Calendar
Run and Jump
Feb 21 - Feb 27, 2014
(Steph Green, Ireland/Germany, 2013, Blu-ray, 105 min)
Funnyman Will Forte (SNL, 30 Rock) dons a serious beard, and tweed jacket, to play a strait-laced brain researcher who finds himself in the midst of a family’s efforts to rebuild. Steph Green’s debut feature film is a warm-hearted Irish drama that takes an unconventional approach to the premise of a family changed by a father and husband’s stroke. Written, directed, and produced by women, the narrative focuses not on the husband and his experience of adjusting to a new life, but on his wife Vanetia’s.
Diamonds of the Night
Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 21, 2014
(Jan Nemec, Czechoslovakia, 1964, Digital, 64 min)
Jan Nemec’s conviction that a director must create “a personal style” and “a world independent of reality as it appears at the time” was already evident in his first feature length film. Diamonds follows the escape of two young concentration camp prisoners through the woods of Sudetenland and the ensuing pursuit of them. Moving freely between the present, dreams, and flashbacks, Nemec employs an aesthetic of Pure Cinema to depict the state of the distressed human mind.
Martyrs of Love
Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 22, 2014
(Jan Nemec, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 71 min)
This three-part ballad, which often uses music to stand in for dialogue, remains the most perfect embodiment of Jan Nemec’s vision of a film world independent of reality. Mounting a defense of timid, inhibited, clumsy, and unsuccessful individuals, the three protagonists are a complete antithesis of the industrious heroes of socialist aesthetics. Martyrs of Love cemented Nemec’s reputation as the kind of unrestrained nonconformist the Communist establishment considered the most dangerous to their ideology.
Pearls of the Deep
Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 23, 2014
(Jan Nemec, Czechoslovakia, 1966, 107 min)
A manifesto of the Czechoslovak New Wave, this anthology of five short films by five rising directors is based on a book by the celebrated writer Bohumil Hrabal. Absurdist in style, with a heightened attention to the individual, Hrabal’s work broke with the socialist realism that dominated the era. Jan Nemec’s story The Imposters is the simplest stylistically, chronicling two elderly men who share stories of their illustrious life careers while spending time together in a hospital. Ultimately they reveal themselves to be masters of the art of embellishment.
Getting Back to Abnormal
Visiting filmmaker Paul Stekler!
Feb 23, 2014
(Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian, Paul Stekler, United States, 2013, 92 min)
New Orleans' long history of political dysfunction gets a new lease on life when Stacy Head, a polarizing white woman, wins a seat on the city council after Katrina. Four years later, she needs to get black votes to be re-elected. Getting Back to Abnormal follows the odd couple of Head and her irrepressible political advisor, Barbara Lacen-Keller, as they try to navigate New Orleans' complicated political scene. Featuring provocative commentary from New Orleans cultural figures like David Simon (Treme, The Wire).
Late Night Talks with Mother
Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 24, 2014
(Jan Nemec, Czechoslovakia, 2001, 68 min)
After his return from exile, Jan Nemec delved immediately into filmmaking. Unlike his generational peers, he did not rely on existing structures, and began producing films independently, continuing to develop a personal style without regard for generally accepted rules. Experimenting with digital video formats, this counterpart to Kafka’s Letter to Father finds the director probing his own psyche in the form of a confessional dialogue with his long-deceased mother.
Ferrari Dino Girl
Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 25, 2014
(Jan Nemec, Czechoslovakia, 2009, 68 min)
While shooting a documentary about the exciting and hopeful period known as the Prague Spring, Jan Nemec and his crew found themselves watching and filming in horror as the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Along with his friend, the titular Ferrari Dino Girl, and her boyfriend with diplomatic passport, Nemec smuggled the resulting four reels of footage of the events for the rest of the world to see.
Above and Beyonce: A Bootylicious Screening and Panel Discussion
Free event! Join us for happy hour at our lobby bar, at 6:30pm!
Feb 26, 2014
If possible, Beyoncé’s name and music are more firmly planted in the minds and ears of the nation than ever before. Shaking the very foundations of the music biz by dropping her unannounced visual album in December 2013, Bee’s status as Queen is now officially ensconced in academic curriculum. The newest release by Sasha Fierce is heralded by some as her most feminist to date, dismissed by others as mere misogyny. Taking the debate to the cinema, we invite the community to come revel in some of the diva’s latest audiovisual work.
Golden Sixties: Jan Nemec
Free screening! Please RSVP Co-presented with the Center for Czech Education and Culture
Feb 26, 2014
(Martin Sulik, 2011, 58 min)
An illuminating portrait of filmmaker Jan Nemec, from a 27-part TV series about masters of the Czechoslovak New Wave.
Framing Pictures
Free event!
Feb 28 - Jul 20, 2014
Join us for a free, lively monthly discussion led by long-time Seattle film critics (and occasional guests) who have much to say on the subject of cinephilia past, present and future. The July conversation includes former Film Comment editor Richard Jameson, Everett Herald/KUOW critic Robert Horton and Bruce Reid.
Winter in the Blood
Presented in partnership with Longhouse Media Seattle premiere! Producer Sherman Alexie in attendance Thursday (Feb 27)! Directors in attendance Thursday, Friday, Saturday (Feb 27 - Mar 1)! Cast & crew, including Chaske Spencer (the Twilight Saga) in attendance Thursday & Friday (Feb 27 - 28)!
Feb 27 - Mar 06, 2014
(Alex and Andrew Smith, United States, 2013, 98 min)
Virgil First Raise wakes in a ditch on the hardscrabble plains of Montana, hungover and badly beaten. He sees a shocking vision: his father, ten years dead, lying frozen at his feet. Shaken, Virgil returns home to his ranch on the reservation, only to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she’s taken his beloved rifle. Virgil sets out to town find her— or perhaps just the gun— beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated and improbable intrigues with the mysterious Airplane Man, his beautiful accomplice, Malvina, and two dangerous Men in Suits. By embracing—and no longer fleeing—his memories, Virgil is finally able to thaw the ice in his veins.
PANDEMIC: Viral Videos
Hosted by Adam Sekuler and Lauren Berliner!
Mar 04 - Jul 07, 2014
Each month, PANDEMIC turns Northwest Film Forum’s cinema into a virtual examination room, as two cultural curators poke and prod viral blights from across the interwebz. This month, meme-machines Adam Sekuler and Lauren Berliner guide us on a quest to answer the nebulous koan of cloud life—yes, you can haz cheeseburger. . .but can you digest it?
The Play
Special work-in-progress screening event! Featuring filmmaker Peter J. Vogt, in conversation with Warren Etheredge!
Sponsored by Naked City Brewery & Taphouse
Mar 06, 2014
On November 20th, 1982, one of the most celebrated, controversial, and hilarious moments in the history of American football played out in a rivalry game between Stanford University and the University of California Berkley. The 21 seconds that became known as "The Play" are recognizable to nearly every fan of American football, but almost no one knows the story behind The Play itself. Join us for a screening of The Play, a new independent documentary work-in-progress by local filmmaker Peter J. Vogt, and indulge your love for college football, campus memories, and the sports spectacle that has become an American legend.
Music Craft: Roxy Music
Sponsored by KPLU 88.5!
Mar 06, 2014
(65 min)
The timeless cool and alien emo of Roxy Music is compressed into a BBC doc, supplemented with complete versions of "Ladytron" from the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival, along with live performances from '75.
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse
Local Sightings Festival award winner!
Mar 07 - Mar 13, 2014
(Jason Renaud and Brian Lindstrom, United States, 2013, Blu-Ray, 90 min)
Early in its musical history, the Portland punk scene saw the emergence of a magazine, the Oregon Organizm, written and edited by an influential band member of the time, James Chasse. With a close friend performing as lead singer of The Wipers—an influential punk band that made an impact on groups like Nirvana—James became a well-known member of his society. In 2006, tragedy struck, when James died during a highly controversial arrest by Portland police in downtown. This documentary follows his musical rise, decline and tribulations, along with a modern perspective on a police case increasingly relevant today.
Streets of Fire
Late night!
Two nights only!
21+ screening!
Mar 07 - Mar 08, 2014
(Walter Hill, United States, 1984, DCP, 93 min)
The 1984 box office flop-turned-beloved-cult-classic, Streets of Fire, hybridizes musical, western, comedy and action genres in a self-proclaimed “Rock & Roll Fable.” Willem Dafoe is a leather body suit-clad biker villain named “Raven,” 19-year-old Diane Lane is a ballad-belting rock star, Rick Moranis is her sleazy bow-tied manager and Michael Pare (Eddie and the Cruisers) is the gun-toting loner-hero.
Women in Film – The Second Tuesday
Happy hour + program! Free event for WIF and NWFF members!
Mar 11 - Sep 09, 2014
Every second Tuesday of the month, join Women in Film Seattle and Northwest Film Forum to connect with your peers and share stories of your latest gig, show off a finished project or a work-in-progress, and network to your heart’s content. Special ticket pricing: $6 for guests.
Join the Crowd
Happy Hour at 6:30pm, Program at 7pm!
Mar 13, 2015
Crowdfunding campaigns are an increasingly crucial stage in the making of short and feature films, webseries, documentaries and other moving image media projects. Seattle area filmmakers and fans do a terrific job of supporting each other's campaigns online. Join the Crowd is a new offline platform for artists to spread the word about their projects, connect with fellow crews and support each other's work. Join the Crowd features short presentations of projects currently in the midst of a campaign, plus a recent crowdfunding Success Story, with the filmmaker on hand to offer wise words to anyone who wants to learn tips and tricks of crowdfunding.
Festival of (In)appropriation
Filmmaker Josh Hite in attendance!
Mar 13, 2014
Whether you call it collage, compilation, found footage, detournement, or recycled cinema, the incorporation of previously shot materials into new artworks is a longstanding film practice. Founded in 2009, the Festival of (In)appropriation is a yearly showcase of contemporary short (20 minutes or less) audiovisual works that appropriate film or video footage and repurpose it in “inappropriate” and inventive ways.
Vic + Flo Saw a Bear
Mar 14 - Mar 20, 2014
(Denis Côté, Canada, 2013, 95 min)
Winner of the 2013 Silver Bear (Alfred Bauer Prize) at the Berlin International Film Festival, Quebecois multi-hyphenate talent Denis Côté’s seventh feature tells the darkly mysterious tale of two lesbian ex-cons, Victoria and Florence, trying to make a new life in the backwoods of Quebec. Seeking peace and quiet, the couple slowly begin to feel under siege, as Vic's probation officer keeps unexpectedly popping up, and a strange woman in the neighborhood soon turns out to be an increasingly menacing shadow from Flo's past.
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Two nights only!
New digital restoration!
Mar 15 - Mar 16, 2014
(Thom Andersen, United States, 2003, DCP, 169 min)
Los Angeles’ cinematic self receives a thoroughly enjoyable meta-treatment in Thom Andersen’s engrossing video essay about one of the most extensively filmed cities on earth, featuring scenes from films as wide-ranging as Chinatown and Killer of Sheep.
Archival Activism: Reclaiming and Remixing the Battle of Seattle
Post-screening reception!
Mar 19, 2014
This special event features a talk by filmmaker Jill Freidberg (director of This is What Democracy Looks Like) as well as the top entries from a Remix Video Competition designed to revisit the seminal 1999 WTO demonstrations. Using archival or “found” footage, work from participating filmmakers will explore a contemporary political issue through the lens of the “Battle of Seattle” and, in the process, contemplate this historical event’s uniqueness and legacy in political actions such as the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring.
Pacific Wonders: Nontheatrical Films From the Northwest
16mm prints!
Mar 20, 2014
Before Gus Van Sant, Kelly Reichardt and David Lynch made the Pacific Northwest known for hustlers, dreamers and weirdos, thousands of amateur and professional filmmakers filmed their own visions of the region. Made with the intention of screening them in homes, workplaces, schools and institutions, these films collectively represent a visual history of the region.
In Bloom
Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2014
(Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, Germany/France/Georgia, 2013, 102 min)
Loosely based on debut writer and co-director Nana Ekvtimishvili’s memories of growing up in Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, In Bloom follows Eka and Natia, inseparable fourteen-year-old friends navigating the everyday of family, school and young love in a newly independent and not yet stable country. Jury award winner at 2013 Berlinale.
The Land Beyond the Rainbow
New 35mm print!
Introduction by author Reinhild Steingröver!
Co-presented with DEFA, the East German Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Post-screening reception!
Mar 21, 2014
(Herwig Kipping, East Germany, 1991, 35mm)
In this new director’s cut, renegade East German filmmaker Herwig Kipping set out to explore the roots of the socialist society that he grew up in. Kipping calls his approach “magical idealism,” emphasizing the need to elevate visuals, metaphorical elements and poetic language over conventional film narrative structures and language. Representing a radical departure from the East German cinema of the time, Kipping’s influences included Buñuel, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Hölderlin, Tarkovsky and Rilke.
Harry Smith: Early Abstractions and the Animation of Bodily Rhythm
16mm prints! Special introduction by Chuck Kleinhans, co-editor of Jump Cut media journal!
Mar 22, 2014
(83 min)
He collected paper airplanes, Seminole textiles and Ukrainian Easter Eggs. He recorded Allen Ginsberg, The Fugs and the peyote songs of the Kiowa Indians. He was "shaman in residence" at Naropa Institute and the world's leading authority on string figures. And this was only the tip of the dazzling intellectual iceberg that was Harry Smith (1923–1991)—painter, filmmaker, musicologist, anthropologist, linguist, translator, collector, occultist and eccentric genius of the 20th-century underground.