The Seattle International Film Festival announced today the complete lineup and as part of this year’s celebration of women in comedy, the Festival will celebrate the work of Regina Hall by presenting her with the Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema. In addition to the award presentation, the acclaimed actor is slated for an on-stage interview on Sunday, June 2 at 2:00 PM at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Following Ms. Hall’s tribute, she will introduce Support the Girls, Andrew Bujalski’s film which won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.
Opening night kicks off Thursday, May 16 with Sword of Trust, written and directed by local filmmaker Lynn Shelton (Outside In, Laggies) and features Marc Maron (Late Show with David Letterman, WTF with Marc Maron, GLOW), Jon Bass (Baywatch, Molly’s Game), Michaela Watkins (Brigsby Bear, Enough Said), Jillian Bell (Workaholics, 22 Jump Street), and Toby Huss (King of the Hill, Halt and Catch Fire). The film made its world premiere at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival to audience acclaim and IFC Films will open the film in July. Lynn Shelton and Marc Maron are scheduled to attend.
The annual Centerpiece Gala, Late Night, stars Emma Thompson as a legendary late-night talk show host who, faced with diminishing ratings for her long-running show, is forced to hire her first female staff writer (Mindy Kaling, who also wrote the film’s script).
SIFF closes its 45th festival on Sunday, June 9 with The Farewell staring Awkwafina, the flamboyant breakout star of Crazy Rich Asians, who plays a woman traveling back home to China to assist in an elaborate ruse to keep a truth from her terminally ill grandmother. Director Lulu Wang is scheduled to attend.
GALAS
Opening Night Gala
Sword of Trust
In local filmmaker Lynn Shelton’s latest, two women (Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins) attempt to unload an inherited Civil War sword onto a curmudgeonly pawnshop owner (Marc Moran) and reluctantly enter a world of conspiracy theory and Southern disillusionment.
(d: Lynn Shelton c: Marc Maron, Jon Bass, Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell, Toby Huss, USA 2019, 89 min)
Centerpiece Gala
Late Night
Emma Thompson stars as a legendary late-night talk show host who, face with diminishing rating for her long-running show, is forced to hire her first female staff writer (Mindy Kaling, who also wrote the film’s script).
(d: Nisha Ganatra c: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Amy Ryan, USA 2019, 102 min)
Closing Night Gala
The Farewell
Awkwafina, the flamboyant breakout star of Crazy Rich Asians, plays a woman traveling back home to China to assist in an elaborate ruse to keep a truth from her terminally ill grandmother.
(d: Lulu Wang c: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhou Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo, USA 2019, 98 min)
SPECIAL GUESTS
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMA
A Tribute to Regina Hall
FILM: Support the Girls
One of America’s favorite character actresses, Regina Hall has found much of her success in the most difficult of on screen endeavors – making people laugh. An actor, producer and activist, her body of work is as broad as it is deep in a career that spans nearly three decades. From her career-launching performance in the Scary Movie franchise to her recent dramatic work in such films as Support the Girls and The Hate U Give, her versatility and commitment as an actress is renowned and cherished by all who collaborate with her. Hall’s current projects include the film Little, which she also executive produced and the Showtime series “Black Monday” opposite Don Cheadle. She will next be seen in the film Shaft opposite Samuel L. Jackson, opening June 14, 2019.
As part of this year’s celebration of women in comedy, SIFF is proud to present Regina Hall with the Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema. Following a discussion of her career, she will introduce a screening ofSupport the Girls.
Past honorees of the SIFF Outstanding Achievement Awards include Ethan Hawke, Anjelica Huston, Laura Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Viggo Mortensen, Kyle MacLachlan, Sir Ben Kingsley, Kevin Bacon, Edward Norton, Sissy Spacek, Joan Allen, Spike Lee, among others.
FILMS WITH PARTIES
Saturday Film and Party
Pity the Lovers, North American Premiere
Two unlucky-in-love brothers, a veterinarian, a conceptual artist, and two goth 13-year-olds named Danni are just a few of the characters that makes up the ensemble of this charming Icelandic film about longing, love, and growing up. (d: Maximilian Hult c: Björn Thórs, Jóel Ingi Sæmundsson, Sara Dögg Árgeirsdóttir, Sigurður Karlsson, Hafdîs Helga Helgasdótter, Sweden/Iceland 2019, 102 min)
Saturday Film and Party
Top End Wedding
A young Australian couple returns to the Indigenous bride’s Northern Territory hometown to find Mom missing; their hunt takes them through luscious landscapes and cultural-clash humor in this adorable rom-com.
(d: Wayne Blair c: Miranda Tapsell, Gwilym Lae, Kerry Fox, Huw Higginson, Ursula Yovich, Shari Sebbens, Australia 2018, 103 min)
Kirkland Opening Night
Non-Fiction
The struggles of a staid publisher and a rumpled novelist to adopt to the new digital media world, and the impermanence thereof, is complicated (because this is a French comedy) by adultery.
(d: Olivier Assayas c: Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne, Nora Hamzawi, Christa Théret, France 2018, 106 min)
FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHTS
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
with Live Soundtrack by The Invincible Czars
Indie band The Invincible Czars, who have provided music for SIFF screenings of Nosferatu and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, return to perform a live soundtrack to this gothic horror classic.
(d: Rupert Julian c: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, USA 1925, 93 min)
THIN SKIN EVENT
Sneak-peek excerpt from Seattle filmmaker and author Charles Mudede’s upcoming feature Thin Skin. The excerpt will be followed by an on-stage interview with the creative team about the process of turning a true story into a feature film, with the real-life subject (and writer) Ahamefule Oluo playing himself in the film.
DJ NICFIT PRESENTS FANTASTIC PLANET
René Laloux’s otherworldly animated classic about the small human-like Oms and their much larger blue-skinned oppressors is interpreted by Seattle’s own DJ NicFit through the music of alternative-rock icons The Flaming Lips.
(d: René Laloux c: Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin, France/Czechoslovakia 1973, 72 min)
COMPETITIONS
Official Competition
The Announcement (d: Mahmut Fazil Coşkun, Turkey/Bulgaria 2018, North American Premiere)
The Days to Come (d: Carlos Marqués-Marcet, Spain 2019, North American Premiere)
Ghost Town Anthology (d: Denis Côté, Canada (Québec) 2019, US Premiere)
House of Hummingbird (d: Bora Kim, South Korea/USA 2018)
Them That Follow (d: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage, USA 2019)
Twin Flower (d: Laura Luchetti, Italy 2018, US Premiere)
Watch List (Maria) (d: Ben Rekhi, Philippines/USA 2019, World Premiere)
X&Y (d: Anna Odell, Sweden/Denmark 2018)
New Directors Competition
Ayka (d: Sergey Dvortsevoy, Kazakhstan/Russia/Germany/Poland/China 2018)
A Colony (d: Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada (Québec) 2018)
Crystal Swan (d: Darya Zhuk, Belarus/Russia/Germany/USA 2018)
The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia (d: Arturo Infante, Cuba/Germany 2018)
House of My Fathers (d: Suba Sivakumaran, Sri Lanka/UK 2018)
Long Time No Sea (d: Heather Tsui, Taiwan 2018)
Retrospekt (d: Esther Rots, Netherlands/Belgium 2018, US Premiere)
Sons of Denmark (d: Ulaa Salim, Denmark 2019, North American Premiere)
Ibero-American Competition
Carmen & Lola (d: Arantxa Echevarría, Spain 2018)
Marighella (d: Wagner Moura, Brazil 2019, North American Premiere)
Miriam Lies (d: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada, Dominican Republic/Spain 2018)
Piazzolla, The Years of the Shark (d: Daniel Rosenfeld, Argentina/France 2018)
The Awakening of the Ants (d: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, Costa Rica/Spain 2019, North American Premiere)
The Good Girls (d: Alejandra Márquez Abella, Mexico 2018)
The Sharks (d: Lucía Garibaldi, Uruguay/Argentina/Spain 2019)
This is Not Berlin (d: Hari Sama, Mexico 2019)
Your Turn (d: Eliza Capai, Brazil 2019, North American Premiere)
New American Cinema Competition
Burning Cane (d: Phillip Youmans, USA 2019)
Driveways (d: Andrew Ahn, USA 2019)
Go Back to China (d: Emily Ting, China/Hong Kong/USA 2018)
International Falls (d: Amber McGinnis, USA 2019)
Mickey and the Bear (d: Annabelle Attanasio, USA 2019)
Premature (d: Rashaad Ernesto Green, USA 2019)
Stray Dolls (d: Sonejuhi Sinha, USA 2019)
To the Stars (d: Martha Stephens, USA 2019)
Documentary Competition
A Thousand Girls Like Me (d: Sahra Mosawi-Mani, Afghanistan/France 2018)
Eastern Memories (d: Niklas Kullström, Martti Kaartinen, Finland 2018)
Fly Rocket Fly (d: Oliver Schwehm, Germany/Belgium 2018, North American Premiere)
Lynch: A History (d: David Shields, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Pigeon Kings (d: Milena Pastreich, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Q Ball (D: Michael Tolajian, USA 2019)
The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (d: Alison Reid, Canada/USA/Kenya/South Africa 2018)
We Are the Radical Monarchs (d: Linda Goldstein Knowlton, USA 2019)
Shorts Competition
Golden Space Needle Awards
For the past 30 years, SIFF has celebrated its most popular films and filmmakers with the Golden Space Needle Audience Award. Awards by Festival audiences are given in six categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film.