Sponsored by 4 Culture, Alpha Cine. Altoids. Cafe Stellina, KBCS 91.3, Modern Digital, New Belgium Brewery, & Stoli

Like a woolly beast emerging from the deep woods, Local Sightings arrives with a howl and a blinding flash! But don’t be frightened, it bears gifts for your eyes and ears. Now in its 9th year, NWFF’s annual celebration of regional filmmaking is bigger and more diverse than ever. As usual, the festival champions some of the best new Northwest work – including narrative features, documentaries and shorts of all flavors.

This year’s program includes a range of perspectives and approaches in films from the greater Pacific Northwest neighborhood. Standout narrative feature films from Seattle (JUNE AND JULY, URBAN SCARECROW, APART FROM THAT), Portland (YELLOW) and Vancouver BC (THE FRENCH GUY) paint a broad landscape of our region’s cinematic aesthetic. Documentary features (GRAIN OF SAND, TEACHINGS OF THE TREE PEOPLE) shed light on lives, stories and culture. An exciting selection of short films ranges from compelling short stories to intimate personal documentaries to unique cinematic experiments.

In addition to new films, the festival also celebrates the past and future of Northwest film. Continuing our tradition of presenting historic Northwest cinema, the festival features a special screening of the rarely-seen 1985 film BEACON HILL BOYS about Asian-American teenagers growing up in south Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood in the 1970s. The following night, we present a reading of a film you’ll likely hear more about in the coming year’s FREAK LIKE ME, the 2006 Washington State Screenplay Competition winning script by Winda Benedetti

Of course Local Sightings is all about connection, dialogue and celebration. We present panel discussions examining both the aesthetics and mechanics of filmmaking in the region, and a nightly Festival Lounge for filmmakers and festival-goers to kick back and share stories off the screen.

With the support of festival sponsor, Altoids, we’re able to offer free admission for all of the festival’s 7pm screenings, and free one-year Northwest Film Forum memberships (supporting level) to the first 100 people through the door on opening night. Guest jurors John Vanco (IFC Center), Charlie Humphrey (Pittsburgh Filmmakers), Lane Kneedler (AFI) and Scott Macaulay (Forensic Films, Filmmaker Magazine) will award one feature and one short with cash, exhibition opportunities and production services.

Local Sightings is one of the most important ways Northwest Film Forum serves its audiences and artists. We’re proud to present a stage for the inspired work of regional film artists and an exciting environment for the growth of tomorrow’s great art. Thank you for being a part of this celebration. Enjoy!

Friday, Oct. 6, 7pm

OPENING NIGHT!

World Premiere

 

FREE ADMISSION
JUNE & JULY
(Brady Hall, Seattle, 2006, 35mm>DVCam, 85min.)

Written and directed by Seattle filmmaker Brady Hall (POLERCHRIST, JERKBEAST), JUNE & JULY turns the 20-something indie film formula on its ear. Lifelong residents of a depressed small town, fraternal twins June (Bernadette Culvo) and July Shauer (Nathan Williams) are inseparable. Sprung into action by the death of their mother, June hatches a plan to leave her brother and the dull rural life, in search of adventure and excitement in the big city. July, unaware of June’s plans, continues to enjoy the simplicity his quaint town has to offer. Before announcing her departure, a house party fight exposes June’s mysterious supernatural physiology. While searching for the link between her powers and her past, June discovers an old photograph that leads the pair on a road trip that unravels the secrets of their family and its genetic history. Injecting drama with humor and even a bit of science fiction, JUNE & JULY is a bittersweet portrait of an unusual pair of siblings and the story of their divergent paths. Great music supports this beautifully lensed exploration of an enigmatic family history, in what can only be called a unique vision from our region.

 

Friday, Oct. 6, 9pm

$7 NWFF Members, $10 General Public
BIG LOCAL SIGHTINGS PARTY

Just past the searchlights and at the end of the red carpet you’ll find THE PARTY OF THE YEAR! Join us in kicking off the festival with an evening of food, drink, live music, djs, film projections, and much more!

Saturday, Oct. 7, 5pm

Special Presentation
THE BEHRENS AND BIAGINI SUPER SHOW

Jon Behrens and Sarah Biagini, two very dynamic experimental filmmakers, show recent film work that demonstrate why they are sought after artists and teachers in the techniques of direct animation and optical printing. Jonas Mekas and Stan Brakhage are just two of the film luminaries that these two channel with their celluloid explorations.

Film include: LIDS OF ALL SORTS (Sarah Biagini, 16mm, 10min.), UNDERCURRENTS (Jon Behrens, 1994, 16mm, 8min.), MEDUSA THINKS I AM UGLY (Sarah Biagini, 2006, 16mm, 12min.), OTTOMAN (Jon Behrens & RK Adams, 2005, 16mm, 5min.), THE ASTRUM ARGENTIUM (Jon Behrens, 2006, 16mm, 6min.), and SIX ARMS – HOMAGE TO MEKAS (Jon Behrens, 2006, 16mm, 3min.)

Saturday, Oct. 7, 7pm

FREE ADMISSION
GRANITO DE ARENA / GRAIN OF SAND
(Jill Friedberg, Seattle, 2005, BetaSP, 62min.)

For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico, but always in the constant shadow of popular resistance. GRANITO DE ARENA is the story of that resistance—the story of hundreds of thousands of public schoolteachers whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle for social and economic justice in Mexico’s public schools. Award-winning Seattle filmmaker, Jill Freidberg (THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE), spent two years in southern Mexico documenting the efforts of over 100,000 teachers, parents, and students fighting to defend the country’s public education system. Freidberg combines footage of strikes and direct actions with 25 years worth of never-before-seen archival images to deliver a compelling and unsettling story of resistance, repression, commitment, and solidarity.

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HOW TO BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE FISH
(Drew Christie, Sammamish, 2006, MiniDV, 2min.)

A satirical interpretation of imperialism and “democracy spreading” under the guises of a How-To video on seafood consumption.

and
AN OKLAHOMA PRIVATE JUST SAYS NO
(Patricia Boiko & Randy Rowland, Seattle, 2005, MiniDV, 8min.)

An Oklahoma private refuses to go back to Iraq when he is on leave in the US. If granted, he and his family will be the first Americans given refugee status in Canada.

Saturday, Oct. 7, 7pm

FREE ADMISSION
YELLOW
(Nick Peterson, Portland, 16mm>DVCam, 101min.)

The collaboration of filmmaker Nick Peterson and musician Eric Schopmeyer, YELLOW combines the sensibilities of Ernst Lubitsch’s Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and the restrained photographic sense of Yasujiro Ozu to create a unique modern musical exploring the complexities of love, sex and relationships. The story follows cynical Natalie (Nora Ryan) and her interactions with new boyfriend Matt (Eric Schopmeyer) and best friend Christian (Nico Izambard). The clever original songs never upstage the film, but rather serve as integral parts of the story. Amazingly, they were recorded live on the set with the musicians accompanying off camera, lending a naturalness to the performances and transitions. Shot and edited completely on film, YELLOW’s daring artistic approach makes the indie musical one of the most original features to come out of Portland in recent years.

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HAND OF BRIDGE
(Curtis Taylor, Seattle, 2006, 16mm>BetaSP, 11min.)

An adaptation of the 1959 Samuel Barber/Gian Carlo Menotti comic chamber opera. Two married couples enjoying the comforts of post-war “Gracious Living” settle in to their nightly bridge game, and what lies beneath the shellac is revealed in four short set-pieces as each character reveals in turn what truly captivates their heart.

Saturday, Oct. 7, 9-11pm

FESTIVAL LOUNGE

A celebration of Portland filmmaking and welcoming of the festival’s visiting Portland filmmakers. (Immediately follows the 7pm screening of YELLOW.)

Festival Lounge

Saturday, Oct. 7, 9:30pm
Shorts
1:1 PERSONAL CINEMA

With traditional investigative prowess and very atypical story-telling techniques, this program of documentaries and exploratory films gives viewers a peak inside the lives of some very unique people.

IT’S NOT ALL TRUE

(Wayne Blackwelder, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 5min.)

A Japanese woman reflects on her asthmatic childhood. Set in Tokyo, the story reveals a woman searching for memory and pondering the future of her infant daughter, never finding facts, but finding beauty in ambiguity, instead.

HAND GUNS

(Malayka Gormally, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 8min.)

A quasi-documentary about the paradoxical pleasure that people take in playing “guns” despite the ramifications of gun violence. Children to senior citizens mimic shooting a gun with their hands, their voices providing the soundtrack.

DIESEL ENGINE

(Dayna Hanson, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 7min.)

Dressed as Gena Rowlands from John Cassavetes’ OPENING NIGHT, Dayna Hanson dramatizes a quest for waste vegetable oil to fuel her 1980 Mercedes but is halted by a disapproving postman and a dreamily eccentric dance interlude.

USHTANKA, THE MAMA STORY

(Linas Phillips, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 40min.)

A CRACK IN THE SIDEWALK

(Kris Kristensen, Seattle, 2006, BetaSP, 10min.)

Bryan Harvey, frontman of the 80′s rock-duo House Of Freaks, was brutally murdered along with his family. To most of the world this was simply a sensational headline, but for those who treasured Harvey’s music, a part of themselves was extinguished.

Personal Cinema

Saturday, Oct. 7, 11:30pm
Shorts
DEAD WOOD: FARMS, BARNS AND COPULATING PUPPETS

How many horrific ways can a person come face to face with their mortality? This collection of late night shorts may just answer that question as it teases you with suspense until it attacks your eyes with scenes of spine-tingling terror!

YELLOW

(Semih Tareen, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 7min.)

A romantic evening turns fatal. Dedicated to filmmaker Mario Bava, YELLOW is an homage to giallo; a genre of Italian horror/crime films from the 1960′s.

THE COPULATING MERMAID OF VENICE, CA

(Joe Plotts & Adam Ende, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 16min.)

A Bunraku puppet video which explores the tragic comedic aspects of male desire within the framework of a short story by Charles Bukowski.

TERROR

(Matt Levinthal, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 1min.)

A film about architectural paranoia.

WHAT’S IN THE BARN?

(Mike Corrigan, Travis Hiibner, Derrick King & Gary McLeod, Spokane, 2006, DVD, 30min.)

A young girl living on a remote farm is menaced by a traveling preacher with sinister intentions. Yet it’s not immediately apparent where the true menace lies. And furthermore, what’s the deal with that barn?

DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF PANCAKES

(Tyson James Theroux, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 18min.)

Four irresponsible teenagers out past curfew (!) on prom night (!) find themselves in a nightmarish netherworld when they decide to explore a decrepit old roadside eatery. With the help of collaborator Jason Gutz, actors, sets and props were prepared to create a false-positive result.

LITTLE FARM

(Calvin Reeder, Seattle, 2006, DVCam, 8min.)

A family moves to a small farm for a fresh start, things change for them.

Deadwood:Farms, Barns and Copulating Puppets

Sunday, Oct. 8, 3pm
TEACHINGS OF THE TREE PEOPLE: THE WORK OF BRUCE MILLER
(Katie Jennings, Bainbridge Is., 2005, DVCam, 58min.)

Nationally acclaimed artist and Skokomish tribal leader Gerald Bruce Miller (subiyay), who passed away shortly after completion of the film, interpreted the sacred teachings of the natural world for anyone who wanted to learn. A passionate student of traditional culture, Bruce became the bearer of the language, oral history, art, and spirituality of the tuwaduq (Twana) of Hood Canal. This gentle and generous film documents his race against time and ailing health to pass his knowledge on to the next generation. The four-part seasonal structure, gradually unfolding narrative, and currents of deep emotion make TEACHINGS OF THE TREE PEOPLE a poignant walk through Native American
Country.

Teachings of the tree people: the work of Bruce Miller

Sunday, Oct. 8, 5pm

Special Presentation
TEEN VOICES: HIGH SCHOOL SHOWCASE

Following the success of last year’s inaugural showcase, we are proud to present another collection of local High School films. Some of the best, recent high school student work in narrative, documentary, animation, music video, and experimental/art film will be presented. Whether working in video or film; doing traditional animation; or using software like Final Cut Pro, Premiere, Motion, After Effects, Shake, or Maya, high school students are exhibiting some exceptional skills and imagination. Come see what’s incubating in Seattle’s extended arts community!

Teen Voices: high school showcase

Sunday, Oct. 8, 7pm

FREE ADMISSION
THE FRENCH GUY
(Anne Marie Fleming, Vancouver, 2005, 35mm, 82min.)

Think Baby Jane on Prozac. Graceful movement and composition and much playful surrealism create a light-hearted, comedy in THE FRENCH GUY. Elizabeth Murray (Babz Chula, SEVEN TIMES LUCKY) has just been released from the hospital after surgery on the very same day. It’s all carpe diem for her! When she comes across a suicidal jingle writer (Tygh Runyan, EMELIE) on the beach she springs into action. But it seems that Elizabeth might have been discharged a bit too early, especially after a head operation. Her wound is seeping, her perceptions are altered and her allergies are extreme. The deadly combination of her attempts to control her environs while simultaneously helping others only end in chaos, murder and feverish mopping. And all the time, the French guy next door is trying to finish his masterpiece. Vancouver’s Ann Marie Fleming (THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG TACK SAM) gives us a wonderfully absurdist comedy of errors.

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WHY THE ANDERSON CHILDREN DIDN’T COME TO DINNER
(Jamie Travis, Vancouver, 2006, 17min.)

Things are a bit off at the Anderson home. Matriarch Maud devotes her days to filling the stomachs of her little ones, Chester, Eliza and Godfrey. Until today. As Maud prepares the dinner her children will never forget, they employ their queer preoccupations for a communal objective – their undeniable, unprecedented and completely heroic absence from dinner.

Sunday, Oct. 8, 7pm

PANEL DISCUSSION

FREE ADMISSION
IS THERE A NORTHWEST AESTHETIC?

A discussion exploring connections among recent Northwest films and posing the question: What is the Northwest sensibility?

Moderated by Peter Lucas (Northwest Film Forum, SIFF), Panelists include Charles Mudede (The Stranger, co-writer POLICE BEAT), Megan Griffiths (cinematographer URBAN SCARECROW) and others TBA

Sunday, Oct. 8, 9-11pm

FESTIVAL LOUNGE

An open saloon for filmmakers, programmers and festival-goers immediately following the Northwest Sensibility panel discussion.

Sunday, Oct. 8, 9:30pm

Special Presentation
EYES AND EARS VLADMASTER

A catastrophic collision of sound and light sets the cinema aflame as filmmakers show experimental work accompanied by some seriously loud music by Seattle’s Ear Venom and Olympia’s Blood Clot. Tonight features Portland artist Vladimir as she makes a rare Seattle appearance for a live performance of one of her Vladmasters. Vladimir has been hand-making and selling her own Vladmaster disks since May of 2003. In April of 2004 she debuted her first performance of the Lucifugia Thigmotaxis Vladmaster set at the Portland Documentary and Experimental (PDX) Film Festival where she was crowned the World Champion of Experimental Film. Recently, she managed to grab that title two years running, debuting ACTAEON at Home at the 2005 PDX Film Festival.

Screenings include: VIDEO FEEDBACK (Terry Newberg, Bellingham), THE BIRDS AND THE BEES SUITE (Eric Ostrowski, Seattle, 2006, 16mm, 8min.), QUADRANT (Jason Gutz, Tacoma, Super 8, 5min.), ANGRY FLOWER (Kevin Jacobs, Super 8, 5min), THE TURTLE SHELL (Doug Lane, Seattle, Super 8, 3min.), CELLO AND ABSTRACT SLIDESHOW (Derek Johnson, Olympia), ELSEWHERE (Luke Sieczek, Seattle, 2005, 16mm, 6min.), and VLADMASTER: HANDMADE VIEWMASTER PERFORMANCE (Vladimir, Portland, Viewmaster, 10min.)

Monday, Oct. 9, 7pm

A Northwest Historic Presentation

FREE ADMISSION
BEACON HILL BOYS
(Dean Hayasaka, Ken Mochizuki & William Satake Blauvelt, Seattle, 1985, 16mm, 43min.)

Looking to break the stereotypes of Asian American representation in films, Ken Mochizuki, William Satake Blauvelt, and Dean Hayasaka, crafted a heroic film based on Mochizuki’s then unfinished novel (which has since become a classic of Asian American literature). BEACON HILL BOYS, shot in 1985, tells the bittersweet stories of a quartet of aimless just-out-of-high-school kids coming of age in the early 70s. Cruising the nighttime streets of Beacon Hill, the Rainier Valley, and the International District in classic muscle cars blaring power soul music (Tower of Power, War, Marvin Gaye), hanging out at the Imperial Lanes and burger joints, getting high, looking for girls, love and direction, BEACON HILL BOYS not only documents a disappeared Seattle, but puts an illuminating lens to the hopes and dreams of a generation of Asian Americans. BEACON HILL BOYS played at (the now unused) Nippon Kan Theater in 1985. It became a critical success at a number of Asian American film festivals and then, sadly, fell into obscurity. NWFF is proud to revive this truly lost gem of Seattle film history.

Monday, Oct. 9, 7pm

FREE ADMISSION
URBAN SCARECROW
(Brady Hall, Seattle, 2006, 35mm>DVCam, 85min.)

Set in a landscape of cracked pavement, broken signs and abandoned buildings, director Andrew McAllister’s URBAN SCARECROW is a poetic portrait of life in limbo. Teenager Wesley (Peter Richards) and his father Frank (Charles Leggett) live in a run-down motel amidst the bleak urban ruin of Seattle’s Highway 99. The two have never recovered from the death of Wesley’s mother, and have only their imaginations to combat loneliness, fear and boredom. Restless Wesley searches for treasure in a world of junk, while Frank hopelessly clings to the dream of a career as a stand up comedian. The arrival of new neighbor Vicki (Debra Pralle) and her young daughter brings a ray of light into their world, but Wesley’s thoughts are further and further away each day. Megan Griffith’s cinematography and Ben McAllister’s music help to create a unique cinematic sense of life adrift for the bittersweet story of two displaced dreamers.

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MAGNETIZED
(Lynn Shelton, Seattle, 2006, 35mm, 3.min.)

A haunting love song featuring ghosts, birds and white spider stars. Laura Veirs sings her poetic ode to the poignancy of romantic entanglement while being entrapped, swarmed and crawled over by three ethereal dancers.

Urban Scarecrow

Monday, Oct. 9, 9-11pm

FESTIVAL LOUNGE

Scott K. James (The Now Device, Oscillate) hosts an evening of electronic music and video projections by Northwest artists.

Festival Lounge

Monday, Oct. 9, 9pm
Shorts
LEAPS AND BOUNDS

This program presents short films that search out the boundaries of cinematic convention and leaps well beyond them. All kinds of innovative techniques and approaches are explored among these films as they sing to your eyes and obfuscate your mind.

HOW TO DRAW CLOUDS

(Salise Hughes, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 2min.)

A humorous attempt to pin down a speeding cloud, HTDC is a nod to the how-to-make-art educational films and a poetic meditation on the desire to make permanent what is ephemeral.

THE COWBOY SONG

(Rick McIntire, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 3min.)

THE COWBOY SONG was edited out of a larger film, YAMABUSHI, a sci-fi horror with yugen-driven characters containing comedy, ghosts, pop music, comic book colors, mathematics and haute couture.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

(SJ Chiro, Seattle, 2006, BetaSP, 11min.)

A pregnant woman’s anxiety dream unveils the seemingly familiar story of Little Red Riding Hood. But this time, don’t talk to strangers, isn’t enough!

THE DEAD LOVERS BENEVOLENT RETURN

(Tyson Theroux, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 22min.)

A macabre fable considering the issues of loves lost, long sufferings, and missed opportunities. DLBR is the cinematic interpretation of an Italian Giallo/horror soundtrack recorded by Portland based composer Nathaniel Chace Ashley.

YOUR LIGHTS ARE OUT OR BURNING BADLY

(Gaelen Hanson, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 9min.)

By Seattle-based director and choreographer Gaelen Hanson, the film features an emotionally charged solo dance performed by Hanson with music by Seattle band KINSKI.

MUSICAL OFFERING

(Nick Peterson, Portland, 2006, DVCam, 7min.)

Inspired by Anton Webern’s famed 1935 arrangement of a fugue for 6 voices from Bach’s Musical Offering, a succession of horizontal tracking shots mimic Webern’s acute mapping of different instruments to the same melody lines.

MZUNGUZUNGU

(Grant Robinson, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 7min.)

As a compilation of field recordings and Super-8 footage taken during a two-month stay in and around Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, MZUNGUZUNGU’s title is derived from the Kiswahili words “mzungu” (“white person”) and “zunguzungu” (“dizzy”).

SKULL AND BLACKBERRIES

(Eric Ostrowski, Seattle, 2006, 16mm, 4min.)

A sequence of contact nature prints of blackberries, introduced by a band of Archie McPhee’s pirates.

FORCEFIELDS

(Christian Palmer, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 5min.)

A story describing one man’s awkward attempt at re-entering his social circle after a long period of self-imposed exile. His plan is sabotaged by the persistence of his attraction to the one person he has vowed to avoid.p>
COBURN

(Anton Bogaty, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 6min.)

Old man Coburn’s lonely life is abruptly interrupted when the batteries in his TV’s remote control die. Only then is he forced to venture beyond the safety of his apartment into the night with tragic results.

CHRONICLES OF A PROFESSIONAL EULOGIST FIELD REPORT NO. 3

(Sarah Jane Lapp, 2006, 7min.)

This film uses hand-drawn animation, live action photography, and audio interviews with clergy to explore the role of those who minister to the soul and manage the inflections of individual and communal sentimentality within the process of creating and sustaining social memory.

SHAVE

(Craig Downing, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 1.5min.)

A short film about an intimate conversation.

SPIRIT HOUSE

(Robert Millis, Seattle, 2005, 4min.)

SPIRIT HOUSE is a short impressionistic look at Thai Spirit Houses, with music by Climax Golden Twins. Spirit houses commemorate the dead and are said to be the abodes of departed loved ones, relatives and guardian spirits.

BUT SOFT

(Britta Johnson, Seattle, 2006, 35mm, 2min.)

Produced with NWFF’s Signature Shorts program, BUT SOFT is a stop-motion animated film that uses bras and lace as the raw material to portray a group of birds mysteriously entering and exiting through a bedroom window.

Leaps and Bounds

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 6:30pm

Special Presentation

FREE ADMISSION
FREAK LIKE ME: SCREENPLAY READING

Destiny is the first kid to ever run away from the circus, but can she ever fully escape the geeks, the glamour, and the greasepaint? Destiny dreams of being normal, but can she deny how truly special she is? Can anyone deny their own secret identity?

Winda Benedetti unveils her charming, comic fable in an exclusive staged presentation of FREAK LIKE ME, winner of this year’s Washington State Screenplay Competition. Winda’s script is inspired by her short film, GEEK LIKE ME, directed by John Vechey, that proved an audience favorite on the festival circuit. FREAK LIKE ME will be performed by an A-list cast. The reading will be followed by a post-show discussion with the author.

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 7pm

PANEL DISCUSSION

Presented by Artist Trust

FREE ADMISSION
SHOW US THE MONEY!

Making an independent film is an expensive undertaking. Raising the necessary funds to bring an artistic vision to the silver screen requires tenacity, persistence and a little bit of luck not too dissimilar from the creative process itself. Join us for an evening of engaging dialogue with a panel of local filmmakers. They will share stories of how they secured money from a variety of sources – grants, donations, and other innovative fundraising efforts. A reception with beverages and light snacks will follow.

Panel Discussion

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 9-11pm

FESTIVAL LOUNGE

Non-profit arts funding organization Artist Trust hosts an evening in the lounge saluting the many artists included in the festival they have supported. Follows the Funding/Distribution panel.

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 9:30pm
Shorts
DOCS WITH A VIEW

With these four documentaries (and one fictional documentary) we discover how the interests and circumstances that people face can create entire realities that co-exist with our own familiar view of the world.

TIENTSIN DIARIES

(Serge Gregory, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 31min.)

TIENTSIN DIARIES is a fictional documentary about the courtship of Misha and Natasha, whose Oriental idyll begins to unravel with the outbreak of WWII. Using actors, family photographs and newsreels, the film recreates the lost world of Russian exiles against the backdrop of the disintegration of pre-revolutionary China.

AIR

(Patti Sakurai, Portland, 2005, DVD, 5min.)

AIR is the filmmaker’s response to anti-Asian remarks of two New Jersey DJs in the spring of 2005. Shot on Super 8, the film also points to the importance of alternative media by using audio from APA Compass, an Asian Pacific American monthly radio program on KBOO 90.7FM in Portland.

RC DRIVER

(Sophia Betz, Seattle, 2005, DVD, 18min.)

Competitors vie for the title of World Champion in the World Finals of Radio Control Monster Truck Racing.

AVE RATS

(Clinton Carucci, Ian MacKagan & Mixtli Zavaleta, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 6min.)

Giving voice to one of Seattle’s most misunderstood and marginalized communities, homeless youth, Ballard High School students present a fresh, unsentimental approach to this important topic.

AQUARIUM KIDS

(Wes Kim, Seattle, 2006, DVCam, 10min.)

Every Sunday, three high school interns. Sam, Shun and Savy, come to the Seattle Aquarium to help clean the exhibit tanks and feed the animals. They all come from families with roots in Asia, but their unique personalities and life histories illustrate the diversity within the Asian American community, a diversity that in turn enriches the lives of the aquarium’s staff and visitors.

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7pm

FREE ADMISSION
APART FROM THAT
(Randy Walker & Jennifer Shainin, Mount Vernon, 2006, BetaSP, 120 min)

APART FROM THAT is about how everyone wants to be liked. How people will go to any length to be accepted, and how denial and unmet expectations play a part. In this character-driven drama/comedy, the little moments and everyday lives surrounding three sets of strangers living in the Pacific Northwest coalesce into an examination of this human desire to belong. One story follows the path of Ulla, an introverted student beautician who rents a room in the home of Peggy, an elderly exhibitionist who has made a habit out of placing false phone calls to local fire departments. The second story is that of Leo, a Native American striper for the department of transportation who is in constant search for any distraction that might allow him to forget that his best friend is dying. Running concurrently with these stories is the tale of Sam, a Vietnamese banker who must make a decision at the office that initiates a seemingly irreconcilable divide between himself and his adopted American son. The common thread that binds these stories together is the emotional landscape that silently governs them all. It’s an honest look at human vulnerability and the similarities between very different people.

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 9:30pm
Shorts
COLLECTED STORIES

You will experience life’s full range of emotions by witnessing this collection of fictional short films. Comical films portray showdowns between protagonists with a new-found reason for being against mythical foes and surly cyclists, while dramatic films present challenges that force characters to commit to their convictions.

KITE FLYERS

(Carlos Lopez, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 9min.)

Three life-long friends are confronted by a belligerent giant and find out, the hard way, that there is more to life than flying kites.

DEATH AND A SALESMAN

(Joe Shapiro & Andy McCone, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 6min.)

A visit by the Angel of Death prompts one man to try and reform himself.

FREE PARKING

(Laura Jean Cronin, Seattle, 2006, 16mm>BetaSP, 10min.)

The subtle difference between love and power is explored when two sisters, Janet, 10, and Shannon, 5, are sent to pick blackberries and the eldest turns the field into a monopoly game.

OMELET

(Cuneyt Havlioglu & Serkan Kutan, Seattle, 2005, DVD, 20min.)

Romance drops out of a three-story window and lands on the protagonists’ heads. OMELET is a romantic comedy about two people’s paths crossing without their awareness, and yet they affect each other’s lives in absurd ways.

CIRCLED WAGONS

(Nathan Williams, Seattle, 2005, DVD, 7min.)

Somewhere in Tennessee, 2004, an examination of loyalty, commitment, and the sense of watching the train move by without you.

BLACK, WHITE AND RED ALL OVER

(Amanda Becker, Seattle, 2005, DVD, 10min.)

A priest and his three clergy men embark on a night of cocktails, resolutions, and re-confirmation.

MINARET

(Matthew Cibelli, Seattle, 2006, DVD, 11min.)

In a touching and winding tale, a woman struggles to fulfill a grim promise. Can she find the strength to see the task through, or will she miss her last opportunity for connection?

ANAELLE

(Stefan Gruber, Seattle, 2006, 35mm, 3min.)

ANAELLE, a Flash animated film, is narrated by the filmmaker as he describes an experience of bonding with a young girl despite the barrier of speaking different languages. Vivid color fields and dreamy movement enhance the film’s magical conclusion as the pair share a unique encounter with ladybugs.

MANQUER

(Matt Daniels, Seattle, 2006, DVD)

On Alain’s 10th birthday he is given Suzette, the bicycle that carried his father to 12 Tour de France victories. Robert Henri, a notorious Tour de France loser, thinks that by stealing Suzette he may finally have a chance at victory. This is a stop-motion story about love, loss, and the journey to reunite two friends.