FILM FEST
International
Films of Intrigue From meet-cutes and pig power to humanitarian efforts and torturous freakshows, there’s plenty to see at SpIFF ’23 BY SETH SOMMERFELD
I
t’s time to gather the Spokane film community. It’s time for a weekend of intense movie bingeing. It’s time, once again, for the Spokane International Film Festival. After making a return in 2022 following 2021’s pandemic break, SpIFF returns Feb. 3-5 for its 24th iteration with opening night at the Bing Crosby Theater, more in-person screenings at the Magic Lantern and an array of online offerings to screen from home. SpIFF programmer Chase Ogden emphasizes that this year’s lineup has a particularly strong slate of Northwest films, ones that are best experienced in person. “I would stress that the festival experience is more than just the trip to the AMC,” says Ogden. “There’s constantly filmmakers present, there’s voices and types of work that you just can’t get elsewhere. Like the regional content, for example. That’s not going to be playing at AMC. If anybody hasn’t had the festival experience, I think that it’s an elevated way to experience cinema.” It can always be tough to sort through the array of films to find what hits your cinematic sweet spot, so with that in mind, here are some of the noteworthy films showing at SpIFF 2023.
ADRENALINE SUCKS
Base jumper Matthias Giraud hates the term “adrenaline junkie.” While he pushes things to the limits, he approaches his wild endeavors with a zen-like yearning for spiritual transcendence, not a cheap thrill. This short doc distills his meditative philosophy while also showing his
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extreme feats in action. Screening as part of Best of the NW at the Bing Crosby Theater on Fri, Feb. 3 at 6:30 pm.
MAGIC TRICK
Honestly? Magic Trick kind of feels like a magic trick. In less than five minutes, the actors in this queer meet cute — Donia Kash and Jessica MacLeod — display roughly 100 times more chemistry than what’s found in a typical rom-com. It pops off the screen as the pair meet in a coffee shop and engage in an impromptu card trick. (I very seriously want a full-length rom-com starring these two from writer/director Chris Lennox-Aasen.) Screening as part of Best of the NW at the Bing Crosby Theater on Fri, Feb. 3 at 6:30 pm.
SAM NOW
Along with Best of the NW shorts, opening night at the Bing also showcases the feature-length documentary Sam Now. Made with a ’90s DIY-filmmaker aesthetic, it follows documentarian Reed Harkness pushing his halfbrother Sam to seek out his mother, who disappeared and abandoned the boys when Sam was in high school. What begins as a mystery becomes a reflection on generational trauma, and the whole thing really comes to life because of the wealth of footage Reed and Sam had when making their own movies as kids. Screening as part of the opening night program at the Bing Crosby Theater on Fri, Feb. 3 at 6:30 pm.
VARKEN (PIG)
Nothing at this year’s SpIFF delights me quite as much
as Varken (Pig). The animated short from the Netherlands features an array of super cute animals using a huge sleeping pig’s snout as a power outlet. What starts small — a cat with a heated blanket, a dog with a tennis ball machine, a bunny with a blender — spirals into a massive power grid city with dance clubs for mosquitoes, gyms with fans for birds to practice strenuous flying, a goat rocking an electric guitar, etc.… and then the pig’s power starts to drain. While they try to ignore the problem, it eventually devolves into pure destructive chaos. Varken manages to be both so adorable and quite dark while also getting its message across effectively. Screening as part of the Animation Showcase at the Magic Lantern on Sat, Feb. 4 at 11 am.
CIRCUS OF THE SCARS
While SpIFF doesn’t have a boundary-pushing midnight movie slate like some film fests, Circus of the Scars essentially fills that role. The documentary follows the rise of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, the grunge-area Seattle collective of out-there performers who gained national fame in the early ’90s as a featured act on Lollapalooza. While it’s overlong and certainly isn’t for those with a weak stomach, it does provide a detailed look at performers who lifted weights with genital piercings, put needles through their face, pumped their stomach through their nose, got full body puzzle tattoos under the watch of Rose’s manipulative carny ways. Screening at the Magic Lantern on Sat, Feb. 4 at 9 pm.