Seattle International Film Festival 2010: 05/21-05/30 Week Round-Up

This week’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Seattle International Film Festival for more details.

Between Two Worlds

A man returns to his homeland in Sri Lanka — post its 26-year civil war — to discover that the repercussions of war last far beyond wars themselves.

SHOWTIMES
Mon, May 24 @ 5:00pm (SIFF Cinema)
Mon, May 31 @ 1:00pm (Everett Performing Arts Center)

The Chef Of South Polar

The story of Antarctic researchers turning to eccentric clothing and extravagant foods to cope with loneliness, The Chef Of South Polar (Nankyoku ryôrinin) is feel-good and overflowing with food.

SHOWTIMES
Mon, May 24 @ 7:00pm (Harvard Exit)
Wed, May 26 @ 6:30pm (Admiral Theatre)

The Maldives Perform Riders Of The Purple Sage

A part of SIFF’s Face The Music series which REDEFINE covers every year, the first of this year’s live film scoring sessions includes The Maldives bringing their Americana-folk rock style to Tom Mix’s silent 1925 Western, Riders Of The Purple Sage. Guaranteed to be brilliant, as always.

SHOWTIMES
Tue, May 25 @ 7:00pm & 9:30pm (Triple Door)

Hidden Diary

An estranged mother-daughter relationship leads Audrey to her grandparents’ old home, where she discovers an old diary that recalls her grandmother’s life in the 1950s. The result gives Audrey new insight on her own relationships with the female figures in her life.

SHOWTIMES
Tue, May 5 @ 7:00pm (Egyptian Theatre)
Sat, June 5 @ 11:00am (Egyptian Theatre)
Thu, June 3 @ 4:00pm (Neptune Theatre)

City Of Life And Death

A brutal recreation of the “Rape Of Nanking,” in which more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were massacred by the Japanese army during the late 1930s.

SHOWTIMES
Tue, May 25 @ 6:30pm (Neptune Theatre)
Sun, May 30 @ 8:30pm (Everett Performing Arts Center)

Alternative Waves

SIFF’s most abstract short film grouping this year, Alternative Waves is a culmination of fascinating experimental shorts that are open to interpretation and beyond words.

SHOWTIMES
Wed, May 26 @ 9:30pm

Amplified Seattle

A documentary look at notable musicians in the Seattle arts and music scene, shot by director John Jeffcoat (Outsourced). Musicians like The Spits, Thee Emergency, Champagne Champagne, and The Light make appearances.

SHOWTIMES
Wed, May 26 @ 9:15pm (Neptune Theatre)

Night Catches Us

Taking place in 1976, an infamous year for Philadelphia, director Tanya Hamilton’s debut film incorporates archival footage with dramatizations to take a look at race and social relations in a tense time.

SHOWTIMES
Wed, May 26 @ 7:00pm (Egyptian Theatre)
Thu, May 27 @ 4:30pm (Egyptian Theatre)
Sat, May 29 @ 3:00pm (Everett Performing Arts Center)

Winter’s Bone

A highly anticipated addition to SIFF’s lineup, Winter’s Bone follows a teenager attempting to find her missing father. Along the way, she runs into a series of roadblocks, mostly set into place by her own family.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, May 28 @ 7:00pm
Sun, May 30 @ 1:30pm

Ride, Rise, Roar

David Bryne’s collaboration with Brian Eno was a musical dream come true for many individuals, and this concert film documents a 2009 tour where the two decided to collaborate again for the first time in 30 years.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, May 28 @ 9:30pm (SIFF Cinema)
Sat, May 29 @ 1:30pm (SIFF Cinema)
Thu, June 3 @ 9:15pm (Everett Performing Arts Center)

RoboGeisha

Robogeisha is an outlandish film where cyborg geishas fire machine guns out of their hands and chop off heads with blades emerging from leg warmers. Directed by Noboru Iguchi, creator of Tokyo Gore Police, RoboGeisha is meant to be ridiculous, and it revels in it.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, May 28 @ Midnight (Egyptian Theatre)
Tue, June 8 @ 10:00pm (Neptune Theatre)

Mediterranean Food

One of many sensual films offered from Spain this year as part of SIFF’s Ambiente: New Spanish Cinema series, Mediterranean Food explores a love triangle that actually seems to work due to sacrifice and compromise.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, May 29 @ 6:00pm (Neptune Theatre)
Sun, May 30 @ 1:30pm (Neptune Theatre)
Tue, June 1 @ 9:15pm (Everett Performing Arts Center)

Amer

Amer is not a film for everyone — or even close to everyone — but it is an abstract stylistic delight for those interested in films that make you uncomfortable. Amer is strongest when focusing on creepy details — including sound effects that make it feel like someone is breathing over your shoulder.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, May 29 @ Midnight (Egyptian Theatre)
Sun, May 30 @ 9:30pm (Egyptian Theatre)