Seattle International Film Festival Line-Up Loaded With Gems

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 25 April 2013 16:47

Written by Matt Oakes

Today, the Seattle International Film Festival has unveiled it's full line up for this year's festival. As this will be my first year covering it (and my first time covering any festival of this pedigree), I anxiously anticipated what this year's festival would hold and the answers are pretty exciting. Running from May 16-June 9, SIFF has more to offer than ever before.

SIFF officially launches with Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing at its Opening Night Gala. Famously filmed in a mere 12 days, this modernized Shakespeare adaptation tells the tale of love unacquainted and unrequited. Whedon is expected to attend alongside stars Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, and Clark Gregg.

Other notable entries to the festival include:

• V/H/S 2
  While last year’s cult hit V/H/S hardly reinvented the wheel with its found footage montage premise, it made waves in the horror genre for doing what horror movies should -- scaring the pants off people. This structureless compilation follows almost exactly in the footsteps of its predecessor with five short horrifying segments that lack a strong central thread tying them together. Brendan Walsh of Screen Crave praised it, saying: “This time around, it feels like every filmmaker is right in their wheelhouse, presenting a polished, terrifying vision."
  
  
• Frances Ha
  Following up on a pair of sobering and darkly comical critical darlings, Greenberg and The Squid and The Whale, Noah Baumbach takes his distinctive touch to Frances Ha, a “quirky romantic comedy” set to the backdrop of New York City which is already winning the critics over in droves.
  
  
• Decoding Annie Parker
  Decoding Annie Parker is based on the true story of geneticist  Mary-Claire King, who faced with colleague ridicule and disbelief proved that breast cancer is born of heredity rather than chance. Featuring a strong cast with Helen Hunt, Aaron Paul, Samantha Morton, Bradley Whitford, Maggie Grace, Alice Eve and Rashida Jones, this film charters how cancer was just almost cured.
  
  
• The Way, Way Back
  Starring Liam James (The Killing), Toni Collette (United States of Tara), Steve Carell (The Office) and Sam Rockwell (Moon), The Way, Way Back is a coming of age story about a circular kid trying to fit into a square hole who finds an unlikely friend at a water park.
  
  
• Epic
  From Dreamworks Studios comes this animated feature about the smaller things, er, people in life. Much like Ferngully, Epic takes us to a microscopic level where little people battle malevolent animals in order to save the forest that they love so dealt.
  
  
• Blackfish
  Blackfish documents the much-publicized 2010 killing of an orca whale trainer at SeaWorld. It premiered at this year’s Sundance Festival, poising poignant questions about the tactics and ethics of this multinational but predominantly corporate aquarium.
  
  
• Byzantium
  From the director of Interview With A Vampire, Neil Jordan's Byzantium is a mystery thriller that features, you guessed it, vampires. Starring Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton, Byzantium has been called a stylish and seductive film that mixes up the familiar vampiric tropes.
  
  
• Monsters University
  Rewinding time back to when monsters Sulley and Mike met at college, this prequel is Pixar's latest offering. After a string of misses, Monsters University has a chance to bring the heart and charm back to a studio once renounced for just that.  
  
  
• Twenty Feet From Stardom
  A documentary by Morgan Neville, Twenty Feet From Stardom aims the spotlight at the oft-unnoticed backup singers for some of the world’s best talent. The film will feature interviews by Stevie Wonder, Mick Jagger, Sheryl Crowe and Bette Midler as they talk about these unsung stars living in the periphery of stardom.Seattle International Film Festival
  May 16- June 9, 2013

As there are over 400 films playing at this years festival, there are countless others including a selection of short films and a slew of documentaries. Representing 85 countries and feauturing 49 world premieres, 47 North American premieres and 18 US premieres, this is sure to be one of the greatest years in SIFF history.

Cinerama
2100 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA

Egyptian Theatre
805 E Pine Street
Seattle, WA

Harvard Exit
807 E Roy Street
Seattle, WA

McCaw Hall
321 Mercer Street
Seattle, WA

Pacific Place Cinemas
600 Pine Street
Seattle, WA

SIFF Cinema Uptown
511 Queen Anne Avenue N
Seattle, WA

SIFF Film Center
305 Harrison Street
Seattle, WA

SIFF Lounge at the Tin Lizzie
600 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA

The Triple Door
216 Union Street
Seattle, WA

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