2019 Lineup for Seattle International Film Festival

The Seattle International Film Festival, the largest and most highly attended film festival in the United States, announced today the complete lineup of films, guests, and events for the 45th annual 25-day Festival that runs May 16 through June 9.

This year, SIFF will screen 410 films representing 86 countries and will include: 147 features (plus 4 secret films), 71 documentaries, 12 archival films, and 176 shorts. The lineup includes 33 World premieres (12 features, 21 shorts), 42 North American premieres (27 features, 15 shorts), and 19 US premieres (11 features, 8 shorts).

Opening night kicks off Thursday, May 16 with Sword of Trust, written and directed by local filmmaker Lynn Shelton and features Marc Maron, Jon Bass, Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell, and Toby Huss. The film made its world premiere at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival to audience acclaim and IFC Films will open the film in July.

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. The film will screen on Saturday, June 1, at 5:30 PM, at the SIFF Cinema Egyptian.

As a part of this year’s celebration of women in comedy, SIFF is delighted to celebrate the work of Regina Hall by presenting her with the Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema. I

n addition to the award presentation, the acclaimed actor is slated for an on-stage interview on Sunday, June 2 at 2 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.

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.

Each year more than 5,000 films come through our submissions process and uncovering emerging themes each time is a satisfying puzzle that ends up being our 25-day festival,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett.

“This year we saw strong female led films, specifically in the comedy genre, and are thrilled that 46-percent of the films in SIFF have female directors, and 56 percent of our competition films are directed by women.”

The 2019 Seattle International Film Festival is presented by SIFF, the non-profit arts organization that reaches more than 350,000 annually through SIFF Cinema, SIFF Education, and the annual flagship Festival. Festival Box Office opens May 2 online and in person at any year round SIFF Box Office.

Opening Night Gala, Sword of Trust

Thursday, May 16, 7 PM, party @ Fisher Pavilion, to follow screening, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

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

Centerpiece Gala, Late Night

Saturday, June 1, 5:30 PM, party @ Dar Rainier Chapter House, to follow screening | SIFF Cinema Egyptian

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

Sunday, June 9, 6 PM, party at MOHAI, to follow screening | SIFF Cinema Egyptian

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)

Pity the Lovers, North American Premiere

May 18 | 6 PM, party @ Nordic Museum, to follow screening | Majestic Bay

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)

Top End Wedding

May 25 | 6 PM, party @ The House Studios, to follow screening | SIFF Cinema Uptown

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)

Non-Fiction

Thursday, May 30 | 8 PM, reception to precede screening | Kirkland Performance Center

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)

The Phantom of the Opera

Saturday, May 18 | 2 PM | SIFF Cinema Egyptian

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

Monday, May 27 | 6:30 PM | SIFF Cinema Egyptian

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

Thursday, May 30 | 7 PM | SIFF Cinema Egyptian

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)

World Premieres

Engineering with Nature – An Ode to Water, Wood, and Stone (d: Shelly Solomon, USA 2019)
Fight Fam (d. Ruben Rodriguez Perez, USA 2019)
Good Kisser (d: Wendy Jo Carlton, USA 2019)
Lest We Forget (d: Luigi Toscano, Germany 2019)
The Long Haul: The Story of the Buckaroos (d: Amy Enser, USA 2019)
Lynch: A History (d: David Shields, USA 2019)
Patrinell: The Total Experience (d: Andrew Elizage, Tia Young, USA 2019)
Pigeon Kings (d: Milena Pastreich, USA 2019)
Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance (d: Melina Raebyne, USA 2019)
Watch List (Maria) (d: Ben Rekhi, Philippines/USA 2019)
We Take the Low Road (d: Domenic Barbero, Jerry Spears, USA 2019)
The Wild (d: Mark Titus, USA 2019)

North American Premieres

2040 (d: Damon Gameau, Australia 2019)
All About Me (d: Caroline Link, Germany 2019)
All My Loving (d: Edward Berger, Germany 2019)
The Announcement (d: Mahmut Fazil Coşkun, Turkey/Bulgaria 2018)
The Awakening of the Ants (d: Antonella Sadasassi Furniss, Costa Rica/Spain 2019)
The Days to Come (d: Carlos Marqués-Marcet, Spain 2019)
#Female Pleasure (d: Barbara Miller, Switzerland/Germany 2018)
Fly Rocket Fly (d: Oliver Schwehm, Germany/Belgium 2018)
For My Father’s Kingdom (d: Vea Mafile’o, Jeremiah Tauamiti, New Zealand 2019)
The Ground Beneath My Feet (d: Marie Kreutzer, Austria 2019)
Here Comes Hell (d: Jack McHenry, United Kingdom 2018)
Invest in Failure (Notes on Film 06-C, Monologue 03) (d: Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Austria 2018)
The Invisible Witness (d: Stefano Mordini, Italy 2018)
Le Chocolat de H (d: Takashi Watanabe, Japan 2019)
The Man Who Bought the Moon (d: Paolo Zucca, Italy/Argentina 2018)
The Man Who Surprised Everyone (d: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov, Russia/Estonia 2018)
Marighella (d: Wagner Moura, Brazil 2019)
Oray (d: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Germany 2019)
Palace for the People (d: Georgi Bogdanov, Boris Missirkov, Bulgaria/Germany 2018)
Pity the Lovers (d: Maximilian Hult, Sweden/Iceland 2019)
Sons of Denmark (d: Ulaa Salim, Denmark 2019)
Storm in My Heart (d: Mark Cousins, USA/Scotland 2018)
Swinging Safari (d: Stephan Elliott, Australia/USA 2018)
Timeless Beauty (d: Deyan Parouchev, France/China 2018
Van Goghs (d: Sergey Livnev, Russia/Latvia 2018)
Volcano (d: Roman Bondarchuk, Ukraine/Germany 2018)
Your Turn (d: Eliza Capai, Brazil 2019)

US Premieres

Baby (Bao Bei Er) (d: Liu Jie, China 2018)
A Dog Called Money (d: Seamus Murphy, Ireland/ United Kingdom 2019)
Ghost Town Anthology (d: Denis Côté, Canada (Québec), 2019)
Hat-Trick (d: Ramtin Lavafi, Iran 2018)
Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak and Chic (d: Yann L’Hénoret, France 2019)
Lives with Flavor: Monica Patiño & Carlos Gaytán (d: Ruth Zachs Babani, Pablo Gasca Gollás, Mexico 2019)
Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story (d: Don Metz, Canada 2018)
No. 1 Chung Ying Street (d: Derek Chiu, Hong Kong 2018)
Retrospekt (d: Esther Rots, Netherlands/Belgium 2018)
Twin Flower (d: Laura Luchetti, Italy 2018)
Wine Calling (d: Bruno Sauvard, France 2018)

African Pictures

SIFF is thrilled to present African Pictures, showcasing the best filmmaking happening in and about Africa today. This program will bring shorts and features, documentaries and fiction films to American audiences who might never have the chance to see them otherwise. This is a not-to–be-missed opportunity to experience innovative and inspiring filmmaking from across the continent.

Before the Vows (d: Nicole Amarteifio, Ghana 2018)
EXT. Night (d: Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt/United Arab Emirates 2018)
Fig Tree (d: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian, Ethiopia/Israel 2018)
Kifaru (d: David Hambridge, USA/Kenya 2019)
The Mercy of the Jungle (d: Joël Karekezi, Belgium/France 2018)
Sakawa (d: Ben Asamoah, Belgium/Netherlands 2018)
Sew the Winter to My Skin (d: Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, South Africa/Germany 2018)
Urgent (d: Mohcine Besri, Switzerland/Morocco 2018)
Yomeddine (d: A.B. Shawky, Egypt/USA 2018)

Alternate Cinema

The films in this section not only aim to alter how you look at the world, but to open your mind and make you think. Innovation and experimentation are huge elements of these feature films as well as the impressive line-up of this year’s ALT Shorts package.

Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground (d: Chuck Smith, USA/France/Israel 2018)
Invest in Failure (Notes on Film 06-C, Monologue 03) (d: Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Austria 2018, North American Premiere)
Lynch: A History (d: David Shields, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Storm in My Heart (d: Mark Cousins, USA/ Scotland 2018, North American Premiere)

Archival Films

Time travel may still just be a dream in the scientific world, but in cinema it is practically inevitable, as every film captures several distinct moments in time: the period of the story, the era of the film’s creation, and the instance of discovery and even rediscovery by the filmgoer.

As the Earth Turns (d: Richard Lyford, USA 1938/2018)
Between the Lines (d: Joan Micklin Silver, USA 1977)
The Bigamist (d: Ida Lupino, USA 1953)
DJ NicFit Presents Fantastic Planet (d: René Laloux, France/Czechoslovakia 1973)
Enamorada (d: Emilio Fernández, Mexico 1946)
Farinelli (d: Gérard Corbiau, France/Italy 1994)
The Hitch-Hiker (d: Ida Lupino, USA 1953)
I Am Cuba (d: Mikhail Kalatozov, Cuba 1964)
One, Two, Three (d: Billy Wilder, USA 1961)
The Phantom of the Opera with Live Soundtrack by The Invincible Czars (d: Rupert Julian, USA 1925)
Spies (d: Fritz Lang, Germany 1928)
Storm in My Heart (d: Mark Cousins, USA/Scotland 2018, North American Premiere)

Asian Crossroads

We encourage you to take this journey across several Asian countries to discover the cultural and historical background of these faraway worlds, taste some food, hear some music, and be blown away by films about small villages, huge metropolises, and everything in between.

Baby (Bao Bei Er) (d: Liu Jie, China 2018, US Premiere)
Cities of Last Things (d: Ho Wi Ding, Taiwan/China 2018)
Distinction (d: Jevons Au, Hong Kong 2018)
A Family Tour (d: Ying Liang, Hong Kong/Taiwan 2018)
The Farewell (d: Lulu Wang, USA/China 2019)
Gatao 2: Rise of the King (d: Yen Cheng-Kuo, Taiwan 2018)
Go back to China (d: Emily Ting, China/Hong Kong 2019)
House of Hummingbird (d: Bora Kim, South Korea/USA 2018)
House of My Fathers (d: Suba Sivakumaran, Sri Lanka/United Kingdom 2018)
Le Chocolat de H (d: Takashi Watanabe, Japan 2019, North American Premiere)
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (d: Macoto Tezka, Japan 1985)
Long Time No Sea (d: Heather Tsui, Taiwan 2018)
No. 1 Chung Ying Street (d: Derek Chiu, Hong Kong 2018, US Premiere)
One Child Nation (d: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, China/USA 2019)
Ten Years Thailand (d: Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Hong Kong/Thailand 2018)
The Third Wife (d: Ash Mayfair, Vietnam 2018)
Watch List (Maria) (d: Ben Rekhi, Philippines/USA 2019, World Premiere)
Widow of Silence (d: Praveen Morchhale, India 2018)

Culinary Cinema

Popcorn is no longer king as the phenomenon of food culture has exploded into cinema. We’ve selected six extraordinary films that explore different aspects of taste and the senses for the cinematically inclined.

Chef’s Diaries: Scotland (d: Laura Otálora, United Kingdom/Spain 2019)
Funke (d: Gab Taraboulsy, USA 2018)
Le Chocolat de H (d: Takashi Watanabe, Japan 2019, North American Premiere)
Lives with Flavor: Monica Patiño & Carlos Gaytán (d: Ruth Zachs Babani, Pablo Gasca Gollás, Mexico 2019, US Premiere)
Virgin & Extra: The Land of the Olive Oil (d: José Luis López Linares, Spain 2018)
Wine Calling (d: Bruno Sauvard, France 2018, US Premiere)

Deutschlandjahr

In celebration of the year-long Deutschlandjahr USA / The Year of German-American Friendship, we are pleased to present films in the German language from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Highlighting the unique importance of culture, science and politics in transatlantic relations, these films run the gamut of creativity.

All About Me (d: Caroline Link, Germany 2019, North American Premiere)
All My Loving (d: Edward Berger, Germany 2019, North American Premiere)
#FemalePleasure (d: Barbara Miller, Switzerland/Germany 2018, North American Premiere)
Fly Rocket Fly (d: Oliver Schwehm, Germany, Belgium 2018, North American Premiere)
The Ground Beneath My Feet (d: Marie Kreutzer, Austria 2019, North American Premiere)
The Innocent (d: Simon Jaquemet, Switzerland/Germany 2018)
In the Aisles (d: Thomas Stuber, Germany 2018)
Lest We Forget (d: Luigi Toscano, Germany 2019, World Premiere)
Oray (d: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Germany 2019, North American Premiere)
Shut Up and Play the Piano (d: Philipp Jedicke, Germany 2018)
Spies (d: Fritz Lang, Germany 1928)
What Doesn’t Kill Us (d: Sandra Nettelbeck, Germany 2018)

Face the Music

Four out of five SIFF programmers agree that regular exposure to music and film are essential to your overall well-being. With that in mind, this year’s Face the Music program has been specifically designed to provide a holistic regimen for your audio-visual health.

The Apollo (d: Roger Ross Williams, USA 2019)
Blinded by the Light (d: Gurinder Chadha, United Kingdom 2019)
David Crosby: Remember My Name (d: A.J. Eaton, USA 2019)
A Dog Called Money (d: Seamus Murphy, Ireland/ United Kingdom 2019, US Premiere)
Enormous: The Gorge Story (d: Nic Davis, USA 2019)
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (d: Stanley Nelson, USA/United Kingdom 2019)
Patrinell: The Total Experience (d: Andrew Elizaga, Tia Young, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Pavarotti (d: Ron Howard, USA/United Kingdom 2019)
Piazzolla, The Years of the Shark (d: Daniel Rosenfield, Argentina/France 2018)
Shut Up and Play the Piano (d: Philipp Jedicke, Germany 2018)
Who Let the Dogs Out (d: Brent Hodge, Canada 2019)
Wild Rose (d: Tom Harper, United Kingdom 2018)
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation (d: Barak Goodman, Jamila Ephron, USA 2019)

Ibero-American Cinema

Latin-American cinema is nurtured by a vast diversity, a unique history, and a long, rich tradition of storytelling. Its powerful documentaries and works of fiction have always been fantastic, with larger-than-life themes, characters, and legends igniting our imaginations, our senses, and our emotions.

I Am Cuba (d: Mikhail Kalatozov, Cuba/Soviet Union 1964)
Lives with Flavor: Monica Patiño & Carlos Gaytán (d: Ruth Zachs Babani, Pablo Gasca Gollás, Mexico 2019, US Premiere)
Marighella (d: Wagner Moura, Brazil 2019, North American Premiere)
Midnight Family (d: Luke Lorentzen, Mexico/USA 2019)The Awakening of the Ants (d: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, Costa Rica/ Spain 2019, North American Premiere)
Botero (d: Don Millar, Canada 2018)
Carmen & Lola (d: Arantxa Echevarría, Spain 2018)
Chef’s Diaries: Scotland (d: Laura Otálora, United Kingdom/Spain 2019)
The Days to Come (d: Carlos Marqués-Marcet, Spain 2019, North American Premiere)
El Ángel (d: Luis Ortega, Argentina/Spain 2018)
Enamorada (d: Emilio-Fernández, Mexico 1946)
The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia (d: Arturo Infante, Cuba/Germany 2018)
The Footballest (d: Miguel Ángel Lamata, Spain 2018)
The Good Girls (d: Alejandra Márquez Abella, Mexico 2018)
Miriam Lies (d: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada, Dominican Republic/Spain 2018)
Monos (d: Alejandro Landes, Colombia/Argentina 2019)
Pachamama (d: Juan Antin, France 2019)
Piazzolla, The Years of the Shark (d: Daniel Rosenfield, Argentina/France 2018)
The Realm (d: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain/France 2018)
The Sharks (d: Lucía Garibaldi, Uruguay/Argentina 2019)
Socrates (d: Alexandre Moratto, Brazil 2018)
Temblores (d: Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala/France 2019)
This Is Not Berlin (d: Hari Sama, Mexico 2019)
Virgin & Extra: The Land of the Olive Oil (d: José Luis López Linares, Spain 2018)
Your Turn (d: Eliza Capai, Brazil 2019, North American Premiere)
Yuli (d: Icíar Bollaín, Spain/Cuba 2018)

Northwest Connections

Seattleites see more films per capita than the residents of any other American city, and a growing number of these selections have their roots in the fertile Pacific Northwest film community. Each year, SIFF honors the many ways in which the Puget Sound region contributes to the world of cinema, whether it acts as an evocative location for outside filmmakers or as inspiration for local filmmakers ready to strut their stuff.

Artifishal (d: Josh Murphy, USA 2019)
As the Earth Turns (d: Richard Lyford, USA 1938/2018)
Engineering with Nature – An Ode to Water, Wood, and Stone (d: Shelly Solomon, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Enormous: The Gorge Story (d: Nic Davis, USA 2019)
Fight Fam (d: Ruben Rodriguez Perez, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Good Kisser (d: Wendy Jo Carlton, USA 2019, World Premiere)
The Long Haul: The Story of the Buckaroos (d: Amy Enser, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Lynch: A History (d: David Shields, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Our Bodies Our Doctors (d: Jan Haaken, USA 2019)
Patrinell: The Total Experience (d: Andrew Elizaga, Tia Young, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story (d: Patrick Creadon, USA 2019)
Stories of Us: Camp Second Chance (d: Melinda Raebyne, USA 2019, World Premiere)
Sword of Trust (d: Lynn Shelton, USA 2019)
We Take the Low Road (d: Domenic Barbero, Jerry Spears, USA 2019, World Premiere)
The Wild (d: Mark Titus, USA 2019, World Premiere)

Wild, Terrifying, Fantastic

Get ready to set sail on the ultimate WTF cruise into the weirdest, wildest corners of this spooky, slimy planet we call Earth – and maybe even beyond.

Deadtectives (d: Tony West, USA 2018)
The Death of Dick Long (d: Daniel Scheinert, USA 2019)
DJ NicFit Presents Fantastic Planet (d: René Laloux, France/Czechoslovakia 1973)
Greener Grass (d: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, USA 2019)
Here Comes Hell (d: Jack McHenry, United Kingdom 2018, North American Premiere)
In Fabric (d: Peter Strickland, United Kingdom 2018)
Knife+Heart (d: Yann Gonzalez, France/Switzerland 2018)
Koko-di Koko-da (d: Johannes Nyholm, Sweden/Denmark 2019)
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (d: Macoto Tezka, Japan 1985)
Nightmare Cinema (Joe Dante, Alejandro Brugués, Mick Garris, Ryûhei Kitamura, David Slade, USA 2018)