A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Seattle International Film Festival
For a few years in the ‘90s, The Seattle-born Jim Rose Circus Sideshow was everywhere. How this band of sideshow misfits scraped, lifted, regurgitated, and self-mutilated their way to international notoriety (for awhile, at least) is told with a veteran carnival barker’s rumpled, robust zing in Chickory Wees’ great documentary.
Two stories of adoptees finding their places, screening as part of the Seattle International Film Festival.
Reviews of three films playing at the Seattle International Film Festival; all will stream on SIFF.tv next week.
Picks for the second half of the Seattle International Film Festival, plus a rundown of the guests who will be in town to support their films.
I believe most writers, especially those of us who cover the arts, have a small “dream interview” list, people that we’d love to talk to, should the stars align. High on my shortlist for about a decade has been documentarian Penny Lane. She’s directed some of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years, full of vivid characters. Some of her most notable films include Our Nixon, Nuts!, Hail Satan?, and Listening to Kenny G. She’s like a Gen X Errol Morris and she’s amazing.
Short reviews of two documentaries: Even Hell Has Its Heroes, about the NW rock band Earth, and Satan Wants You about the Canadian roots of the Satanic panic.
Yet again local (and beloved) director Megan Griffiths has a SIFF favorite on her hands. Year of the Fox is set in Aspen, CO where Ivy (Sarah Jeffrey) is on the cusp of womanhood but hesitant to grow up too fast. Unfortunately with her parents imminent divorce, a father far too distracted by the opulent world of Aspen “royalty” and her mother dealing with the fallout of not only losing marriage but the life she’d always known. Confronted with the harsh realities of the very real caste system that still exists in our country, toxic masculinity, and the realization that her dad may not be the man he’d convinced her he was… she’s forced to figure it out on her own. I don’t know about you, but at her age, I wouldn’t have been able to feed myself much less upend my whole reality and come out the other side in one piece.
Short reviews of SIFF films, both about kids having a tough time.
Reviews from the Seattle International Film Festival.
For the first time in a few years, the opening night gala for the Seattle International Film Festival felt almost too fancy for the likes of me to attend. It was the place to be, get dressed up, celebrate all that film in Seattle and beyond has to offer and a fantastic surprise to boot.
