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What to See This Fall: Film
This article originally appeared in the September 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
The Seattle indie filmmaking scene is currently thriving, thanks to locally based filmmakers such as Lynn Shelton, Megan Griffiths, Mel Eslyn and Lacey Leavitt, who make it a priority to film in Washington state. (Follow the Keep Film in WA campaign at washingtonfilmworks.org.)
Stay abreast of new work from local up-and-comers at the Northwest Film Forum’s Local Sightings Film Festival (9/24–10/3; localsightings.nwfilmforum.org), the annual event showcasing the diverse perspectives of Northwest filmmakers. This year’s lineup features stories about a male escort turned deli owner (The Sandwich Nazi), a funny girl with a death wish (Killing June), a Christian fundamentalist road trip (Children), a Nepalese girl striving for an education (Drawing the Tiger) and the legendary guardian of the Samish people (Maiden of Deception Pass).
Prefer to ingest your movies in a thematic splurge? Look to SIFF (siff.net) for its popular mini festivals: Women in Cinema (9/17–9/20) reveals the modern world as seen through the female gaze; French Cinema Now (10/22–10/29) offers a contemporary take on liberté, égalité and fraternité; and Cinema Italian Style (11/12–11/19) showcases new reels from the filmic land of plenty.
Also worth gorging on is Nightfall, the 38th annual film noir series at SAM (9/24–12/10; seattleartmuseum.org), whose dark and moody movie gems include Scarlet Street (1945), Fritz Lang’s take on the femme fatale, and Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949), in which Shelley Winters plays the girlfriend of a heroin smuggler who falls for a narc. Now that’s noir.
Explore more 2015 Fall Arts events here.
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