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2019 Lineup for Seattle International Film Festival – Itty Bitty Atlas
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2019 Lineup for Seattle International Film Festival

Chloe and Andrew

SIFF 2019

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

North American Premieres

US Premieres

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

 

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