SIFF and CineVegas.

SIFF

The grand Seattle International Film Festival, in its 30th edition, finally comes to a close this weekend. It isn’t every festival that can claim its former Executive Director as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (which the Republic of France awarded Darryl Macdonald, now head of the Palm Springs fest, "in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of French films" last week). First time SIFF-helmer Helen Loveridge promised a spectacular finish and, if the closing screenings are any indication, her claims are not far from the mark - the US premier of the great Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell sequel (Innocence); a tribute to French auteur Patrice Leconte (including a screening of his latest, Intimate Strangers); the early recognition and appropriate feting of Pen-ek Ratanaruang as an Emerging Master (with only four features to his credit, SIFF is screening two - the fantastic, soon-to-be-released Last Life in the Universe and an earlier rarity, 6ixtynin9; Pen-ek won an award at SIFF two years ago for his charming, impossible-to-classify Mon-Rak Transistor). With fond memories of previous closing nights in Seattle (generally for reasons that have little to do with cinema), I am somewhat conflicted to miss the event for the first time in fifteen years.

It was opening weekend (nearly three weeks ago!) that produced two quintessential for-the-ages SIFF moments. The most important - catching a lone screening of Nachalo (The Debut), a little-known Russian film from 1970 by Gleb Panfilov. Maryna Ajaja, one of the brightest lights of the programming team, introduced the film with a mention that she’d seen The Debut three times before, this being the first opportunity with subtitles. Regardless, no words could accurately describe this wonderful masterwork. Inna Churikova gives one of the most remarkable performances I’ve ever seen as a humble actress performing in her first feature, cutting between her challenging portrayal of Joan of Arc and her curious romance with a married man. Panfilov’s work is clearly long overdue for an American revival. Honestly, it was a wonder that we made it to the screening at all. The previous evening’s debauchery was legendary and led to a curious happenstance. Departing one drunken gathering, past midnight, Hannah Eaves and myself happened to drive past a few friends at the entrance of the Egyptian Theatre. Naturally, someone suggested that we all venture to get a drink at a bar around the corner (literally, down the alley). It was there that the director and cast of Saved! convened for essentially the same purpose and, by extension, it was there that we danced the night away with Jena Malone, Mandy Moore and a bevy of shirtless boys. Loveridge (since she’s absolutely an active participant in these festivities) mentioned that Jena is now her favorite festival guest. True to form, Ms. Malone was exceptionally friendly and unassuming. She even returned a week later for the screening of the extended Donnie Darko (reflecting the occasion when Jena and I initially met - the premiere of Darko in Park City three years ago). Ah, memories. Without them we’d have nothing.

CineVegas

Point being, I won’t be in Seattle this time around. This year I’m spending the second weekend in June with the new kid - CineVegas. I can already imagine what you’re thinking. A weekend in Sin City with temperatures over 100 degrees? However, this is no novelty festival. Since partnering (in a sense) with Sundance (Senior Program Director Trevor Groth is Director of Programming at the Las Vegas fest), they’ve gained more than merely street cred. Honorees this year include Dean Stockwell and Blue Velvet-pal David Lynch (co-star Dennis Hopper is lending some assistance to the fest this year, coincidentally), author James Ellroy and a handful of other personalities you might be familiar with - Jack Nicholson, Sean & Robin Wright Penn, Holly Hunter. Even taking a page from Rotterdam, they’re showcasing a dozen shorts by artist Bruce Conner. Bruce Conner! That takes some serious albondigas. The fest opens this Friday with the school-girls-that-kick-ass D.E.B.S., which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser without being too commercial. Leaves me longing for another Sukeban Deka movie, though. In the slightly-more-than-a-week that follows, CineVegas has seven world premieres, including Michael Gibson’s second feature Numb. The writer/director recently premiered his third film, 24 Hours on Craigslist, at SXSW, creating quite a remarkable year for this devoted GreenCiner. In a rare break in the midst of a re-edit of Craigslist, Gibson noted over lunch Tuesday afternoon that having a film in a festival alongside works by Lynch and Connor was like a realization of his "darkest dream." He added, "I am so excited for CineVegas. It’s like Sundance but with hot weather and legal hookers!"

Actually, you could stake a claim that it’s headed to be better than Sundance in years to come. Where would you rather be? The mountains of Utah in winter or the middle of the Nevada desert as summer begins? Neither situation is entirely ideal, admittedly. Still, any festival that can put Hollywood dreck like Nick "hard to believe he’s related" Cassavetes’s The Notebook in the same program as James Fotopoulos’s oddity The Nest cannot fail to provoke some heated discussion. How about the Cole Porter bio-pic De-Lovely versus the troubling Takashi Miike (who will attend) film Gozu (featuring, back-to-back, two of the most disturbing sex scenes ever committed to celluloid) or Stephen Fry’s Waugh-daptation Bright Young Things against Bob (Shakes the Clown) Goldthwait’s long-overdue return behind the camera, Windy City Heat? Mix in a few Sundance stand-outs (DIG!, Riding Giants, Primer, Napoleon Dynamite) and you’ve got yourself a little something for everyone. How they’ll keep it all straight at the Palms multiplex will have to be seen but this, their sixth annual, should easily be their best.

Posted by dwhudson at June 9, 2004 9:25 AM