Some overall comments about SIFF 2008. Maybe it was just me, but were the films actually better this year? I know that SIFF was tightening its belt--for the first time there weren't "more movies than ever on the planet, all in three weeks!" (although, don't get me wrong, several hundred is still plenty). Perhaps the 50 less movies were actually the stinkiest ones that the programmers thankfully cut for our benefit.

There was less schwag for sale (no lunchboxes, stickers, tote bags, etc.), and there were less parties. With this streamlining, especially with the venues mainly limited to the Uptown, SIFF Cinema, Pacific Place, Egyptian, and Harvard Exit, I found the fest much easier and less stressful to get around. I only used my car twice (for films that got out past 11pm), and actually rode the Monorail twice as well! Otherwise, I just did fine on foot and bus. All in all (counting carefully), I saw 33 (I just recounted!) movies and/or SIFF-related events. Not as many as last year, but I liked most of what I saw this time!

My faves of the fest: Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (narrative), Man on Wire (documentary)

Breakout performances: Tannishtha Chatterjee of Brick Lane, Andrew Garfield of Boy A

The Ponette award for making tiny children "act" by threatening to stone them: Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame

A trend of "real-life" documentaries that blur the line of reality and drama: American Teen, Up the Yangtze

Surprisingly not stinky (not GREAT, but not stinky!): Battle in Seattle

Favorite short film: OK, I only went to one shorts compilation, but LOVED the twisted and funny The Pearce Sisters (unsurprisingly from Aardman Animation). I was delighted to see it won a jury prize!

Fabulous archival presentations: In the Land of the Headhunters, Sunrise w/ The Album Leaf, Alexander Nevsky w/Seattle Symphony

Hottest actors of the fest who showed up in person: Real-life couple Sophie Hilbrand and Waldemar Torenstra of Summer Heat

If you can't get a good film, don't bother with the Gay-La: Kiss the Bride

Random acts of kindness: To prove that I needn't waffle on the last evening of flicks, a kind fellow gave me his extra ticket to Timecrimes for free, and a woman offered (literally one second too late!) to sell me her discounted ticket for my last film, The Wrecking Crew.

Most fun to be had during SIFF: OK, alright, alright, I'm cheating here... but I'll have to say, sneaking away from the fest the second weekend to go have cocktails with a pack of friends and see the Sex and the City movie. I have no shame!

And finally, weirdest Capitol Hill postering during fest: The "orange level" lice epidemic posters all over Pine Street, supposedly courtesy of the Seattle Health Department (turned out it was a hoax, at least as far as health officials were concerned)

So! Until next year... [checking pockets, looking at watch, whistling to pass the time, thinking I should be somewhere], see you at SIFF Cinema!

SIFF 2008

Best Film Golden Space Needle Award: Cherry Blossoms – Hanami, directed by Doris Dörrie (Germany)

The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order) Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt (USA) Fugitive Pieces, directed by Jeremy Podeswa (Canada) Captain Abu Raed, directed by Amin Matalqa (Jordan) The Drummer, directed by Kenneth Bi (Hong Kong) Summer Heat, directed by Monique van de Ven (the Netherlands) Letting Go of God, directed by Julia Sweeney (USA) Late Bloomers, directed by Bettina Oberli (Switzerland) Bliss, directed by Abdullah Oguz (Turkey) Michou d’Auber, directed by Thomas Gilou (France)

Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award: The Wrecking Crew, directed by Denny Tedesco (USA)

The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order) Great Speeches From a Dying World, directed by Linas Phillips (USA) Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh (UK) Accelerating America, directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA) Creative Nature, directed by John Andres (USA) Emmanuel Jal: War Child, directed by C. Karim Chrobog (USA) Trouble the Water, directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (USA) Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains, directed by Gonzalo Arijon (France) Good Food, directed by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin (USA) They Killed Sister Dorothy, directed by Daniel Junge (USA)

Best Director Golden Space Needle Award: Amin Matalqa, for Captain Abu Raed (Jordan)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order) Courtney Hunt, for Frozen River (USA) Nina Paley, for Sita Sings the Blues (USA) Dorota Kedzierzawska, for Time to Die (Poland) Nic Balthazar, for Ben X (Belgium)

Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award: Alan Rickman, for Bottle Shock (USA) The remaining top five audience favorites (in order) Nadim Sawalha, for Captain Abu Raed (Jordan) Andrew Garfield, for Boy A (UK) Zdenerk Sverák, for Empties (Czech Republic) Greg Timmermans, for Ben X (Belgium) Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award: Jessica Chastain, for Jolene (USA)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order) Catinca Untaru, for The Fall (USA) Melissa Leo, for Frozen River (USA) Danuta Szaflarska, for Time to Die (Poland) Melanie Diaz, for American Son (USA)

Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award: Felix, directed by Andreas Utta (Germany)

The remaining top five audience favorites (in order) Sleeping Betty, directed by Claude Cloutier (Canada) Bailey-Boushay House: A Living History, directed by Terence Brown (USA) Zoologic, directed by Nicole Mitchell (USA) Spider, directed by Nash Edgerton (Australia)

Lena Sharpe Award: Frozen River, director Courtney Hunt (USA) This award is given to the film by a woman director that receives the most votes from the public.

SIFF 2008

Whooeee! I do always get that last-day panic at SIFF, don't you? You know, the monster fest is coming to an end, and heck, what if you missed what turned out to be your favorite movie, because you decided to call it a night early?

Let's just say that my favorite movie was most definitely not Bottle Shock (4/8), one of those lazy, typical, pleasant-but dull American movies that SIFF often uses as an opening or closing film. But apparently there is an audience for these films, because SIFF's Closing Night (on Saturday for the first time!) audience voted Alan Rickman Best Actor for his role as a Brit expatriate wine merchant in Paris who invites over the scrappy vintners from Napa in California in the 1970s to compete in a taste test with--yes--the French. Based on a true story, the scrappy kids took almost all (if not all) the major awards, including Chateau Montelena, run by Jim (Bill Pullman, as usual, pleasant but bland) and his son Bo (Chris Pine, with the most gawd-awful 70s shag wig I've ever seen). There is a token girl that only shows up to sleep with the two young men in the story (for no reason at all)... except that the OTHER one is Freddy Rodriguez, who is the film's only saving grace. Alas, his earnest performance as a 2nd generation Mexican-American who wants to be a master vintner isn't enough to recommend this flick.

I knew that I would have better luck with Alexander Nevsky (6/8), Sergei Eisenstein's "lost" film from 1938, depicting a fantastic battle between the Russians (led by Prince Alexander) and the German Teutonic invaders in the 13th century. Alexander, play by blond pretty-boy Nikolai Cherkasov, pulls together a ragtag army of peasants to defend Novgorod, with the fantastic culminating battle taking place on a frozen lake. The special presentation took place at the Seattle Symphony's home of Benaroya Hall, with the symphony performing Sergei Prokofiev's original score live, accompanied by a choir and soprano! I wasn't the only one surprised that it wasn't actually a silent film. During dialogue, the musicians would sit patiently, then be pulled in to create the impressive, sweeping soundtrack mainly for montage scenes of Russian majesty, with the regular folks banding together to fight the enemy. The soundtrack was BIG to say the least. The film was very good, but the live soundtrack experience was fabulous and memorable.

I didn't have tickets for the rest of the final afternoon, so decided to wing it. Last year I took the opportunity to catch the announced award winners when they filled the remaining TBA slots. I had already seen one of the films (see next entry, with list of winners), so instead caught, rather spontaneously, the Spanish sci-fi thriller Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes) (6/8). It is a tight, fun little time-travel film, which treats the accidental jumping back of a couple hours as just a scientific accident that this unsuspecting fellow Hector falls into. I don't want to give anything away, because getting there is all the fun (and you have to pay close attention, like in Memento). And, unsurprisingly, apparently Timecrimes has already been optioned for an American remake. Go figure.

So, what does one do when it is 9:00 on the last night of the fest? Why, race across town to SIFF Cinema for just... one... more. My last film of the fest was the charming documentary The Wrecking Crew (6/8), which profiled a group of session musicians in the 1960s Los Angeles pop music scene who created the studio recordings for a stupendous amount of hit songs. For instance, did you know that the Beach Boys did not play on the majority of their records? Song after song is revealed (the Righteous Brothers "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson," the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'," etc.)--and all were performed by the same go-to studio musicians. Crazy! The film includes interviews with many of the musicians (the most famous of these studio guys was Glen Campbell, before he went solo), as well as big names like Cher, Herb Albert, Dick Clark, and Nancy Sinatra. The film is warm and friendly, as it was made by Denny Tedesco, whose late father Tommy Tedesco was one of the Crew. This doc ended up winning the Golden Space Needle for documentary, and was a nice, foot-tappin' film for the end of my festing.

SIFF 2008