers in spring and snow-covered valleys in winter. However, as he points out, in the wake of Lebanon’s long civil war, peaceful coexistence has become a thing of the past, as each of the local communities has become increasingly partisan: Sunni villages remain exclusively Sunni; Maronite Christians oppose sales to “outsiders.” The region has become a microcosm of the country’s various religious factions. In addition, it now faces the repercussions of the Syrian crisis; the border is only a few kilometers away. Eliane Raheb’s masterful documentary manages to convey the complexity of the country’s past, present, and future through the touching story of one old man, the land he loves, and the persistence of hope against all odds.

Director: Eliane Raheb

Producer: Eliane Raheb

Cinematographer: Jocelyne Abi Gebrayel

Editor: Eliane Raheb

Music: Najah Salam

Cast: Haykal Mikhael

Running Time: 95 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Arabic, with English subtitles

International Sales: ITAR Productions

Print Source: ITAR Productions

Selected Filmography: Sleepless Nights (2012) This Is Lebanon (2008)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MAYYEL YA GHZAYYEL

Time Trap

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:00 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, MAY 20 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 6:30 PM SHORELINE CC

When his mentor, Professor Hopper, goes missing while exploring a remote system of deep caverns in rural Texas, Taylor organizes an informal search party with his best gal pal Jackie and fellow student (and crush) Cara; tagging along are Cara’s younger sister, Veeves, and her geeky friend, Furby. The group descends into the caverns, but in their search for Hopper they encounter a number of strange phenomena. It soon becomes apparent that the impossible exists—a rift in the space-time continuum where time passes more slowly within the cave than on the surface, and they are not the only ones to have become stuck here. With no hope for rescue, they descend further into the caverns, discovering one of the most coveted legends in history—the Fountain of Youth—only to be caught in the crossfire for its control. Packing Time Trap with imaginative thrills, directors Mark Dennis and Ben Foster have fashioned a fantastically fun adventure flick.

Directors:

Ben Foster

Mark Dennis

Producers: Ben Foster

Mark Dennis

Zachary Matz

Screenwriter: Mark Dennis

Cinematographer: Mike Simpson

Music:

Xiaotian Shi

Cast: Cassidy Gifford

Reiley McClendon

Brianne Howey

Olivia Draguicevich

Max Wright

Andrew Wilson

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source:

Pad Thai Pictures

Film Website: facebook.com/timetrapthemovie

Selected Filmography: Strings (2011)

Tom of Finland

FINLAND 2017

FRIDAY, MAY 26 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE SATURDAY, MAY 27 1:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

If we now think of Finland as one of those liberal socialist utopias Scandinavia seems to specialize in, it wasn’t always the case; as LGBT rights go, in the 1950s it was as repressive as everywhere else. One gay man’s rebellion took the form of art: the aggressively, frankly idealized hypermasculine drawings by Touko Laaksonen—soon to be known as Tom of Finland—who fought and sent up the stereotype of homosexuals as feminine by going as far as he could in the opposite direction. This slyly witty, and lightly kinky, crowd-pleaser traces his path from outcast to icon (he died in 1991) and his art’s path from being illegal and hidden to being celebrated in museum retrospectives and even on stamps. In a tour de force, Pekka Strang plays the artist over a span of half a century. Military service in World War II solidified Tom’s taste for uniforms, especially the head-to-toe black leather then associated with motorcyclists, and the men in his drawings took on their immediately recognizable characteristics: broad facial features, a V-shaped torso, painted-on pants (if any), and above all that thick ’70s mustache—the look that launched an entire queer subculture.

Awards: Göteborg Film Festival 2017 (FIPRESCI Award)

Director: Dome Karukoski

Producers: Aleksi Bardy

Miia Haavisto

Annika Sucksdorff

Screenwriter: Aleksi Bardy

Cinematographer: Lasse Frank Johannessen

Editor: Harri Ylönen

Music: Lasse Enersen

Hildur Guðnadóttir

Cast: Pekka Strang

Lauri Tilkanen

Werner Daehn

Jessica Grabowsky

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Finnish, German, and English, with English subtitles

International Sales: Protagonist Pictures

Print Source: Kino Lorber

Film Website: tof.fi/

Selected Filmography: The Grump (2014)

Heart of a Lion (2013)

Lapland Odyssey (2010)

Forbidden Fruit (2009)

The Home of Dark Butterflies (2008)

Beauty and the Bastard (2005)

The Trip to Spain

SATURDAY, MAY 20 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 11:00 AM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Pack your bag, your passport, and your PeptoBismol—it’s time for another culinary holiday with Great Britain’s funniest “frenemies.” Back by no particular demand, director Michael Winterbottom completes the Trip trilogy as comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continue their driveby sampling of European cuisine. The deceptively simple idea began as a UK TV series with 2010’s “The Trip,” a lightly fictionalized account of Coogan’s assignment to review restaurants in northern England, joined by his friend Brydon for company and conversation. After it was released theatrically, a follow-up, The Trip to Italy (SIFF 2014), adhered to the same formula but added a sour edge to the loose mockumentary style as one married character dabbled in infidelity. In the latest installment, the two aging pros are back at it, seamlessly blending sumptuous regional dishes with literate conversation, witty barbs, and nearconstant one-upmanship. For all three films, the voice of Michael Caine deserves at least supporting-actor billing, considering the frequency with which Brydon and Coogan conjure his unique vocal stylings. Dueling Mick Jagger impersonations also make cameo appearances. It’s just two middle-aged blokes mourning their youth and lost loves over endless tapas samplings—it shouldn’t work, but the result is subtle comic genius, thanks to the obvious affection between the two competitive companions. Check, ¡por favor!

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Producers: Josh Hyams

Stefano Negri

Melissa Parmenter

Cinematographer: James Clarke

Editors: Mags Arnold

Paul Monaghan

Marc Richardson

Cast: Steve Coogan

Rob Brydon

Marta Barrio

Claire Keelan

Margo Stilley

Running Time: 115 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: IFC Films

Selected Filmography:

On the Road (2016)

The Trip to Italy (2014)

The Look of Love (2013)

Everyday (2012)

Trishna (2011)

The Trip (2011)

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

A Mighty Heart (2007)

The Road to Guantanamo (Doc, 2006)

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

9 Songs (2004)

Code 46 (2003)

In This World (2002)

24 Hour Party People (2002)

The Claim (2000)

Wonderland (1999)

I Want You (1998)

Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)

Jude (1996)

Go Now (1995)

Butterfly Kiss (1995)

Trouble USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 4:00 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Maggie (Anjelica Huston, Prizzi’s Honor) and Ben (Bill Pullman, Lost Highway) are middleaged siblings who, though they love each other, certainly don’t like each other much. Although both were given equal halves of their father’s land upon his death, perpetual screw-up Ben sold his half years ago to his clearly more responsible, mature sister, then bailed, his constant drunkenness interrupted only by the occasional trip to jail. But now he’s back in her life, living on a trailer, sharing joints with good friend Gerry (David Morse, The Green Mile), and hoping to build a house on what could now be considered stolen land. And this time he has a trick up his sleeve—an acquaintance (Julia Stiles, Silver Linings Playbook) who works in the Bureau of Land Management and can falsify records so it looks as though the land sale years ago never happened. Meanwhile, Maggie and Gerry, who’ve known each other since high school, reassess their long-term relationship and wonder if they are more than just friends. Trouble marks the second feature film for Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright and novelist Theresa Rebeck (“Mauritius,” “Seminar”) and a reunion with Huston and Brian d’Arcy James (Spotlight), who both appeared on the Rebeck-created NBC cult TV musical “Smash.” Here she uses her storytelling skills to examine a fraught sibling rivalry and coming to terms with your past.

Director: Theresa Rebeck

Producers: Jaclyn Bashoff

Julie Buck

Rachel Dengiz

Theresa Rebeck

Screenwriter: Theresa Rebeck

Cinematographer: Christina Voros

Editor: Sara Shaw

Music: Robert Burger

Cast: Anjelica Huston

Bill Pullman

David Morse

Julia Stiles

Jim Parrack

Brian d’Arcy James

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Great Point Media

Print Source: WME Global

Film Website: theresarebeck.com

Selected Filmography: Poor Behavior (2016)

LA VERITÀ, VI SPIEGO, SULL’AMORE

The Truth About Love Is...

ITALY 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SUNDAY, MAY 28 8:00 PM

SHORELINE CC

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, JUNE 5 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Love is complicated. When you add kids to the equation, it becomes even more confounding.

Italian filmmaker Max Croci explores this relatable phenomenon in his latest film, The Truth About Love Is… Dora and Davide have little in common—they enjoy different food, different books, different everything—but this doesn’t keep them from falling for each other. Seven years and two children later, Dora and Davide split up. For Dora, it’s far from easy. With the support of her eccentric family, a drunk but well-meaning babysitter, and her loving children, Dora learns to treasure the circumstances she’s been given. While its demeanor remains lighthearted, The Truth About Love Is… revolves around a heavy subject most try not to think about: the fickleness of romance. The film acknowledges sorrow, recognizing that plans don’t often turn out as expected, but it ultimately chooses optimism. The truth about love, like love itself, isn’t straightforward, and Croci reminds us that this certainly isn’t a reason not to love enthusiastically.

Director:

Max Croci

Producer:

Guglielmo Marchetti

Screenwriter: Federico Sperindei

Cinematographer: Fabio Zamarion

Editor:

Giuseppe Trepiccione

Music:

Alessandro Faro

Cast:

Ambra Angiolini

Carolina Crescentini

Massimo Poggio

Giuliana de Sio

Gabriele Anagni

Running Time: 90 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Italian, with English subtitles

Print Source:

Notorious Pictures

Film Website: notoriouspictures.it

Selected Filmography: Al posto tuo (2016)

Opposites Attract (2015)

The Turkish Way

SPAIN 2016

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 1:30 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 5:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

In an exuberant follow-up to last year’s scrumptious, globe-trotting documentary Cooking Up a Tribute, director Luis Gonzalez again teams with the Roca Brothers—Joan, Josep, and Jordi, owners of Catalonia’s Celler de Can Roca, current holder of Restaurant Magazine’s “Best Restaurant in the World” honor—to take a five-week tour across Turkey, diving into the rich, diverse culinary cultures of one of the world’s major crossroads. Setting out to honor the influences on Turkish cuisine by developing a new menu using locally produced ingredients, and to invigorate Can Roca’s own menu with new energies, the three brothers cross the nation. They seek new ideas in places as diverse as the bustling streets and marketplaces of Istanbul and the vineyards of Cappadocia, openly engaging with and learning from the sommeliers, chefs, and farmers that drive one of the world’s most tradition-bound yet evolving gastronomic cultures. From disparate Arabic, Asian, and European influences to the exciting recent development of New Anatolian Cuisine, the brothers Roca embrace an ancient nation on the cusp of a food revolution, their restless creativity in turn making their own Can Roca not only one of the world’s greatest restaurants, but a restaurant truly of the world.

Director: Luis Gonzalez

Producers: Manuel de Mora-Figuroa

Oscar Moya

Screenwriters: Luis Gonzalez

Andrea Gomez

Ángel Lafuente

Cinematographer: Jaime Rebato

Editor: Miguel Burgos

Music: Sophie Abraham-Ebbinge

Featuring: Joan Roca

Josep Roca

Jordi Roca

Sabiha Apaydin

Maksut Askar

Mehmet Gurs

Sina Sucuka

Running Time: 120 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: FREAK Short Film Agency

Print Source: FREAK Short Film Agency

Film Website: agenciafreak.com

Selected Filmography: Cooking Up a Tribute (2015)

AS DUAS IRENES

Two Irenes

BRAZIL 2017 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 30 6:00 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 4:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

A shy, withdrawn slip of a girl, 13-year-old Irene (newcomer Priscila Bittencourt in an assured performance) finds herself invisible to the world around her. She is ignored by boys and glossed over by her family in favor of her beautiful older sister Solange (Madu Souza), the introverted teen’s only comfort being stories told by the family’s earthy housekeeper Madalena (Teuda Barra). But when she discovers a secret life being lived by her charismatic father Tonico (Marco Ricca), Irene quietly steps into it, befriending another Irene (Isabela Torres), discovering her sexuality, and slowly coming into her own in this sly and engrossing coming-of-age drama. Winner of the Best First Feature and Best Cinematography prizes at the 2017 Guadalajara International Film Festival, writer and director Fabio Meira has crafted an observant and beguiling debut feature, rich with detail and unexpected turns. At once a visually stunning paean to the struggles of growing up and an evocative study of the eternal dance between men and women, Two Irenes establishes its creator as a major new voice in international cinema.

Awards: Guadalajara International Film Festival 2017 (Best First Feature, Cinematography)

Director: Fabio Meira

Producers: Diana Almeida

Fabio Meira

Screenwriter: Fabio Meira

Cinematographer: Daniela Cajías

Editor: Virginia Flores

Music: Edson Secco

Cast: Priscila Bittencourt

Isabela Torres

Marco Ricca

Inês Peixoto

Madu Souza

Teuda Barra

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Portuguese, with English subtitles

International Sales: True Colours Glorious Film

Print Source: True Colours Glorious Film

Film Website: facebook.com/asduasirenes

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

LA FILLE INCONNUE

The Unknown Girl

BELGIUM/FRANCE 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

SUNDAY, MAY 21 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

“Don’t let emotions get in the way”—a phrase that young Belgian doctor Jenny Davin (Adèle Haenel) practices and lives by. At a pivotal moment in her career, she has a choice between joining a prestigious research team or taking over her retiring superior’s small Liège practice for the poor and needy. In this film’s opening scene, Jenny is seen attending to a patient’s life-threatening seizure after her younger colleague and intern Julien (Olivier Bonnaud) freezes. After the clinic closes for the day, Jenny chastises Julien for allowing emotions to get in the way of his work. Suddenly there’s an incessant buzzing at the door. As Julien tries to admit the person, Jenny tells him to ignore it because of the late hour. The next day, police visit Jenny’s clinic and inform her that a young African girl was found dead nearby in the river. A glance at the clinic CCTV footage reveals the unknown girl to be the person who had buzzed the clinic the night before. Torn with regret and filled with guilt, Jenny decides to play detective and learn more about the identity of the mysterious girl. Armed with a stethoscope, she discovers in her investigation that there’s more to patients than their bodies.

Awards:

Online Film Critics Society Awards 2017 (OFCS Award Best Non US Release)

Directors:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Luc Dardenne

Producers:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Luc Dardenne

Denis Freyd

Screenwriters: Luc Dardenne

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Cinematographer: Alain Marcoen

Editor: Marie-Hélène Dozo

Cast:

Adèle Haenel

Olivier Bonnaud

Louka Minella

Jeremie Renier

Running Time: 113 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in French, with English subtitles

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: IFC Films

Film Website: ifcfilms.com/films/theunknown-girl

Selected Filmography: Two Days, One Night (2014)

The Kid With a Bike (2011)

The Child (2005)

The Son (2002)

Rosetta (1999)

La Promesse (1996)

GAO GEUNG JING DOU FU

Vampire Cleanup Department

HONG KONG 2017

US PREMIERE

TUESDAY, MAY 23 6:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

THURSDAY, MAY 25 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN FRIDAY, MAY 26 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? “Vampire Cleanup Department!” OK, it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but the VCD has been at war ever since the fanged undead arrived in Hong Kong. Now they’re welcoming their newest team member, Tim Cheung, born to a bitten mother and therefore immune to a vampire’s venom. He joins uncles Chung and Chau, Maoshan Taoist Ginger, weapons expert Kui, and Manager M just in time for the emergence of the blood moon, when the hopping vampires are in full force. But as a great evil casts a dark shadow over Hong Kong, Tim must keep a secret from the VCD: He has fallen in love with a female vampire with whom he has an inexplicable telepathic connection, keeping her in his small apartment and teaching her how to re-acclimate to human life. Broad, youthful, and equal parts “Mr. Vampire” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (the hopping vampires essentially get “dusted”), Vampire Cleanup Department is an epic, and epically funny, entry into the jiangshi genre.

Directors:

Yan Pak-Wing

Sin-Hang Chiu

Producers:

Ha Yu

Angus Chan

Screenwriters: Yan Pak Wing

Ho Wing-Hong

Cheung Kin-Kei

Cinematographer: Tsoi Wai Man Kubbie

Editor:

Tong Wai Wing

Music:

Chiu Sin-Hang

Marco Wen

Ho Kwan-Wai

Cast:

Babyjohn Choi

Min-chen Lin

Siu-Ho Chin

Richard Ng

Susan Shaw

Running Time: 94 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Cantonese, with English subtitles

International Sales: Young Live Entertainment (HK) Co. LTD

Print Source: Entertaining Power Co., Ltd.

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Wallflower

USA 2017

WORLD PREMIERE

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 7:00 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 3:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Writer/director Jagger Gravning recounts the Capitol Hill massacre of 2006 in this docudrama, based on the events of that night. Though the story of a mass shooter and his victims is, sadly, not an uncommon one, this film traces the events through the eyes of the perpetrator as he struggles with the choices he’s made and the ones he hasn’t. As he meets an eccentric group of ravers who welcome him into their home and lives, making him question what he believes he must do, the conflict within himself is evident. In the words of Gravning, this film is not meant to gain sympathy for the 2006 shooter, Kyle Huff. Rather, he uses Wallflower as a homage to empathy, reveling in the fact that if empathy is shown to those who put themselves in the position of the perpetrator, tragic events of this nature will stop becoming the norm in this culture. Gravning’s passion for the project and message is evident throughout the film, while also paying tribute to the creative, colorful, lively cultivation of the Seattle rave scene.

Director: Jagger Gravning

Producer: John W. Comerford

Screenwriter: Jagger Gravning

Cinematographer: Mike Solidum

Editor: Robinson Devor

Cast: Conner Marx

David Call

Atsuko Okatsuka

Cequoia Johnson

Hope Moonrise

Running Time: 80 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source: Paradigm Studios

Film Website: wallflowerfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Wedding Party

NIGERIA 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 20 5:30 PM

THURSDAY, MAY 25 6:30 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:00 PM

If you’ve never attended a Nigerian wedding, you can’t even begin to imagine how colorful, chaotic, hilarious, emotional, and beautiful the event can be. Director Kemi Adetiba has expertly designed a romantic comedy that weaves in and out of the wedding traditions, amassing a who’s-who of the best Nollywood performers in one enormous feature, and inviting the audience to all the drama one would expect from a big-budget wedding: a couple in love, parents at odds, a wedding planner looking to prove her skills, a thief with an invitation to the biggest party in town, and a replacement best man with a flash drive full of secrets. Dunni is excited to marry her fiancé Dozie, and her parents are pulling out all the financial stops to prove to Dozie’s family that he is not marrying below him. Dozie’s mother, in particular, feels that this is all a farce— and indeed it is. The Wedding Party has quickly become one of the biggest box-office successes in Nollywood history, celebrating and commenting on Nigerian culture in a way that resonates with African audiences while providing a laugh-out-loud and illuminating experience for audiences of all backgrounds.

Director: Kemi Adetiba

Producers: Ijeoma Agukoronye

Don Omope

Zulumoke Onuekwusi

Screenwriters: Kemi Adetiba

Tosin Otudeko

Cinematographer: Akpe Ododoru

Editor: Andrew Webber

Cast: Adesua Etomi

Richard Mofe-Damijo Banky Wellington

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Talking Drum Entertainment

Print Source:

FilmOne Distribution

Selected Filmography: Across a Bloodied Ocean (2008)

The Wedding Plan

ISRAEL 2016

MONDAY, MAY 22 6:30 PM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 4:30 PM

The subject of Rama Burshtein’s debut drama Fill the Void—marriage in the ultra-Orthodox community—is fodder for comedy in her follow-up feature. When Michal’s fiancé calls off their wedding a month before the scheduled date, she refuses to cancel the arrangements, trusting that God will provide her with a replacement husband in time. Now 32, with a mobile petting zoo that she takes around to children events, she’s wanted to get married for a decade. She longs for love, for companionship, but also for the social acceptance withheld from unmarried women in their 30s. Her faith is strong, but, inclined to be proactive, hires an earthly marriage broker as well. He sets her up with a variety of suitors, all suitable in some ways, deeply unsuitable in others. When that approach proves unsuccessful, Michal embarks on a pilgrimage to Ukraine and the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (founder of the Breslov sect of Hasidism), where she begs God for a sign. But will the sign be forthcoming? And will it come before the contract with the catering hall expires?

Director: Rama Burshtein

Producer: Assaf Amir

Screenwriter: Rama Burshtein

Cinematographer: Amit Yasur

Editor: Yael Hersonski

Music:

Roy Edri

Cast:

Noa Koller

Amos Tamam

Oz Zehavi

Irit Sheleg

Ronny Merhavi

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Hebrew, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: Roadside Attractions

Film Website: theweddingplanmovie. com

Selected Filmography: Fill the Void (2012)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

LINCOLN SQUARE

ARK LODGE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

PACIFIC PLACE

LAAVOR ET HAKIM

Weirdos

CANADA 2016

THURSDAY, MAY 25 7:00 PM

PACIFIC PLACE

SATURDAY, MAY 27 4:15 PM PACIFIC PLACE

It’s the summer of 1976, and best friends Kit and Alice decide to leave the monotony of their small town in Nova Scotia in search of Kit’s estranged, eccentric, and free-spirited mother. After preparing the age-old airtight alibi (they’re sleeping over at each others’ houses), the two teens take to hitchhiking through weaving hillsides and seemingly endless roads under the watchful eye of an imaginary guide who may or may not be Andy Warhol. When their arrival at Kit’s mother’s house goes awry, and a spontaneous sexual encounter raises some tricky questions, the relationship between the teens is put to the test. Filmed in gorgeous black and white and set to a carefree ’70s rock soundtrack, this road movie weaves authentic scenes of selfdiscovery with sprinkles of magical realism in order to truly capture the imagination and restlessness of the teenage mind. In this love letter to adolescence, director Bruce McDonald (The Tracey Fragments, Pontypool) invites us to hang with the weirdos and embrace the awkwardness of first beers and first kisses, beach parties, run-ins with the law, and finding out who your true family is.

Director:

Bruce McDonald

Producers: Marc Almon

Mike MacMillan

Screenwriter: Daniel Maclvor

Cinematographer: Becky Parsons

Editor: Duff Smith

Cast:

Molly Parker

Allan Hawco

Julia Sarah Stone

Dylan Authors

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

Print Source:

Dada Films

Selected Filmography: Hellions (2015)

The Husband (2013)

This Movie is Broken (2010)

Trigger (2010)

Pontypool (2008)

The Tracey Fragments (2007)

The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess (2004)

Picture Claire (2001)

Hard Core Logo (1996)

Dance Me Outside (1994)

Highway 61 (1991)

What Lies Upstream USA

2017

SUNDAY, MAY 28 3:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 5:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 11:00 AM PACIFIC PLACE

Methodical in its narrative build-up and presentation, Cullen Hoback’s documentary depicts harsh calamity and delivers an eviscerating commentary on the state of environmental regulations and the chemical manufacturers taking advantage of them. In January 2014, coal chemical processor Freedom Industries allowed a chemical spill into the Elks River near Charleston, West Virginia, contaminating the drinking water of more than 300,000 local residents. Initial fallout inspired Hoback’s threeyear investigation, which would lead him from local government to the EPA and its attempts at regulation—or rather an alarming lack thereof. Interviews with the working poor offer the starkest depictions of life in West Virginia’s “Chemical Valley,” where several mining and chemical companies maintain their plants. Although locally severe, Hoback finds Charleston’s waterquality problems a microcosm of nationwide environmental malpractice, as companies are allowed to fabricate their own safety data, which is then used by local governments to determine regulations and the extent to which they’ll enforce them. Hoback is steadfast and serene in his interviewing despite confrontation with tribalist hypocrisy as West Virginia lawmakers roll back environmental regulations a year after the spill under lobbyist influence. This film carries a profound relevance in the face of Trump-era EPA rollbacks and defunding. After all, we all live downstream of something.

Director:

Cullen Hoback

Producers: John Ramos

Cullen Hoback

Nitin Khanna

Screenwriter: Cullen Hoback

Cinematographer: Vince Sweeney

Editors: Cullen Hoback

Geoffrey Richman

Music: John Morgan Askew

Featuring: Dr. Marc Edwards

Dr. Rahul Gupta

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Cullen Hoback

Randy Huffman

Dr. David Lewis

Maya Nye

Dr. Andrew Whelton

Running Time:

89 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP

International Sales:

Preferred Content

Print Source:

Preferred Content

Film Website: whatliesupstream.com

Selected Filmography:

Terms & Conditions May

Apply (2013)

Friction (2010)

Monster Camp (2007)

Freedom State (2006)

The Everything Machine (2006)

SETO SURYA

White Sun

NEPAL/USA/QATAR 2016

MONDAY, MAY 22 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

TUESDAY, MAY 30 9:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

It’s typical for a son to rebel against his father at some point. However, most youthful rebellion is personal, not political. In White Sun, the second feature film by Nepali director Deepak Rauniyar, Chandra, a Maoist rebel, returns home to bury his Royalist father. After years away from his home village, he is forced to face those he left long ago, including old friends, family, and his ex-wife. Consequently, conflicts arise—both personal and political. Throughout the extensive burial process, Chandra’s relationship with his village is slowly redeemed. While the process is emotionally strenuous, it ultimately brings a much-needed sense of peace and resolution. White Sun possesses an undeniable realism; disputes between characters evoke immeasurable tension, and the positive moments provide an equally relatable sense of tenderness. The film exposes us to a nation undergoing a difficult transition and relationships that parallel this. White Sun reminds us of the profound impact reconciliation can have, not just in our personal lives, but for the world.

Director: Deepak Rauniyar

Producers: Deepak Rauniyar

Joslyn Barnes

Tsering Rhitar Sherpa

Michel Merkt

Screenwriters: Deepak Rauniyar

David Barker

Cinematographer: Mark O’Fearghail

Editor: David Barker

Music: Vivek Maddala

Cast: Dayahang Rai

Asha Maya Magrati

Rabindra Singh Baniya

Sumi Malla

Running Time: 89 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Nepali, with English subtitles

International Sales: The Match Factory

Print Source: KimStim

Film Website: kimstim.com/whitesun.

html

Selected Filmography: Highway (2012)

Whose Streets?

USA 2017

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 4:30 PM

“Whose streets? Our streets!” became the iconic slogan of protesters reclaiming public spaces to express their voices. Directed by artists and activists Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis, Whose Streets? is a compelling film about police brutality in the U.S. today. The narrative focuses on the popular mobilization in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, where Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black teenager, was shot by Darren Wilson, a 28-year-old white police officer. The documentary is a sprawling, powerful immersion into the town’s upheavals, presenting portraits of several suffering inhabitants and activists, why they want to fight for justice, and allowing those affected to stand up and give their perspective about race relations in modern America and their vision for their community’s future. Highlighting a provocative topic, the storytelling is captivating and sincere, thanks to the incorporation of original cell-phone footage shot by the crowd of protesters and social-media quotes that had a tremendous impact on demonstrations. Politically strong and knowledgeable, Whose Streets? pulls no punches, linking individual stories to the bigger historical picture of racism and, ideally, helping a viewer to feel and understand more closely the perspective of people of color. For this generation, the battle is not for civil rights, but for the right to live.

Directors: Sabaah Folayan

Damon Davis

Producers: Sabaah Folayan

Jennifer MacArthur

Flannery Miller

Damon Davis

Screenwriters: Sabaah Folayan

Damon Davis

Cinematographer: Lucas Alvarado-Farrar

Editor: Christopher McNabb

Music: Samora Abayomi

Pinderhughes

Running Time: 100 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Submarine Entertainment

Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Film Website: whosestreets.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

Wind River

USA 2017

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 8 9:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Hot off the success of the Oscar®-nominated Hell or High Water, writer Taylor Sheridan impresses from the director’s chair with his next American frontier film. When U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker, American Hustle) discovers a body in the wilderness of the Wind River Indian Reservation, the FBI sends out rookie agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene), who has no idea how to handle the oppressive Wyoming winter. Banner quickly employs Lambert as a guide and tracker, and the two take off into a community devastated by drugs, violence, and the elements. After showing his skills as a writer with Hell or High Water and Sicario, Sheridan showcases his ability to create rich, unforgettable characters with nuanced dialogue and storytelling. Rounding out the cast with excellent supporting performances by Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves), Gil Birmingham (“House of Cards”) and Jon Bernthal (“The Walking Dead”), Sheridan creates a troubled world in this thrilling tale of survival against inescapable isolation and extreme nature, with Renner anchoring the film in a careerhigh performance as the sincere, soft-spoken tracker who can’t escape the tragedies of his past.

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Producers:

Elizabeth A. Bell

Peter Berg

Matthew George

Basil Iwanyk

Screenwriter: Taylor Sheridan

Cinematographer: Ben Richardson

Editor:

Gary Roach

Cast: Jeremy Renner

Elizabeth Olsen

Jon Bernthal

Gail Birmingham

Graham Greene

Running Time: 110 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: Wild Bunch

Print Source: Weinstein Co.

Selected Filmography: Vile (2011)

Winnie

FRANCE/NETHERLANDS/SOUTH AFRICA 2017

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 6:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 6:30 PM ARK LODGE

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 6:30 PM SHORELINE CC

A consistently controversial figure, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, wife of anti-apartheid revolutionary and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, shares her story in Pascale Lamche’s revealing documentary. Considered the “mother of the nation,” Winnie Mandela became the face of her husband’s movement during the 27 years he was imprisoned, staying in direct communication with the African National Congress (ANC) and their armed forces branch. Regularly arrested, and always on the front line with the people of South Africa, Winnie was an inspiration to seek justice and be heard at any cost. Lamche achieved interview access to Winnie on four different occasions within two years, gaining personal insight from her and her daughter Zinzi Mandela. Additional interviews with Vic McPherson (Director of STRATCOM operations) and Niël Barnard (Head of National Intelligence Service) show the other side— the people who viewed Winnie Mandela as a dangerous criminal. They discuss the intense surveillance procedures they used to monitor her, even going as far as providing the Mandelas with a bugged house. Winnie refused to live there with her husband, seeing through its guise as a home to what it really was: another prison. In Winnie, we learn through interviews and abundant archival footage that hers was a voice of the people that refused to be silenced.

Awards: Sundance Film Festival 2017 (Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary)

Director: Pascale Lamche

Producers: Christof Jörg

Steven Markovitz

Cinematographers: Olivier Raffet

Felix Meyburgh

Editors: Giles Gardner

Paul De Heer

Running Time: 98 minutes

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

Print Source: Pumpernickel Films

Selected Filmography: Stalingrad: Plus un pas en arriere (2015)

Black Diamond (2010) Sophiatown (2003)

EL INVIERNO

The Winter

ARGENTINA/FRANCE 2016

FRIDAY, MAY 19 7:00 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 23 9:30 PM

MAJESTIC BAY

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 1:00 PM KIRKLAND PC

Knowing little of life other than the workings of a vast Patagonian sheep ranch, weathered foreman Evans (Alejandro Sieveking, The Club) has his world upended after being replaced by talented young upstart Jara (Cristian Salguero, Paulina). Eager to prove his worth to an indifferent landowner and make a home for his wife and child, Jara easily proves his worth yet finds himself totally unprepared for the realities of an unforgiving winter, while an embittered Evans quietly plots a violent takeover of his former homestead, leading to a visceral fight to the death as nature rages around them in this austere and stunning thriller. In the tradition of the defining works of Hemingway and London, Emiliano Torres’ first film as director is a lean, muscular tale of survival against the unforgiving forces of both nature and man himself. Winner of both the Special Jury Award and the Jury Award for Best Cinematography at the 2016 San Sebastián Film Festival, The Winter takes its place among the classic tales of man’s struggle for control against nature and for his own destiny.

Awards:

Macao Film Festival 2016 (Grand Prize) San Sebastián Film Festival 2016 (Special Jury Award, Best Cinematography)

Biarritz Film Festival 2016 (Best Actor)

Director: Emiliano Torres

Producers:

Ezequiel Borovinsky

Alejandro Israel

Raphaël Berdugo

Emiliano Torres

Screenwriters: Emiliano Torres

Marcelo Chaparro

Cinematographer: Ramiro Civita

Editor:

Alejandro Brodersohn

Music: Cyril Morin

Cast: Alejandro Sieveking

Cristian Salguero

Adrián Fondari

Pablo Cedrón

Running Time: 98 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Cité Films

Print Source: Tamasa Distribution

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Witches USA 1990

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 1:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

You may think witches have long, crooked noses, wear pointy hats, and ride on brooms. Not so. Witches hide in all sorts of disguises, so it’s important you know what to watch out for. You might see them limping just a bit—that’s because witches don’t have toes, just nubs where they should be. They’ll often be found itching at their head, because the wigs they wear can cause intense scalp rash. If you’re ever unlucky enough to stare into a witch’s eyes, you’ll notice they are an unnatural purple. This is how you can identify one. In Nicolas Roeg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved novel of the same name, The Witches, Luke travels to a hotel by the sea with his grandma after his parents tragically die in an accident. While there, he befriends a forever-hungry boy named Bruno and explores the hotel with his pet mice. Luke stumbles upon a secret meeting of women, and is terrified to watch them throw off their wigs, kick off their shoes, and reveal themselves to be a convention of witches led by a Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) who has a plan to turn all children into mice using her special “Formula 86.” This darkly funny and fantastical story, the last film Jim Henson worked on before his death, boasts some truly creepy puppetry and makeup and puts a uniquely macabre spin on childhood fears and dreams.

Awards:

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1991 (Best Actress, Anjelica Huston)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 1990 (Best Actress, Anjelica Huston)

Director: Nicolas Roeg

Producers: Mark Shivas

Jim Henson

Dusty Symonds

Screenwriters: Roald Dahl

Allan Scott

Cinematographer: Harvey Harrison

Editor: Tony Lawson

Music: Stanley Myers

Cast: Anjelica Huston

Mai Zetterling

Jasen Fisher

Rowan Atkinson

Running Time: 91 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

Print Source: Warner Bros.

Selected Filmography: Puffball: The Devil’s

Eyeball (2007)

Two Deaths (1995)

Cold Heaven (1991)

Track 29 (1988)

Castaway (1986)

Eureka (1983)

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Walkabout (1971)

Performance (co-director with Donald Cammell) (1970)

Propel Insurance proudly supports SIFF in their mission to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. It is through the art of cinema that we foster a community that is more informed, aware, and alive.

800 499 0933

propelinsurance.com

Capitol Hill Stone Way

Seattle Center

South Lake Union

Without Name

IRELAND 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 9:00 PM

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 9:30 PM

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 9:30 PM

LINCOLN SQUARE

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

When Eric is hired to survey a small plot of rural land for a property developer, he hopes it will be the financial break he so desperately needs. His business is near bankruptcy, his family life strained, and the passionate affair he’s been having with his assistant, Olivia, has cooled. At first the job looks to be almost too easy, but Eric finds the forested landscape to possess a weirdly disorienting genius loci—shifting silhouettes and shadows barely glimpsed yet always present—a sinister, spectral intelligence at play. Shortly before Olivia arrives to aid him, Eric makes the acquaintance of Gus, a charismatic local squatter who has his own strange accounts of the remote woods: how the previous inhabitant of Eric’s cottage sought to communicate with a presence he believed inhabited the area, leaving behind a bizarre manuscript entitled “Knowledge of Trees.” As Eric and Olivia struggle to complete the survey, fear and paranoia take root in Eric’s psyche, increasingly drawing him into the mysterious, ethereal wilds. In his feature film debut, director Lorcan Finnegan crafts an eerie eco-nightmare, employing creepy chiaroscuro cinematography to transmute the deep dark woods into a theatre of cosmic Lovecraftian horror.

Awards: Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016 (Best Feature, Director, Editing, Cinematography)

CARPINTEROS

Woodpeckers

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2017

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 6:00 PM

Director: Lorcan Finnegan

Producer: Brunella Cocchiglia

Screenwriter: Garret Shanley

Cinematographer: Piers McGrail

Editor: Tony Cranstoun

Music:

Neil O’Connor

Gavin O’Brien

Cast: Alan McKenna

Niamh Algar

James Browne

Olga Wehrly

Running Time: 93 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: m-appeal

Print Source: m-appeal

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 1:00 PM SHORELINE CC

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 2:30 PM

Sent to Santo Domingo’s notorious Najayo prison for theft, wily and intelligent Julian (Jean Jean) quickly acclimates himself to his brutal new surroundings, using the prison’s hidden economies to his advantage while desperately trying to hold on to his humanity. When psychotic Manaury (Ramón Emilio Candelario) is sent to solitary, he enlists Julian to take over “woodpecking”—an intricate sign language used to communicate with nearby female inmates—with his girlfriend, the beautiful, tough-as-nails Yanelly (Judith Rodríguez). As Julian and Yanelly’s communication grows into something deeper, Manaury’s suspicions drive him over the edge, sending the trio into an unexpected life-or-death confrontation in this stunning new film. Winner of both the Special Jury Prize and Best Actor awards at this year’s Guadalajara International Film Festival, the sixth feature from writer/director José María Cabral heralds a major new voice in a burgeoning Dominican film industry. Equal parts tender love story and gritty realist drama, Woodpeckers is the unforgettable breakout from one of the Dominican Republic’s most exciting young filmmakers.

Awards:

Guadalajara International Film Festival 2017 (Special Jury Prize, Best Actor)

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Director: José María Cabral

Producers: María José Ripoll

José María Cabral

Screenwriter: José María Cabral

Cinematographer: Hernán Herrera

Editor: José María Cabral

Music:

Freddy Ginebra

Cast: Jean Jean

Judith Rodríguez

Ramón Emilio Candelario

Running Time:

106 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

Selected Filmography: Detective Willy (2015)

Despertar (2014)

Arrobá (2013)

Check Mate (2012) Excexos (2008)

The Work

USA 2017

SATURDAY, MAY 27 8:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

MONDAY, MAY 29 4:30 PM PACIFIC PLACE

Step inside Folsom Prison with three men from the outside as they join level-four convicts for a four-day intensive group-therapy retreat. Together they will all participate in “the work” of revealing their rawest emotions to rid themselves of the deep aggression they feel inside.

One at a time, the men from the inside get in touch with themselves, break down, and all at once begin to heal, but it’s the men from outside who must let go of their preconceived notions of what they’re supposed to feel and what the prisoners want them to feel, and just release the pain and anger they’ve collected over time. In their debut feature, directors Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous volunteered for the organization that has hosted the therapy sessions for many years to gain the trust of the thick-skinned subjects, who now are sharing their feelings not only with the room but with audiences everywhere. While it’s easy to write off violent convicts as they sit in prison, The Work drops us behind the walls and alters your perception of rehabilitation. The only request from the men: Listen without judgement.

Awards:

SXSW 2017 (Grand Jury Winner)

Directors:

Jairus McLeary

Gethin Aldous

Producers: Alice Henty

Jairus McLeary

Eon McLeary

Miles McLeary

Angela Sostre

Cinematographer: Arturo Santamaria

Editor:

Amy Foote

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP

International Sales: The Film Sales Company

Print Source: The Film Sales Company

Film Website: theworkfilm.com

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

Wùlu

FRANCE/SENEGAL/MALI 2016

TUESDAY, MAY 23 8:00 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 3:45 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN SATURDAY, MAY 27 1:00 PM LINCOLN SQUARE

Daouda Coulibaly’s debut feature is a political thriller with echoes of DePalma’s Scarface, featuring a lowly transit ticket seller who ascends in the criminal underworld of Bamako, Mali, and finds himself trafficking drugs against the interests of the military, the government, and even al-Qaeda. Ladji (Ibrahim Koma) barely makes enough money from the bus company to cover his rent for a shack that he shares with his sister. Finding himself financially desperate, he soon finds his knowledge of the travel industry has great advantages in crossing borders with illegal goods. Unfortunately, with the money now flowing in, Ladji discovers that he has more debts than he can handle and can’t escape the downward pull of his new lifestyle. Wùlu brilliantly focuses on Ladji’s story, but observant audiences will find it a strong political commentary on Mali (especially in the film’s setting in advance of its 2012 coup d’etat). Deliberately paced through a gradually building suspense, Wùlu explores the corruption of power in a narrative of thrilling complexity, solidifying Coulibaly as a filmmaker the world will be watching for years to come.

Director: Daouda Coulibaly

Producer: Éric Név

Screenwriter: Daouda Coulibaly

Cinematographer: Pierre Milon

Editor: Julien Leloup

Music: Éric Neveux

Cast: Ibrahim Koma

Inna Modja

Ismael Ndiaye

Jean-Marie Traoré

Dembélé Habib

Mariame Ndiaye

Quim Gutierrez

Oliver Rabourdin

Running Time: 95 minutes

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

International Sales: Indie Sales

Print Source: Indie Sales

Film Website: facebook.com/ladjinye

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature Film

The Young Karl Marx

FRANCE/GERMANY/BELGIUM 2017

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 6:00 PM

In Raoul Peck’s latest film, the 99% are coming to a new understanding of how the system is rigged against them and a new recognition of how they can work together to resist. They’re struggling to articulate a coherent philosophy and searching for a leader, a movement that will chart a path forward. A film for our time? Yes, but set in the mid-19th century, in the heady early days of the birth of Communism. Twenty-six-year-old Karl Marx (August Diehl) is living in Paris with his young wife Jenny, who has traded material luxury with her aristocratic family for intellectual squalor with her atheist, socialist husband. Enter Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske), whose bourgeois father owns mills and factories, exploiting the very workers Marx wants to help. The three embark on a whirlwind tour of European capitals, drinking, smoking, and arguing late into the night, working out the ideas and ideals that would find expression in Marx’s ringing call to arms, The Communist Manifesto. The enduring relevance of these ideas is made clear in the film’s closing credits, which play over a montage of revolutionary figures and movements—Che, Nelson Mandela, the Vietnam protests, the Occupy movement—from the following 170 years. Audiences of the world, unite!

Director: Raoul Peck

Producers: Nicolas Blanc

Remi Grellety

Robert Guediguian

Raoul Peck

Screenwriters: Pascal Bonitzer

Pierre Hodgson

Raoul Peck

Cinematographer: Kolja Brandt

Editor: Frédérique Broos

Music: Aleksy Aygi

Cast: August Diehl

Stefan Konarske

Vicky Krieps

Hannah Steele

Olivier Gourmet

Running Time: 118 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in German and English, with English

subtitles

International Sales:

Films Distribution

Print Source:

The Orchard

Selected Filmography: I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

Murder in Pacot (2014)

Assistance mortelle (2013)

Lumumba (2000)

The Man on the Shore (1993)

DANGSINJASINGWA DANGSINUI GEOT

Yourself and Yours

SOUTH KOREA 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 21 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, MAY 22 9:30 PM MAJESTIC BAY

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

When his mother falls deathly ill, Youngsoo finds himself in an emotional crisis. With the shadow of his own mortality knocking on the door, he wonders if he should take the leap to start his own family and marry his longtime girlfriend Minjung. Once that idea takes root in his mind, rumors start flying about his soon-to-be-fiance: that she’s been seen drinking with other men. When Youngsoo confronts her, she adamantly denies it. Soon more and more sightings of multiple Minjungs are being reported, complicating Youngsoo’s marriage-proposal idea and seeming to manifest all of his insecurities about life and love into several physical forms. This South Korean absurdist comedy by Hong Sang-soo (Right Now, Wrong Then, Our Sunhi) is an inspired reversal of surrealist director Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece That Obscure Object of Desire, which follows one woman played by multiple actresses. Yourself and Yours is a bizarre and playful meditation on relationship hang-ups and hesitancies, and all the people we can be in the face of tragedy.

Director: Hong Sang-soo

Producer: Hong Sang-soo

Screenwriter: Hong Sang-soo

Cinematographer: Park Hong-yeol

Editor: Hahm Sung-won

Music: Dalpalan

Cast: Lee You-young

Kim Joo-Hyuck

Kim Eui-sung

Kwon Hae-hyo

Yu Jun-sang

Running Time: 86 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Korean, with English subtitles

International Sales: Finecut Co. Ltd

Print Source: Finecut Co. Ltd

Selected Filmography: Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)

Hill of Freedom (2014)

Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (2013)

Our Sunhi (2013)

In Another Country (2012)

The Day He Arrives (2011) Hahaha (2010)

Like You Know It All (2009)

Night and Day (2008)

Woman on the Beach (2006)

On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)

Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000)

The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996)

CINERAMA

Zip & Zap and the Captain’s Island

SPAIN 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 28 1:30 PM

SIFF CINEMA EGYPTIAN

MONDAY, MAY 29 1:00 PM SHORELINE CC

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 1:00 PM ARK LODGE

Their first adventure, Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang, took SIFF 2014 by storm, winning the Films4Families Jury Prize with its mix of fantasy excitement and mischievous youth antics. This year, Zip & Zap return with a new adventure that successfully ups the ante of the first film. Initially bored by the images of Sherlock Holmes, Allan Quatermain, and Jekyll and Hyde, Zip & Zap will have to use the conglomerate skills of those classic characters to unearth the secrets which threaten the lives of everyone on Captain’s Island. Originally visiting the island to accompany their father, they are surprised to come upon a house run by Miss Pam (Elena Anaya in an inspired role). Aside from just a couple of adults, the only others on the island are children—and Miss Pam believes in no rules. What seems perfect for the titular tricksters soon becomes a nightmare as their parents go missing. Ultimately deciding that their parents need to be found, the children of the island band together to unravel the mystery behind Miss Pam and her island of youth. Director Oskar Santos has crafted another thrilling film that exhibits both vintage and modern sensibilities, making it appealing for young audiences and a delight for older children-at-heart.

Director: Oskar Santos

Producers: Fernando Bovaira

Mikel Lejarza

Francisco Ramo

Koldo Zuazua

Mercedes Gamero

Screenwriters:

Jose Escobar

Jorge Lara

Oskar Santos

Cinematographer: Daniel Sosa Segura

Editor: Carolina Martínez Urbina

Music: Fernando Velazquez

Cast: Elena Anaya

Teo Planell

Toni Gomez

Ana Blanco de Cordova

Iria Castellano

Máximo Pastor

Carolina Lapausa

Jorge Bosch

Running Time: 105 minutes

Presentation Format:

DCP, in Spanish, with English subtitles

International Sales: Film Factory Entertainment

Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

Selected Filmography: Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang (2013)

For the Good of Others (2010)

ZOOLOGIYA

Zoology

RUSSIA/FRANCE/GERMANY 2016

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 8:45 PM

KIRKLAND PC

TUESDAY, JUNE 6 8:45 PM ARK LODGE

SATURDAY, JUNE 10 6:30 PM SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN

Zoology is a wonderfully offbeat dramedy that centers on introverted, middle-aged Natasha (brilliantly played with conviction by relative newcomer Natalia Pavlenkova). She lives a quiet life with her religious, TV-addicted mother in a small coastal town on the Black Sea, and works in administration at the local zoo. Snubbed and scoffed at by her colleagues, she often feels more comfortable with animals than with people. This predilection somehow manifests itself, and soon her dreams of being “normal” are dashed by the discovery of a tail growing at the bottom of her spine. A handsome young X-ray technician at the local clinic becomes intrigued with her case, and, to Natasha’s surprise, romance blossoms. Her deformity soon becomes a jumping-off point toward embracing a newfound femininity and hunger for life. Zoology is a provocative film about transformation and taking destiny into your own hands. Ivan Tverdovsky directs this whimsical story that effectively comments on themes of disability and otherness, especially in post-Communist Russia where it plays out. Everyone has a tail—some hide it and some cannot.

Awards:

Fantastic Fest 2016 (Next Wave Features, Best Picture)

Karlovy Vary 2016 (Special Jury Prize) Cottbus Film Festival 2016 (Best Film)

Director: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Producers:

Natalia Mokritskaya

Mila Rozanova

Uliana Savelieva

Screenwriter: Ivan I. Tverdovsky

Cinematographer: Aleksandr Mikeladze

Editors:

Ivan Tverdovsky

Vincent Assman

Cast:

Natalia Pavlenkova

Alexander Gorchilin

Dmitriy Groshev

Irina Chipizhenko

Anna Astashkina

Maria Tokareva

Running Time: 87 minutes

Presentation Format: DCP, in Russian, with English subtitles

International Sales: New Europe Film Sales

Print Source: Cartilage Films

Film Website: cartilagefilms.com/zoology.html

Selected Filmography: Corrections Class (2014)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sarah Wilke INTERIM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Beth Barrett

FESTIVAL FOUNDERS Darryl Macdonald and Dan Ireland

PROGRAMMING

Festival Programming Manager

Stan Shields

Cinema Programs Manager

Lori Donnelly

Programming Coordinator

Cory Rodriguez

Senior Programmers

Maryna Ajaja

Justine Barda

Programmers

Angelo Acerbi

Tilson Allen-Merry

Beth Barrett

Juan Manuel Dominguez

Dan Doody

Laura Good

Marcus Gorman

Sarah Harris

Ruth Hayler

Jane Julian

Dustin Kaspar

Megan Leonard

Clinton McClung

Dale Nash

Cory Rodriguez

Stan Shields

Andy Spletzer

Hebe Tabachnik

Tom Vick

Programming Interns

Zac Blachon

Juliana Bojorquez

James Davis

Nello De Angelis

Sandra Onana

Sophie Tsotridis

Andy Volk

EDUCATION AND FORUMS

Educational Programs Manager

Dustin Kaspar

Youth Programs Coordinator

Damme Getachew

Screenplay Competition Coordinator

Tanar Dial

Education Intern

Zac Blachon

GUEST RELATIONS

Guest Relations Manager

Rhonda Sable

Guest Relations Coordinator

Saunatina Sanchez

Guest Relations Travel Coordinator

Courtney Hagans

Filmmaker Concierge

Sidney Jayne Hunt

Guest Relations Administrative

Assistant

Aileen Fowler

Guest Relations Interns

Jay Baez

Susan Forhan

Mariela Gonzales

Lydia Isayas

David Lee

Ruby Wishnietsky

Jocelyn Zamundio

DEVELOPMENT AND INDIVIDUAL GIVING

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Nancy Kennedy

Director of Philanthropy

Ben McCarthy

Donor Relations Officer

Emily Guillen

Corporate Relations Manager

Rick Baker

Community Relations Manager

Kelly Erlandson

Special Events Manager

Mytet Gumin

Development Coordinator

Allison Gibson

Membership & Development Associate

Mike DeStefano

Membership & Development Intern

Mallory Sandoval

Festival Lounge Manager

Kristen Pettit

Festival Special Events Coordinator

Kayley Kim

Festival Special Events Associate

Katie Parker

Festival Special Events Assistants

Rayven Palmer

Nathaniel Porter

Festival Special Events Intern

Lauren Hong

Development Consulting

Grant Support: Lisa Comtois

Special Events: Kate Harrison— Facility, Inc.

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Director of Marketing and Communications

Elizabeth Rossi

Marketing Manager

Leah Anderson

Digital Marketing Manager

Charlotte Linton

Marketing Coordinator

Shaun Mejia

Graphic Designer

Anna Helland

Festival Marketing Associates

Megan Garbayo

Kanani Koster

Holly Palmer

Benjamin Taylor

Marketing Interns

Hannah Cropf

Dominique Deramat

Sam Ditty

Nick Javidi-Sharifi

Digital Marketing Interns

Ethan Liem

Felice Luu

Content Management Intern

Joseph Leavitt

Festival Graphic Design Associate

Anthony Keo

Graphic Design Interns

Esha More

Whitney Veloski

Festival Public Relations Manager

Nina Cates

Festival Publicists

Chason Gordon

Sophia Perez

Riley Siewert

Sara Wainwright-Feldman

Festival PR Interns

Adrian Florez

Danielle Pascual

Ashley Pineda

Trey Tice

Festival Publications Manager

Gavin Borchert

Festival Publications Associate

Editors

Marcus Gorman

Emalie Soderback

Festival Publications Website

Editor

Clare Canzoneri

Festival Publications Design

Consultant

Steven Meyer

Festival Publications Interns

Anika Bates

Owen Bostrom

Connor Cartmill

Vivian Huang

Writers

Maryna Ajaja

Justine Barda

Beth Barrett

Anika Bates

Gavin Borchert

Owen Bostrom

Connor Cartmill

Dan Doody

Kathy Fennessy

Marcus Gorman

Vivian Huang

Dustin Kaspar

Megan Leonard

Clinton McClung

Stan Shields

Emalie Soderback

Andy Spletzer

Hebe Tabachnik

Randy Woods

Festival Photographers

Beth Crook (coordinator)

Amy Kowalenko

Monica Valenzuela

Festival Photography Interns

Lauren Chagaris

Miranda Foley

Ashlyn Gehrett

Matthew Hammond

Jinsoo Park

Rosemary Reyes

Kate Tucker

FINANCE

Accounting Manager

Kasey Davis

Accounting Assistant

Chase Patrick

OPERATIONS

Director of Operations

Tim Nicholson

Director of Operations

Dustin O’Dell

Volunteer Manager

Lisa Brown

Technical Manager

Mark Allender

Technical Assistant

Lauren Wilson

Rentals and Sales Manager

Betty Tweedy

Cinema Operations Manager

Andrew Niece

Festival Operations Manager

Carley Callahan

Festival Operations Coordinator

David Corry

Festival Venue Coordinator

Christa Luckenbach

Festival Box Office Manager

Carly Rose Moser

Festival Box Office Assistant Manager

Jody Cole

Festival Credentials Coordinator

Eric Tate

Festival Video Quality Control Officer

Tony Kress

Festival Print Traffic Manager

Josh Wakeland

Festival Print Traffic Assistant Manager

Emily Shurtz

Festival Production Manager

Caitlyn Pozerski

Festival Production Coordinator

Gabriella Banet

Festival Production Driver

Karen Cruz

IT Manager

Keith Smith

FileMaker/Database Consultant

Mark Canizaro

SIFF Cinema Staff

Felicia Alumbaugh

Edwin Bailey

Gabriella Banet

Laren Barulich

Haley Bates

Cindy Brettler

Maggie Corrigan

David Corry

James Davis

Sophie Donlon

Mychal Ducken

Alicia Betty Elder

Hannah Evans

Lauren Green

Megan Hesketh

Drew Highlands

Whitney Hinshaw

Kevin Kelly

Christopher Lott

Aliah Lynn

Alex Martin

Miguel Martinez

Ali Masterson

Kyle McMillin

Malakie Peters

Kevin Phaup

Amanda Radisich

Alex Rhue

Greg Salvatore

Cameron Sanelli

Amy Scott

Emily Shurtz

Paul Siple

Lauren Thomas

Alessandro Undeberg

Andrew Walker

Aaron Wilson

Projectionists

Patrick Gateley

Ricky Hancock

Larry Price

Jim Tuohey

Josh Wakeland

Lauren Wilson

Venue Managers

Alana Rae Davis

Derrick Dover

Cola Engel

Amanda Laughlin

Alex Mills

Anthony Noceda

Emily Price

Mitch Ritter

Alex Vazquez

Lead Ushers

Stephanie Bailey

Gianna Barbadillo

Whitney Bennett

Julia Berglund

Jonathan Bregman

George Carr

Jaci Dahlvang

Mark Davidek

Mark Desmond

Jacquie Dinnie

Sue Duvall

Alex Forney

Alison Fujino

Wilda Heard

Mike Lee

Stacy Lenny

Joyce Longstaff

John Middleton

Ariel Parrow

Jim Perryman

Joy Ralph

Ted Ralph

Dolores Rossman

Fauna Samuel

Chuck Schafer

Nina Tang

Kristi Thomas

Jacqueline Volin

Devon Wells

Angelique White

Front Desk

Joyce Boewe

Jeffrey Cavanaugh

John Chaney

Carol Ginsberg

Peter Grieshaber

Kerri Hill

Eric Morgret

Nick Nguyen

Shawn Nicholson

Justin Phillips

Nancy Reichley

Dan Roberts

Jinny Weintraub

Marie Winders-Gaddis

Office Dogs

Birdie!

Darwin

Kitty

Parker

Patronus

ADVERTISING AGENCY

WongDoody

PUBLISHING SERVICES

Encore Media Group

Publication Design and Production

Ana Alvira

Paul Heppner

Robin Kessler

Susan Peterson

Shaun Swick

Stevie Van Bronkhorst

Advertising Sales

Brieanna Bright

Joey Chapman

Mike Hathaway

Ann Manning

Jonathan Shipley

Carol Yip

Alea Abrams

Shirley Abreu

Colin Acton

Bob Adsitt

Daniel Ah Tou

Michael Ah Tou

Marc Ahrens

Annmarie Aidoo

Andrew Akada

James Akita

Andrea Albro

Cecille Alexander

Cooper Alexander

Amanda Alfonso

Alma Allen

Ann Allen

Hilda Allum

Michele Ada Alston

Zeynep Altas

Christine Ammann

Cheryl Anden

Nancy Anderson

Ariz Andros

Andres Arjona

Takhmina Arjona

Manon Arnone

Jeff Arntsen

Michelle Atkins

Allison Ator

Emily Ausema

John Avinger

Fatima Aviquivil

Zeeba Baccetti

Ian Bae

Carrie Bagatell

Adam Bagley

Chris Bailey

Stephanie Bailey

Mara Elise Baldwin

Tam Banua

Gianna Barbadillo

Ellis Bareuther

Teresa Barnes

Dominique Barni

Laila Barr

Carla Barrick

Janet Barrientos

Jessica Bartel

Sinag Basir

Geneva Basye

Arabella Bautista

John Bazzoli

Florian Becquereau

Kevin Beder

Jason Beffa

Rena Behar

Pina Belgrano

Chris Bell

Chester Bennett

Leslie Bennett

Whitney Bennett

Peg Benson

Jacqueline Benster

Corey Berger

Julia Berglund

Tony Betz

Karen Biggers

Rosalie Bigongiari

Marty Bisch

Sabine Bischofberger

Moni Black

Peter Blackburn

Lana Blinderman

Grace Block

Ilona Bodderij

Rick Bodlaender

Joyce Boewe

Robert Bojorquez

Colleen Bollen

Spencer Bollen

Richard Bollinger

Shirley Bollinger

Eleanor Bond

Michael Bratton

Katrina Brede

Jonathan Bregman

Eileen Brennan

Jill Briggs

Aaron Brown

Keyonne Brown

Katie Bruce

Elizabeth Bruning

Adriana Bugarin

Leah Bui

Carla Bujnowski

Paul Bullard

Dominic Bulygo

Jenifer Bunis

Dana Burns

Judy Burnstin

Hayden Bushfield

Kevin Bystrom

Mingmin Cai

Sue Campbell

Teanna Campbell

Symphony Canady

Christina Cantillo

Jeannette Caporale

Lisa Carbone

Brian Carlin

George Carr

Patrick Carr

Patrice Carroll

Joel Carsley

Nikki Carsley

Paul Casey

Therese Casper

Jeffrey Cavanaugh

Laura Cecil

Marie Cermak

Delaney Cerna

Jessica Chamberlain

Emily Chan

Kelly Chandler

John Chaney

Katie Chapin

Moniece Charlton

Charlotte Chase

Jean Chen

Xueying Chen

Steve Cheung

Jim Chin

Justina Chin

Franklin Chinn

Stanley Choi

SuJ’n Chon

Margaret Chou

Philip Chou

Leslie Chui

Aram Chun

Gail Clifford

Mallory Close

Alicia Cohn

Duane Colbert

Michael Cold

Anna Coles

Lynda Collie Johnson

Theresa Collier

Alexandra Collier Pittle

Nicole Collins

Bryan Colson

David Cook

Kay Louise Cook

Maria Cook

Rich Cook

Mia Cooledge

Janelle Coppinger

Christopher Coronado

Maggie Corrigan

Tyler Cowdrey

Pamela Cox

Jocelynn Coyne

Valea Coyne

Heather Craig

Sasha Cruver

Shannon Cumming

Damien Custodio

Richard Cuthbert

Jacquie Dahl

Jaci Dahlvang

Sally Daniels

Elora Das

Mark Davidek

Camila David-Smith

Cheri Davis

Julie Davis

Sherry Davis

Laurie Dawson

Nabanita De

Susan Decker

Mari Del Fierro

Kasey Demelo

Edla Deppman

Mark Desmond

Jill Devenport

Andres Di Geronimo-Stenberg

John Dickson

Justin Dieter

Jacquie Dinnie

John Dobrosielski

Tracy Doherty

Elinor Doran

Barrett Dowell

Diane Driscoll

Woodrow Dtric

Brigit Dubois

Rebecca Dugopolski

Wendy Durant

Sue Duvall

Tony Eans

Shelley Eirich

Erica Elder

Monica Elenes

Jordan Ellingwood

Richard Ellison

Lon Elmer

Yo Endo

Nadia Eng

Anjali Englund

Ella Erickson

Anita Ertel

Amanda Erven

Lisa Espinosa

Eric Esteban

Marilyn Evans

Kristoffer Everson

Laura Fakhry

Pam Farrel

Nicholas Fell

Lauren Fernandez

Mike Finch

Claudia Fiore

Connie Fisher

Liz Fleck

Adriana Flores

Susan Forhan

Alexander Forney

Raif Forsland

Peggy Foster

Keaton Freet

Alene Freidenrich

Sue Frohreich

Leandra Fuentes

Alison Fujino

Conor Galagan-Mead

Erwin Galan

Alex Gallo-Brown

Emmanuel Gambliel

Edir Garcia Lazo

Edel Garcia-Munguia

Faith Garrick

Julie Gauntt

Deanna Gauthier

Antonio Gebran

Gabrielle Geiger

Maki Gemma

Eric Geniesse

Raluca Georgescu

Gurdeep Gill

Marian Gillis

Carol Ginsberg

Liz Gloor

Lisa Goldsmith

Lauren Goldstein

Alessandra Gonzales

Sue Gonzales

Wendy Gonzales

Greg Gorrasi

Patrick Grace

Eric Gregory

Alan Grenon

Heather Griesbach

Peter Grieshaber

Eliana Grosof

David Gross

Vivian Gross

Bri Grozak

Evelyn Guerra

Norman Gunderson

James Gurney

Gail Gustavson

Roberto D Gutierrez

Sandy Gutting

Jess Haas

Doug Hacker

Quency Hadisubroto

Beth Hamby

Mark Hancock

Natalie Hansby

BreAna Hansen

Jenn Hanson

Robert Hanson

Danning Hao

Jerry Harter

Shannon Harvey

Christina Hastings

Danielle Hayden

Marcy Haydt

Christina Hayes

Lois Head

Richard Head

Wilda Heard

Carter Hearne

Christine Heckman

Bill Hendricks

Bill Hensen

Teri Hensen

Liz Herlevi

Rachel Hervey

Saina Heshmati

Gina Hicks

Susan Hiles

Kerri Hill

Sarah Hill

Coleman Hindes

Tomoaki Hirabayashi

Elise Hirschi

Carolyn Hitter

Jim Hitter

Matthew Hlavaty

Vivian Hoang

Annette Holland

Kathryn Holland

Mischa Hong

Alexis Hope

Yushi Horita

Kento Hoshi

Vera Hsu

Vivian Hsu

Amy Hsu-Snyder

Bu Huang

Tianxiao Huang

Rachel Hubbard

Lindsey Hummel

Bronwyn Hunt

Susan Hunt

Sogna Hutchis

Hideko Hyodo

David Ikeda

Marisa Iliakis

Nadia Indart

Amelia Iraheta

Lyla Irvine

Shion Ishizuka

Karlyne Iwata

Sridevi Iyengar

Heather Jacobs

Lesley Jacobs

Alan Jacobson

Kara Jakobs

Danielle Jalbert

Johnny Jeans

Rhiannon Johns

Angie Johnson

Avery Johnson

Eliza Johnson

Holly Johnson

Tisha Johnson

Damon Jones

Dorothy Jones

Elaine Jones

Jeff Jones

Lisa Jones

Julia Jongsma

Ellen Judson

Joe Kadushin

Lesley Kalmin

Wing Shan Kam

Michael Kan

Dave Kane

Amanda Kaniclides

Daisuke Katsuta

Paul Keim

Daniel Kelleher

Sana Keller

Eleanor Kelley

Kathie Kelly

Kevin Kelly

Lindsey Kelly-Huff

Kelly Kemmerling

Tia Kemp

Mary Baldwin Kennedy

Justin Kerwin

Susan Kese

Dan Kiesecker

Patricia Killam

Denise Kivlen

Caitlin Klask

Tess Klemke

Hironori Kobayashi

Saho Kondo

Cynthia Konecny

Mark Konecny

Tyler Korth

Jeremy Kowalski

Rebekah Kowalski

Clark Labelson

Helen Lafferty

Shaune Lam

Geo Lane

Suzanne Lane

Austin Larkin

John Lawler

Dorothy Le

Hao Le

Eleni Ledesma

Daeun Lee

Julien Lee

Leah Lee

Lena Lee

Mike Lee

Paige Lee

William Lee

Doniel Leemans

John Lehmann

Alan Lenny

Stacy Lenny

Jamie Leresche

Louise Lew

Agnes Li

Ellen Liang

Peggy Liao

Tien-Hao Liao

Charlie Liban

Nathan Lim

Rita Lin

Xiaoyu Lin

Heidi Lindholm

Jenny Lo

Peter Lock

Mitchell Long

Joyce Longstaff

Froilan Lorais

Barb Lord

Pamela Lord

Gary Lu

Siyu Lu

Caitlin Luebbe

Margaret Lukoff

Bri Lum

Johnathan Luster

Kelly Lyles

David Magill

Druce Maguire

Denis Mahony

John Maino

Ethan Major

Rachel Mallasch

Upendran Manickam

Bernard Mann

Janina Martin

Melodye Martinez

Justin Masi

Erin Mcandrew

Elizabeth McDaniel

Maria Mcdaniel

Sheldon Mcgee

Louis Mcgill

Kim McGillivray

Columba Mcglynn

Mary Mcgough

Brian Mchenry

Laura Mclane

Debbie Mcphillips

Bill McQuaid

Robin Mcquinn

Roger Meers

Ursula Mehl

Callie Mejia

Alyssa Mendlein

Ev Merrienne

John Middleton

Stephen Mikan

Anoushka Millear

Cindy Miller

George Miller

Stephen Miller

Kandace Milligan

Francis Miranda

Ray Misra

Judy Moise

Kimm Mooney

Katie Moore

Eric Morgret

Tony Morse

Jennifer Morton

Madeline Mow

Valerie Heide Mudra

Giuliana Mulazzi

Jennifer Murphy

Scott Mus

Chase Myers

Sarah Myrick

Janice Nacion

Andy Nagashima

Denise Nakamura

Yuta Nakamura

Thomas Nastvogel

Patricia Naujokat

Maud Naveau

Michael Naveau

Jessica Neher

John Nelson

Denise G. Ness

Trudy Neumann

Jan Ng

George Ngo

Brandon Nguyen

Nick Nguyen

Lauren Nichols

Shawn Nicholson

E-Ping Nie Medalia

Andrew Niece

Michael Nikolaus

Yuriko Nishiha

Sebastian Niziol

Kim Nonen

Mimi Noyes

Dave Obrien

Naoko Oguchi

Jeanne Olson

Katie Osborne

Merri Osborne

Kari Oversvee-Choi

Pinar Ozhal

Karen Ozmun

Neil Pacheco

Susan Padfield

Jas Panag

Rakhee Pankhania

Anne Pariseau

Soyoung Park

Katie Parker

Clinton Parrilla

Ariel Parrow

Raakhi Patel

Linda Patterson

Kelly Pedotto

Jimmy Perryman

Will Petscher

Sarah Pettersen

Justin Phillips

Temma Pistrang

Ashley Podplesky

Josephine Pompey

Danielle Posadas

Lynn Poser

Emily Powell

Nichol Preciado

Isobel Press

Carleton Pritchard

Brian Prosser

Anita Proudfoot

Ian Pumo

Laura Quan

Greta Rainbow

Joy Ralph

Ted Ralph

David Rambo

Whitney Ramirez

Deepthi Rao

Cheryl Redd-Cuthbert

Hillary Reich

Nancy Reichley

Ethel Reines

Emily Reno

Janice Richardson

Ramona Ridgewell

Eric Ritter

Daniel Roberts

Caitlin Robertson

Matt Robesch

Marilyn Robinson

Allen Rogers

Jonah Rogin

Tania Maria Rosario

Laura Rose

Iris Rosechild

Ira Rose-Kim

Brittany Rosenau

Avram Rosenbaum

Adam Rosencrantz

Dolores Rossman

Arlene Rubin

Josh Russell

Deborah Rustin

Leslie Saber

Dominique Sabins

Dallas Saffel

Mauricio Sainz

Hiroki Sakamoto

Dan Sakaue

Fauna Samuel

Rene Sanchez

Saunatina Sanchez

Susana Sawrey

Chuck Schafer

Dorothea Schelch

Shelley Schermer

Carol Schillreff

Alan Schneider

Mary Schneider

Ann Schroeder

Mary Schroeder

Ken Schwartz

Mark Schwartz

Sandra Schwartz

Terique Scott

Victoria Scroggins

Art Segal

Tess Selim

Cindy Seramur

Mariam Sergenian

Wayne Severson

Pat Shaffer

Ellen Shaman

Sherry Shanabarger

Matt Shannon

Kelly Shaw

Linda Shaw

Matthew Shaw

Bob Shea

Patrick Sheehan

Corbin Sheffels

Sunny Sherman

Sakura Shibano

Satoshi Shimizutani

Laurie Shimoda

Zachary Simms

Molly Sloan O’Brien

Alana Smith

Jeffrey Smith

Stacy Smith

Zachary Smith

Don Sneesby

Viki Snow

Nadine Snyder

Dominique Sohnly

Kiley Sok

Eric Sorlien

Kim Spruill

Dan Stiefel

Natalie Stien

Jennifer Stippich

Mary Stratton

Bill Stretch

Zach Stroberger

Daniel Strommen

Ginny Struchen

Zhenzhen Su

Connie Sugahara

Takaaki Sugiyama

Jean Sulli

Crysteaux Sun

Gayle Sutherland

Odessa Swan

Bronson Swanson

Mary K Sykes

Monica Takada

Marie Takahashi

Yuka Takeda

Raven Takimoto

Nina Tang

Lisa Tarasar

Diane Tatum

Jeffery Taylor

Raven Taylor

Ashley Thomas

Kerri Thomas

Kirsti Thomas

Bob Thompson

Jason Thompson

Amira Thongdy

Bill Thorness

Susie Thorness

Ellie Thorstad

Dennis Tran

Andrew Tribolini

Sandy Triplett

Fernando Ugaz

Deborah Uno

Leigh Valentine

Nicky Valentine

Renata Van Diest

Ann Vandor

Bridget Vanhorne

Natalie Vansant

Julie Varon

Whitney Veloski

Tanisha Vernekar

Kathryn Vitelli

Jacqueline Volin

Ben Wade

Jody Wahlgren

Mark Waldstein

Stuart Walker

Sophie Wallway

Andrew Walsh

Elaine Wan

Jennifer Wascher

Katherine Washington

Mark Weber

James Weidman

Leah Weinberg

Jinny Weintraub

Joan Weiss

Markos Weiss

Connie Wellnitz

Devon Wells

Diane Westergaard

Matthew Weston

Charles Wheeler

Alexander White

Angelique White

Lee White

Toni Wigant

Bill Williams

Christine Williams

Kendra Williams

Zachary Williams

Nancy Wilson

Shelley Wilson

Madeline Winders-Gaddis

Marie Winders-Gaddis

Ruby Wishnietsky

Karl Woelfer

Matthew Wojciechowski

Frances Wolfe

Anna Wolff

Emily Wu

Feng Xiao

Lihong Xu

Xintong Xu

Fumiko Yamamoto

Natsuko Yamasaki

Bing Yang

Hui Yang

Yushi Yang

Patricia Yano

Ameer Yarbrough

Chloe Yeo

Ann Yokota

Nancy York-Erwin

Keith Yoshida

Angela Young

Nicole Young

Ken Yu

Nik Zeynalnia

Yuanrui Zhao

Hong Zhu

Mark Ziegler

Tania Zimny

Marietta Zintak

Natalie Zyfers

Debbie Acosta

Aaron Alhadeff

Kenny Alhadeff

Paul Allen

Oscar Alonso

Spencer Alred

Alberto Alvarez Aguilara

Brian Andreotti

Jared Andrukanis

Laura Arcari

Nathanial Arnould

Vera Aronow

June Ashley

Pamela Baade

Moses Babatope

Dutch and Pippa Baffel

Asher Bailey

Amanda Bailly

Manon Barat

Anne-Laure Barbarit

Brad Barber

Kate Barr

David Bartholomew

Jasper Basch

Claire Battistoni

Kate Becker

Kate Becker

Arnaud Bélangeon-Bouaziz

Brian Belovarac

Olpha ben Salah

Carol Benjamin

Laurence Berbon

Steven Berger

Ingrid Berkhout

Mercedes Beronja

Natasha Bishop

Ewa Bojanowska

Nate Bolotin

Phil Borges

Kris Boustedt

Lindy Boustedt

Deb Bowen

Elizabeth Brambilla

Josh Braun

Kate Brooks

Brad Brotherton

Adam Brown

Rachel Brown

Arianne Buhl

Kimberly Burgess

Eric Burt

Gillian Burz

Brendan Byass

Alfredo Calvino

Hannah Campbell

Paul Canzoneri

Kurt Carlson

Matt Carpenter

Della-Rae Carriere

Evan Cartwright

Giulia Caruso

Nikki Castillo

Guillermo Celaya

Tommaso Cerqueglini

Grace Chan

Catherine Chau

Anatole Chavez

Megan Ching

Daniela Chlapikova

Annie Choi

Chris Chouinard

Subrina Chow

Ashley Christensen

Scooter Churchill

Joel Chusid

Sata Cissoko

Pedro Citaristi

Alex Clark

Taylor Coleman

Erin Combs

John Comerford

Liza Comtois

Linda Coomas

Stevi Costa

Amanda Course

Derick Courson

Patrice Courtaban

Jeremy Cropf

Michelle Dallas

Estelle De Araujo

Nancy De Meritens

Alycia Delmore

Virginie Devesa

Esther Devos

Cecile Dick

Mark Dodson

Denis Doros

Diana Dotter

Tamara Dover

Ioana Dragomirescu

Michelle Drewien

Amy Dukes

Reed Dunn

Elodie Dupont

Jim Edmunds

Riley Edmunds

Vicky Eguia

Randy Engstrom

L. Fernando Esteban

Vicky Eugia

Nathan Faustyn

Elissa Federoff

Bret Fetzer

Cosima Finkbeiner

Ben Foster

Ashley Gabriel

Adam Galen

Jannat Gargi

Cristina Garza

Dwight Gaut

Paul Ginsburg

Dan Goldberg

Jesse Goldman

Ilaria Gomarescu

Martin Gondre

Andrew Gooi

Rajat Goswami

Igor Gouskov

Lizette Gram Mygind

Kyle Greenberg

Candy Gruber

Maelle Guenegues

Catherine Gund

Scott Gunderson

X-tian Gunther

Pal Haberg

Bailey Hamilton

Tonya Hamman

Therese Hammill

Dustin Harrison-Atlas

Pam Haruta

Stephanie Heick

David Heinz

Erik Helgerson

Elizabeth Hendrix

Marta Hernando

Jonathan Hertzberg

Sarah Hindi

Joan Hobsb

Mark Hoffman

Alan Hofmanis

Arnold Holland

Diana Holtzberg

Wesley Hoong

Mari Horita

Amanda Houston

Kathy Hsieh

Marcus Hu

Jenn Hubbell

Paul Hudson

Chance Huskey

Shea Hynes

Elizabeth Iglehart

Jess Iglehart

Jason Ishikawa

Kevin Iwashina

Jason James

Madeline Jarvis

Bijaya Jena

Marni Jenkins

Jin Jeon

Martin Johannson

Uli Johnson

Tatiana Kameneva

Ruzanna Kegeyan

Jim Kelly

Yunjeong Kim

Mika Kimoto

Robin Klein

Ryan Krivoshey

Victoria Kruse

Josh Lackey

Rachel Lambert

Tim Lanza

Miriam Larkin

Jason Lau

Steven Lazen

Anderson Le

Sarah Lebutsch

Anne-Sophie Lehec

Christian Juhl Lemche

Megan Leonard

Madison Lessman

Bryan Lhuillier

Sven Liden

Amy Lillard

Spencer Lindenman

Lesa Linster

Robbie Little

Cari Lui

Chris Lui

Pia Lundberg

Robin Lung

Matt Lynch

Jason Lyngaas

Chanyuan Ma

Gaetano Maiorino

Kathleen Mannion

Paul Marchant

Dylan Marchetti

Elena Martinez

Cyrus Massoudi

Thelma Mbachu

Linda McBlaine

Rebecca McCarthy

Ryan McCarthy

Danielle McCarthy-Boles

Tay McCutchen

Kathleen McInnis

Deborah McIntosh

Ralph McKay

Shelley McNulty

Miles and Sherry McRae

Pierre Menahem

Marla Mendez

Wen Mengchen

Charlotte Mickie

Jess Mills

Licia Miorando

Jeremy Mitchell

Sarah Moody

Don Morgan

Marleigh Murdoch

John Murray

John Nadai

Candice Noel Nagel

Marc Nauleau

Eric Nelson

Rachel Nelson

Russell Nelson

Victoria Nevinny

Njoki Nyoli

Piper O’Neill

Stine Oppegaard

Sheila Ordonez

Shan Ottey

Erin Owens

MJ Peckos

Ric Peterson

Sierra Pettengill

Shannon Pflugrath

Georgia Poivre

Matthew Pope

Jacquelyn Pratt

Bill Predmore

Celeste Primeau

Eliane Raheb

Pascale Ramonda

Rick Rasmussen

Charlie Rathbun

Doris Reed

Chris Reisinger

Carmen Rendoni

Michael Repsch

Owen Richards

Lisa Richie

Jorge Riquelme Serrano

Sarah Roberts

Susana Santos Rodrigues

Mark Romano

Ruby Rondina

Geoff Rossi

Ina Rossow

Yuanyuan Rothbauer

Michael Rothstein

Asia Ruperto

Taryn Ryder

Alejandra Sacio

Kalie Sandstrom

Christopher Schaap

Stefan Schachtell

Aubrey Scheffel

Torsten Schulze

Mikey Schwartz Wright

Vincent Scordino

Roberta Secli

Barton Sharp

Dave Shaw

Dong-il Shin

Annalisa Shoemaker

Shen Shuo

Brent Siewert

Jean-Christophe Simon

Ariel Smith

Bec Smith

Rebekah Louisa Smith

Carl Spence

Sergi Steegmann

Jayme Stocker

Johnathan Sundstrom

Graham Swindoll

Chloe Tai

Nancy Taylor

Niklas Teng

Christian Thompson

Kyle Thorpe

Mark Thostesen

Carole Tomko

WingYan Tong

Anne Totoraitis

Anne Sophie Trintignac

Dan Truong

Jack Turner

Debra Twersky

Akiko Uchida

Jeffrey Unay

Helen Underwood

Lamar Van Dyke

Briana Van Over

Ronit Vanderlinden

Millan Luis Vazquez Ortiz

Alan Veigel

Lucas Verga

Danielle Viau

Ana Vicente

Berenice Vincent

Huong Vu

Tom Waldman

Natalie Warren

Monkey Watson

Jimmy Weaver

Will Wernick

jennessa West

Brett Whitcomb

Amy White

Wendy Wiles

Linda Wilson

Kelley Winn

Jeffrey Winter

Maxwell Wolkin

Daisy Wong

Wanda Wong

Greg Wood

Quentin Worthington

Desmond Yang

Howard Yang

Joe Yanick

Nick Yanity

Andanari Yogaswari

Grace Yu

Ruth Zachs

Daniel Zhang

Eugene Zhang

Lise Zipci

102 Distribution

Tommaso Cerqueglini tommaso@102distribution.com 102distribution.com

2R Productions

Jason Reid dirtbagmovie@gmail.com 2rprod.com

A24

Spencer Lindenman spencer@a24films.com

Lisa Richie lisar@a24films.com a24films.com

Abkco Film

Robin Klein rklein@abkco.com abkco.com

Alpha Violet Virginie Devesa virginie@alphaviolet.com alphaviolet.com

Amanda Bailly agbailly@gmail.com

Amazon Studios

Kyle Thorpe Kyle@kylethorpepr.com

Andrew Gooi andrew@foodtalkies.com

Asian Shadows

Anne-Sophie Lehec anne@chineseshadows.com chineseshadows.com

Aubin Pictures

Catherine Gund catherine@aubinpictures.com aubinpictures.com

Awesomeness

Catherine Gill catherineg@awesomenesstv. com awesomenesstv.com

Basil Content Rajat Goswami rajat@basilcontent.com basilcontent.com

Be For Films

Claire Battistoni festival@beforfilms.com beforfilms.com

Beta Cinema Cosima Finkbeiner cosima.finkbeiner@betacinema. com betacinema.com

Biashin Pictures

Dong-il Shin biashin2@naver.com

Bleeding Skull! Video Annie Choi choias@yahoo.com

Breaking Glass Pictures Michael Repsch mike@bgpics.com bgpics.com

Cartilage Films

Jasper Basch jasper@cartilagefilms.com cartilagefilms.com

Cats&Docs

Maelle Guenegues maelle@catndocs.com catsndocs.com

Christopher Schaap schaapchristopher@gmail.com

Cinetic Media

John Sloss office@cineticmedia.com www.CineticMedia.com

Cohen Media Classics

Tim Lanza tlanza@cohenbrothers.com

Cohen Media Group

Debbie Acosta debbie@cohenmedia.net cohenmedia.net

Crossing the Line Productions Maggie Fagan maggiefagan1@gmail.com ctlfilms.com

Dada Films MJ Peckos mj@dadafilms.net dadafilms.net

Danish Film Institute Lizette Gram Mygind lizetteg@dfi.dk dfi.dk

Daza Filmes Carol Benjamin carol@dazafilmes.com.br dazafilmes.com.br

Deckert Distribution Ina Rossow ina@deckert-distribution.com deckert-distribution.com

Distiller Films Rachel Lambert lambert.rm@gmail.com

Dustin Harrison-Atlas dustin.ha@gmail.com

East Village Entertainment

Diana Holtzberg diana@eastvillageentertainment. com

eastvillageentertainment.com

Escape Productions

Will Wernick wernickwill@gmail.com

Exposure Labs

Joan Hobsb joan@exposurelabs.com exposurelabs.com

Film Constellation

Chloe Tai festivals@filmconstellation.com filmconstellation.com

Film Factory Entertainment Manon Barat manon@filmfactory.es filmfactory.es

Film Movement

Maxwell Wolkin maxwell@filmmovement.com filmmovement.com

Film Rise Jess Mills jess@filmrise.com flimrise.com

Films Boutique

Susana Santos Rodrigues susana@filmsboutique.com filmsboutique.com

Films Transit International

John Nadai johnnadai@filmstransit.com filmstransit.com

Finecut Co. Ltd Yunjeong Kim yjin@finecut.co.kr finecut.co.kr

First Run Features

Paul Marchant paul@firstrunfeatures.com firstrunfeatures.com

Fox Searchlight

Russell Nelson Russell.Nelson@fox.com foxsearchlight.com

FREAK Short Film Agency

Millan Luis Vazquez Ortiz millan@agenciafreak.com agenciafreak.com

G Kids

Chance Huskey theatrical@gkids.com gkids.com

Gholam Ltd Zadoc Nava mail@zadocnava.com zadocnava.com

Golden Art Production

Roberta Secli secli.goldenart@gmail.com goldenartproduction@gmail.com

Grasshopper Film

Ryan Krivoshey ryan@grasshopperfilm.com grasshopperfilm.com

Gunpowder & Sky

Kyle Greenberg kg@gunpowdersky.com

Carmen Irabien ci@gunpowdersky.com gunpowdersky.com

Habanero Film Sales

Alfredo Calvino acalvino@habanerofilmsales.com habanerofilmsales.com

Hyrax Films

John Ramos john@hyraxfilms.com hyraxfilms.com

IFC Films

Liz Brambilla brambillapr@gmail.com ifcfilms.com

INA

Nathanial Arnould narnould@ina.fr ina.fr

Independent Film Sales

Rachel Brown rachel@ independentfilmcompany.com independentfilmcompany.com

Indie Sales

Martin Gondre Marc Nauleau festival@indiesales.eu indiesales.eu

ITAR Productions

Eliane Raheb e.raheb@itarproductions.com itarproductions.com

Janus Films

Brian Belovarac belovarac@janusfilms.com janusfilms.com

Jet Tone Films

Winnie Lau winnielau@jettone.net jettone.net

Kate Brooks kate@katebrooks.com

KimStim Mika Kimoto mika@kimstim.com kimstim.com

King Records Co., Ltd. Akiko Uchida akiko-uchida@kingrecords.co.jp kingrecords.co.jp

Kino Lorber

Jonathan Hertzberg jhertzberg@kinolorber.com Graham Swindoll gswindoll@kinolorber.com kinolorber.com

Laberinto Film

Daniel Diaz daniel@laberintofilm.com

Latido Films

Marta Hernando festivals@latidofilms.com latidofilms.com

Le Pacte Ioana Dragomirescu i.dragomirescu@le-pacte.com le-pacte.com

Les Films du Losange Lise Zipci l.zipci@filmsdulosange.fr filmsdulosange.fr

Les Films Selmon apollinet@yahoo.fr

Les. Asphofilms. Bahia Allouache lesasphofilms@yahoo.fr

LevelK Niklas Teng niklas@levelk.dk levelk.dk

Light Chaser Animation Chanyuan Ma chanyuan@lightchaseranimation. com lightchaseranimation.com

Lightyear

Arnold Holland arnie@lightyear.com lightyear.com

Luxbox

Anne Sophie Trintignac festivals@luxboxfilms.com luxboxfilms.com

m-appeal

Torsten Schulze films@m-appeal.com m-appeal.com

Magic Light Pictures

Sarah Roberts sarah@magiclightpictures.com magiclightpictures.com

Magnolia Pictures

Danielle McCarthy-Boles dmccarthy@magpictures.com magpictures.com

Magnus Films/ Top Key Jason Lau jason@magnumfilms.com.au magnumfilms.com.au

MandarinVision

Desmond Yang desmond.mvsales@gmail.com mandarinvision.com

Matador Content

Jack Turner jack@matadorcontent.com matadorcontent.com

Matson Films

Hannah Campbell hannah@matsonfilms.com matsonfilms.com

Matterhorn Riaya Aboul Ela riaya.aboulela@gmail.com

Memento Films International Sata Cissoko sata@memento-films.com international.memento-films.com

Miles Films

Andari Yogaswari milespublicist@gmail.com milesfilms.net

Milestone Films

Denis Doros milefilms@gmail.com milestonefilms.com

MK2

Anne-Laure Barbarit anne-laure.barbarit@mk2.com

Monument Releasing Joe Yanick jy@visitfilms.com visitfilms.com

Movie View International Asia Ruperto asia@movieview-int.com movieview-int.com

MPM Film Njoki Nyoli festival@mpmfilm.com mpmfilm.com

Music Box Films

Brian Andreotti bandreotti@musicboxfilms.com musicboxfilms.com

Nancy Taylor nancy@ghost-rain.com

Neon Elissa Federoff elissa@neonrated.com neonrated.com

Nested Egg Productions, LLC Robin Lung robinlung@hawaii.rr.com nestedeggproductions.com

New Europe Film Sales

Ewa Bojanowska ewa@neweuropefilmsales.com neweuropefilmsales.com

Nexo Digital

Pedro Citaristi pedro.citaristi@nexodigital.it nexodigital.it

Nonetheless Productions

Giulia Caruso giulia.caruso@ nonethelessproductions.com nonethelessproductions.com

Noori Pictures katysh.01@gmail.com nooripictures.com

Norwegian Film Institute

Knut Skinnarmo ks@nfi.no nfi.no

Notorious Pictures

Irene Tomio i.tomio@notoriouspictures.it notoriouspictures.it

Obscured Pictures

RJ Millard rj@obscuredpictures.com obscuredpictures.com

Old Photo Films

Le Anderson ale808@gmail.com

Outsider Pictures

Paul Hudson paul@outsiderpictures.us outsiderpictures.us

Pad Thai Pictures Ben Foster fosterfilmproductions@gmail. com

Paradigm Studios

John Comerford paradigmstudio1@aol.com paradigmstudio.com

Park Circus

Chris Chouinard chris@parkcircus.com parkcircus.com

PBS Distribution

Erin Owens eeowens@pbs.org pbsdistribution.org

Phil Borges Productions

Phil Borges phil@philborges.com philborges.com

Picture Tree International

Valentina Bronzini valentina@picturetreeinternational.com picturetree-international.com

Pluto Film Distribution

Daniela Chlapikova daniela@plutofilm.de plutofilm.de

Preferred Content

Kevin Iwashina kevin@preferredcontent.net preferredcontent.net

Pressing Pictures, LLC

Jenessa West jennessa@pressingpictures.com pressingpictures.com

Provenance Pictures

Steven Berger steven@provenancepics.com

Pumpernickel Films

Christoph Jörg chjorg@gmail.com

Ramonda Films

Pascale Ramonda pascale@pascaleramonda.com pascaleramonda.com

Reel Suspects

Alberto Alvarez Aguilara a@reelsuspects.com reelsuspects.com

Resonance Films, Inc.

Jason James jason@resonancefilms.ca resonancefilms.ca

RLJ Entertainent

Carmen Barahona Cbarahona@rljentertainment. com rljentertainment.com

Roadside Attractions

Ronit Vanderlinden ronitv@roadsideattractions.com roadsideattractions.com

Rocketmen, LLC

Alycia Delmore alyciadelmore@gmail.com

Ruth Zachs superfacilisimo123@gmail.com

Samuel Goldwyn Films Jill Karole jill@samuelgoldwyn.com

Screen Project Nadia Eliewat nadia.eliewat@gmail.com

Septième Factory

Nancy De Meritens nancy.demeritens@ septiemefactory.com septiemefactory.com

Sever Film Studio

Tatiana Kameneva sever@pief.sp.ru

Seville International

Ruby Rodina rrondina@filmsseville.com filmsseville.com

Shuo Shen 10@vstars.cn

Sierra Pettengill sierrapettengill@gmail.com

sixpackfilm

Selma Doborac selma@servus.at sixpackfilm.com

Skylight

Alejandra Sacio alejandra@skylight.is skylight.is

Sonamu Films

Jin Jeon jin@prosum.co.kr

Sony Pictures Classics

Maya Anand maya_anand@spe.sony.com

Still Moving

Pierre Menahem pmenahem@stillmoving.fr stillmoving.fr

Stone Lantern Film Sarah Mondale sarahm@stonelanternfilms.org stonelanternfilms.org

Strand Releasing Nathan Faustyn nathan@strandreleasing.com strandreleasing.com

Synergetic Distribution

Anatole Chavez anatol@synergetic.tv synergetic.tv

Tabula Dada Haydn Wazelle haydn@tabuladada.ca tabuladada.ca

Taipei Film Institute

Howard Yang howardaustin0911@mail.tfi. org.tw tfi.org.tw

Talking Drum Entertainment info@talkingdrum-entertainment. com talkingdrum-entertainment.com

Tamasa Distribution

Laurence Berbon laurence@tamasadistribution. com tamasadistribution.com

The Festival Agency Elodie Dupont ed@thefestivalagency.com thefestivalagency.com

The Festival Doctor Shelagh Rowan festival@thefilmfestivaldoctor. co.uk thefilmfestivaldoctor.com

The Film Collaborative Jeffrey Winter jeffrey@thefilmcollaborative.com thefilmcollaborative.com

The Film Sales Company Lucas Verga lucas.verga@filmsalescorp.com filmsalescorp.com

The Landing, LLC Mark Dodson themarkdodson@gmail.com

The Match Factory Sergi Steegmann sergi.steegmann@matchfactory. de the-match-factory.com

The Orchard Dan Goldberg dgoldberg@theorchard.com theorchard.com

True Colours Glorious Film Gaetano Maiorino gaetano@truecolours.it truecolours.it

Universal Studios Paul Ginsberg paul.ginsberg@nbcuni.com nbcuni.com

Upside Distribution

Estelle De Araujo estelle.dearaujo@ upsidetelevision.com upsidetelevision.com

Urban Distribution International Arnaud Belangeon-Bouaziz arnaud@urbandistrib.com urbandistrib.com

Valve Jeffrey Unay jeffunay@gmail.com

Vanishing Angle

Fiona Walsh Heinz fionamewalsh@yahoo.com vanishingangle.com

Veronica Leon prodveronica@gmail.com

Vins

Victoria Nevinny vnevinny@gmail.com

Wakaliwood

Alan Hofmanis wakaliwood@gmail.com watch.wakaliwood.com

Warner Bros. Kristie Nakamura kristie.nakamura@warnerbros. com warnerbros.com

Weinstein Co. Lauren Kleiman lauren.kleiman@weinsteinco. com weinsteinco.com

Well Go USA

Dylan Marchetti dylan@wellgousa.com wellgousa.com

Wild Bunch

Esther Devos edevos@wildbunch.eu wildbunch.eu

Window Pictures, LLC Brett Whitcomb blwhitcomb@gmail.com

WME Global Deborah McIntosh DMcintosh@wmeentertainment. com wmeentertainment.com

Wolfe Releasing Jim Stephens jim@wolfevideo.com wolfreleasing.com

WSL

Jason Rem jrem@worldsurfleague.com

WTFilms Quentin Worthington quentin@wtfilms.fr wtfilms.fr

Young Live Entertainment (HK) Co. Grace Chan grace@younglive-ent.com

Zero Point Zero Production Jared Andrukanis jared@zeropointzero.com zeropointzero.com

CREATIVE STREAK

American Folk 71, 152

Behind the Curtain:

Todrick Hall 97, 160

Bill Frisell, A Portrait 97, 101, 161

Cabaret 49, 87, 166

Chavela 97, 99, 168

Columbus 71, 170

Cook Up a Storm 89, 93, 171

Dawson City: Frozen Time 85, 174

Divine Divas 99, 178

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 57, 97, 180

The Fabulous Allan Carr

Finding

FutureWave

Give Me Future 97, 194 Ivan Tsarevitch and the

Enchanting Tales 109, 212

Kakehashi:

93,

Lives With Flavor 93, 99, 222 The

85, 223

Manifesto

The

Pavlensky - Man and Might 240

Susanne Bartsch: On Top 47, 253

Tom

Weirdos

ASIAN

After the Storm 89, 151

The Beautiful Kokonor Lake 89, 91, 159

Becoming Who I Was 77, 89, 159

By the Time It Gets Dark 89, 165 Chronicles of Hari 89, 169 Columbus 71, 170

Come, Together 89, 171

Cook Up a Storm 89, 93, 171

Diamond Island 73, 89, 111, 176

The Door 89, 91, 179

Emma’ (Mother) 89, 181

Finding KUKAN 89, 186

Free and Easy 89, 91, 190

God of War 89, 91, 195 Gook

Have a Nice Day 69, 89, 91, 200

Kakehashi: A Portrait of Chef Nobuo Fukuda 93, 214

Knife in the Clear Water 89, 91, 216

Love and Duty 55, 87, 89, 91, 222

Ma’ Rosa 89, 224

Meatball Machine Kodoku 103, 227

Mr. Long 89, 229

Napping Princess 109, 231

The Net 89, 231

She’s the Boss 89,

.7200

SIFFsational CELLULOID SUMMER

JUN 30 - SEP 3

Revisit six of your favorite summer blockbusters on the big screen and see a seventh for free with a SIFFsational Summer Punch Card*

JAWS and JAWS 3D

DUEL

THE BIG LEBOWSKI

THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS

FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

E.T. STARSHIP TROOPERS RAIDERS of the LOST ARK REPO MAN

INDIANA JONES and the TEMPLE OF DOOM

BRAZIL MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN INDIANA JONES and the LAST CRUSADE JURASSIC PARK

MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE

Abbess,

Adetiba,

Ahmed, Zaradasht

Alberdi,

Aldous,

Allégret, Marc

Allouache,

Andoni, Raed

Anthony &

Arnaquq-Baril,

Aronadio,

Arteta, Miguel

Attia,

Baena, Jeff

Bailly, Amanda

Belvaux,

Bonello,

Borndal, Ole

Boutros, Sophie

Bratt, Peter

Chan,

Chon,

Chou,

Coulibaly,

Croci, Max

Crowell, Webster

Defa, Dustin

Dennis,

Devor,

Doborac,

Dodson,

Dolan,

Dube, Mandla 83, 214

Ekvtimishvili, Nana 69, 230

Finnegan, Lorcan 103, 271

Folayan, Sabaah 267

Fosse, Bob

Foster, Ben

Foster, Lewis

260

258

France, David 175

Franz, Emma

Frears, Stephen

Funk, Kevan

Gonzalez, Luis 93, 95, 262

Gooi, Andrew 93, 214

Grande, Rodrigo 95, 99, 154

Gravning, Jagger 101, 264

Gross, Simon 69, 230

Grozeva, Kristina 194

Guðmundsson, Guðmundur Arnar 201

Gund, Catherine 97, 99, 168

Haghighi, Mani 179

Haley, Brett

161

Garbarski, Sam ........................................... 165

Geng, Jun

Gollas, Pablo Gasca 93, 99, 222

González,

203

Hamé Bourokba, Ékoué 73, 239

Hamm, Nick ................................................. 213

Harrison-Atlas, Dustin 93, 232

Heerman, Victor 87, 109, 153

Heineman, Matthew 169

Heinz, David 71, 152

Herrera

Hittman,

Hoback,

Skjoldbjaerg, Erik 111, 242

Smalley, Phillips 87, 180

Soren, David 109, 167

Sorogoyen, Rodrigo 75, 95, 226

Suwichakornpong, Anocha 89, 165

Tabrizian, Mitra ............................................ 191

Taddicken, Sven 236

Tanovic, Danis 175

Tavernier, Bertrand 230

Thornton, Darren 173

Till, Attila 215

Tomlinson, Kevin 101, 172

Torres, Emiliano 75, 99, 269

Tran, Ham 89, 248

Traoré, Apolline 83, 163

Trumbull, Douglas 53, 87, 164

Tverdovsky, Ivan I. 69, 275

Unay, Jeff 101, 166

Ungalaaq, Natar 117, 248

Valchanov, Petar 194

Van Beek, Jackie ................................... 73, 207

Van Leeuw, Philippe 208

Vannucci, Michele 73, 212

Velez, Pacho 77, 244

Vimba, Renārs 227

Wai Man, Raymond Yip 89, 93, 171

Wajda, Andrzej 151

Wancang, Bu ....................... 55, 87, 89, 91, 222

Wang, Gary 89, 91, 109, 257

Wang, Xuebo 89, 91, 216

Weber, Lois 87, 180

Weinstein, Joshua Z. 228

Wernick, Will 103, 183

Whitcomb, Brett 97, 221

Winterbottom, Michael 41, 93, 236, 261

Wright, Katherine Fairfax 97, 160

Xing-Hao, Shen 89, 91, 159

Yan, Pak Wing 89, 264

Yates, Pamela 99, 148

Zhang, Yang 89, 91, 251

Zhu, Yuancheng 89, 91, 250

Zinshtein, Maya 190

BEST OF SIFF 2017

BEST OF SIFF 2017

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

PRESENTED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

June 16∙22 SIFF Cinema Uptown

#

After

American Folk 71, 152

Angry Inuk 117, 153

Animal Crackers 87, 109, 153

Anishoara 73, 154

At the End of the Tunnel 95, 99, 154 B

Bad

Band

Beatriz

The

Becoming

Behind

Better