Calendar
La Danse: Le Ballet de l'Opera de Paris
Sponsored by the Consulate General of France, San Francisco
Dec 04 - Dec 16, 2009
(Fredrick Wiseman, 2009, USA/France, DVCAM, 160 min)
Held over for additional dates!
The Paris Opera Ballet is one of the world’s storied ballet companies and Fredrick Wiseman is one of the world’s legendary filmmakers. This documentary combines the two as Wiseman follows the rehearsals and performances of seven ballets.
"Four stars: captures the fleeting beauty of ballet in dozens of miniature portraits, each quietly soaring...It's magical." -Seattle Times
"The documentary is a pleasure to watch because the dancers, even when practicing, when repeating moves and gestures, never lose that aura of body-magic." -The Stranger
"SW Pick: Magnificent...shot in deeply satisfying long takes of gorgeous young men and women starting, stopping, listening, questioning, repeating, perfecting." -Seattle Weekly
The Wall
Dec 14 - Dec 15, 2009
(Juergen Boettcher, 1989-90, East Germany, 35mm, 98 min)
This unconventional documentary highlights the Berlin Wall, its last days and its highly anticipated destruction. Both common and historical moments are captured and presented without verbal commentary. This masterpiece reflects the soul of Berlin.
Look at this City (Schaut auf diese Stadt)
Dec 14 - Dec 15, 2009
(Carl Gass, 1962, East Germany, Beta-SP, 85 min)
Look at this City chronicles the history of West Berlin from the end of WWII to the days following the building of the Wall on August 13, 1961, from the perspective of the leaders of the GDR. Today, Look at this City remains a provocative and informative time capsule from the Cold War.
Symposium with Eric Ames
Dec 16, 2009
Join Eric Ames as he discusses one of the very last films from East Germany, The Wall (1990) a film made by the artist, director, and political dissident Jürgen Böttcher. The lecture will combine close analysis of specific passages with open-ended discussion questions, while providing historical and political context as needed.
The Annual Holiday Party!
Free!
Dec 17, 2009
Free! This year’s party features DJs warming your chestnuts with festive, danceable tunes, vintage holiday TV shows, back alley dreidel games and of course, your favorite film critic as Santa! Bring good cheer!
They Came To Play
Seattle premiere Ken Iisaka -- a finalist in the International Amateur Piano Competition -- will be performing on Friday and Saturday on a Steinway piano courtesy of Sherman Clay Pianos!
Dec 18 - Dec 23, 2009
(Alex Rotaru, 2009, USA, DigiBeta, 91 min)
They Came To Play is a documentary about the International Amateur Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. With humor and drama, it portrays several multi-talented amateur pianists as they strive to balance their work, home and musical lives.
"Superior to the spate of recent documentaries about amateur competitions...fascinating" -Seattle PostGlobe
An American Journey
Seattle Premiere
Sponsored by the Photographic Center Northwest and Henry Art Gallery
Dec 18 - Dec 23, 2009
(Philippe Séclier, 2008, France, DVCAM, 60 min)
More than 50 years ago, in 1958, Robert Frank’s seminal book, The Americans, was published to great acclaim—as well as to negative reviews that faulted his vision of a nation awash in poverty, racism and postwar jingoism. An American Journey travels back to the small towns and rural communities the photographer immortalized, exploring the world as Frank saw it and as it survives today.
Indigenous Showcase
Dec 19, 2009
Nine Nation Animation
Jan 01 - Jan 06, 2011
(Various directors, various countries, 85 min, 35mm)
The World According to Shorts presents a selection of recent award-winning animated short films from the world’s most renowned festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Annecy and Clermont-Ferrand.
"SW Pick: The kids can have Tangled, but the 85-minute compilation Nine Nation Animation offers grown-ups a superior array of cartoon styles." —Seattle Weekly
The Vanished Empire
Seattle premiere
Jan 02 - Jan 07, 2010
(Karen Shakhnazarov, 2008, Russia, 105 min)
In The Vanished Empire, Karen Shakhnazarov, a prolific and under-recognized Russian filmmaker with a surrealist touch, views the collapse of the Soviet Union as an inevitable conflation of the younger generation’s natural impulse to reject the past for the seductive power of popular culture that can seep through even the most rigidly patrolled borders.
"3 1/2 stars: This wise, elegiac film embraces a view of history that is more far-reaching than the rise and fall of the Soviet Union...perfectly observed" -Seattle Times
Animated Art
Jan 07, 2010
Rethinking the boundaries of animation, visual art and experimental filmmaking, this program of films by mostly local talent brings together artists working in different disciplines that are rarely shown together.
Strongman
Director In Attendance Friday-Tuesday!
Jan 08 - Jan 14, 2010
(Zachary Levy, USA, 2008, 35mm, 113 min)
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, Strongman is the cinema verite tale of Stanless Steel--The Strongest Man in the World at Bending Steel and Metal. Part real-life The Wrestler, part Grey Gardens, and absolutely all heart, the film follows Stan as he faces the tests of his Fellini-esque calling while simultaneously grappling with advancing age and difficult personal relationships.
"3 1/2 stars: Without being intrusive, Levy chronicles these lives like a trusted family member, and Strongman allows a privileged and affectionate glimpse of a truly American dreamer. You can't help but root for Stan, even if he doesn't always deserve it." -Seattle Times
The Sun
Jan 08 - Jan 14, 2010
(Alexander Sokurov, 2005, Russia, Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, 35mm, 110 min)
Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov is unquestionably one of today’s most accomplished directors. The Sun offers a hypnotic and tragic account of the fall of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito following the end of World War II, wherein the Emperor renounced his status as divine ruler during the American occupation of his Japan in 1945.
"Sokurov...I rate as the greatest living director." -The Stranger
"3 1/2 stars: Exquisitely conveyed...the movie is best understood not in banal docudrama terms but as an impressionistic portrait of a man who, stripped of power, is revealed as grotesquely human." -Seattle Times