SIFF link and summary: The Perfect Candidate
Saudi Arabia, 2019; 105 minutes; director Haifaa Al-Mansour
Dr Maryam is an overworked medic at an underserved Saudi clinic. In order to improve safety measures and working conditions, she decides to run for a seat on the municipal council despite the rampant misogyny within her community.

( Read more... )

Main feature (which screened after the short film):
SIFF link and summary: Strawberry Mansion
US, 2021; 90 minutes; directors Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley
In this sweet and colorful bit of surrealistic speculative fiction set in the near future, a "dream auditor" on assignment becomes obsessed with an aging eccentric and, while investigating ( Read more... )

SIFF link and summary: Under the Open Sky
Japan, 2020; 126 minutes; director Miwa Nishikawa
Yakusho Kôji (The Third Murder) gives a riveting performance as a lifelong Yakuza, released from prison after 13 years, whose journey to find the mother who abandoned him as a child is hindered by his gangster past.
Restricted to audiences in WA ( Read more... )

SIFF link and summary for the series: Animation for Adults (styled "Animation4Adults")
70 minutes
The spirit remembers what it means to be in relationship to all beings, past, present and future, seen and unseen.
Screening: streaming at home.
Audience: two.
Snacks: bagels and leftovers (lunch).
Ad: The Bears' Famous Invasion - Italian ( Read more... )

SIFF link and summary for the series: Ancestors
70 minutes
The spirit remembers what it means to be in relationship to all beings, past, present and future, seen and unseen.
Screening: streaming at home.
Audience: two.
Snacks: bagels and leftovers (lunch).
Ad: Waikiki - Hawaiian film; looks good.
Presenter: Tracy Rector

SIFF link and ( Read more... )

SIFF link and summary: In the Same Breath
US, 2021; 95 minutes; director Nanfu Wang
Nanfu Wang (One Child Nation) directs this tragic, revealing, and journalistically risky contextualization of the COVID-19 outbreak, spotlighting the similar Chinese and American government propagandic responses to the once-in-a-century pandemic that brought ( Read more... )

SIFF link and summary: Opening Night Celebration and Film
Roll out the red carpet in your living room and join us for Festival 2021 Opening Night! We'll kick off the evening with a live program including the announcement of the Mayor's Office Award, tributes to those we lost, and more. After the program, Festival 2021 opens with Robert Connelly ( Read more... )

Main feature (which screened after the short film):
SIFF link and summary: All Sorts
USA, 2021; 93 minutes; director J Rick Castañeda
In a comedy that could only have come out of the Pacific Northwest, a lonely data entry clerk discovers a secret door in the office and stumbles upon the world of competitive champion folder filing.

( Read more... )

SIFF's capsule summary: "Seattle's most exclusive film club. See movies that no other audience (anywhere!) can watch."
SIFF link: Secret Festival #4
The whole point of the Secret Festival is that people who see them sign a pledge not to discuss the films with anyone except others who have signed the pledge. So I'm not telling what film showed.
( Read more... )

SIFF's capsule summary: "Seattle's most exclusive film club. See movies that no other audience (anywhere!) can watch."
SIFF link: Secret Festival #2
The whole point of the Secret Festival is that people who see them sign a pledge not to discuss the films with anyone except others who have signed the pledge. So I'm not telling what film showed.
( Read more... )