That time of the year again! SIFF arrives a week earlier this year than usual, bringing a spectrum of cinema from across the world. Again in 2012 we see a qualitative diversity-dip in that the percentage of foreign cinema, arthouse and all things challenging or adventurous are once again relegated to fringe sections - rather than making up the larger body of the content as was the case in the 90's and 00's. As a consequence we again get the thematically titled 'Pathways' with the conceptual hand-holding of themes like "Love Me, Do!" for the disproportionate romance selections, "Make Me Laugh" signifying comedic content, the infantile "I Didn't Know That!" for documentaries and the once-predominant New Global Cinema section is now categorized as "Show me the World". You decide how you feel about that. Last I saw and experienced, it was adults a good bit mature (and senior) to myself that were attending International Film Festivals across the country. I wasn't quite aware that the 'Sex in the City' and 'Glee' network tv demographics were going out of their way to seek out such experiences in North America's urban centers. Maybe SIFF knows something I don't?
Nonetheless, this year's fest isn't as painfully omissive as last year's. Or even 2010 for that matter. We're again seeing a glut of middle-ground contemporary romances, clever quirky dramas for the sub-Sundance sect and a lot of filler seemingly there to entice some imagined suburban demographic out of their Bellevue hobbles and into the city. But there's a good bit of legitimate, original, challenging, crafted cinema to be found in here too. SIFF in the past has existed as a focal-point of visionary cinema curatorialship, with the resources, funds and legacy to be hugely influential. This year I found some 16-18 films of interest, curiosity or gravitas that I plan to attend, by both directors of note and new developing artists. Overall not a bad year, but not on par with the stellar run we'd seen spanning the decade of 1998-2008. Figuring it was in-part a ongoing effect of the recession, audiences staying at home or in front of their screens, laptops, (or criminally, iphones) to watch film - and the festival's attempt to find and maintain new demographics over the past few years - I anticipated that we'd see a return to the content values of that previous decade by now. 2012 marks a slight shift back toward those core interests that made SIFF previously a unmissable, incomparable representation of cinema from around the world. They've got a long way to go to gain back that lost ground, but I continue to be enthused about their new home at the SIFF Cinema at the Uptown and expanded screens between that venue and their Film Center. As always though, venue resources, influence, and legacy in the arts are all about what you do with them. That said, glad to have a international film festival of it's stature in my city, do though wish there was more than this as the sum total of what I'll be attending this year:
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Friday, May 18
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11:00 AM - Andrei Zvyagintsev "Elena"
AMC Pacific Place 11
ELEN1812
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Friday, May 18
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4:30 PM - Wang Xiaoshuai "11 Flowers"
Harvard Exit
11FL1812
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Friday, May 18
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6:30 PM - Pema Tseden "Old Dog"
Harvard Exit
OLDD1812
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Saturday, May 19
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2:30 PM - Alain Gomis "Tey"
SIFF Cinema Uptown
TEYX1912
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Saturday, May 19
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4:00 PM - Alison Klayman "Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry"
AMC Pacific Place 11
AIWE1912
http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=45355&fid=254
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Saturday, May 19
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6:00 PM - Denis Côté "Bestiaire"
SIFF Film Center
BEST1912
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Monday, May 21
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6:30 PM - Mohammad Rasoulof "Goodbye"
AMC Pacific Place 11
GOOD2112
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Tuesday, May 22
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7:00 PM - Eric Khoo "Tatsumi"
Harvard Exit
TATS2212
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Wednesday, May 23
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6:30 PM - Isao Takahata "Only Yesterday"
Egyptian Theatre
ONLY2312
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Thursday, May 24
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9:00 PM - Pen-ek Ratanaruang "Headshot"
SIFF Cinema Uptown
HEAD2412
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Tuesday, May 29
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9:00 PM - Nadav Lapid "Policeman"
AMC Pacific Place 11
POLI2912
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Wednesday, May 30
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6:30 PM - Guy Maddin "Keyhole"
SIFF Cinema Uptown
KEYH3012
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Thursday, May 31
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6:30 PM - Benh Zeitlin "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Egyptian Theatre
BEAS3112
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Friday, June 1
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11:55 PM - Various Directors "V/H/S"
Egyptian Theatre
VHSS0112
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Sunday, June 3
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1:30 PM - Brian Knappenberger "We Are Legion"
Egyptian Theatre
WEAR0312
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Sunday, Jun 3
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6:30 PM - Hirokazu Kore-Eda "I Wish"
Egyptian Theatre
IWIS0312
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Monday, Jun 4
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7:00 PM - Adam Curtis "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace"
Harvard Exit
ALLW0412
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Tuesday, Jun 5
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6:00 PM - Yang Jung-ho "Mirage"
Harvard Exit
MIRA0512
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Wednesday, Jun 6
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6:30 PM - Matthew Akers "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present"
AMC Pacific Place 11
MARI0612
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Thursday, Jun 7
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4:00 PM - Tomáš Lunák "Alois Nebel"
AMC Pacific Place 11
ALOI0712
http://www.siff.net/festival/
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Saturday, June 09
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2:30 PM - Andrea Arnold "Wuthering Heights"
Harvard Exit
WUTH0912
http://www.siff.net/festival/
