Spring Arts Preview 2016: Film
Details on the Seattle International Film Festival and a tribute to the cinema of Paris
By Jim Demetre February 22, 2016
This article originally appeared in the March 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
Film
Silver Screen Star
Courtney Sheehan, artistic director
Under the leadership of artistic director Courtney Sheehan, who began as its intern in 2009 and served as its program manager for several years, the Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) has redefined film house programming and brought the institution to the fore of Seattle’s cultural life. Not content to leave visitors sitting quietly in their seats amid the darkness, Sheehan seeks to engage the community with, as she once explained, the three D’s: discussion, debate and dancing. Although she travels to festivals throughout the world to see films and meet directors, Sheehan is just as focused on our local scene. On April 29, Seattle writer and comedian Brett Hamil will return to the stage with The Seattle Process, a live talk show that combines comedy with a discussion of social and political issues.
Throughout the month of March, NWFF and Seattle International Film Festival present a Wim Wenders retrospective titled Portraits Along the Road. In April, the NWFF showcases the films of Japanese cult director Seijun Suzuki, and in May, it presents the UCLA Festival of Preservation, a selection of the school’s vast film and television archive. (Those two events are presented in conjunction with The Grand Illusion Cinema.) No matter what kind of pictures you like, you will enjoy yourself more when watching them here. Dates, times and prices vary. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave.; 206.329.2629
Foreign
Cinema de Paris
3/31–5/26
This series is a salute to Paris and features the Seattle restoration premieres of seven films by Claude Sautet, starring Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Gerard Depardieu, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Romy Schneider. Also included are films by Jacques Becker, Claude Autant-Lara and Francois Truffaut. 3/31: Antoine and Antoinette. 4/7: A Pig Across Paris. 4/14: The Big Risk. 4/21: Stolen Kisses. 4/28: The Things of Life. 5/5: Max and the Junkmen. 5/12: César and Rosalie. 5/19: Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others. 5/26: Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud. Times and prices vary. Seattle Art Museum, Plestcheeff Auditorium, 1300 First Ave.; 206.654.3100
The film Big Sonia (directed by Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday) will screen at Seattle International Film Festival’s 42nd annual event in May. Image credit: Gloria Baker Feinstein
Film
Seattle International Film Festival
5/19–6/12
Now in its 42nd year, the largest and most highly attended film festival in the United States offers more than 450 films from 90 countries. Times and prices vary. Multiple locations; 206.464.5830
Follow Us
Holiday Hunt in Pioneer Square
A daily ornament drop turns December into a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt.
The holidays tend to bring out the kid in all of us. And if opening presents and eating too many treats weren’t enough, there’s also a scavenger hunt in Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. Pioneer Square’s Holiday Ornament Scavenger Hunt has returned for its third year. Twenty-five handblown glass ornaments—all made at Glasshouse Studio—are hidden across 25…
Chit-Chat Kids
Phone a friend.
Twenty years ago, before everyone walked around with a device in their pocket, kids used to call each other on a landline—often tethered to the kitchen in their home. It was a simpler time, when parents didn’t have to worry (nearly as much) about a potential predator contacting their child. Nowadays, things are different, which…
A Plate for Pickleball
The design celebrates the state’s official sport. Additional plates are on the way.
Washington served up a new license plate last week, honoring the state sport of pickleball. In the works for three years, it’s the second of seven specialty plates to hit the market since getting approved by lawmakers earlier this year. “We’re thrilled to see our efforts become reality,” says Kate Van Gent, vice president of…
Seattle-Based Agency Brings Real Voices to NBC’s New Campaign
DNA&STONE built the project around candid conversations to understand what audiences want from reporting.
“I turned off news altogether. I want to be able to form my own opinions. Just tell the truth.” These lines open NBC News’ new national campaign, a 60-second ad that drifts over forests, farms, neighborhoods, and cityscapes while Americans talk about how worn out they feel by the news. The landscape carries the conversation…