Festivals SIFF

Are We Not Film? SIFF DocFest returns this week

Tomorrow begins one of my favorite mini-festivals in Seattle: SIFF’s annual DocFest. It’s a week-long festival celebrating some of the best new-ish documentaries out there (and in true Seattle fashion, this week goes from Thursday to Thursday, so it is actually eight days long).

Reviews

Megalopolis still has me scratching my head

Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) is a genius inventor who discovered/created a new element he dubbed Megalon. This material is incredibly durable, easily manipulated and can do any number of things in any number of ways to create stuff we need across many aspects of our lives (ie the load-bearing structure of a building or material for a dress, it can apparently run the gamut). Cesar considers this new compound the answer to many of mankind’s problems including homelessness and war. Ever the optimist, he wants to create a utopia, Megalopolis, with Megalon as its backbone both literally and metaphorically.

Festivals Reviews SIFF

Sweetheart Deal is a moving story of heartbreak and tragedy on Aurora Avenue

Sweetheart Deal is 98 minutes of tragedy and heartbreak but it also felt so vital and important to tell the stories of these women who suffer from so much abuse and marginalization. “Sex work is work” and “my body, my choice” are good, rhetorical, platitudes (that I believe) but they are also too vague to meaningfully represent anyone whose choice and autonomy are often taken out of the equation, often by situations far beyond their control. 

Festivals

Local Sightings started off another stellar fest this weekend

This weekend saw the kickoff of Seattle’s 27th Local Sightings Film Festival ten-day run September 20th – September 29th. Hosted at Northwest Film Forum (and online), it showcases the best and brightest the Pacific Northwest has to offer, both new and established. Filmmakers from WA, OR, AK, ID, MT, BC, and the Yukon are all eligible to participate which adds a mix of cultures, perspectives and styles for us to enjoy. Just as in years’ past the festival includes short and feature film programs that run the gamut from documentaries to experimental films.