short films, a visitor, two features, and a party
This morning "J" and I and "T" went to the SIFF short film package "The Family Picture Show". It was one of the best short film packages I've ever attended; of the 14 shorts, all were at least good, and quite a few very good or excellent. Just a few years ago, SIFF gained the status of an Academy Award qualifying short film festival, meaning that short films that show at SIFF become eligible for Oscar nominations. Some of the films in this package probably have a chance at nomination.
After the shorts series, we returned home for lunch. "L" arrived to visit T just as J and I headed out for two more films.
We had meant to see the short film package titled "Adventures in the Unknown", but the timing didn't quite work out for us. So instead we went to our back-up plan, The Faces of Zandra Rhodes, a documentary about a fashion designer who has also designed costumes for the Seattle opera. The film was good if treated as a music video with a lot of shots from fashion shows, but it didn't share a lot about the title person's life or business.
The evening show was Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Fred Rogers. Mr Rogers arrived on television where I lived after I was already too old to enjoy the show, so I didn't have a sentimental connection to the show. But the documentary was so good that it made me care for and admire Fred Rogers. About the only fault I noted was that it gets a little slow near the end.
After the film there was a party at a place called House Studios, which was a nice place for a party. (J left earlier to get a salad for dinner.) After it got too late for me to stay out much longer, so we went home.