Has the SIFFatigue gotten you down? Or (worse) have you not partaken of the SIFFtacularness at all yet?

Either way, don't fret, because there are plenty of worthy offerings unspooling soon. I know of six films scheduled to screen next week that are absolutely worth the exertion required to face the neverending queues, the redundant pre-film bumpers, and the passholes. Eight more flicks get honorary mentions, and I'd be remiss in not bringing a couple to your attention that are more irksome than an average visit to the Egyptian Theater men's room.

Highlights for Monday-Sunday, 5/28 - 6/3:

DON'T MISS:

170 Hz
{screens May 31 at 9pm at Pacific Place, June 7 at 7pm at the Uptown, June 9 at 2pm at Pacific Place}
Dark, absorbing, ferociously visual Dutch flick about two very attractive deaf post-adolescents who fall hard for each other and -- rebelling against their parents' various encroachments on their lives, of course -- cook up a plan to run away together. The leads' performances, the atmospheric handiwork, and the not-quite-linear storytelling are spot-on in the most purely sensual film I've seen in quite a while.

Countdown
{screens June 2 at 6pm and June 4 at 3pm at the Uptown}
This Korean pulse-pounder asks the viewer to take many leaps of faith; I suggest you strap in and just go with it. The wild yarn commences with a badass debt collector who finds himself with terminal cancer and 10 days to live. (Remember what I said about the leaps of faith? Keep reading.) He seeks out a viable liver-donor candidate with issues and drama and action-movie potential of her own, and has to work hard at keeping this potential savior safe. The ticking clock charges the film's first half with breakneck narrative thrust, and a midpoint revelation adds unexpected emotional depth to the frenzied proceedings; by the (unnecessary) tear-jerkin' final coda you realize you've ended up with a completely different film than you started with.

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ALERT: As of a few minutes ago, ShortsFest Opening Night was on standby! Get your umbrellas ready and line up early.

Y’all know how much I love the SIFF Shorts Packages, and I definitely found some gems this year in the packages I had time to preview. All shorts programs are showing at SIFF Cinema Uptown this year.

ShortsFest Opening Night {Thursday, May 25, 7pm}  
My very favorite this year is Bear, (teaser trailer above) which plays as part of the Opening Night package. It’s the “sequel” to a short called Spider, which is about how this guy Jack always takes things just a scoonch past too far when trying to impress his girlfriends.

In Bear, Jack plans an elaborate birthday surprise for his new girlfriend (watch Spider here, re: why she’s new) that goes horribly awry. Also endearing: both shorts include original songs by Ben Lee & wife Ione Skye that are super-cute! Diane Court! Singing! I love it. Go, Nash Edgerton (who also stars as Jack)!!!

Other Opening Night Shorts standouts: Fishing Without Nets, a documentary about Somali Pirates that is simply STUNNING; The Return, about a guy rejoining his family after many years in a Serbian prison, aka: the most depressing short film I’ve ever seen; and Friend Request Pending, which is maybe a little too precious for its own good (OMG old people! Using Facebook! Like teenagers!), but Dame Judy Dench can do almost anything and I’ll still like it.

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{Bad Brains: A Band in DC screens at SIFF on May 23rd, 9pm, at the Harvard Exit}

Mixed emotions are my typical reaction to learning about a new music doc on a band I love. A fellow I was discussing this conundrum with while waiting for something at SXSW agreed, "The best ones are often the ones where you really know nothing about the band beforehand." The truthfulness of that statement knocked me back for a moment. If you already know a lot about the band, how much will you really get out of the documentary? And there's always the time documentary makers have to spend time pointing out how significant a group is - when you already know all that.

So it's with this sense of diminished expectations that I watched Bad Brains: A Band in DC, to my knowledge, the first comprehensive film solely about this seminal hardcore punk band. Thankfully, most of that worrying was for naught. In the end I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It's made up of great footage and intensive interview material tightly edited together. Producing a very watchable and informative, unvarnished look at one of the most important bands - ever. That's not just Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye saying that - it's me saying that.

Point being, if you like punk rock, if you like music docs, or if you've never heard of the band and want to learn some true American history - see this movie when you can. There's one more SIFF opportunity left but I am hoping it'll make a return swing through Seattle at some point.

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{38 Witnesses screens at SIFF May 21, 6:30pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown, May 23, 8:30pm at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center, and again May 28 at The Egyptian Theatre, 9:15pm}

Based on the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in NYC, 38 Witnesses dives into the aftermath of a brutal stabbing. Louise (Sophie Quinton, who played Marilyn-clone Martine in last year’s Poupoupidiu, one of my SIFF favorites) returns home to learn that a young woman named Sylvie who lived in her apartment building was stabbed to death in the middle of the night. Her fiancé Pierre (Yvan Attal) tries to cover up feelings of guilt by lying about his whereabouts, but eventually buckles under the stress of the situation and confesses—first to Louise, and then to the police.

As each of the 38 witnesses is questioned a second time, the police determine that all of them heard Sylvie screaming that night, but chose to ignore it instead of reporting it. With each passing day, Louise wonders how the people around her could look the other way, and struggles with the knowledge that her fiancé is one of them—while Pierre’s guilt breaks him down more and more, driving a wedge between the couple.

Director Lucas Belvaux (who also directed Yvan Attal in Rapt, another SIFF standout from 2010) weaves a tight, emotionally distressing tale of responsibility, guilt, and tragedy. Disturbing (especially when they start replaying the victim’s screams over and over again), but recommended.

{Cracks in the Shell screens at SIFF May 18, 9:30pm at Pacific Place, May 22, 9pm at the Egyptian Theatre, and again May 25, 9:30pm at The Everett Performing Arts Center.}

Fine (Stine Fischer Christensen) is a mousy, innocent, and mostly ignored actress who is berated by the head coach at her acting school for not being visible enough, and rightly so, since she promptly falls asleep on stage during an important workshop. So it’s a surprise when she wins a juicy and prominent lead role in a famous director’s new play. 

But amidst struggles at home with an overwhelmed mother and a mentally-handicapped sister, Fine starts to crumble as the demanding director gives her more and more off-stage advice on how to “become” the sexually-charged and destructive character Camille … which, predictably, sometimes involves "becoming" in his bed. (oof. bad joke, sorry!) 

Donning a blonde wig fashioned for the play, Fine adopts Camille’s persona and sets out to romance a handsome stranger named Joachim (Ronald Zehrfeld, whose ruggedness I totally drooled over in last year’s 12 Paces Without a Head), which doesn’t quite produce the tragic results the director was hoping would come across in her acting. Determined to please him, Fine continues a downward, Black Swan-esque spiral on her way to fully becoming Camille, which uh. May or may not end well.

Clocking in at 113 minutes, Cracks in the Shell starts to wear a little thin by the end, but it’s still a nice way to spend the evening—if only to watch Christensen shine in the lead role. And don't worry, it's not *quite* as depressing as Aronofsky's doomed ballerina tale.

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While I'm rapidly falling behind the prolific SIFF madman Imaginary Embracey in number of films viewed (yes, I'm jealous) I had a few picks to share for this weekend. As well as a counterpoint to offer on Sleepwalk With Me. ;-)

I'm sure there are a ton of other great things playing and I'm looking forward to checking out some of the recommends from Imaginary Embracey's list myself. This list is limited to films I can vouch for in advance. My full thoughts on everything I've seen, or at least written about can be found in other spots online if you're planning further in advance than this weekend.

In no particular order...

Las Acacias (Argentina) - A tired, grizzled truck driver's boss asks him to give a ride to a woman traveling to Argentina with her baby. He doesn't want her there. The baby is preternaturally cute. There's not a lot of talking, a lot of mate consumption, and in the end an understated super-compelling film. In keeping with the less is more ethos of the filmmaker I'm just going to say you should buy a ticket. I'll wait... Seriously, I loved this film which was one of the most beautiful surprises for me at Palm Springs 2012. And I only walked in by mistake because something else was booked. You on the other hand dear reader, have no such excuse. Add it to your schedule now!

Sleepwalk With Me - Comedian/director Mike Birbiglia takes us along for a thinly veiled autobiographical ride as he becomes an accomplished performer, plans his wedding, simultaneously contemplates whether he wants to get married and struggles with a remarkably dangerous sleepwalking problem. We're always hearing how great comedy comes from great personal pain. But it's rare for a film to demonstrate it so convincingly. This moving picture that has a lot of bits some of us may feel more than a little uncomfortable with due to self recognition. But it's hilarious and directly shows that process of turning real life trauma into hilarious stand-up.

My Sucky Teen Romance - With a bright pop look to it, some amusing dialog and earnest, likable (albeit not super slick) performances populating it I think it's hard not to enjoy My Sucky Teen Romance.  It's not a parody of vampire films, at least not a full on one.  Instead it feels more like a tragic romantic comedy that does get some of its laughs at the expense of Twilight and a trial and error process of figuring out which vampire lore applies in the kid's particular situation.  With many a nod towards the fact that it's hard out there for the teens...  If you're a mass consumer of vampire pop-culture I'd say My Sucky Teen Romance is definitely worth your time. There's a more comprehensive review lurking out there if you'd like to read more.

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A gritty South African noir, a gorgeous French-Canadian melodrama, and a cloying gay "message movie" from right here in the US of A are among the hits and misses on offer during SIFF 2012's first full week.  

Highlights for Monday-Sunday, 5/21 - 5/27:

DON'T MISS:

Elena
{screens May 24 at 7pm at Pacific Place}
Gripping, stylish, gorgeously crafted Russian tale of a coveted bequest, pitiless class conflict, and the misdeeds of a tenuous marriage. He's rich, in poor health, and drawing up a will; her lazy son's trashy family needs dough. But noted filmmaker Andrei Zvyaginstev (The Return) doesn't allow their story to follow any prescribed path. Tension arrives in slight movements and subtle unravelings; it's a beautifully slow burn, and patience is rewarded manifold. Feast your eyes.

How to Survive a Plague
{screens May 21 at 9pm at Pacific Place}
Outsiders throughout history have been organizing to solve seemingly insurmountable problems; the dilemma du jour in mid-'80s NYC was the AIDS crisis. This marvelously thorough documentary focuses on organizations ACT-UP and TAG, their struggles with prevailing ideas of the day and their roles in the mid-'90s breakthrough of combination therapy. Via amazing archival footage we see the activists age and progress over the course of three presidential administrations and millions of deaths. A passionate and extraordinarily moving account of a hard-won turning point.

The Imposter
{screens May 23 at 8:30pm at the Uptown, May 29 at 9pm at the Harvard Exit}
Spellbinding, infuriating, beautifully executed documentary thriller about a French Algerian mystery-man who in 1997 passed himself off as a missing San Antonio teen, fooling international officials and (most astoundingly) the boy's actual family. Queasiness in the first half ends abruptly when an awesomely old-school local P.I. rolls in (complete with Johnny Cash fanfare) and gets the show on the road, leading the crazy-ass story to an edge-of-your-seat climax. The film satisfies, even if the real-life outcomes do not.

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It’s time once again to run down the highlights of this year’s Face the Music program for the Seattle International Film Festival!

There are a ton of great things this year, but the film I think our Imaginaries will be most excited about is the documentary Welcome to Doe Bay, which chronicles the community and camaraderie of Doe Bay Fest—a camping trip/music festival/weekend-long party at Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island that brings Pacific Northwest music stars and fans together for a relaxing musical retreat, and apparently, some slip-n-slide action and s’mores. The trailer is packed with engaging commentary and familiar faces (Hi, Jace!) and I’m sure the music featured by Sera Cahoone, Lemolo, the Maldives, Fly Moon Royalty, Champagne Champagne, and … wait for it … The Head and the Heart will be the draw for fans of the scene. {Screens June 3, 9:15pm, The Egyptian & June 5, 9:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown}

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Emerald City Visions (A Hip Hop Reinterpretation of The Wiz) looks pretty radical. The description promises OC Notes, Don’t Talk to the Cops, and “some of the hottest names in hip hop” (I guess it’s a secret, but I know who I’m pulling for) will infuse the musical score of The Wiz with some fresh flavor and beats. Word. {Screens June 1, 7pm and again at 9:30pm, The Triple Door—and if you see the 7pm showing, you’ll still have plenty time to make it to our Rockstar New Wave Karaoke show!}

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I’m always most excited about SIFF’s Northwest Connections showcase, and more so this year than ever, since Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister is screening on opening night! If I had my way, a film by a Seattle director would ALWAYS open the fest. But uh, until I’m charge, I guess that probably won’t happen. Anyway! Let’s dive into this year’s schedule.

I can’t say enough good things about Your Sister’s Sister, and I’m sure it will open soon after the fest in Seattle, so if you’re unable to attend Opening Night, don’t fret—you should be able see it soon enough! It’s a really fantastic piece of REAL storytelling. With relatable characters and a lot of laughs … I mean, duh. It’s Lynn Shelton! But seriously, I really, really, really think it’s her best work yet. And now I can’t wait to see her recently completed film,Touchy Feely. {Screens at the Opening Night Gala, May 17, Marion Oliver McCall Hall}

A second standout that I’ve was lucky enough to preview is Eden by Megan Griffiths. Can I tell you guys how pleased I am about two of my favorite female directors being spotlighted at SIFF? I AM VERY PLEASED. FOR REALS. And even more pleased that Eden is fucking spectacular, and worthy of that Stranger Genius Award. Chronicling a young girl’s abduction and capture at the hands of a super-icky gang of dudes who run a sex slave house near Vegas, Eden tells the story with non-exploitive delicacy, beautiful care (it’s based on a true story), and some goddamn amazing performances. Obviously, this film makes me want to swear. But only because I REALLY loved it. {Screens  May 19, 9:15pm, The Egyptian, & May 29, Everett Performing Arts Center}

SIFF is obviously trying to win my heart by choosing a filmed-in-Seattle gem as their Closing Night film. Grassroots (Kudos, Stephen Gyllenhaal, for actually filming a movie about Seattle IN Seattle, and not in Vancouver like a lot of other jerks), is about an obnoxious music critic (OH, WE HAVE THOSE??) who decides to run for City Council in order to make his dream of public transportation a reality. Politics + monorail hilarity + my hometown = this on must-see list. {Screens at the Closing Night Gala, June 10, 6pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown}

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Here we go again! Our local month-long cine-megathon hits this Thursday, with Lynn Shelton's fantastic new film Your Sister's Sister -- Imaginary Amie's favorite opening night selection in seven years -- headlining the kickoff festivities.

But then what? Well, of the twenty opening weekend features I've been able to catch in advance, I've come across handful of absolute must-sees, a couple of total stinkeroos, and a whole slew of mid-level entertainments with at least a lil' somethin' to enjoy (and usually a lil' somethin' not to enjoy, too).

And if these early films are any indication, well, fasten your seatbelts. It's gonna be a bumpy SIFF.

Are you ready? Well, we are. Highlights for Friday-Sunday, 5/18-5/20:

DON'T MISS:

Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry
{screens May 18 at 6:30pm and May 19 at 4pm at Pacific Place}
Ai Weiwei is arguably China's most polarizing contemporary artist, frequently harassed by authorities for conveying (through his art and otherwise) criticisms of his government's blatant disregard for civil rights and heinous lack of transparency. Filmmaker Alison Klayman got amazing access to Ai himself and makes great use of archival footage in crafting a compelling portrait. But even after the artist finds himself silenced, it's really the work that speaks, however large in scale, boldly and beautifully.

Elena
{screens May 18 at 11am and May 24 at 7pm at Pacific Place}
Gripping, stylish, gorgeously crafted Russian tale of pitiless class conflict, a coveted bequest, and the misdeeds of a tenuous marriage. He's rich, in poor health, and drawing up a will; her lazy son's trashy family needs dough. But noted filmmaker Andrei Zvyaginstev (The Return) doesn't allow their story to follow any prescribed path. Tension arrives in slight movements and subtle unravelings; it's a beautifully slow burn, and patience is rewarded manifold. Feast your eyes.

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