Jon Behrens’s Seattle: A City in Four Parts [In-Person Only]

This event took place on May 12, 2023

Film still from Kerry Park, by Jon Behrens & Dominique Tranchina (2021)

$14 General Admission
$10 Student/Child/Senior
$7 Member

On Film

A celebration of the Seattle-based filmmaker on what would have been his 59th birthday

Jon Behrens (1964-2022) was a tireless documentarian of the Seattle scene and its iconic landscape. For almost forty years, Behrens created experimental films that ranged from Super 8 visual recordings of the early punk and grunge scenes, to documents of a vanishing Seattle (perhaps his most famous film, The Last Ten Minutes of Existence, captures the last moments before the Kingdome implosion), to celebrating the ongoing beauty and mystery of our local landscape in double-exposed, optically printed, hand-painted, sculptural films. Behrens died suddenly last year at the age of 58, leaving behind a vast body of works on film, including many that have rarely or never been seen. Curated by Caryn Cline, with whom Behrens co-founded Interbay Cinema Society, this program will include both 16mm and digital prints of previously released and unreleased films.

Click for Accessibility Info

Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.

The majority of seats in our main cinema are 21″ wide from armrest to armrest; some seats are 19″ wide. We are working on creating the option of removable armrests!

We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.

The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!

If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at maria@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.

Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.

⚠️ Covid-19 Policies ⚠️

NWFF patrons will be required to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building. Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them. We are not currently checking vaccination cards. Recent variants of COVID-19 readily infect and spread between individuals regardless of vaccination status.

Read more about NWFF’s policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.

Films in this program:

Part 1

Pictured: Girl and a Bike

  • Minute Movie #4 | 2013 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 1 min
  • Girl and a Bike | 1995 | 16mm | b&w/sound | 15 min
  • Proustian Neuroses | 1999 | 16mm to digital | tinted b&w/sound | 5 min
  • The Gits | n.d. | 16mm to digital | color/silent | 3 min

Part 2

Pictured: The Movement of Light at Night

  • Minute Movie #7 | 2013 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 1 min
  • Reflections | 1992 | 16mm | tinted b&w/sound | 12 min
  • The Movement of Light at Night | 1996 | 16mm | color/sound | 7 min | made with Steve Creson

Part 3

Pictured: A City in Four Parts

  • Minute Movie #8 | 2013 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 1 min
  • Cinematic Abstractions | 2002 | 16mm | color/sound | 6 min | made with Ryan K. Adams
  • The Six Arms | 2005 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 2 min
  • A City in Four Parts | 2016 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 6 min

Part 4

Pictured: A Winter’s Song

  • Driving Down to Alpha Cine One Last Time in the Rain in One Minute | 2013 | 16mm to digital | b&w/sound | 1 min
  • Revolve | 2014 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 8 min
    ⚠️ Sensory advisory: This film has a strong flickering/strobing effect that could affect photosensitive viewers
  • A Winter’s Song | 2019 | 16mm to digital | b&w/sound | 3 min
  • Kerry Park | 2021 | 16mm to digital | color/sound | 3 min | made with Dominique Tranchina

Additional film TBA


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Northwest Film Forum
1515 12th Ave,

Seattle, WA 98122

206 329 2629


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