Calendar
Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Oct 17 - Oct 17
The Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival returns for its 13th year, October 17–26, 2008. Screenings, parties, panel discussions and networking events will be happening at venues all over town, including Northwest Film Forum, Cinerama, Harvard Exit Theatre, and more.
Young Mr. Lincoln
Oct 27 - Oct 30, 2008
(John Ford, USA 1939, 35mm, 100 min)
To mark the political season Northwest Film Forum presents John Ford’s masterpiece, starring Henry Fonda. The French title of the film is Toward His Destiny, an apt description of this fictional chronicle of Abraham Lincoln’s early life and steps toward his iconic place in American history.
Appropriate for ages 9 and up.
Mingus (Charlie Mingus 1968)
Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM
Oct 28 - Oct 29, 2008
(Thomas Reichman, USA, 1968, 16mm, 58 min) 40th Anniversary Screening
This frank, tender and at times shocking cinéma verité portrait of the legendary jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus reveals the volatile dimensions of this protean creator in a particularly difficult period.
War of the Worlds 70th Broadcast Anniversary
Sponsored by Jack Straw Productions and Hollow Earth Radio
Oct 30, 2008
Free For Members!
Converting our cinema into a living room, Northwest Film Forum will celebrate the 70th anniversary of this historic radio program by playing the original broadcast in the cinema.
Halloween Thriller Party
Oct 31, 2008
Free For Members! Special 25th Anniversary Celebration!
Before you hit the Halloween parties, join us for a celebration of the epic music video that created a phenomenon and made Michael Jackson the “King Of Pop!”
Jazz Animation From the Hubley Studio
Nov 01 - Nov 02, 2008
(John and Faith Hubley, USA, 1957–75, 35mm, 70 min)
Beginning in the 1950s, the wonderfully imaginative and innovative films of independent animators John and Faith Hubley broke from traditional styles of animation and addressed important issues with intelligence, passion and humor.
Electric Heart: Don Ellis
Nov 01 - Nov 03, 2008
Innovative jazz composer, arranger, and musician Don Ellis continually ventured into new musical horizons. Often to the detriment of his career, Ellis experimented with unusual time signatures, electronics, and elements of rock, classical and world music.
The Sprocket Society’s Secret Sunday Matinee
Oct 05 - Nov 23, 2008
This fall, NWFF revives the classic weekend matinee! Every Sunday afternoon, thrill to a new cliffhanger episode of Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe, perhaps the greatest movie serial ever made! PLUS a different classic (or just fun) feature every week!
Martino Unstrung
Nov 01 - Nov 03, 2008
(Ian Knox, UK, 2007, digiBETA, 90min)
Director Ian Knox and Composer Milton Mermikides scheduled to attend Saturday and Sunday screenings
In 1980, the legendary jazz guitarist Pat Martino was brutally silenced by memory stripping brain surgery. Filmed over the past two years, Martino Unstrung is a fascinating tale of music and memory.
Election Evening Extravaganza
Nov 04, 2008
Don’t let your Champagne go flat this election night! Join Northwest Film Forum and Strawberry Theatre Workshop as we turn NWFF into the epicenter of election information, complete with major network broadcasts in our two cinemas, radio coverage in the lobby, dead presidents, and live blogging all night long!
A Man Called Adam
Nov 05 - Nov 06, 2008
(Leo Penn, 1966, USA, 16mm, 102 min)
This rarely seen 1966 independent film by blacklisted director Leo Penn (Sean Penn’s father) stars Sammy Davis Jr. as a troubled jazz musician (ghosted on trumpet by Nat Adderley) and Cicely Tyson in one of her first screen roles as a young civil rights activist.
Stars of Russian Video Art
Presented by National Centre for Contemporary Art, Russia - Volga Regional Branch
Nov 06, 2008
Free! With the Soviet Union gone and the concept of “unofficial art” formally extinct, there are no borders for the creativity of Russian contemporary artists. For the new Russian “MTV generation” video art is quite understandable and accessible form of art, and with time it’s becoming more and more popular.
Monks: The Trans-Atlantic Feedback
Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM
Nov 07 - Nov 13, 2008
(Dietmar Post, Lucía Palacios, Germany/USA/Spain, 2006, digiBETA, 100 min)
Formed in the mid–60s by five American GIs stationed in Germany, the Monks was a short–lived, ahead–of–its–time conceptual art piece masquerading as a pop group. Heavy on feedback, nihilism and electric banjo, they were billed as the “anti–Beatles” and sported black robes and Franciscan monk haircuts.
"For all its genius and invention, 'Monk Music' didn't make sense to the majority of kids who bought records and went to dances. But Transatlantic Feedback makes for awesome watching: it's the invention of concept as the Monks unlearned, then relearned to play!" -The Stranger
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon
Nov 07 - Nov 13, 2008
(Eric Rohmer, France/Italy/Spain, 2007, 35mm, 109 min)
From My Night at Maud’s to Claire’s Knee, from Chloe in the Afternoon to A Tale of Springtime, Eric Rohmer has made a career out of treating modern romance like the greatest classical love stories. So it is entirely appropriate for this grand master, now 87, to draw inspiration from the classic 17th century French novel The Romance of Astrea and Celadon for his latest and perhaps his last film.
Punto Y Raya (The Dot and the Line)
Northwest Film Forum and Third Eye Cinema present
Nov 13, 2008
(Various directors and countries, 2002–2007, 65 min)
Under the Stars
Nov 14, 2008
(Félix Viscarret, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 107min)
Festival Opening Night Reception after 8pm show
Director of several internationally acclaimed short films, Félix Viscarret easily makes the transition to features with this offbeat, delicately observed tale that swept the major prizes at this year’s Spanish national film festival in Malaga.
ShortMetraje
Nov 15 - Nov 16, 2008
This is a year of unparalleled creativity for Spanish short filmmakers. In a cloud of turmoil and hallucinatory imagination, these directors present their wildest hopes and dreams in different forms, from experimental plays to shouts of happiness. Free from any convention, this year’s artists have undressed their souls and minds. Come enjoy the journey!
Me
Nov 15 - Nov 16, 2008
(Rafa Cortés, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 100 min)
Named “Revelation of the Year” by FIPRESCI, the international association of film critics at Cannes 2007, Me is the story of a man who, suspecting he is to be accused of something he hasn’t done, sets out to prove an innocence that nobody yet questions. Every attempt to correct this mistake leads him closer to the real problem: himself.
Seven Billiard Tables
Nov 15 - Nov 16, 2008
(Gracia Querejeta, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 113 min)
Upon receiving news that her father is ill, Angela (Maribel Verdú), and her son Guille, travel to the capital. She arrives too late, and learns from her father’s long–time girlfriend, Charo (Blanca Portillo), that the family billiard business is far from good.
In the City of Sylvia
Nov 16 - Nov 17, 2008
(José Luis Guerin, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 90 min)
José Luis Guerín nimbly brings moviemaking and moviegoing back to some of their lovely early pleasures in his masterful In the City of Sylvia. He is so successful at modernizing and rarefing these elements that it forces one to reconsider the dialogue and special effects in other films as clutter.
Mataharis
Nov 17 - Nov 18, 2008
(Icíar Bollaín, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 95 min)
No other Spanish filmmaker bravely portrays the untouchable issues concerning Spanish contemporary society better than Icíar Bollaín. Her previous feature Take My Eyes won every major Goya award. Now, Mataharis was nominated in six categories, including Best Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress. Bollaín dives into the lives of three private investigators. Ines (Maria Vazquez) is working undercover at a corporation, ostensibly to weed out corruption but actually to report on workers’ efforts to unionize. Eva (Najwa Nimri), recently back at work after maternity leave, struggles to juggle her caseload with family life, when she accidentally discovers a secret her partner has long kept from her. Carmen (Nuria González), investigating a case of adultery, starts reflecting on her own loveless marriage.
Solitary Fragments
Nov 18 - Nov 19, 2008
The beautifully nuanced performances of both Sonia Almarcha and Petra Martínez, as well as director Rosales’ keen ability to portray isolation and beauty in the apparently mundane world, makes Solitary Fragments a supreme delicacy not to be missed. Having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard section, the film swept three Goyas (Spanish Cinema Awards), including Best Picture and Best Director. Adela lives a quiet life in rural Spain with her son Miguelito. Hoping for more from life, she moves with her son to Madrid, where they share an apartment with a couple, Ines and Carlos. Stylish yet thoughtful and far from melodrama, the film takes you by the hand towards an ending difficult to forget.