SIFF press screenings: week two
Next week's SIFF press screenings were announced early Friday afternoon, but I didn't get a chance to share them until now.
I'll probably try to see all of this week's collection, but some look more interesting than others. On Monday, I'm intrigued by 3 mostly because it's directed by Tom Tykwer, whose previous films have been really good; Natural Selection sounds amusing too. On Tuesday, all three sound interesting for various reasons. On Wednesday, LOVE sounds intriguing, as "cerebral science fiction". On Friday, the idea of Egyptian underground music in Microphone sounds interesting. I'll be curious to find how my initial interests align with what I end up liking after I see it.
I copied and pasted this from the SIFF mailing, with extensive clean-up:
SIFF 2011 Press Screenings
Week of May 2, 2011 at Pacific Place
As a Passholder you have the privilege of being one of the first to see films that will be shown at this year's Festival. Press screenings begin promptly at 10 am, noon, and 2 pm (unless otherwise noted) at Pacific Place. Please note that there are no press screenings on Fridays.
Please remember that you are a special guest at these screenings and Press does have priority. Please do be courteous to them as they are there to work. Also, please do not forget that there is no late seating at press screenings and the doors will close five minutes prior to the screenings start time. Because the press are working we do not have exceptions to this rule.
Press screenings are first come, first served, and no outside food is allowed in the theater.
MONDAY, MAY 9
3
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
U.S. Distributor: Strand Releasing
Germany, 2010 (104 minutes)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper, Devid Striesow
This romantic drama from the director of Run Lola Run centers around a longtime married couple that faces a unique challenge when they both fall in love with the same man.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Fri, May 20 Neptune Theatre 1:30 PM Sat, May 21 Neptune Theatre
Natural Selection
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (90 minutes)
Director: Robbie Pickering
Cast: Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, Jon Gries, John Diehl
Awards: SXSW Film Festival 2011 (Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award)
A devout Christian housewife sets out on a road trip with her husband's long-lost, drug-addled, escaped convict son in this genre-busting comedy.
Director Robbie Pickering scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
4:00 PM Sat, May 21 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 7:00 PM Wed, May 25 Egyptian Theatre 4:00 PM Fri, May 27 Egyptian Theatre
A Barefoot Dream
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
South Korea, 2010 (120 minutes)
Director: Kim Tae-gyun
Cast: Hee-soon Park, Kei Shimizu
Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2010 (Foreign Language Film)
An inspirational David and Goliath tale of a down-on-his-luck former pro soccer player who coaches a rag-tag bunch of kids from remote East Timor to sporting glory.
Festival Screenings:
1:15 PM Sat, May 21 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 9:00 PM Tue, May 24 Admiral Theatre 7:00 PM Thu, May 26 Pacific Place
TUESDAY, MAY 10
Dance Town
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
South Korea, 2010 (95 minutes)
Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan
Cast: Rha Mi-ran, Oh Seong-tae
A North Korean woman, forced to flee to South Korea after her husband is arrested, struggles to come to terms with a previously unimaginable freedom.
Festival Screenings:
6:00 PM Mon, May 23 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 9:00 PM Mon, May 30 Harvard Exit 9:00 PM Wed, June 1 Admiral Theatre
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Press Screening: NOON
U.S. Distributor: Magnolia Films
USA, 2011 (88 minutes)
Director: Andrew Rossi
A year inside the tumultuous world of the New York Times' newsroom gives us an up-close and personal look at the inner workings of the most venerable newspaper in America.
New York Times writer Brian Stelter scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Wed, May 25 Neptune Theatre 11:00 AM Sat, May 28 Egyptian Theatre 3:30 PM Mon, May 30 Everett Performing Arts Center
Black, White, and Blues
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
USA, 2010 (93 minutes)
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Cast: Morgan Simpson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Skerritt, Luke Perry, Kiele Sanchez, Taryn Manning
In this road-trip comedy, a Shakespeare-quoting, tee-totaling black man who digs country and a womanizing, hard-drinking white man who reveres the blues, form an unlikely bond as they journey through the Deep South.
Director Mario Van Peebles scheduled to attend May 20 and 22 screenings.
Festival Screenings:
7:30 PM Fri, May 20 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 4:00 PM Sun, May 22 Neptune Theatre 3:30 PM Sun, May 29 Everett Performing Arts Center
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
Bicycle, Spoon, Apple
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
Spain, 2010 (105 minutes)
Director: Carles Bosch
Awards: Goya Awards 2011 (Best Documentary Film), San Sebastian Film Festival 2010 (Special Mention)
This intimate documentary focuses on Pasqual Maragall, a popular Spanish politico diagnosed with Alzheimers. Director Carles Bosch works to demystify the disease and change perceptions.
Festival Screenings:
4:30 PM Thu, May 26 SIFF Cinema 10:00 AM Sat, May 28 Harvard Exit
Update (Tuesday): SIFF changed the Wednesday noon press screening from LOVE to How to Die in Oregon. Neither the announcements before the Tuesday screenings nor the e-mail announcement explained the reason for the change, but such changes typically happen as a result of problems shipping the films, so that's my guess for what happened.
How to Die in Oregon
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (108 minutes)
Director: Peter D Richardson
Awards: Sundance 2011 (U.S. Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize)
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this documentary is a tender portrait of patients who have chosen physician-assisted suicide since the passage of Oregon's Death With Dignity law.
Directer Peter Richardson scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings
4:15 PM Fri, May 20 Harvard Exit 2:00 PM Sat, May 21 Pacific Place Cinemas 3:30 PM Sun, May 22 Renton IKEA Performance Hall The planned screening of LOVE was cancelled, and replaced with How to Die in Oregon, above.
LOVE
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (90 minutes)
Director: William Eubank
Cast: Gunner Wright, Bradley Horn, Corey Richardson, Wesley Sellick
A visually dazzling piece of cerebral science fiction about an astronaut who becomes stranded in orbit and struggles to maintain his sanity... until he makes an unexpected discovery.
Director William Eubank scheduled to attend May 21 and 22 screenings.
Festival Screenings:
10:00 PM Sat, May 21 Pacific Place 1:30 PM Sun, May 22 SIFF Cinema 9:30 PM Sat, June 11 Egyptian Theatre
Jess + Moss
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
USA, 2011 (82 minutes)
Directors: Clay Jeter
Cast: Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers
Two lonely and damaged young cousins challenge and comfort each other while escaping the suffocating summer heat of Kentucky, in this impressive debut.
Director Clay Jeter scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
9:30 PM Sat, May 21 Harvard Exit 4:30 PM Sun, May 22 Harvard Exit
THURSDAY, MAY 12
Microphone
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
Egypt, 2010 (116 minutes)
Directors: Ahmad Abdalla
Cast: Khaled Abol Naga, Menna Shalabi, Yosra El Lozy, Hany Adel, Ahmad Magdy
An Egyptian expatriate returns to Alexandria, where he dives into the thriving underground music and arts scene of a city he had given up on.
Festival Screenings:
9:30 PM Mon, May 23 Harvard Exit 4:00 PM Tue, May 24 Harvard Exit
Red Eyes
Press Screening: 12:15 PM
Chile, 2011 (84 minutes)
Director: Juan Pablo Sallato, Ismael Larrain, Juan Ignacio Sabatini
The triumphs and travails of the Chilean National Soccer team on their journey to a surprising World Cup qualifying run-and the passionate national revelry unleashed by their success.
Director Juan Pablo Sallato scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Sun, May 22 Harvard Exit 4:30 PM Mon, May 23 Harvard Exit
Buck
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
U.S. Distributor: Sundance Selects
USA, 2011 (88 minutes)
Directors: Cindy Meehl
Cast: Buck Brannaman
Awards: Sundance 2011 (U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award)
A warmly engaging documentary about Buck Brannaman, the real-life cowboy and master horseman who inspired both the novel and the film The Horse Whisperer.
Director Cindy Meehl and subject Buck Brannaman scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Wed, June 8 SIFF Cinema 6:30 PM Thu, June 9 Kirkland Performance Center
The 37th Seattle International Film Festival is made possible in part by support from Xfinity, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC, Alaska Airlines, Don Q Rums, The Wallace Foundation, Wong Doody, American Airlines, Modern Digital, POP, City Arts Magazine, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Warren Miller Company.
I'll probably try to see all of this week's collection, but some look more interesting than others. On Monday, I'm intrigued by 3 mostly because it's directed by Tom Tykwer, whose previous films have been really good; Natural Selection sounds amusing too. On Tuesday, all three sound interesting for various reasons. On Wednesday, LOVE sounds intriguing, as "cerebral science fiction". On Friday, the idea of Egyptian underground music in Microphone sounds interesting. I'll be curious to find how my initial interests align with what I end up liking after I see it.
I copied and pasted this from the SIFF mailing, with extensive clean-up:
SIFF 2011 Press Screenings
Week of May 2, 2011 at Pacific Place
As a Passholder you have the privilege of being one of the first to see films that will be shown at this year's Festival. Press screenings begin promptly at 10 am, noon, and 2 pm (unless otherwise noted) at Pacific Place. Please note that there are no press screenings on Fridays.
Please remember that you are a special guest at these screenings and Press does have priority. Please do be courteous to them as they are there to work. Also, please do not forget that there is no late seating at press screenings and the doors will close five minutes prior to the screenings start time. Because the press are working we do not have exceptions to this rule.
Press screenings are first come, first served, and no outside food is allowed in the theater.
MONDAY, MAY 9
3
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
U.S. Distributor: Strand Releasing
Germany, 2010 (104 minutes)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper, Devid Striesow
This romantic drama from the director of Run Lola Run centers around a longtime married couple that faces a unique challenge when they both fall in love with the same man.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Fri, May 20 Neptune Theatre 1:30 PM Sat, May 21 Neptune Theatre
Natural Selection
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (90 minutes)
Director: Robbie Pickering
Cast: Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, Jon Gries, John Diehl
Awards: SXSW Film Festival 2011 (Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award)
A devout Christian housewife sets out on a road trip with her husband's long-lost, drug-addled, escaped convict son in this genre-busting comedy.
Director Robbie Pickering scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
4:00 PM Sat, May 21 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 7:00 PM Wed, May 25 Egyptian Theatre 4:00 PM Fri, May 27 Egyptian Theatre
A Barefoot Dream
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
South Korea, 2010 (120 minutes)
Director: Kim Tae-gyun
Cast: Hee-soon Park, Kei Shimizu
Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2010 (Foreign Language Film)
An inspirational David and Goliath tale of a down-on-his-luck former pro soccer player who coaches a rag-tag bunch of kids from remote East Timor to sporting glory.
Festival Screenings:
1:15 PM Sat, May 21 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 9:00 PM Tue, May 24 Admiral Theatre 7:00 PM Thu, May 26 Pacific Place
TUESDAY, MAY 10
Dance Town
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
South Korea, 2010 (95 minutes)
Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan
Cast: Rha Mi-ran, Oh Seong-tae
A North Korean woman, forced to flee to South Korea after her husband is arrested, struggles to come to terms with a previously unimaginable freedom.
Festival Screenings:
6:00 PM Mon, May 23 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 9:00 PM Mon, May 30 Harvard Exit 9:00 PM Wed, June 1 Admiral Theatre
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Press Screening: NOON
U.S. Distributor: Magnolia Films
USA, 2011 (88 minutes)
Director: Andrew Rossi
A year inside the tumultuous world of the New York Times' newsroom gives us an up-close and personal look at the inner workings of the most venerable newspaper in America.
New York Times writer Brian Stelter scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Wed, May 25 Neptune Theatre 11:00 AM Sat, May 28 Egyptian Theatre 3:30 PM Mon, May 30 Everett Performing Arts Center
Black, White, and Blues
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
USA, 2010 (93 minutes)
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Cast: Morgan Simpson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Skerritt, Luke Perry, Kiele Sanchez, Taryn Manning
In this road-trip comedy, a Shakespeare-quoting, tee-totaling black man who digs country and a womanizing, hard-drinking white man who reveres the blues, form an unlikely bond as they journey through the Deep South.
Director Mario Van Peebles scheduled to attend May 20 and 22 screenings.
Festival Screenings:
7:30 PM Fri, May 20 Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center 4:00 PM Sun, May 22 Neptune Theatre 3:30 PM Sun, May 29 Everett Performing Arts Center
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
Bicycle, Spoon, Apple
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
Spain, 2010 (105 minutes)
Director: Carles Bosch
Awards: Goya Awards 2011 (Best Documentary Film), San Sebastian Film Festival 2010 (Special Mention)
This intimate documentary focuses on Pasqual Maragall, a popular Spanish politico diagnosed with Alzheimers. Director Carles Bosch works to demystify the disease and change perceptions.
Festival Screenings:
4:30 PM Thu, May 26 SIFF Cinema 10:00 AM Sat, May 28 Harvard Exit
Update (Tuesday): SIFF changed the Wednesday noon press screening from LOVE to How to Die in Oregon. Neither the announcements before the Tuesday screenings nor the e-mail announcement explained the reason for the change, but such changes typically happen as a result of problems shipping the films, so that's my guess for what happened.
How to Die in Oregon
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (108 minutes)
Director: Peter D Richardson
Awards: Sundance 2011 (U.S. Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize)
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this documentary is a tender portrait of patients who have chosen physician-assisted suicide since the passage of Oregon's Death With Dignity law.
Directer Peter Richardson scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings
4:15 PM Fri, May 20 Harvard Exit 2:00 PM Sat, May 21 Pacific Place Cinemas 3:30 PM Sun, May 22 Renton IKEA Performance Hall The planned screening of LOVE was cancelled, and replaced with How to Die in Oregon, above.
LOVE
Press Screening: NOON
USA, 2011 (90 minutes)
Director: William Eubank
Cast: Gunner Wright, Bradley Horn, Corey Richardson, Wesley Sellick
A visually dazzling piece of cerebral science fiction about an astronaut who becomes stranded in orbit and struggles to maintain his sanity... until he makes an unexpected discovery.
Director William Eubank scheduled to attend May 21 and 22 screenings.
Festival Screenings:
10:00 PM Sat, May 21 Pacific Place 1:30 PM Sun, May 22 SIFF Cinema 9:30 PM Sat, June 11 Egyptian Theatre
Jess + Moss
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
USA, 2011 (82 minutes)
Directors: Clay Jeter
Cast: Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers
Two lonely and damaged young cousins challenge and comfort each other while escaping the suffocating summer heat of Kentucky, in this impressive debut.
Director Clay Jeter scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
9:30 PM Sat, May 21 Harvard Exit 4:30 PM Sun, May 22 Harvard Exit
THURSDAY, MAY 12
Microphone
Press Screening: 10:00 AM
Egypt, 2010 (116 minutes)
Directors: Ahmad Abdalla
Cast: Khaled Abol Naga, Menna Shalabi, Yosra El Lozy, Hany Adel, Ahmad Magdy
An Egyptian expatriate returns to Alexandria, where he dives into the thriving underground music and arts scene of a city he had given up on.
Festival Screenings:
9:30 PM Mon, May 23 Harvard Exit 4:00 PM Tue, May 24 Harvard Exit
Red Eyes
Press Screening: 12:15 PM
Chile, 2011 (84 minutes)
Director: Juan Pablo Sallato, Ismael Larrain, Juan Ignacio Sabatini
The triumphs and travails of the Chilean National Soccer team on their journey to a surprising World Cup qualifying run-and the passionate national revelry unleashed by their success.
Director Juan Pablo Sallato scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Sun, May 22 Harvard Exit 4:30 PM Mon, May 23 Harvard Exit
Buck
Press Screening: 2:00 PM
U.S. Distributor: Sundance Selects
USA, 2011 (88 minutes)
Directors: Cindy Meehl
Cast: Buck Brannaman
Awards: Sundance 2011 (U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award)
A warmly engaging documentary about Buck Brannaman, the real-life cowboy and master horseman who inspired both the novel and the film The Horse Whisperer.
Director Cindy Meehl and subject Buck Brannaman scheduled to attend.
Festival Screenings:
7:00 PM Wed, June 8 SIFF Cinema 6:30 PM Thu, June 9 Kirkland Performance Center
The 37th Seattle International Film Festival is made possible in part by support from Xfinity, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC, Alaska Airlines, Don Q Rums, The Wallace Foundation, Wong Doody, American Airlines, Modern Digital, POP, City Arts Magazine, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Warren Miller Company.