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The Capitol Hill Block Party kicks off today and stretches through Sunday evening. A few festival updates via their twitter news feed to note: will call opens at 11 a.m. in case you want to beat the rush, the music starts at 3:30 p.m., and single tickets to today's festivities are gone baby gone. While this is sad for procrastinators, it's somewhat good news to those who purchased tickets early: according to LineOut, they restricted themselves to selling fewer tickets than the last year's crowd-crushing Frizzelle-lifting peak attendance (Sonic Youth). Finally, to make more room for meandering, food carts will be sparse within the fences (appropriate, given their sparseness in the city); so plan on patronizing one of the restaurants within the grounds or stepping out of the festival to stimulate the local economy via your hunger and thirst.
Sure, some of the biggest draws may be from out of town, but the festival is also a great place to sample a bunch of local (and locally-connected) bands. The lineup promises a overflowing smorgasbord of Seattle bands on all of the stages, but to catch up with your friendly neighborhood musicians, be sure keep an eye on the Kerry Zettel-curated stage at the Cha Cha. You can also check out the eclectic interests the kids at the Vera Project by visiting their stage, situated away from the lure of the beer gardens. There's also a not-quite-secret stage at Vita's bean room, for those who secured the right credentials (hint: visit the AT&T store).
Below, a few day-by-day reminders of sets to consider, complete with a few videos to help you pass the time until the gates open. As usual, take advantage of the vast comments section to let us know who you're dying to see.
Friday
Despite having played only a few local shows, Ishmael Butler's latest, Shabazz Palaces has already earned an giant reputation here and around the country. Over Memorial Day, they opened the Sasquatch mainstage to a decent crowd of fans who rushed into the Gorge; this time they'll play to everyone who sprints from work to the Block Party. (Friday, 6:00 p.m., Mainstage)
Other contenders: Head Like a Kite (8:45 p.m., Neumo's) and Fruit Bats (10:45, Vera), who aren't exactly Seattleites, but the Sub Pop connection, Portland commute, and sweet stylings give them a local place in our hearts.
Saturday
Although the acts aren't Seattle-based, the label is, with a trio of Sub Pop band getting the mainstage nice and toasty: Obits (3:30 p.m.); Avi Buffalo (4:45 p.m.); Blitzen Trapper (6:00 p.m.). After that, duck inside Neumo's to check out newish inductees, Happy Birthday (6:30 p.m.).
Also worth waking up early: Head and the Heart (2:00 p.m., Vera).
Sunday
- It's a Carissa's Wierd re-reunion! Not quite, but back-to-back performances by alumni. Jenn Ghetto's S is first, followed by Mat Brooke & the rest of the Grand Archives crew. (Sunday, 5:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., Vera Stage) When that's finished, duck inside to see Aveo, who have temporarily reunited after years of hibernation. Lead singer William Wilson came all the way from Sweden to get the band back together to open the Carissa's Wierd reunion show. While he's in town, they booked a block party gig at the Cha Cha. A DON'T MISS for nostalgics; they sound even better now than they did then. (Sunday, 7:45 p.m., Cha Cha)
- For a study in contrasts, get to the mainstage early to catch some of the mayor's favorite bands. First it's Americana octet the Maldives, venturing to Capitol Hill from their native land of Ballard (2:45 p.m.) followed immediately by the hip-hop antics of now-exonerated Mad Rad crew (3:45 p.m.).
- Other noteworthy performances: THEESatisfaction (Saturday, 5:15 p.m., Neumo's), Hardly Art's the Dutchess and the Duke (7:30 p.m., Vera), local label Townie Records' first signee, Hey Champ. (8:00 p.m., Neumo's), and electro video fiends Truckasaurus (9:15 p.m., Neumo's)
Looking at the Capitol Hill Block Party schedule, I came to the startling conclusion that this year's festival has substantially more stages than I remember. And by substantially more, I mean that it has five of them: in addition to the usual mainstage, Neumo's, and Vera, the Cha Cha's underground showcase of locals has gone official, as has a selection of evening DJ-type sets at Havana, dramatically expanding your options for making like a sparkleface vampire and avoiding sunlight during the warm weekend.
But today, we continue our march through the mainstage acts, in the hope that a crash course via YouTube will help you decide whether to brave the crowds for the big names or to retreat to smaller stages during the peak festival hours. After the jump, a video-based peek at Saturday and Sunday's headliners.
Saturday
Atmosphere is at the summit of the Saturday mainstage experience. A duo from Minnesota featuring Slug (as "the rapper") and Ant ("the DJ"), their HipHop Underground profile boasts that they are the "most commercially successful and long-lived independent hip hop artists," which, when you parse out how that string of conditionals allows it to be true, is probably still some kind of impressive. But before heading to their representative clip, let's try not to hold the photo on their MySpace page of someone in borderline Juggalo makeup too much against them. The video, alas, is devoid of scary clowns:
The Saturday mainstage is definitely heavy on the eclectic, because right before these Minnesota gentlemen bring you their rhyming take on lady problems and domestic troubles, you'll get to hear Blonde Redhead, a pair of Italian brothers and a Japanese songstress weaving dreamy hypnotic rock while the sun sets over Capitol Hill. Here's a pretty succinct visual representation of their gauzy aesthetic:
If you like the sounds of this one, but wish that it was slightly more upbeat and inclusive of indie writer/directors, might we also recommend watching Mike Mills directing Miranda July into various poses to one of their tracks (youtube)?
In a way, that fantastic dreamtime should be a merciful comedown, particularly for people swarming the mainstage for !!! (choose your own monosyllabic word to repeat, but "chk chk chk" gets you to their website). Since breaking into the crowded dance-punk revolution of the 2000s with "Me and Giuliani Down By the Schoolyard," the band's membership has sprawled, contracted, and never shied away from throwing cowbell and funk into the mix. Those unwilling to at least feign interest into a blacktop dance jam should probably head for the beer gardens during their set.
SUNDAY
The last day of the block party basically exists because of the Dead Weather's touring schedule. Festival organizers wanted them on the agenda and Jack White was available on Sunday night. Lobbying, signatures from stakeholders, and other negotiations ensued, et voillà: a third day. I'm sure there was actually a lot more to it, but you get the picture. To give the neighborhood a reprise from all of the commotion this last act of the day starts their set at 7:45 pm. So count on Jack White's rock and roll spinoff to hit like anvil in your face, but expect them to finish before sundown.
[One of] Seattle's most esteemed hiphop duos, Blue Scholars have the task of getting thousands of people to get their hands in the air after two and half days of festival-going. Geologic and Sabzi are more than up to the task. I predict that it will require some sort of satellite photography to count the raised arms among the crowds piling in for their late afternoon set.
Now you know your big headliners. There's plenty more to watch for at the Block Party; we'll cover the rest in the next edition.
The Capitol Hill Block Party is an annual music festival that takes over the heart of a neighborhood in Seattle called Capitol Hill this weekend (it is not, despite its name and annual grumbling from certain quarters, some sort of free get-to-know-your-neighbors potluck). Inside the fences wrapping around Pike Street from Broadway to Twelfth, the main drag, most of the intersecting side streets, and a good number of the bars, clubs, and restaurants play host to touring and local bands, politically and commercially inspired booths, and a beer garden or two. Late this year, organizers worked their magic on the city and expanded the festival to a full three days.
With the summer finally promising a warm weekend amenable to hours on the pavement with a few thousand other residents, tourists, and music fans, it's hardly surprising that incredibly affordable tickets to festival well stocked with high profile acts are becoming a hot commodity. Over the last few days, discounted three day passes sold out. Single day tickets are flying, too: right now Friday tickets can't be purchased online store. However, a large handful of tickets were still available for in-person sales at Everyday Music. So if you've been procrastinating on planning, you'd better cross your fingers, grab some cash, and hope that there are a few left when you arrive.
After the jump, a quick survey of three of the mainstage bands causing a run on tickets.
At the very top of the mainstage heap is MGMT. Given that they just played to a packed hillside of Sasquatchers who danced for their lives during a borderline melancholic "Time To Pretend", it's not entirely surprising that Friday looks to be the fastest to sell out.
That said, it's worth noting that the pack of teens who went wild for the admittedly irresistible 2k8 hit seemed mostly confused while the cooly detached band played the rest of this year's Congratulations and other less radio friendly tracks from Oracular Spectacular.
As one of the seemingly few who unabashedly loves Congratulations, I sincerely encourage you to take a moment or two to prepare for their set. Giving the disc an open minded spin or at least watch some of their videos (the one above, for "Flash Delirium" gives you a pretty good sense of their odd, arty, throwback, dreamlike intentions) to decide whether you like it enough to squeeze yourself onto an overcrowded street just to find out if they decide to include "Kids" in their setlist. It's a great song, but they wrote it a hundred blogyears ago; so cut them a break if they can't bear to trot it out for your enjoyment.
I doubt that I ever understood what Carles was writing about in his posts about the Electro War, but I always kind of imagined Brooklyn's Yeasayer as one of that great fictional conflicts survivors. In their first album, they provided cautiously optimistic dispatches from the year 2080, when all that was left for bands were dusty warehouses, rudimentarily fashioned percussion instruments, a few stray synths, and plenty of traded yelps.
Now, though, with Odd Blood, they've polished up their act and embraced the hell out of production values. As seen above, they're still just a little bit mystical, but they're not ashamed to throw some shiny gemstones and goofy theatrics in the service of getting crowds to cut loose. Expect light shows, well coordinated vocal tradeoffs, and plenty of bros having seriously enlightening moments under the evening sky.
Everyone who writes about Holy Fuck is pretty much compelled to say that with a name like that a band better bring the goods to back it up. And they most certainly do. Almost entirely lyric-free, the band makes driving electronic music that feels organic, partially because they seem to favor using toys, 35 mm film synchronizers, and other live instrumentation to laptops. Behind a table of pedals, Graham Walsh is an intense maestro, conjuring a blissfully intense soundtrack for a pulsing dance floor.
If you want to experience them indoors and as headliners (you do), they're also playing a pre-party warm up at the Crocodile on Thursday. The show, with Obits and Unnatural Helpers, is free, provided you RSVP, share your info with Filter and Dickies, and show up before the venue hits capacity.
Just over a week ago, we celebrated our own anniversary breaking free of the monarchy and declaring our country to be all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with pyrotechnics. Tomorrow, Bastille Day, provides an opportunity to consider how things might have turned out of we'd instead set our sights on liberty, equality, and fraternity. While it might be nicer to spend 14 July on the Champs-Élysées commemorating the symbolic prison charge that stoked the 1789 French Revolution, there's a jet lag-friendly option in Georgetown.
The Adventure School is once again teaming up with the Corson Building to throw a Bastille Day Fête. The party starts in the late afternoon with kid-friendly activities like chicken races, carnival games, bike-powered hi-jinks, and the incredible illusions of Andrew Evans. As the evening progresses Caspar Babypants, Jason Webley, and Mad Rad’s DJ Darwin will provide a lively soundtrack. Throughout the event, French circus performers and aerialists are bound to dazzle while the likes of Wylie Bush, Matt Dillon, and Molly Moon provide snacks.
Entry to this provincial party will cost you $35, a fee that's thriftier than a nonstop to Charles de Gaulle and includes drink tickets to stoke your francophile proclivities. It's not cheap, but entirely worthwhile: even if the Adventure School wasn't run by pals, I still think I'd count last year's party among favorite summer events. From the bounce house to the falafel wagon and all of the photo booths and fake mustaches in between, their events embrace a spirit of sophisticated whimsy and are reliably inspired, well organized, incredibly creative, and a lot of fun. This year, the carnival atmosphere materializes at 3 p.m. and lasts until midnight: plenty of time to put in a leisurely morning of work before donning stripes and spiriting off to celebrate another take on freedom.
- Bastille Day Fête. The Corson Building (5609 Corson Ave S.). $35 includes drink tickets. (adventureschool)
Undaunted by the arrival of spring weather, Team SunBreak followed SIFF's call, getting inside theaters to soak up screening during the festival's final weekend. Below, we weigh in with our picks and pans of the festival films we saw over the weekend.
Audrey spent the weekend with two fine Americans: American Faust is a comprehensive look at the Bush administration through the prism of Condeleeza Rice, and really it's a brilliant study of one woman putting power before all other things. By the end, you both pity and hate Condi for her version of the American Dream. Meanwhile, American: The Bill Hicks Story chronicles the rise of the outspoken controversial comedian, using tons of rotoscoped photos, home videos, and interviews with friends and family to really get to Hicks as both a caustic comedian and an intensely loved individual.
MvB: A science-fiction film from Switzerland, Cargo was notably short on novelty, mashing up bits of the Matrix with Blade Runner's off-world colonies, but Anna-Katharina Schwabroh has an off-beat charm, and the idea of P-Patchers as terrorists of the future is delightful.
Johnnie To's Vengeance stars French singer Johnny Hallyday in a black fedora and trench coat, and with a bullet in his brain. Honor, brotherhood, and going down in a hail of bullets and blood packs is the order of the day. A stunning Kurosawa-like set piece employs of bales of recycled paper.
The documentary Plug & Pray surveys the spectrum of techno-belief, from the spooky Raymond Kurzweil and his dreams of cyborg life, to scientists working on AI for military or commercial applications, to Cassandra-like professor emeritus of computer science at MIT, Joseph Weizenbaum, who owns the movie. Ostensibly about thinking gadgets, the film demonstrates that it's what people think that still matters most.
Morgen saw the world premiere of Miss Nobody: The cinematography reminded me a lot of the television show Pushing Daisies, as did the overall feeling of the movie. The characters were a little over the top and bigger than life. It gave the film a lot of charm and I enjoyed the storyline quite a bit. It was somewhat predictable, but really fun to watch and the ending was better than expected. Adam Goldberg and Missi Pylegave fantastic performances in supporting roles as well.
Tony embraced the spirit of glutting oneself at the buffet before the food's all gone, and pigged out on cinema for SIFF's closing weekend:
Protektor is a WWII love story that follows a Czech radio correspondent and his glamorous, flirty Jewish movie-star wife as they navigate the emerging influence of Nazi Germany on their homeland. The movie sports a great art-deco look and it's edited/shot with arresting style, but the relationship at the core never quite engaged me like I wanted it to.
In the IMAX epic The Wildest Dream, modern-day mountaineer Conrad Anker climbs Mt. Everest, retracing the route of and replicating the conditions endured by British adventurer George Mallory in 1924. The movie touches on deeper emotional and philosophical questions than your average IMAX flick, drawing interesting parallels between Mallory's relationship to his wife and that of Anker's with his own spouse. And if the movie lets that psychological complexity take a back seat to the grandeur sometimes, well, IMAX is first and foremost spectacle-porn...
The Hong Kong shocker Dream Home wants to have its bloody cake and eat it too by simultaneously throwing spurting blood and social commentary at its audience. In her obsessive quest to obtain a mortgage on a high-end Hong Kong flat, a young woman takes to brutally murdering several of the building's occupants (what better way to drive bidding rates down?). The premise is rife with possibilities, but the tone is wildly uneven: One minute you're watching a dippy party guy's disembowelment played for gallows giggles, the next our murderous protagonist is dealing with the failing health of her mesothelioma-wracked former abuser of a father. Gore fans, though, will have a field day.
I really enjoyed Howl, the Allen Ginsberg biopic directed by Times of Harvey Milk directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. James Franco made an effective Ginsberg (anyone who's played James Dean and Ginsberg in the space of just a few years deserves mad props), and the movie eschews standard beginning/middle/end bio-pic structure by zeroing in on the obscenity trial surrounding Ginsberg's poetic masterpiece, Howl. The only liability: Ginsberg's words are sometimes accompanied by CGI animation that puts a pretty glaring pull date on the movie.
You gotta love the directness of a movie title like Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives, but it's easy to go into it thinking it's gonna be a Troma-style rib-nudging camp-fest. Thankfully, it's got sharper teeth than that. Director Israel Luna's made an honest-to-God gut-level grindhouse action opus here--think Death Wish with a more fabulous wardrobe--without neglecting the humor. It captures the patina of a grindhouse flick amazingly well, and there's a sense of righteous outrage underneath the surface that makes it much more cathartic and empowering than the GLAAD protesting blue-noses out there would have you believe.
Last but not least for me was Vengeance, the new Johnnie To gangster epic in which a French restaurateur (Johnny Hallyday) enlists a trio of hitmen (led by HK action mainstay Anthony Wong) to avenge the massacre of his daughter and her family. It's a purely formulaic set-up--think the Magnificent Seven minus three, combined with (again) Death Wish--but it's beguilingly shot,darkly witty in places, and peppered with twists and wrinkles worth their weight in gold. Hallyday--with his lived-in face, watery blue eyes,and Mephistopheles goatee--is a revelation as a worn-down protagonist with much more of a history of violence than he initially lets on.
Josh: Hipsters presented a relentlessly delightful technicolor wonderland of outstanding costumes, infectious pop songs, and commendable choreography. Set in 1950s Russia, the film opened bleak with a communist raid on a non-conformist party, complete with a chase sequence and brutal destruction of hairstyles and wardrobes. However, once its straight-laced hero is turned onto the jazz-loving ways of the candy-colored Hipsters, everything takes a turn for the free and easy. Despite the Soviet oppression, the adversities are minimized or swept aside in song. The lack of dramatic tension in a time and place where a saxophone was deemed nearly as dangerous as a switchblade, felt surprisingly unproblematic given the gleeful presentation.
Similarly, Micmacs, the latest from Jean-Pierre Jeunet forewent character study for Goldbergian contraptions. Bazil, scarred literally by the product of one weapons manufacturer and emotionally by another, falls in with ragtag band of junkyard misfits united by their quirks. Together, they conspire to pit a pair of warmongers against each other in a delightful revenge scheme. Although I never felt especially invested in the characters, the handcrafted beauty of the film, its sprightly pace, ingenious engineering, and near-constant humor put it near the top of my list of most enjoyed festival films.
I Kissed A Vampire, well, sucked. From the first scene and notes of tween screams of love for the stars, it was obvious that I was far outside the target audience for this near bloodless autotuned teen musical, whose two-hour running time provided an unwelcome glimpse into eternal life.
I was less distracted than Tony by the animated parts of Howl. Not having ever read the entire poem beyond its famous opening notes, I was thoroughly impressed by the film's structure and by James Franco's portrayal of Ginsburg. Rather than following the poet from cradle to grave, the biopic instead celebrated the poem itself, with interludes for interviews and cuts to the famous obscenity trial, which was stocked with lots of famous faces in small roles.
The stark story of mass migration among Chinese laborers during the new year holiday season in Last Train Home recalibrated my definition of holiday travel hell. I agree with MvB on the matter of Swiss space drama Cargo. It recycled a a whole lot of sci-fi themes in a pretty package, with a few unintentional laughs along the way.
Like Tony, I admired The Wildest Dream. The IMAX spectacle induced sweaty palms at altitudes low and high. The footage of Mount Everest was outstanding and the danger of even the modern climbing sequences infused the historical sequences with a true sense of risk. Some of the Commonwealth's most famous voices provided narration and readings of the correspondence during Mallory's expedition, making the documentary enjoyable on several fronts. While I simultaneously longed for an unlikely reveal and wished for more realism in the depiction of the actual support staff needed to make such an ascent, the pairing of Ankers and Mallory's stories made for gripping cinema.
Finally, closing night selection Get Low provided a roomy showcase for the ample talents of Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, and Sissy Spacek. Taking the form of a fable set in old-timey times, the levity of an ornery hermit coming in from the woods to plan a funeral party to be held before his death is counterbalanced by his agony over the secret that kept him in exile for forty years. That the final reveal seemed less shocking to modern audiences doesn't diminish the strong performances by the leads.
And that, plenty of glasses of rum-infused fruit juices, and swarmed plates of small snacks at the Pan Pacific Gala brought an end to another successful festival. Anything you especially loved or hated during closing weekend? Share your rants or raves in the comments.
The 2010 Golden Space Needle glassware
This morning at a tasty brunch celebration in the Space Needle's Observation Deck, the Seattle International Film Festival celebrated increased attendance figures, a record number of films presented, and announced the winners of this year's 25 day film marathon.
Some awards were decided by esteemed juries, others were chosen by the people who make this the country's most attended festival. Only a few winners were on hand to claim the blown glass statues; so we have to hope that the fest invested in some quality shipping containers.
Overall, it was a great year for female directors. Audiences loved the Hedgehog most of all the narrative features, split between Waste Land and Ginny Ruffner: A Not So Still Life in the documentary category, and chose Debra Granik as best director for Winter's Bone.
Full list of winners, runners up, and jury statements after the jump. Congrats to all of the winners and to SIFF's entire team for putting on such an outstanding festival.
JURY AWARDS:
SIFF 2010 Best Director
Grand Jury Prize
The Reverse, directed by Borys Lankosz (Poland, 2009)
Jury Statement: "Borys Lankosz's The Reverse succeeds its substantial ambition to tell the story of love, family, and loyalty in a brutal post war Warsaw. Uniquely, first time director Lankosz manages to deliver a highly stylized vision without sacrificing character, story, or performance. We are happy and honored to give the New Director Award to this touching, thrilling, and deeply human film."
Special Jury Mentions
Turistas, directed by Alicia Scherson (Chile, 2009)
Jury Statement: "In addition we would like to give two special jury mentions. For her wry and surprising screenplay and her terrific casting, we want to note the achievement of Alicia Scherson for her film Turistas."
Gravity, directed by Maximilian Erlenwein (Germany, 2009)
Jury Statement: "We also want to recognize the stylistic and storytelling promise evidenced by Maximilian Erlenwein in his film Gravity."
The New Directors Competition jury was comprised of: Marcus Hu, Strand Releasing; Michael Kananack, NeoClassics Films; and Christian Vesper, IFC and The Sundance Channel.
SIFF 2010 Best Documentary
Grand Jury Prize
Marwencol, directed by Jeff Malmberg (USA, 2010)
Jury Statement: "For its ingenious, organic storytelling and respect for its subject, the documentary jury recognizes a complex and multi-layered portrait of a survivor and artist which comes to life thanks to an amazing level of trust between filmmaker and subject that allows director Jeff Malmberg to bring his audience deep into the fascinating and very private world that is Marwencol."
The Documentary jury was comprised of: Patrick Baroch, ITVS; Michael Lumpkin, International Documentary Association; and MJ Peckos, Dada Films / Mitropoulus Films.
SIFF 2010 Short Film Jury Awards
Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short
Little Accidents, directed by Sara Colangelo (USA, 2009)
Jury Statement: "For its compelling sense of voyeurism, outstanding performances, and brilliant storytelling - the total package."
Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short
White Lines And The Fever: The Death Of DJ Junebug, directed by Travis Senger (USA, 2010)
Jury Statement: "For the way the story seamlessly reveals itself through the compassion of people who knew and loved DJ Junebug and the way the era of the birth of hip-hop was beautifully evoked."
Grand Jury Prize for Best Animated Short
The Wonder Hospital, directed by Beomsik Shim (USA, 2010)
Jury Statement: "Who knew that this would be the hardest category? We choose The Wonder Hospital for its experimental, adult-based animation style and it being about the way you twist the mirror, the story's depth."
Special Jury Mention for Short Animation
Cherry On The Cake, directed by Hyebin Lee (United Kingdom, 2009)
Jury Statement: "In support of excellence in family animation."
As a qualifying festival of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, short films that receive the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative short film and Best Animation short film awards at SIFF may qualify to enter the Short Films category of the Academy Awards® for the concurrent season without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
The Short Film jury was comprised of: SJ Chiro, Seattle based filmmaker; Chris Swenson, Seattle Office of Film + Music; and Karen Toering, Program Director, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.
SIFF 2010 FIPRESCI Award for Best American Film
SIFF is very pleased to announce its continued partnership with FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. FIPRESCI, in existence for more than 65 years, with members in over 60 countries, supports cinema as an art and as an outstanding and autonomous means of expression. SIFF is one of three festivals in the United States to host a FIPRESCI jury, and this year, FIPRESCI gave an award to Best American Film.
FIPRESCI Award
Night Catches Us, directed by Tanya Hamilton (USA, 2010)
Jury Statement: "For its profound exploration of a chapter of American history that is woefully under-explored, for its deft interaction between the personal and the political, for its exceptional acting, and for its masterful cinematography, the FIPRESCI Award goes to Tanya Hamilton's Night Catches Us."
Special Jury Mention
The jury would like to give a special mention for her excellent combination of comedic timing and emotional sincerity to Jenna Fischer in A Little Help.
The FIPRESCI jury was comprised of members of the International Federation of Film Critics: Melissa Anderson, US; Luc Chaput, Canada; and Barbara Lorey, France.
SIFF 2010 Golden Space Needle Audience Awards
The Golden Space Needle Audience Awards are given in the following categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film. Golden Space Needle Award winners receive a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain and Movie Magic Screenwriter software. Additionally, the Golden Space Needle Award winner for Best Short Film receives $1,000 of Color Negative Motion Picture Film from the Eastman Kodak Company Entertainment Imaging Division, and the a fully-loaded MacBook Pro and iPod Touch from Iris Professional Services and The Mac Store.
Best Film Golden Space Needle Award
The Hedgehog, directed by Mona Achache (France, 2009)
First runner up: Mao's Last Dancer, directed by Bruce Beresford (Australia, 2009)
Second runner up: Micmacs, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (France, 2009)
Third runner up: Cell 211, directed by Daniel Monzón (Spain, 2009)
Fourth runner up: Hipsters, directed by Valery Todorovsky (Russia, 2009)
Rounding out the top ten: The Concert(Radu Mihaileanu, France, 2009); Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (Eli Craig, USA, 2010); Winter's Bone (Debra Granik, USA, 2010); Carlitos and the Chance of a Lifetime (Jesús Del Cerro, Spain, 2009); and Loose Cannons (Ferzan Ozpetek, Italy, 2010).
Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award - TIE
Ginny Ruffner: A Not So Still Life, directed by Karen Stanton (USA 2010)
Waste Land, directed by Lucy Walker (United Kingdom, 2010)
First runner up: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, directed by Leanne Pooley (New Zealand, 2009)
Second runner up: Wheedle's Groove, directed by Jennifer Maas (USA, 2009)
Third runner up: Brownstones to Red Dirt, directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker (Sierra Leone, 2010)
Fourth runner up: Restrepo, directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington (USA, 2010)
Rounding out the top ten: Marwencol (Jeff Malmberg, USA, 2010); Waiting for "Superman" (Davis Guggenheim, USA, 2010); Chihuly Fire & Light (Peter West, USA, 2010); American: The Bill Hicks Story (Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, United Kingdom, 2009); and Mugabe and the White African (Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, Namibia, 2009).
Best Director Golden Space Needle Award
Debra Granik for Winter's Bone (USA, 2010)
First runner up: Mona Achache for The Hedgehog (France, 2009)
Second runner up: Ana Kokkinos for Blessed (Australia, 2009)
Third runner up: Valery Todorovsky for Hipsters (Russia, 2009)
Fourth runner up: Daniel Monzón for Cell 211 (Spain, 2009)
Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award
Luis Tosar for Cell 211 (Spain, 2009)
First runner up: Jim Broadbent for Perrier's Bounty (Ireland, 2009)
Second runner up: Aaron Johnson for Nowhere Boy (UK, 2009)
Third runner up: Martin Nissen for Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada, 2009)
Fourth runner up: Edward Norton for Leaves of Grass (USA, 2009)
Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award
Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone (USA, 2010)
First runner up: Josiane Balasko for The Hedgehog (France, 2009)
Second runner up: Patricia Clarkson for Cairo Time (Canada, 2009)
Third runner up: Sibel Kekilli for When We Leave (Germany/Turkey, 2009)
Fourth runner up: Tilda Swinton for I Am Love (Italy, 2009)
Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award
Ormie, directed by Rob Silvestri (Canada, 2009)
First runner up: Bedfellows, directed by Pierre Stefanos (USA, 2010)
Second runner up: The Little Dragon, directed by Bruno Collet (France, 2009)
Third runner up: The Crush, directed by Michael Creagh (Ireland, 2009)
Fourth runner up: Whistleless, directed by Siri Melchior (Denmark, 2009)
Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision, Presented by Women in Film/Seattle
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, directed by Leanne Pooley (New Zealand, 2009)
SIFF 2010 FutureWave and Youth Jury Awards
The SIFF FutureWave jury was comprised of five high-school students that viewed nine FutureWave features to award to the prize to Best FutureWave feature. The Films4Families jury was comprised of five elementary and middle school students that viewed six Films4Families films to award the prize for Best Films4Families Feature. SIFF's WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking was awarded at the FutureWave Shorts program on June 5 at the Egyptian Theatre. More than 100 short films were submitted from young filmmakers aged 13-18, from Canada, USA, and the United Kingdom. The award was selected from 15 finalists by local professional filmmakers Virginia Bogert (Women In Film/Seattle) and Rick Stevenson (TheFilmSchool).
Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature
REGENERATION, directed by Philip Montgomery (USA, 2010)
Jury Statement: "For it's ability to stimulate thought for a variety of audiences, provide a sense of awareness, and inspire action in today's apathetic society."
Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature
From Time To Time, directed by Julian Fellowes (United Kingdom, 2009)
Jury Statement: "For it amazing story involving flashbacks, a great cast of characters, and authentic costumes and set design which made the film feel true to history."
WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking (Grand Jury Prize)
Remember, directed by Scott Calvert (Anacortes, WA)
Jury Statement: "If you want evidence that filmmaking is a collaborative process, this certainly is it. The judges chose Remember for the near flawless choreography of events (and interesting events at that), the uniqueness and imaginative visual statements made by the players, the galvanizing of the participants by a director with a vision and a plan, and the sheer joy of the film. Although not a traditional story, it told us a lot about the young people involved...and their school."
WaveMaker Special Jury Prizes
Celina's Story, directed by Celina Chadwick (Seattle, WA)
Jury Statement: "For an honest and convincing account of one girl's life experience, we are awarding a new documentary filmmaker with a distinctive voice who we believe has a strong future."
Alisha, directed by Daniel Citron (Ruxton, MD)
Jury Statement: "For telling a gripping story, creating compelling images, knowing how to cast his lead, directing her to captivate the audience, and, for his tenacity and dedication to becoming a filmmaker."
Daniel Citron also received a scholarship to TheFilmSchool's Prodigy Camp, a week-long immersive overnight film camp for youth aged 12-18 held in late June.
FutureWave Shorts Audience Award
Remember, directed by Scott Calvert
1st Runner Up for FutureWave Shorts Audience Award is Alisha, directed by Daniel Citron; 2nd Runner Up is Omer, directed by Emma Strebel; 3rd Runner Up is Checkpoint Of Humanity, directed by Chloe Clark, Zain Masri, Owen Quanstrom, and Tamir Assouline; and 4th Runner Up is Celina's Story, directed by Celina Chadwick.
FutureWave Online Audience Award powered by IndieFlix
Shawn Harris: Personal Trainer, directed by Tyler Silver and Simon Turkel
1st Runner Up for FutureWave Online Audience Award powered by IndieFlix is I Just Am Who I Am, directed by Megan Baxter, and 2nd Runner Up is Alisha, directed by Daniel Citron.
Well friends, this is it. The final weekend of SIFF! The festival closes on Sunday night with Get Low, a showcase for some of Hollywood's finest actors of a Certain Seniority. Robert Duvall is fantastic as the mysterious and feared hermit who comes into town from his woodsy cell to ask Bill Murray to plan his funeral party. The mostly comedic enterprise sets in motion a series of emotional encounters, revealed secrets, and gestures toward catharsis. While opening and closing selections often fall into the territory of inoffensive blandness, this one oozes with charm and benefits from its cast of stately older actors at the top of their game.
Of course, a good part of the appeal is that whole thing is followed by a blowout gala at the Pan Pacific featuring lots of drinks, food, dancing, and a chance to debrief with fellow filmgoers about the fest (Screening is at 6:30 p.m. at Cinerama; party follows).
Many slots in the festival schedule originally listed as TBA have been announced. Along with additional screenings for festival favorites, three new films have been added. There's Thunder Soul, the story of a reunion of a high school band turned funk sensation (June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian); Vengeance finds a French chef in Hong Kong returning to his former killing ways (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; June 13, 11 a.m. @ Harvard Exit); and Michael Douglas and an all-star cast in Ebert-approved Solitary Man (June 12, 8:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place). And, those interested in a mass singalong to Grease, probably already bought their tickets weeks in advance (June 12, 3:45 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema).
Before you send the festival off into the good night, consider some of these selections for your weekend and use the comments section to let us know if we've missed any highly recommendable films. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.
Protektor a love story between a radio operator and his glamorous Jewish actress wife during the Nazi occupation of Prague during the 1930s. He cooperates to survive; she takes up with a subversive projectionist to fight depression. (June 11, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 4 p.m. @ Egyptian)
The Wildest Dream Chronicles two journeys to the summit of Mount Everest: Mallory's original fatal quest and Conrad Anker's attempts to follow in his footsteps to vindicate the early explorer's achievement. Did we mention that it's all in IMAX? (June 11, 7 p.m.; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Science Center)
Cargo: Swiss in Spaaaace! Suspenseful science fiction on a shoestring aboard long haul space flight. (June 11, 9:15 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)
Rocksteady: the Roots of Reggae: Genre pioneers reunite forty years later for a tribute concert in Kingston. (June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown; June 13, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Howl James Franco plays Alan Ginsburg in this celebration of the Beat poet laureate, complete with simulated interviews, recreated readings, and hallucinogenic animations. Rush tickets only. (June 12, 7 p.m. @ Egyptian)
Micmacs Jean-Pierre Jeunet's affection for quirky characters, coincidence, and contraptions combine in a comedic conspiracy to pit a pair of warmongers against each other as payback for inadvertent offenses against a protagonist with a bullet lodged in his brain. This has been on rush forever and opens in wider release later this month. (June 11, 7 p.m. @ Uptown)
Leaving: Kristin Scott Thomas faces mid-life French ennui. (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Uptown)
Last Train Home China's rural past confronts its industrial present during a holiday week in which factory workers swarm to available trains to spend precious time with their physically distant family members. (June 12, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
Au Revoir Taipei A night in the life of disaffected lovesick youth, in which Parisian plots are reconsidered, friends are kidnapped, and new crushes develop. (June 13, 9:15 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 12, 6:00 p.m. @ Kirkland)
Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives The title says it all, really. (June 12, Midnight @ Egyptian; June 13, 9:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)
Many previously-recommended films get final screenings. In the foreign section, Cold War drama Farewell finds an unlikely spy working with a high-level comrade to smuggle secrets out of Moscow (June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Uptown); The Dancer and the Thief seeks payback against Pinochet in the form of a spectacular heist (June 13, 9:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place); Patagonia dwells on the Welsh history in Argentina (June 12, 3:45 p.m. @ Uptown); and Crossing Hennessy involves an unwanted blind date that turns intriguing in Hong Kong (June 11, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place).
Documentaries cover William S. Burroughs: A Man Within about the legendary author's life starring the famous people whose work his writing and activism influenced. (June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit); American: The Bill Hicks Story examines the comedian's life and artifacts (June 12, 11:00 a.m. @ Egyptian); and Garbo the Spy has proven one of the more fascinating characters of the festival (June 13, 8:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Musical fiends left wanting more than a Grease singalong, might enjoy I Kissed a Vampire with its song and dance numbers in service of bloodthirsty teen love (June 12, 4:30 p.m. @ Egyptian) and Hipsters, an excessively delightful musical tribute to happiness by way of wardrobe and music in opposition to Soviet conformity (June 12, 2:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place).
There are also comedies of various shades of black and red including the homicidal corporate ladder climbing with Miss Nobody (June 12, 1:15 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema); or one last blood bath from RoboGeisha (June 13, 8:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit).
For a kid-friendlier end to SIFF, consider breakdancers of the world doing battle in Turn It Loose (June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Kirkland) or the cute overload from adorable kitty, The White Lion (June 12, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema).
Here we are, watching our way through the last week of SIFF, seeing as much as we can before the sun and World Cup vie for our attention. All of us at The SunBreak weigh in with our picks and pans of the festival films we saw so far this week.
It seems like everyone saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with varying levels of affection for the film and the live score composed & performed by Stephin Merritt. Once I came to accept it as the LOST of its time (with its intersecting storylines, mysterious island, characters with unclear motivations, multiple flashbacks, abrupt entry of characters and set pieces, and dramatic special effects), I allowed myself to appreciate the serialized drama and its showcase of undersea cinematography. Still, with high expectations from his other work and some of the other overwhelming experiences from past SIFF presentations, I didn't think that Merritt's fairly minimal score added as much as it might have.
Don: Organ melodies, synthesizer bleeps, a tuba, a trumpet, and vocals through two megaphones provded the background to the invention of underwater filming. Watching was a lot like flying: a few moments of sheer terror, separated by long stretches of boredom. Except it was more like a few moments of audible or visual humor, separated by long stretches of repetitive melodies backing a couple fish swimming in a grey ocean. A couple remarked that it was "hilarious" on the way out and two people rose for a standing ovation. I thought the organ looked cool.
Tony: Film purists probably balked at its irreverence and more than one of my eminent SunBreak colleagues were nonplussed, but I enjoyed this SIFF archival presentation with musical accompaniment. Merritt's playful music included some hummable melodies, and I found the bits of atmospheric texture scattered throughout to be pretty immersive. As for the film itself, it's a dated but fascinating artifact--really the Avatar of its day (1916) what with its underwater cinematography and lavish production values. For a very early silent, it also sports an impressively ambitious structure containing three intersecting stories and flashbacks from multiple sources--pretty heady stuff for a movie that's older than your great-grandparents.
MvB: agreed with the previous assessments.
Reactions to other films after the jump.
MvB: Secrets of the Tribe exposed how anthropologists studying the Yanomami's every word and gesture failed to remark on their own signal contributions to this "virgin" culture: bribery with modern weapons and tools, rapacious pedophilia, exposure to new diseases. But any outrage gets watered down by bitchy talking-head sequences that reduce things to anthro-politics.
The Wedding Cake is a droll French comedy that skewers the fetish for "perfect" wedding days, marriage itself, class pretension, youthful infatuation, and new car smell. It's fun, but even the young lovers (*Harry Potter*'s Fleur Delacour stars) aren't that likable or mature, and by the end you begin the share the elder participants' "You kids stay off my lawn" sentiments. (screens again tonight, June 10, 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown; June 13, 4:00 pm @ Uptown)
Josh: Saw mostly documentaries this week. I also felt a sense of flummoxed admiration for Secrets of the Tribe and its portrayal of a frustrating absence of answers spewing from an academic viper pit of accusations of misconduct and bad behavior. It didn't help that the chief accuser looked as if he had been basted in butter for a week of heavy tanning and wrote a book about married life with a child bride from the tribe. I went in expecting an expose from tribe members on how incorrectly the anthropologists had interpreted their society. Instead we found out about some horrible things that happened in the course of their studies, though the less black-and-white accusations illuminated some of the most challenging issues in observational sciences.
8, the Mormon Proposition was rough but impassioned doc on the insidious reach of the Church of Latter Day Saints against gay rights in general, and in overturning marriage equality in California. The filmmakers were self-admittedly one-sided, gathering emotional stories in support of their argument. While I share their outrage, it would have been interesting to get a more nuanced perspective not only on why Proposition 8 won, but why its opponents lost the political battle (beyond one monolithic, well-funded adversary).
My numerical documentary week concluded with General Orders No. 9. Watching it felt like being awake for someone else's dream. In this case, the hypnotic dream collage formed a lament on the indignity of being alive in a post-interstate urban era. I tried to allow myself to succumb to his incantatory narration and long shots of nature, urban sprawl, and animated maps, but kept returning to the conflict that the filmmaker was working with a medium that wouldn't have been possible had his anti-technology sentiments been granted.
Tony had a doc-heavy week, too:
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields: Gail O'Hara's and Kerthy Fix's documentary doesn't exactly lay its drily humorous genius subject (yes, I am a fan) bare, but it's a smart and engaging glimpse into Merritt's career, and the love/symbiosis between the songwriter and his bandmate/de facto manager/den mother Claudia Gonson is fascinating.
Disco and Atomic War: This Estonian doc about how clandestine signals from an extra-tall Finnish TV tower titillated and liberated citizens of communist-ruled Estonia kinda charmed the hell out of me. It's also one of those rare documentaries where the re-enactment scenes actually entertained in their own right.
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within: I have eternally been enthralled by Burroughs' raggedly brilliant and powerful words, and by his gravel-tinkling-over-sheet-metal voice, so this documentary on his life and work was an enrapturing view for me. Well-researched and packed with heartfelt reminiscences and testimony. (screening again on June 12, 6:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Garbo the Spy: The amazing story of Juan Pujer Garcia, a Spanish counter-agent who basically duped the German army into their crushing defeat in Normandy on D-Day, is so surreal and hilarious you'll swear someone made the shit up. (catch this discussion-provoking favorite again June 13, 8:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Audrey had fun with The Wild Hunt, about a Viking-themed LARP game that gets a little too real. Yet another fine festival film from Quebec! More pls. I also enjoyed bootlegging heist flick Reykjavik-Rotterdam and already dread the Mark Wahlberg-fronted remake, which will surely involve smuggling black tar heroin Boston-Philly. Say hi to your mother for me.
Now it's your turn--what did you see?
As SIFF marches into its final week, the festival continues pulling out all of the stops as we all barrel toward a manic finale. Tonight a live musical score to Captain Nemo competes with a former Facts of Life star in the Gay-la spotlight. Eastsiders will be pleased to know that festival stays in Kirkland for a few more days.
Scour these selections for some ideas of filling the remaining slots on your SIFF dance card and let us know if we've missed any highly recommendable films. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields fame) and friends (including Daniel Handler, or Lemony Snicket to your kids) composed an original soundtrack to the 1916 film version of Jules Verne's undersea adventure. They'll perform it live tonight in the grandeur of the Paramount with accompaniment on the venue's infamous organ. (7:30 p.m. @ the Paramount)
Violet Tendencies Natalie from Facts of Life all grown up. She's surrounded by loving gays, but needs a little male companionship of her own. Get ready for an exploration of emerging language life "fruit fly" and "fag stag". Tonight's showing is followed by a gay gay gay-la at Re-bar with DJs, cocktails, dancing, and mingletime; you'll have to make your own afterparty for Thursday's showing. (June 9, 7:00 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 10, 4:00 p.m.)
Monogamy A bored Brooklynite's art project goes too far when his filmmaking uncovers obsessionworthy depravity. (June 9, 7:00 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; June 10, 4:00 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
The Dancer and the Thief One of those "let's get the gang back together for one last heist", this time in the wake of and as vengeance against the brutalities of the Pinochet regime. (June 9, 2010 9:15 p.m. @ Neptune; June 13, 2010 9:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within Dozens of celebrity "comrades" filtered out of the woodwork in support of this documentary about the legendary author's life. With a soundtrack by Sonic Youth, and revealing interviews with Gus Van Sant, Laurie Anderson, John Waters, and others influenced by Burroughs's writing and activism. (June 10, 4:00 p.m. @ Neptune; June 12, 2010 6:30 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
I Kissed a Vampire Love at first bite? A dozen song and dance numbers in service of teen love, bloodthirsty style. (June 10, 7:00 p.m. @ Neptune; June 12, 4:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)
Hipsters Not a documentary about Capitol Hill denizens, but a Russian musical about ass-shaking Moscow youths in the 1950s. Technicolor costumes, blinding pompadours, and scandalous hip-shaking await. (June 10, 6:30 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 12, 2:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
American: The Bill Hicks Story It took two British filmmakers to take the deep dive into the wealth of videos, photos, and unfinished film projects in this documentary about the comedian who railed hilariously against hypocrisy, government, and monolithic media. (June 10, 6:30 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; June 12, 11:00 a.m. @ Egyptian)
Crossing Hennessy Uncoordinated efforts to derail parental meddling might have unexpected failures in this story of a Hong Kong underachiever pushed into a blind date. (June 10, 7:00 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 11, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place)
Patagonia An inadvertent Trading Spaces as a Welsh couple retreats to Argentina to spice up their marriage and an elderly Argentinian plots a return to Wales to understand her distant ancestry. All set against the vibrant Patagonian landscape. (June 10, 7:00 p.m. @ Uptown; June 12, 2010 3:45 p.m.@ Uptown)
Miss Nobody Justine Bibb climbs the corporate ladder comedic homicide by comedic homicide. World premiere! (June 10, 9:15 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; June 12, 1:15 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Some previous recommendations with repeat showings include: Peruvian village toxicity drama Altiplano (June 9, 4:00 p.m. @ the Egyptian); Beautiful people brood on the road to the beach in Going South (June 10, 9:30 PM @ the Egyptian); Estonian culture vultures of Disco and Atomic War (June 9, 7:00 p.m. @ Kirkland); Desaparecido sibling drama I Miss You (June 10, 9:15 p.m. @ Kirkland)
As we enter the final week of SIFF, you have just seven days left to overdose on film. The festival stays in Kirkland for a few more days, and there's another chance to catch the prison drama that launched a party of epic paella over the weekend. Bring an umbrella for the ticketholders' line with a few of these Monday and Tuesday selections, and let us know if we've missed any highly recommendable films. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.
Altiplano Drama ensues when Peruvian villagers discover too late that the disease plaguing them is caused by a nearby mine and not supernatural forces or well-meaning physicians. (June 7, 6:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 9, 4:00 p.m. @ the Egyptian)
8: The Mormon Proposition Dustin Lance Black narrates this investigation into the long-term efforts of the Mormon Church to thwart gay rights and to support the passage of California's gay marriage ban. With portraits of former missionaries and gay couples, this political documentary is likely to preach to the choir, just not the tabernacle. (June 7, 7:00 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 8, 4:15 p.m. @ Egyptian)
Mugabe and the White African A covert documentary out of Zimbabwe provides a startling look at the dangerous fight of a white farmer to hold on to their livelihood under the brutal dictator. (June 7, 7:00 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Perfect 10 Shot across Washington State, Seattleites Kris and Lindy Boustedt tell the story of a plus-sized businesswoman convinced to go to her high school reunion to show off her successes to an unrequited crush and the classmates who made her life miserable. (June 7, 9:15 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; June 8, 4:00 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema)
Secrets of the Tribe The egos, inconsistencies, and academic showdowns are on display in this previously-recommended documentary about the researchers who have built careers studying the isolated Yanomami. Weaved into the escalating battles are archival footage and testimonials from tribe members. (June 7, 9:15 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
Disco and Atomic War Despite the best efforts of Soviet culture jammers, this documentary explains why Estonians know who shot J.R. (June 7, 9:30 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 9, 7:00 p.m. @ Kirkland)
Rouge Ciel A visual feast documenting Art Brut from around the world, with profiles of famous outsider artists. (June 8, 7:00 p.m. @ Harvard Exit)
I Miss You Brothers coming of age during tumultuous times in Argentina. One is disappeared, the other is left to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all. (June 8, 7:30 p.m. @ Neptune; June 10, 9:15 p.m. @ Kirkland Performance Center; June 12, 11:00 AM @ Harvard Exit)
Turn It Loose A chance to watch the world breakdancing championships without flying all the way to South Africa. Six competitors enter, everyone leaves [the theater] happy. (June 8, 9:20 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema; June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Kirkland)
RoboGeisha This one got Tony's seal of approval and has received near-unanimous praise from the midnight adrenaline junkies who weighed in after the Memorial Day weekend screening. You have another chance to catch the campily outrageous cybernetically enhanced sibling rivalry bloodbath without staying up all night. (June 8, 10:00 p.m. @ Neptune)
