Calendar
Mississippi Mermaid
Aug 14 - Aug 20, 2009
(François Truffaut, France, 1969, 35mm, 123 min)
Inspired by Hitchcock and dedicated to Jean Renoir, François Truffaut’s updating of Cornell Woolrich’s story stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a wealthy industrialist living on a remote island in the Indian Ocean and Catherine Deneuve as a lovely, double-crossing mail-order bride.
"Truffaut's personal exploration of Hitchcock's fascination with love, secrets and guilt...It stands as vital testimony to one filmmaker's deep regard for the legacy of another." –Seattle Times
Objectified
Additional dates added by popular demand!
Jul 10 - Aug 16, 2009
(Gary Hustwit, USA/UK, 2009, 75 min)
This new documentary from Gary Hustwit (director of last year’s Helvetica) brings us behind the scenes of our material world and introduces us to masters who’ve created some of the most successful products of our time. Interviews with industrial design gurus Jonathan Ive of Apple, Dieter Rams of Braun, David Kelley and Tim Brown of IDEO, Karim Rashid of Dirt Devil and others demonstrate that every object has a story to tell.
"The Stranger Suggests: [a] sharp, brainy documentary obsessed with design...Gary Hustwit takes a kaleidoscopic view of industrial design, from interviews with design superstars to biographies of objects that set the world on fire (the iPod! The Dirt Devil! The Braun toothbrush!) to inquiries into the meaning, purpose, and dangers of our object-drenched planet." -The Stranger
Le Gai Savoir
Aug 14 - Aug 20, 2009
(Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1969, 35mm, 95 min)
Le Gai Savoir begins to integrate the director’s formal concerns with his political ones, building a case for the historical necessity of revolution. This film essay is an account of young militants who meet in a darkened TV studio to discuss, and ultimately deconstruct, the oppressive connection between language and capitalism.
Time Machine
Third Eye Cinema And Northwest Film Forum Present
A Special live event with Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat
Aug 18, 2009
Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat set the dials and push the levers while guiding you through the fourth dimension! Our machine will be carried on the breezes of parallel universes to return you to your rightful futures and pasts. Brown will pilot the machine toward the irretrievable past and the inaccessible future by way of scratchy records and the hazy glow of 35mm slides, narrating the interspatial monuments of our extemporary voyage.
Army of Shadows
Aug 19 - Aug 20, 2009
(Jean-Pierre Melville, France/Italy, 1969, 35mm, 145 min)
Precursor of the New Wave and legend of the French gangster film, Jean-Pierre Melville realized his dream of a quarter century when he adapted Joseph Kessel’s The Book of the Resistance. Army Of Shadows is a riveting, intimate epic of the French Resistance in WWII. Melville himself served underground for years in his youth, and the director added a finale of his own that reduced Kessel to sobs on his first viewing.
Tony Manero
Aug 21 - Aug 27, 2009
(Pablo Larraín, Chile/Brazil, 2008, 95 min)
Santiago, Chile, 1978: with the country in the grip of Pinochet's oppressive dictatorship, Raúl Peralta (Alfredo Castro), a man in his 50s, indulges in the fantasy that he is disco king Tony Manero, John Travolta's white-suited, fleet-footed ladies' man in Saturday Night Fever.
"Now that is radical filmmaking." -The Stranger
"SW Pick: alarming" -Seattle Weekly
Art & Copy
Co-Presented by Capitol Hill Seattle Blog Panel discussion after August 21, 7pm show with art director Pam Fujimoto and Wexley School for Girls founder Cal McAllister
Aug 21 - Aug 27, 2009
(Doug Pray, USA, 2008, DigiBeta, 86 min)
Acclaimed documentary director Doug Pray (Hype!, Scratch, Big Rig) introduces us to some of the most influential advertising visionaries of our time and sheds light on the tricky interplay of art, commerce, and human emotion. Rare interviews with industry legends reveal the stories behind the big campaigns that turned simple phrases into larger cultural concepts, from Volkswagen’s “Think small” to Apple’s “Think different” to Nike’s “Just Do It.”
"The Stranger Suggests: perfectly enjoyable in its own right, and anyone interested in mass communication should see it." -The Stranger
Seattle Bike-In
At Cal Anderson Park (on Capitol Hill) Sponsored by The Stranger, 2020 Cycles, Race in JL and the League of American Cyclists
Aug 23, 2009
The fourth annual Seattle Bike-In brings together bicycle enthusiasts, transportation advocates, environmental groups, artists and community leaders for a celebration of biking and environmental sustainability. Part education fair, part community picnic, the Seattle Bike-In is a chance for adults and children to have fun, enjoy films, music and be a part of a community celebration!
Film Saloon: Cover Your Tracks—Constructing Your Dream Soundtrack
Aug 26, 2009
We're sorry - This event has been cancelled!
NWFF's quarterly Filmmakers Saloon: A panel discussion and socializing event for the local film community. Whether you are a fan of Tarantino’s irony-filled soundtracks, or the period-setting hits of American Graffiti, tonight’s discussion will help to provide filmmakers with a roadmap for tapping into Seattle’s rich music scene and creating your perfect soundtrack.
Burma VJ
Co-Presented by Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
Aug 28 - Sep 03, 2009
(Anders Ostergaard, Denmark, 2008, DVCAM, 85 min)
In 2007, over 100,000 protesters took to Burma’s streets, signaling the start of a rebellion against the nation’s oppressive dictatorship. As the government effectively shut down all media and communication in and out of the country, members of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) braved the streets to film the rebellion as it unfolded.
"This screening of Burma VJ could not come at a more crucial time. With elections coming up next year we can expect more demonstrations such as the Saffron Revolution to take root once again" -International Examiner
"An incredible story of courage and determination in the face of enforced silence" -Publicola
Arid Lands
Free for NWFF members on Monday night! Best Film Winner at the 2008 Local Sightings Film Festival
Aug 28 - Sep 03, 2009
(Grant Aaker, Josh Wallaert, USA, 2007, DigiBeta, 98 min)
In the 1940s, the Columbia Basin in Southeastern Washington was the site of plutonium production, an ingredient in the atomic bomb that would devastate Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Today it is a place of conflict and contradiction, as the natural landscape and human population strive to recover from that past. Arid Lands offers an enthralling look into the many clashing opinions and perspectives that have emerged in this complex community.
"A clear-thinking portrait of our state...makes excellent viewing for any Washingtonian seeking to further understand the complexities of the region once considered a nuclear wasteland." -Seattle Times
Ink
Aug 29 - Aug 30, 2009
(Jamin Winans, USA, 2008, DigiBeta, 105 min)
A fantastically vivid interpretation blending waking reality and fantasy, Ink is about the two opposing forces that inspire our dreams at night. Storytellers are the benevolent givers of good dreams, while sinister Incubi attack us with nightmares. When a little girl is stolen by one of these menacing Incubi, her father must overcome his own demons in order to save her.
Milestones
Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM
New 35mm Print
Sep 04 - Sep 07, 2009
(Robert Kramer, USA, 1975, 35mm, 195 min)
After the Vietnam War, the American political left faced a surge in political conservatism that challenged their activist aspirations and ideals. Milestones is an absorbing documentary that follows the stories of more than 50 of these Americans as they tried to express their radical beliefs in an increasingly stifling political environment.
"Captures a world that is in a state of shock. This is not the end that the dreamers and true believers had expected." -The Stranger
"One of the greatest radical filmmakers of the '60s and '70s, Robert Kramer mixed fiction with documentary, paying scrupulous attention to the ways in which the personal began to dominate the political." -Seattle Weekly
Vacuum
An evening of independent film and live music!
Sep 06, 2009
Independent Seattle filmmaker Brent Roberts screens his latest work, "vacuum," a story about a vacuum salesman who gets sent on a call to a drug dealers house.
The film will be preceded by two short black and white Super 8mm films. The evening will conclude with live musical performances by Maggie Brown, Aham Ohuo, Micheal Bradley & Donald Hagenlock, Via Murder and The Curious Mystery
*Free cake! Beer and wine will be available.
Tickets sold at the door; $10.00
*Please be prepared to have your socks rocked off!
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-Itchyfooted Mutha
Director in attendance September 9 Co presented by the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival
Sep 08 - Sep 14, 2009
(Melvin Van Peebles, 2008, Digi-Beta, 99 min)
Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) strikes again with an uproarious coming-of-age story based on his 1982 Broadway show Waltz of the Stork. The 75-year-old Peebles writes, directs and stars as himself, starting as a 10-year-old kid and winding up in his 47th year. This madcap tale is equal parts adventure, comedy, musical, romance and historical epic as the itchy-footed Peebles careens through the decades, encountering scores of seminal moments and figures in Black culture.
Soul Nite!
Sep 10, 2009
Soul Nite is back with electrifying ‘60s performances from Sam & Dave, Joe Tex, Barbara Lynn, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Linda Carr, and a special set celebrating Otis Redding’s birthday! Everything from Motown smooth to Southern funky- live and in the raw, on the big screen and cranked up loud. Of course we’ll have beverages in the cinema, djs spinning soul platters, and dancing in the aisles is encouraged!
Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action
Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 Seattle Premiere
Director in attendance at every show except 3pm on Sunday
Sep 11 - Sep 13, 2009
(Velcrow Ripper, Canada, 2009, Beta-SP, 90 min)
An inspiring documentary about the global movement called spiritual activism, Fierce Light resonates with the compassion and open-mindedness of its subject matter. Acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper (Scared Sacred) interviews many of the movement’s illustrious figures, including Alice Walker, John Lewis, Daryl Hannah, Thich Nhat Hahn, Desmond Tutu, Julia Butterfly Hill and Noah Levine.
"Herein lies the key to humankind's ultimate survival, and what could possibly be more important?" -Seattle Times
The Prime of Ms. Jean Brodie
Sep 11 - Sep 17, 2009
(Ronald Neame, UK, 1969, 35mm, 116 min)
Based on the novel by Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie stars Maggie Smith as an eccentric and loveable teacher at an exclusive Catholic girl's school in 1930s Edinburgh. The charismatic, idiosyncratic, fearless and funny Jean Brodie is worshipped by her students, adored by her married lover (Robert Stephens, Smith's real-life husband at the time) and cordially hated by the Headmistress (Celia Johnson). Smith won her first Oscar for this role.
If...
Sep 11 - Sep 17, 2009
(Lindsay Anderson, UK, 1968, 112 min)
An allegorical critique of the rigid social structures exemplified by the British public school system, If…caused a sensation upon its initial release and launched the career of charismatic young actor Malcolm McDowell. The rebellious student Mick Travis unleashes chaos on the authority figures around him as he increasingly blurs fantasy and reality.
Indigenous Showcase
Sep 12 - Nov 28, 2009
Northwest Film Forum partners with Longhouse Media and National Geographic All Roads Film Project to present a monthly series showcasing emerging talents in indigenous communities. This exciting program shows how Native American and indigenous filmmakers are at the forefront of the industry, successfully establishing a dialogue and creating images that are challenging, changing long established cultural attitudes towards indigenous culture.