Calendar
Norte, The End of History
Nov 14 - Nov 20, 2014
(Lav Diaz, the Philippines, 2013, 250 min)
Acclaimed Filipino auteur Lav Diaz, who won best film for his latest at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival, has created a masterful rumination on the traumatic and transformative effects of global capitalism in his homeland. The saga follows Fabian, a student riled by the socioeconomic debris of the developing world left in the wake of advanced capitalism—what historian Francis Fukuyama referred to as “the end of history.”
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.
Puget Soundtrack: Cabana presents Microcosmos
Live music!
35mm print!
Nov 20, 2014
(Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou, Switzerland, 1996, 35mm, 72 min)
Cabana welcomes you to the microcosmos. Behold the exhilarating, alien world of insect life in a French meadow, featuring stunning close ups (captured using macroscopic and time-lapse photography). Impish humor, riveting drama and carnal violence abound. Our new Music Movies series, Puget Soundtrack, invites Seattle musicians and bands to create a live score for a film of their choosing. In November we feature Cabana, a four piece band from Seattle that plays rock with psychedelic and shoegaze leanings, influenced by Spacemen 3, Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth.
All Relative
One screening only!
Nov 21, 2014
When Harry, an architecture graduate student in NYC, meets Grace, he immediately falls for her. With the help of some dating tips from a seductive older woman, Harry successfully courts Grace, but when he's introduced to her parents, a shared secret turns his world into a living nightmare. Forced to survive a weekend riddled with tension and socially awkward moments, the bonds of both couples are tested to their breaking point.
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People
Pre-screening introductions: Nov 21: Michelle Dunn Marsh, Executive Director, Photographic Center Northwest Nov 22: Zorn B. Taylor, Photographer
Nov 21 - Nov 26, 2014
(Thomas Allen Harris, United States, 2014, DCP, 92 min)
Part of a multimedia project that traces the history of African-American photography, Thomas Allen Harris’s Through a Lens Darkly explores how African American communities have used the medium of photography to construct political, aesthetic, and cultural representations of themselves and their world.
The Last Song Before the War
Join us for a post-screening conversation with film subjects JeConte & a member of the Mali Allstars!
Nov 22, 2014
(Kiley Kraskouskas, United States/Mali, 2013, 90 min)
This feature-length documentary captures the power, beauty, and uncertain future of Mali’s annual Festival in the Desert. Told through stunning high definition footage captured at the 2011 festival, the film is a lyrical road trip through Mali, the birthplace of the blues, to the legendary city of Timbuktu where Grammy-award winning musicians play their hearts out in the dunes of the Sahara.
Young Lakota
Free screening!
Co-presented with Longhouse Media
Co-directors Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt, and women's advocate Cecelia Fire Thunder in attendance!
Nov 23, 2014
(Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt, United States, 60 min)
Young Lakota is a uniquely sensitive documentary portrayal of bright young people finding their way during a tumultuous political season on the Pine Ridge Reservation, that hinges on reproductive rights and tribal sovereignty. The film follows the surprising highs and lows of the statewide referendum on abortion, a divisive tribal election, and three youth who find themselves thrust into the political fight.
Sugar and Skyjelly: Short Films and Live Music
Director Sarah Jane Lapp in attendance!
Live performance by Skyjelly to follow screening!
Sponsored by the Washington Composers Forum!
Nov 23, 2014
"What about the relationship between sweetness and power?" Sarah Jane Lapp's personal essay film Sweetface probes the shadows of sugar and labor, love and power. Tonight's screening is paired with Third Shift by Anthony Simon, where two former sugar refinery workers revisit the building 10 years after its closure. Psycho-blues-noise outfit Skyjelly will play a concert after the screening.
Seven Samurai
16mm print!
60th anniversary screening!
Skype introduction by author Richard D. Pepperman (Everything I Know About Filmmaking I Learned Watching Seven Samurai)
Dec 04, 2014
(Akira Kurosawa, 1954, Japan, 16mm, 207 min)
One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time, Seven Samurai tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride from Akira Kurosawa—featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura—seamlessly weaves philosophy, entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.
National Gallery
Seattle premiere!
Dec 05 - Dec 18, 2014
(Frederick Wiseman, 2014, France/United States, 181 min)
Frederick Wiseman’s latest in-depth documentary takes the audience behind the scenes of a London institution, on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century. National Gallery is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public, and its paintings. In a perpetual and dizzying game of mirrors, film watches painting watches film.
Holiday High Notes
Northwest Boychoir Apprentices sing in the season!
Live music!
Dec 07, 2014
(Various directors and countries, 50 min)
Our annual Holiday High Notes concert is the perfect way to celebrate the the holiday season. Join us as we welcome the renowned Northwest Boychoir Apprentices to our cinema to sing in joyful accompaniment to a new collection of vintage and classic holiday film footage. The choir's seasonal repertoire and angelic voices are the the perfect soundtrack to a cinematic wonderland of silent film Santas, animated elves and giddy children from days gone by.
In the Land of the Head Hunters
100th anniversary screening—to the day!
New restoration!
Post-screening discussion with:
Charlotte Coté (Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington)
Katie Bunn-Marcuse (Bill Holm Center at the Burke Museum)
Daniel Hart (Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Washington)
Dec 07, 2014
(Edward S. Curtis, 1914, United States/Canada, 65 min)
In 1911, famed Northwest photographer Edward S. Curtis travelled to Vancouver Island to visit the Kwakwaka'wakw, and decided to make one of the first motion pictures while documenting their way of life. It look three years of preparation for Head Hunters to come to life on a grand scale, including the weaving of the costumes; building of the war canoes, housefronts, poles; and the carving of masks, all for the silver screen.
Next Dance Cinema
Co-presented with Velocity Dance Center!
Curated by Dayna Hanson, Tonya Lockyer, Courtney Sheehan and Rodrigo Valenzuela!
Dec 08 - Dec 13, 2014
The only dance cinema in the Northwest, Next Dance Cinema features the best in local and inter/national dance on screen. Velocity Dance Center and Northwest Film Forum pair up to present the 8th annual edition of this program, which offers dance lovers and film lovers alike insight into how contemporary dance continues to expand the possibilities of the screen.
Film Dada: Cinema of the Bearded Heart
Co-presented with The Sprocket Society
Live accompaniment by Lori Goldston
16mm prints!
Dec 10, 2014
Explosive dada moods and rhythms emblazoned on film—an appropriately radical 1920s film movement that ties nicely to our 20th anniversary celebrations. Tonight we feature canonical shorts by Viking Eggeling, Hans Richter, Man Ray, René Clair and Fernand Léger."
Screen Shots at Capitol Hill Art Walk
Free event, 5pm - 8pm!
Happy hour drink prices!
Curated by Vera Petukhova!
Jul 10 - Mar 12, 2015
Join Northwest Film Forum for Screen Shots, a monthly series during Capitol Hill Art Walk. A new program every month features happy hour, video art, and sometimes special guests and lobby installations!
Dreams That Money Can Buy
Co-presented with The Sprocket Society
16mm print!
Dec 11, 2014
(Hans Richter, United States, 1947, 16mm, 80 min)
Hans Richter made his surrealist feature film in collaboration with Fernand Leger, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Darius Milhaud, John Cage, Paul Bowles, David Diamond,and Louis Applebaum. This screening is part of Down for Dada, two nights of explosive dada moods and rhythms emblazoned on film.
The Annual Holiday Bash
Free event!
Open to the public!
Dec 12, 2014
Our annual holiday bash (now in its second decade) gives you the chance to dance it all off, enter into the stiff competition that is our annual Nog Off (judged by Santa) and perhaps meet the cast of your next film. Join us to celebrate the people who make independent film in Seattle great!
Un(dis)sing our Abilities
Pacific Northwest premiere!
18+ only
Dec 13, 2014
(Multiple directors, 81 min)
Presented by Periwinkle Cinema, this program explores sensuality, intimacy, safety and consent through the lens of the less-represented. Curated by Lisa Ganser and Lorin Murphy, this screening of sexplicit short films explores the erotic pleasure and sexual abilities of those dissed, dismissed, (mis)labeled, disabled and generally passed over in mainstream queer crowds.
Robert Williams Mr. Bitchin’
Seattle premiere!
Artist Robert Williams in person!
Co-presented with Fantagraphics!
Dec 14, 2014
(Mary C Reese, Doug Blake, Nancye Ferguson, Michael LaFetra, Stephen Nemeth, 2013, United States, 89 min)
A revealing look into multiple American countercultures, this documentary follows the great American artist and underground legend Robert Williams. From Hot Rods to Punk and Metal, from LSD to the top of the art world, the influential paintings of Robert Williams defied categorization until they became their own art movement.