The Fool Serious, a motley crew of SIFF's passholders, have announced their award winners for this year's festival. The group's favorite films were: 1. "Cherry Blossoms," 2. "The Edge of Heaven," 3. "Time to Die," 4. "Bliss," 5. "Frozen River," 6. "Love and Honor," 7. "Captain Abu Raed," 8. "The Unknown Woman," 9. "SECRET #1," 10. "Ben X." Favorite documentaries, in order, were "Casting a Glance," "Saving Luna," "Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains," and "The Wrecking Crew." The Fools, who describe their group as "the officially unofficial un-organization of the Seattle International Film Festival's full series pass holders," are the festival's marathoners, many seeing 100 films or more, so their list is always worth watching.

On this hectic closing day, the TBD slots at SIFF Cinema tonight have been filled by two of the festival's most popular movies: "Frozen River" and "The Wrecking Crew," which just won the Golden Space Needle for best documentary. The MyFestival series ends at 6:30 tonight at the Harvard Exit with screenings of the winning films: "Perfect Sport" and "Robbie's Withdrawal."

Benaroya Hall
2 p.m. — ][“Alexander Nevsky”

Cinerama
Noon — ][“Cherry Blossoms — Hanami”
3 p.m. — ][“Female Agents”
6 p.m. — ][“The Wackness”
9 p.m. — ][“Triangle”

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“2008 Secret Festival”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Towelhead”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Sleep Dealer”
7 p.m. — ][“Timecrimes”
9 p.m. — ][“Donkey Punch”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Lakshmi and Me”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Em”
4 p.m. — ][“Apollo 54”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Perfect Sport”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Villa Jasmin”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“The Five Senses”
1:15 p.m. — ][“Fugitive Pieces”
4 p.m. — ][“Before I Forget”
7 p.m. — ][“Wonderful Town”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Head-On”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Some Assembly Required”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Alice, Upside Down”
4 p.m. — ][“Letting Go of God”
7 p.m. — ][“TBA #1”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Head On”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Vice”
2 p.m. — ][“Mysteries of Pittsburgh”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Sonetaula”
8:30 p.m. — ][“The Unknown Woman”

Although it will still be open for business through Sunday night, SIFF's official closing-night movie, “Bottle Shock,” plays at 6:30 tonight at the Cinerama. Unfortunately, there's not much to celebrate here. As wine-tasting movies go, “Bottle Shock” is no “Sideways.” Heck, it doesn’t even seem to be trying to match that film’s entertainment value. The script is based on a true story about a 1970s contest between French and Napa Valley winemakers, and too much of it plays like a self-congratulatory fairy tale. Alan Rickman has some snooty fun with the role of a British wine-shop owner who sets the plot in motion, and Freddy Rodriguez shines in a scene in which his character demonstrates his knack for identifying wines by taste. Rodriguez, co-star Bill Pullman and director Randall Miller are scheduled to attend the screening.
Also playing at 6:30 tonight: the world premiere of "Em," Tony Barbieri's haunting tale of a man who falls for a woman who becomes a ghostly presence in his life (at the Harvard Exit); Alan Ball's provocative treatment of Alicia Erian's much-discussed book, "Towelhead," about an Arab-American girl growing up in Texas (at the Egyptian); and Jeremy Podeswa's well-acted adaptation of Anne Michaels' novel, "Fugitive Pieces," about a World War II survivor's strange journey (at Pacific Place).

Benaroya Hall
8 p.m. — ][“Alexander Nevsky”

Cinerama
Noon — ][“The Island of Lost Souls”
2:30 p.m. — ][“Jolene”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Bottle Shock”
10 p.m. — ][“Chrysalis”

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Tennis Shoes”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Summer Heat”
4 p.m. — ][“Visioneers”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Towelhead”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Sleep Dealer”
Midnight — ][“Donkey Punch”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“The 27 Club”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Bluetooth Virgin”
4 p.m. — ][“Lakshmi and Me”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Em”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Love and Other Crimes”

Northwest Film Forum
4 p.m. — ][“The Pitch Slam: Northwest Production Summit”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Fairytale of Kathmandu”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Leroy”
4 p.m. — ][“Hidden Face”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Fugitive Pieces”
9:30 p.m. — ][“La France”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Alice, Upside Down”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Accelerating America”
4 p.m. — ][“Faces (Cassavetes)”
7 p.m. — ][“In Search of Kennedy”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Emmanuel Jal: War Child”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“It’s Hard to Be Nice”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Days and Clouds”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Frozen River”
7:15 p.m. — ][“The Girl by the Lake”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Vice”

Earlier in the festival, the heterosexual Turkish-German drama "Head On" was scheduled to be shown as part of the "Emerging Masters" program for writer-director Fatih Akin. But a homoerotic Australian movie with the same title accidentally wound up in its place. That mistake will be corrected on Sunday, when Akin's "Head On" finally gets a festival screening at 9:15 at Pacific Place. Also added to Sunday's program, at 6:30 p.m. at the Harvard Exit, are the winners of the MyFestival contest: John Burish's short, "Robbie's Withdrawal," and Anthony O'Brien's feature, "Perfect Sport." The latter, a high-school wrestling drama, was shot on Vashon Island and features Harvey Keitel's daughter, Stella. MyFestival, which invited viewers to vote on their favorite films, logged 55,000 page views, spanning 75 countries. Screenwriters, actors and directors will all be in attendance.

SIFF returns for three days to the Cinerama, where Dan Ireland's "Jolene" has its world premiere at 9:30 tonight. SIFF's co-founder, Ireland previously scored with "The Whole Wide World" and "Mrs. Palfrey at The Claremont." Like those films, this adaptation of an E.L. Doctorow short story gives several superb actors a chance to demonstrate their range. Frances Fisher, Dermot Mulroney and Michael Vartan are especially impressive in change-of-pace parts, while the title role -- a resilient girl who bounces back from a series of disastrous relationships -- is capably handled by an Ireland discovery, Jessica Chastain.

Some tough choices need to be made tonight at SIFF. Playing across the street from each other are two films with live music: the brilliant silent classic, "Sunrise" (7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at the Triple Door), and the 1938 Russian battle epic, "Alexander Nevsky" (7 p.m. at Benaroya Hall). Dorris Dorrie's touching tale of a widower who assumes the identity of his dead wife, "Cherry Blossoms -- Hanami," plays at 6:30 p.m. at the Uptown, and Julia Sweeney's remarkable one-woman show, "Letting Go of God," plays at the same time at SIFF Cinema. The latter is a followup to Sweeney's 1998 Golden Space Needle winner, "God Said 'HA!'," and unlike most sequels it's even better than the original.

One of the spookiest and most intimate films in the festival, writer-director Tony Barbieri's "Em" has its world premiere at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Harvard Exit. In this 21st Century variation on Hitchcock's "Vertigo," Nathan Wetherington gives a riveting performance as a dazed Everyman who falls for a woman who becomes a ghostly presence in his life. Barbieri, who won the festival's New American Cinema award for "The Magic of Marciano" eight years ago, suggests a Bergman-like ability to use his actors' faces to suggest shifting emotions. A repeat screening is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Exit.

Benaroya Hall
7 p.m. — ][“Alexander Nevsky”

Cinerama
1 p.m. — ][“The Unknown Woman”
4 p.m. — ][“Triangle”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Female Agents”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Jolene”

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“In Search of Kennedy”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Wackness”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Mysteries of Pittsburgh”
Midnight — ][“Chrysalis”

Harvard Exit
4 p.m. — ][“Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema”
7 p.m. — ][“Accelerating America”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Trouble the Water”

Northwest Film Forum
3 p.m. — ][“Show Me the Money: Northwest Production Summit”
4:30 p.m. — ][“So You Want to Be an Independent Producer?: Northwest Production Summit”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Salawati”
7 p.m. — ][“Hidden Face”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Before I Forget”

SIFF Cinema
4 p.m. — ][“Some Assembly Required”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Letting Go of God”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The 27 Club”

Triple Door
7 and 9:30 p.m. — ][The Album Leaf Performs “Sunrise”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“American Son”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Cherry Blossoms — Hanami”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Sonetaula”

One of the premier events of SIFF 2008 gets underway tonight: an archival presentation of Sergei Eisenstein's grand "Alexander Nevsky," with Seattle Symphony performing Sergei Prokofiev's score live. It screens tonight through Sunday at Benaroya Hall. Tom Keogh wrote about the project in Tuesday's Seattle Times; see his story here.

Low-tech space opera, played for laughs, has been a science-fiction staple at least since “Dark Star” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” developed cult followings. A silly, sepia-toned Italian variation, "Apollo 54" (playing tonight and Sunday at the Harvard Exit), is the first feature-length creation of a gang of merry pranksters called The 54 Group. It follows long-haired scientist Bobby Joe and his dimmer co-pilot, Jim Bob, as they test the limits of space and time. Bobby Joe is fond of making pretentious announcements that explain each new twist in their adventure, while Jim Bob just wants to find a way back home. But making lunch is frankly more their speed. Slurping spaghetti and gorging themselves on subway sandwiches, they do battle with a space dragon that looks a lot like a roasted chicken once they’re finished with it. Soon they’re fighting over who gets to “analyze” it by taste-testing.

French fluff can sometimes be formulaic, but "Perfect Match . . ." (tonight and tomorrow at the Uptown) overcomes its "meet cute" cliches with considerable wit and charm. Veteran actress Carole Bouquet delivers one of her best late-career performances as a writer whose son becomes attached to the homeless man who is squatting next door in a relative's apartment. The movie, which is making its American debut at SIFF, coincidentally (and rather poignantly) includes a lengthy clip from the late Sydney Pollack's "Out of Africa."

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Fly Filmmaking Challenge 2008”
7 p.m. — ][“Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame”
9 p.m. — ][“Villa Jasmin”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Trouble the Water”
7 p.m. — ][“Fields of Fuel”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Order of Myths”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Wonderful Town”
7 p.m. — ][“Salawati”
9:30 p.m. — ][“American Son”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Seachd: The Crimson Snowdrop”
6:45 p.m. — ][“Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“Momma’s Man”
7 p.m. — ][“Perfect Match...”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Girl by the Lake”

Danny Glover, executive producer of "Trouble the Water," visited the Harvard Exit Wednesday to talk about the documentary, which focuses on the neglect of African-American survivors of Hurricane Katrina. He said the footage made him cry when he saw it, and made him want to support the film's completion and its September-October theatrical release. He referred to one of its subjects, Scott, as "my adopted nephew now." The movie gets another festival screening on the last Friday of the festival (June 13), also at the Exit. Glover is no longer in town, but directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal plan to be on hand for a post-screening discussion.

A historic film plays at a historic theater tonight: "In the Land of the Head Hunters," a fictionalized depiction of Northwest Native tribes circa 1914, screens at the 100-year-old Moore Theatre. Fully restored, it will be accompanied live by a small orchestra. Seattle Times movie critic Moira Macdonald wrote about this remarkable project in last Sunday's paper. See her article here, and go to the SIFF Web site for ticket details.

At one point in "Theater of War," a revealing documentary about the 2006 New York staging of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," Meryl Streep informs us that we don't really want to know too much about the process of preparation for a role. To outsiders, she says, it can just look like "bad acting." It's like showing off the plumbing in a new house; you might be proud of it, and you're certainly glad it works, but it's not something you'd want to advertise. Sorry, Meryl, but in this movie watching "the process" seems pretty interesting, especially when Tony Kushner, Kevin Kline and Brecht's daughter pop in for a comment or two. Acting students won't want to miss this one. It plays tonight and Thursday at SIFF Cinema.

Egyptian
3:30 p.m. — ][“Games of Love & Chance”
6 p.m. — ][“The Secret of the Grain”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Lady Jane”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Combalimon”
6:45 p.m. — ][“Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go”
9:15 p.m. — ][“The End”

Moore Theatre
7 p.m. — ][“In the Land of the Head Hunters”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“XXY”
7 p.m. — ][“The Island of Lost Souls”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Postcards From Leningrad”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Under the Bombs”
7 p.m. — ][“Theater of War”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“Princess of the Sun”
7 p.m. — ][“Days and Clouds”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Still Orangutans”

The Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, created the very independent romantic comedy, “The Puffy Chair,” and they’re following it up with "Baghead," a silly, familiar sendup of “The Blair Witch Project" (it plays today at the Egyptian). After watching “We Are Naked,” an excruciatingly personal movie that was produced for $1,000 (the filmmaker apologizes for going over-budget), two immature couples are inspired to retreat to a cabin in the woods to write a screenplay for a cheapie horror movie. One of them dreams that she’s being watched, and soon the dreams appear to have some basis in fact. As the shaky nature of their relationships are revealed, they turn on each other and flirt with catastrophe. Too bad the characters are so rote; the women are almost non-entities, and the bond between the men borders on the maudlin.

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Baghead”
7 p.m. — ][“Empties”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Teddy Bear”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Sweet Thing”
7 p.m. — ][“Tulia, Texas”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Combalimon”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Encarnación”
7 p.m. — ][“Alone in Four Walls”
9:30 p.m. — ][“It’s Hard to Be Nice”

SIFF Cinema
4:15 p.m. — ][“The Order of Myths”
7 p.m. — ][“Under the Bombs”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“Walt & El Grupo”
7:15 p.m. — ][“Momma’s Man”
9:45 p.m. — ][“Sukiyaki Western Django”

Howard Patterson, now retired from The Flying Karamazov Brothers, drew quite a bit of inspiration from Jackie Chan's athletic Hong Kong comedies, especially "The Young Master," a 1980 movie that will be screened at 6:30 tonight at the Harvard Exit, as part of the festival's "Talking Pictures" series. Patterson, who now lives in Portland, will be dropping by to talk about the film, which he says "changed my life." Chan especially impressed Patterson with the notion that physical comedy "can have at least as much of a role in story telling as spoken language."

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“2008 Secret Festival”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Phoebe in Wonderland”
4 p.m. — ][“When Did You Last See Your Father?”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Baghead”
9 p.m. — ][“Empties”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Mancora”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Tulia, Texas”
4 p.m. — ][“Boystown”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Young Master”
9:15 p.m. — ][“The End”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Saturn in Opposition”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Bliss”
4 p.m. — ][“Alone in Four Walls”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Encarnación”
9 p.m. — ][“Still Orangutans”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Princess of the Sun”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Saving Luna”
4 p.m. — ][“Becky Sharp”
6:30 p.m. — ][“XXY”
9 p.m. — ][“Stalags — Holocaust and Pornography in Israel”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“The Great Buck Howard”
1:30 p.m. — ][“A Girl Cut in Two”
4:15 p.m. — ][“Erik Nietzsche the Early Years”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Walt & El Grupo”
9:15 p.m. — ][“A Lost Man”

Oscar Torres wrote “Innocent Voices,” the powerful, semi-autobiographical El Salvador drama that took the Golden Space Needle for best picture three years ago. He’s also a contributor to the script of Peruvian-born Ricardo de Montreuil’s “Mancora" (tonight and tomorrow at the Harvard Exit), but this thin tale of a brutally severed father-son relationship is much less persuasive. The movie begins with the suicide of a man whose wife left him for a Spanish diplomat. His tape-recorded suicide note, addressed to his 21-year-old son, Santiago (Jason Day), claims that “your mother left me for being a failure.” Santiago spends the rest of the movie blaming himself and indulging in a flirtatious relationship with his stepsister, Ximena (Elsa Pataky), a successful photographer whose impulsive husband doesn’t miss a thing. Day tries to create a character out of a GQ beard and haircut. Pataky is stronger as the conflicted half-sibling, but these doomed creatures rarely acquire the depth necessary to make them compelling.

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“Man on Wire”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Be Like Others”
4 p.m. — ][“FutureWave Shorts 2008”
6:30 p.m. — ][“When Did You Last See Your Father?”
9 p.m. — ][“A Secret”
Midnight — ][“Sukiyaki Western Django”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Ramchand Pakistani”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Half-Life”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Derek”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Máncora”
9 p.m. — ][“Sweet Thing”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“The Drummer”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Wave”
4 p.m. — ][“About Water”
7 p.m. — ][“Bliss”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Timecrimes”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Saving Luna”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Dark Horse”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Good Food”
7 p.m. — ][“Otto; or, Up With Dead People”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Seachd CQ: The Crimson Snowdrop”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Garage”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Four Women”
4 p.m. — ][“Choke”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Late Bloomers”
9 p.m. — ][“Erik Nietzsche: The Early Years”

This is also the weekend to see "Saving Luna," the documentary about the lonesome killer whale that Stephan Michaels wrote about in The Seattle Times earlier this week. See the story here. The movie plays at SIFF Cinema at 11 a.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

OK, you have exactly one more chance to catch James Marsh's wonderful documentary "Man on Wire" -- tomorrow (Sat.) at 11 a.m. at the Egyptian -- so don't miss out. In its SIFF premiere last night, this film about high-wire artist Philippe Petit was as tense as any thriller and as joyous as a bird in flight. Most of the film focuses on Petit's most renowned act: his 1974 walk on a wire strung across the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, with no safety devices. Marsh cheekily covers the event's months of planning and heist-like precision (Petit and his motley crew of conspirators were, of course, trespassing), showing us a level of daring far beyond most of our imaginations. The walk, in which Petit occasionally lay down on the wire -- more than 100 floors above the Manhattan streets -- emerges as an act of great beauty; and Petit, cheerfully reminiscing about the event more than 30 years later, as an artist of the skies. This one may not be back post-SIFF (far as I know, it's not scheduled for a regular theatrical run), so fill up the seats on Saturday and let this film make you happy.

Previously dramatized in “Survive!” (1976) and “Alive” (1993), the true story of a 1972 Andes plane crash finally gets the full documentary treatment in "Stranded, I've Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains" (9:15 tonight at the Egyptian). The director, Gonzalo Arijon, was able to talk to all 16 survivors, and their memories dominate the film. Never sensationalistic, always sensitive to the deep affection the survivors clearly feel for each other, Arijon deals at length with the avalanches that killed eight people (after the crash), the desperation brought on by hunger (a tube of toothpaste provides dessert for everyone) and the cannibalism that became necessary when the only food available was human flesh. Actors recreate several key moments, and archival footage fills in the rest. The television material from the early 1970s is in shockingly threadbare condition. This was a catastrophe that received worldwide attention at the time, but the remaining footage looks like it was recorded a century ago.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Jar City”
7 p.m. — ][“The Great Buck Howard”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains”
Midnight — ][“Otto; or, Up with Dead People”

Harvard Exit
4 p.m. — ][“This Way Up”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Half-Life”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Be Like Others”

Pacific Place Cinema
4 p.m. — ][“You, the Living”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Wave”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Saturn in Opposition”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Anvil! The Story of Anvil”
7 p.m. — ][“Ramchand Pakistani”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Christopher Coluombus, The Enigma”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“Brick Lane”
7 p.m. — ][“Phoebe in Wonderland”
9:30 p.m. — ][“A Girl Cut in Two”

“Derek," a 76-minute tribute to British gay film legend Derek Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, bears an odd credit: “Written and spoken by Tilda Swinton.” Years before Swinton became an Oscar winner (best supporting actress, “Michael Clayton”), she was Jarman’s pal and artistic collaborator, and she registers her loss by talking about their closeness and visiting his grave. She and director Isaac Julian also dig up a lively filmed interview with Jarman in which he talks about his childhood, his aborted coming-out at the age of 10, his films about Edward II and Caravaggio, the “punk revolt” that he celebrated in “Jubilee,” and his rejection of what he sourly calls Margaret Thatcher’s “revolution.” Film clips from most of Jarman’s movies are deftly used to complement his words. "Derek" makes its local debut at 7 tonight at the Harvard Exit.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Call Me Troy”
7 p.m. — ][“Man on Wire”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Choke”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Girl Sparks”
7 p.m. — ][“Derek”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Boystown”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Huddersfield”
7 p.m. — ][“The Drummer”
9:30 p.m. — ][“About Water”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Mr. Big”
7 p.m. — ][“Alexandra”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Anvil! The Story of Anvil”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“A Secret”
7 p.m. — ][“Brick Lane”
9:30 p.m. — ][“La France”

This morning at a press screening I saw what I predict will be an audience favorite: "The Great Buck Howard," a charmingly retro little comedy about an Amazing Kreskin-like mentalist (the ever-sly John Malkovich) and his young assistant (Colin Hanks). Emily Blunt, one of those chameleon-like actors who's terrific and utterly different in everything she tries, co-stars as an eye-rolling publicist. Written and directed by Sean McGinly, the film is short, snappy, and unexpectedly sweet, with an ending that reminds us to believe in magic. Hanks (who's got the classic-movie-star earnestness of his dad Tom) and McGinly will attend the movie's Centerpiece Gala screening Friday night at 7 at the Egyptian; it'll also repeat Sunday at 11 at the Uptown.

I've been mostly AWOL from the festival this year due to an unexpected family situation, but am trying to catch up a bit this week. (Looking forward to "Man on Wire" tomorrow.) Tell me what I missed.

Few movies quote from Alan Watts, the once-popular interpreter of eastern religion who wrote “The Way of Zen” and “The Joyous Cosmology.” But Werner Herzog’s meditative new documentary about Antarctica, “Encounters at the End of the World,” finds a delightfully appropriate slot for Watts’ embrace of the universe’s paradoxes. The movie is part of a wide-ranging lineup tonight at the Egyptian, which is also presenting the world premiere of “Good Food,” an exuberant documentary about the impact of farmers’ markets in the Northwest, and a repeat screening of “Go With Peace, Jamil,” a Danish drama that examines Muslim extremes within Middle Eastern communities in Europe. As the title suggests, there is an alternative to the cycle of revenge practiced by Shias and Sunnis - emphasized at the end with a peace-keeping quote from the Koran.

Longtime Seattle Times movie reviewer John Hartl can -- and does -- sit through multiple films a day. But even he can't see everything at SIFF. It's impossible. So help him (and other film buffs) out by telling us which SIFF films you would pay to see again -- and which you'd avoid. Just add a comment below ...

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Encounters at the End of the World”
7 p.m. — ][“Good Food”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Go with Peace Jamil”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life”
7 p.m. — ][“This Way Up”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Captain Abu Raed”
7 p.m. — ][“Huddersfield”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Garage”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Stalags — Holocaust and Pornography in Israel”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Dark Horse”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Magnus”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“Late Bloomers”
7 p.m. — ][“Four Women”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Sparrow”

Zipping through his boundary-smashing movie career, commenting on everything from his debut movie, “Hag in a Black Leather Jacket” (1964), to his latest work in progress, “Fruitcake,” John Waters delivered a standup comic act Tuesday night that must have been Benaroya Hall’s first NC-17 presentation. The first co-production of Seattle Arts & Lectures and the Seattle International Film Festival, the show demonstrated that Waters has lost little of his shock value over the years. Indeed, as he pointed out in a number of references that can’t be repeated in a family newspaper, the internet just seems to be catching up with him.
He talked about his obsessions with Zorro the stripper, Alvin and the Chipmunks (“I’m sexually attracted to Alvin”), Larry Craig (he wonders who will make the movie), amusement parks (he’d like to build one where every ride makes you throw up), and Freud, whose techniques he prefers to the pills that are now supposed to “even” out behavior. “You can’t be even all the time,” he said. “If I’d been even, I wouldn’t have had a career.”
Waters adored the late William Castle for his ability to promote crummy movies (the advertising gimmicks for “Macabre” convinced a very young Waters that “someone would die at every performance”), and he fondly recalled producer Kroger Babb’s long-running feud with the Catholic Church, whose condemnation of Babb’s childbirth movie, “Mom and Dad,” made it possible for the picture to run for eight years in Baltimore. “Sometimes I just pretend I’m Kroger Babb all day,” said Waters. “Porn is art now, if it’s old enough.”
Waters proposed that young people need negative mentors, then proceeded to tell how he and his late pal, Divine, used to shoplift. One trick was to try on clothes, sit down and apply for a job, then walk out still wearing the clothes. At a record store, Waters appeared to steal albums, then faked outrage when he was “caught.” He claimed that the latter technique won him $4,000 in a lawsuit. Divine, he said, was even more accomplished; she could walk out of a store carrying a stolen TV and a chainsaw. He’s against the death penalty because “I might get it. We all have our bad nights.”
His advice to parents: “If you have a kid on drugs, pretend you are.” His advice to Bush-haters: “Let’s US steal an election this time.” His own mother, informed that one of Waters' new movies would concern sex addicts, sighed and said “Oh, maybe we’ll die first.” But he insists he gets along “very well with my parents. They’re very understanding.”

It's John Waters Day at the Seattle International Film Festival. The once-outrageous Baltimore filmmaker, now best-known for "Hairspray" and "Cry-Baby" and the musicals that were made from them, will present his 2000 variation on the Patty Hearst kidnapping, "Cecil B. DeMented," at 4:30 p.m. at the Egyptian. Starring Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff, it's part of the festival's "Talking Pictures" series. Next he'll appear at 7:30 p.m. at Benaroya Hall, where he'll deliver what the festival calls "an original talk."

Benaroya Hall
7:30 p.m. — ][John Waters Live at Benaroya Hall

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Cecil B. DeMented”
7 p.m. — ][“Mad Detective”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Mirageman”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“FLOW: For Love of Water”
7 p.m. — ][“Mr. Big”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Great Speeches From a Dying World”

Pacific Place Cinema
4 p.m. — ][“Island Etude”
7 p.m. — ][“Fighter”
9:15 p.m. — ][“A Lost Man”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Captain Ahab”
7 p.m. — ][“Christopher Columbus, the Enigma”
9 p.m. — ][“Girl Sparks”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“The Song of Sparrows”
7 p.m. — ][“32A”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Teddy Bear”

Israeli filmmakers evidently have a thing for Romeo-and-Juliet stories. Last year’s film-festival entry, “The Bubble,” was a tragic gay love story about a Palestinian boy who falls for an Israeli soldier. Erez Tadmore and Guy Nattiv’s artfully improvised love story, “Strangers,” which plays today at the Uptown, gives us a straight variation.When their bags get mixed up in the Berlin subway, an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman become lovers; only gradually do they realize that their affair will become almost hopelessly complicated. Unlike the boys in “The Bubble,” they don’t at first recognize that they’re supposed to be enemies, and the script echoes the characters’ penchant for making it up as they go along.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Mad Detective”
7 p.m. — ][“Song Sung Blue”
9:30 p.m. — ][“You, the Living”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Shadow of the Holy Book”
7 p.m. — ][“Call Me Troy”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:15 p.m. — ][“Blind Mountain”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Island Etude”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Sparrow”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Alexandra”
7 p.m. — ][“Night Tide”
9 p.m. — ][“August”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“Strangers”
7 p.m. — ][“Magnus”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Shall We Kiss?”

For his final production, "The Saga of Anatahan," Marlene Dietrich’s most frequent director, Josef von Sternberg, moved to Kyoto, where a studio was built to recreate Anatahan, a Pacific island that became home to a group of shipwrecked Japanese sailors in 1944. Marooned for several years, they refused to accept signs that the war was over, and they became increasingly distracted and frustrated by a woman who played “queen bee” to their drones. The rarely screened result, which plays this afternoon at the Harvard Exit, is a fascinating hybrid, filmed in Japanese but with English-language narration that doesn’t really work as a substitute for subtitles. As in most Von Sternberg productions, the black-and-white cinematography is gloriously atmospheric. For this retrospective showing, the festival is lucky to have found a 35mm print that looks almost new.

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“Secret Festival”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Newcastle”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Young People F’ing”
7 p.m. — ][“One Hundred Nails”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Bad Habits”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Son of a Lion”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Saga of Anatahan”
4 p.m. — ][“Great Speeches from a Dying World”
6:30 p.m. — ][“FLOW: For Love of Water”
9 p.m. — ][“Go with Peace Jamil”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Time to Die”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Savage Grace”
4 p.m. — ][“TBS (Nothing to Lose)”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Captain Abu Raed”
9 p.m. — ][“Blind Mountain”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“The Ties That Bind”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Art of Memory”
3:45 p.m. — ][“Walking Dreams”
6:15 p.m. — ][“Once Upon a Time...”
8:30 p.m. — ][“Rare Gems from Pilot Animation Studios”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Kung Fu Panda”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Fighter”
4 p.m. — ][“Ben X”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Strangers”
9 p.m. — ][“Shall We Kiss?”

More than most documentaries, "American Teen," a non-fiction film about an Indiana high school, makes you wonder how much the subjects/interviewees were acting out for the camera. When a teenage girl slaps a boy at a party, did she do it for melodramatic effect, or because she spontaneously reacted to an insult? When a boy’s older brother gets him drunk for the first time, how much of the incident was staged? At first “American Teen” can seem slick and manipulative, partly because we’re never quite sure how to take some of these responses, but eventually the director, Nanette Burstein, moves past these objections and slips under your skin. The Egyptian will screen the film, which won a documentary directing prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival, at 11 a.m. today.

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“American Teen”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Katyn”
4 p.m. — ][“A Wink and a Smile”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Newcastle”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Young People F’ing”
Midnight — ][“Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Butterfly Dreaming”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Creative Nature”
4 p.m. — ][“Idiots and Angels”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Son of a Lion”
9 p.m. — ][“Shadow of the Holy Book”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Ploy”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Garden Party”
4 p.m. — ][“32A”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Ain’t Scared”
9:30 p.m. — ][“TBS (Nothing to Lose)”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“The Family Picture Show 2008”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Truth or Consequences”
4 p.m. — ][“All in the Family”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Gay Lives”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Wild Bunch”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Let the Right One In”
1:45 p.m. — ][“Young Adam”
4:15 p.m. — ][“Mister Foe”
7 p.m. — ][“Encounters at the End of the World”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Unfinished Sky”

Erik Scott Smith, who was uncannily convincing as the teenage Colin Farrell in “A Home at the End of the World,” performs a rockin’ cover of Ricky Nelson’s “Garden Party” in the new movie of that name, which has its world premiere today at the festival. Smith plays a seemingly casual Los Angeles drifter who sleeps with anyone who helps him, male or female - whatever -- but his character really comes alive when he’s singing. His intensity as a performer tends to overwhelm the movie, a “Crash” Lite project that impresses most when it refuses to go where you expect it to go. Time after time, writer-director Jason Freeland sets up a situation that seems headed in a familiar direction, then cuts away before he gets there. Smith’s character, set up to take advantage of the trusting, transplanted country boy who picks him up, makes unpredictability seem like the essence of charm.

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Kiss the Bride”
7 p.m. — ][“American Teen”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Savage Grace”
Midnight — ][“Mirageman”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Ask Not”
7 p.m. — ][“Creative Nature”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Idiots and Angels”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:15 p.m. — ][“Bigger Stronger Faster*”
7 p.m. — ][“Garden Party”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Time to Die”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“The Look of Love”
7 p.m. — ][“Friends & Lovers”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Strange Days”

Uptown
4:30 p.m. — ][“On the Wings of Dreams”
7 p.m. — ][“Captain Ahab”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Ben X”

The festival may not have an east-side or University District outlet this year, but six of its fiction films, four of its documentaries and 10 of its shorts are being streamed through June 8 at SIFF’s MyFestival website. Most of the films are American, although the non-fiction features include new movies from Spain, Malaysia and Afghanistan. The website allows you to vote on favorites. The feature with the most votes will be screened at 6:30 p.m. June 15 at the Harvard Exit, along with the most popular of the shorts. Check it out at myfestival.siff.net

Not many bodybuilders turn into movie directors. Christopher Bell is both the director and one of the subjects of “Bigger Stronger Faster,” a surprisingly funny, sometimes angry documentary about what he calls “a nation on steroids.” He’s in town today for the local premiere. Like many kids, Bell idolized Rambo, Rocky and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He may not have seen “Casablanca,” but he could quote dialogue from the Conan films. However, he was shocked, you hear, shocked when some of his heroes admitted that they used steroids. Bell’s film branches out to include many other instances of hypocrisy in a society that’s addicted to pills and drugs and winning at all costs. But when he morphs into Michael Moore, tracking down Schwarzenegger at a public event, he’s co-opted in the most charming way.

Egyptian
4:30 p.m. — ][“Blood Brothers”
7 p.m. — ][“Kiss the Bride”
9:45 p.m. — ][“Bad Habits”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“Song Sung Blue”
7 p.m. — ][“Ask Not”
9:15 p.m. — ][“Butterfly Dreaming”

Northwest Film Forum
7 p.m. — ][“We Want Roses Too”
9 p.m. — ][“Portraits in Cinema”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“One Hundred Nails”
7 p.m. — ][“Bigger Stronger Faster*” CQ asterisk is part of title
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Art of Negative Thinking”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Ain’t Scared”
7 p.m. — ][“ShortsFest Opening Night”
9:30 p.m. — ][“August”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“Mongol”
7 p.m. — ][“Mister Foe”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Let the Right One In”

One week down and over two to go, and so far, we've told you about some of our festival favorites: "Boy A," "Edge of Heaven," "My Effortless Brilliance." Now it's your turn: Anyone want to campaign for a Golden Space Needle candidate? Or warn other readers away from a title you endured? Share your SIFF wisdom by commenting here.

More and more movies are dealing with the phenomenon of child soldiers. “Emmanuel Jal: War Child,” which plays today and June 14 at the festival, is another sad/outraged documentary about the tragedy of Darfur. Separated from his family for 18 years, the title character survived a catastrophic shipwreck, training as a pre-teen killer (kids between 6 and 12 were considered fair game) and a journey through a desert with little more than vultures to eat. He’s now a popular hip-hop star. “Son of a Lion,” which screens May 31 and June 1, is a fiction film set in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, where an 11-year-old boy is teased because he prefers music to guns. The family business is gun-making; his uncle encourages him to find a less destructive life, while his father fears that the Americans will send him to Cuba to be tortured. Testy father-son relationships are at the core of both films.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Patti Smith: Dream of Life”
7 p.m. — ][“Katyn”
9:30 p.m. — ][“A Wink and a Smile”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“They Killed Sister Dorothy”
7 p.m. — ][“Foster Child”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Slingshot”

Northwest Film Forum
7 p.m. — ][“Casting a Glance”
9 p.m. — ][“Eat, for This Is My Body”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Cochochi”
7 p.m. — ][“Juju Factory”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Ploy”

SIFF Cinema
4 p.m. — ][“California Dreamin’ (Endless)”
7:15 p.m. — ][“Emmanuel Jal: War Child”
9:45 p.m. — ][“Jar City”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“Camille”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Michou d’Auber”
9:15 p.m. — ][“The Home Song Stories”

The festival’s Talking Pictures series, which matches up local celebrities with a favorite film, has provided some lively moments (remember Dale Chihuly discussing his childhood fixation on “Lonely Are the Brave”?) The 2008 series kicks off today with Franco Zeffirelli’s gorgeous version of “Romeo and Juliet,” which was chosen by Stephanie Shine, artistic director of the Seattle Shakespeare Festival. She claims that a childhood viewing 40 years ago turned her on to Shakespeare. The festival is promising a “sparkling” 35mm print of the movie that won the 1968 Oscar for best cinematography.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Breakfast with Scot”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Mongol”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Blood Brothers”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“The Greening of Southie”
7 p.m. — ][“They Killed Sister Dorothy”
9:30 p.m. — ][“All Will Be Well”

Northwest Film Forum
7 p.m. — ][“Loos Ornamental”
9 p.m. — ][“The Past and the Present”

Pacific Place Cinema
4 p.m. — ][“Juju Factory”
7 p.m. — ][“The Pope’s Toilet”
9:15 p.m. — ][“On the Wings of Dreams”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Unfinished Sky”
6:45 p.m. — ][“Romeo and Juliet”
9:45 p.m. — ][“Faces”

Uptown
4 p.m. — ][“Michou d’Auber”
7 p.m. — ][“The Song of Sparrows”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Art of Negative Thinking”

Although he won a best-actor Oscar for 1984’s “Amadeus,” F. Murray Abraham found it difficult to land a comparable movie role. “Rejection is personal, by the way,” he said during a Memorial Day film festival program billed as “An Afternoon With F. Murray Abraham. “It isn’t . . .your piano playing they don’t like, it’s you.” After the success of “Amadeus,” he wanted to play only starring roles, but he was offered few scripts. When he turned down the offers he was getting, he was given even fewer opportunities. Although he had a thriving stage career, his movies stalled out with Disney’s heavily compromised “An Innocent Man” and (more recently) a Thailand-based turkey called “Blood Monkey.” “I do a lot of work in Europe,” he said, adding that he made plenty of money working on a bad movie with Sophia Loren and director Lina Wertmuller.
Interviewed at the Northwest Film Forum by local film critic Jeff Shannon, Abraham said he sees himself as being “a lot of fun,” though his chosen profession is “always a struggle.” He talked about getting thrown out of Uta Hagen’s acting class, physically throwing someone out of a class he was teaching, and spending time in jail before discovering the stage. He also discussed the making of some of his better-known movies: “Scarface,” “The Name of the Rose” and “All the President’s Men,” in which he was on-screen for all of 15 seconds. Nevertheless, he worries that he never connected with the role: “It’s such a small part, but it still bothers me.” Asked about what he wants a director to provide, he said he prefers a pragmatic approach: tell him to make it faster or louder (or not) or tell him that his technique is “b.s.” “I don’t need motivation,” he said. “I need help.” (Abraham is also in town to narrate “The Genesis Suite,” which the Seattle Symphony will present Thursday and Saturday at Benaroya Hall.)

Local filmmaker Lynn Shelton’s earlier film, “We Go Way Back,” demonstrated her gift for black comedy, but she really lets loose with her new one: “My Effortless Brilliance,” a well-cast portrait of an impossible Seattle friendship that screens this afternoon at the Egyptian. Part of the festival’s local series, Northwest Connections, it stars Sean Nelson (who used to write freelance movie reviews for the Seattle Times) and Basil Harris (of the local band “Awesome”) as sometime pals who go on a cougar-hunting expedition in eastern Washington.

Topping our SIFF list today are the winners of The Seattle Times’ Three Minute Masterpiece digital film contest — 11 amazingly entertaining films made by readers, which screen for free at SIFF Cinema at 11 a.m.. See for yourself how much fun three minutes can be; the films are streaming here, right now.

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“Boy A”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Transsiberian”
4 p.m. — ][“My Effortless Brilliance”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Fly Filmmaking Challenge 2008”
9 p.m. — ][“Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Fantastic Parasuicides”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Dream Boy”
4 p.m. — ][“The Wrecking Crew”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Breakfast with Scot”
9 p.m. — ][“PVC-1”

Northwest Film Forum
2 p.m. — ][“An Afternoon with F. Murray Abraham”
5 p.m. — ][“Dust”
7 p.m. — ][“Milky Way”
9 p.m. — ][“We Want Roses Too”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Nocturna”
1 p.m. — ][“Heartbeat Detector”
4 p.m. — ][“Up the Yangtze”
6:45 p.m. — ][“Cochochi”
9 p.m. — ][“Mermaid”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“3 Minute Masterpieces 2008”
1:15 p.m. — ][“King of Ping Pong”
4 p.m. — ][“Hair: Let the Sun Shine In”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Greening of Southie”
9 p.m. — ][“Café de Los Maestros”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Terra”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Children of Huang Shi”
4:15 p.m. — ][“Still Life”
6:45 p.m. — ][“Sita Sings the Blues”
9 p.m. — ][“A Man’s Job”

“I have subscribed to stillness for years,” said Sir Ben Kingsley at a packed film-festival tribute Sunday afternoon at the Egyptian theater. “I don’t know how it evolved in me,” he added, though he figures this approach to acting probably had something to do with watching old Spencer Tracy movies on television. “I try to do less and less . . . I think the camera is allergic to acting.” Currently busy filming Martin Scorsese’s new picture, “Shutter Island,” Kingsley has three movies in the festival: the trashy European train thriller, “Transsiberian”; the sardonic American comedy, “The Wackness”; and a shattering, heartfelt romantic drama, “Elegy,” based on a Philip Roth novella, that may just earn him a fifth Academy Award nomination. He plays a literature professor who becomes increasingly vulnerable during an affair with a student (Penelope Cruz). He dedicated it to his wife, Daniella, without whom he “would not know the meaning of happiness.” As film critic Dave Poland interviewed the 64-year-old Kingsley, clips were shown from many of his earlier pictures, including his nominated performances in “Bugsy,” “Sexy Beast,” “House of Sand and Fog” and “Gandhi,” for which he won the best-actor Oscar a quarter of a century ago. While it was only his second film, “Gandhi” still looms large in his career. Some fans regard it as a near-religious experience, but Kingsley said he was proud that he and director Richard Attenborough were able to avoid turning the title character into a saint. To emphasize Gandhi’s humanity, he looked for signs of impatience and aggression in Gandhi’s behavior: “They were gifts to me.” Booked up with half a dozen projects for the next year, he believes that “I am on the planet to be a storyteller,” and he’s thankful that he’s been “invited into the brotherhood of storytellers.”

For the past few years, the festival has been celebrating relatively young filmmakers by showing new and old work of these “Emerging Masters.” This morning at Pacific Place, the Turkish- German director, Fatih Akin, will be honored with a double bill of his much-loved 2004 immigrant drama, “Head-On,” and his entrancing new picture, “The Edge of Heaven,” which also deals with people who feel allegiances to both Turkey and Germany. Baki Davrak, as a gentle professor searching for a young woman he’s never met, carries the latter with his soulful performance.

Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”) visits Seattle International Film Festival at 2 p.m. today to present the North American premiere of director Isabel Coixet’s “Elegy.” He’ll be on stage afterward at the Egyptian for an interview and Q&A with the audience.

For complete venue and ticket information, go to SIFF's Web site.

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“Secret Festival”
2 p.m. — ][“A Tribute to Sir Ben Kingsley”
6 p.m. — ][“Sexy Beast”
9 p.m. — ][“Patti Smith: Dream of Life”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“Faces”
1:15 p.m. — ][“Chris & Don: A Love Story”
4 p.m. — ][“It Always Rains on Sunday”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Dream Boy”
9 p.m. — ][“Fantastic Parasuicides”

Northwest Film Forum
5 p.m. — ][“Loos Ornamental”
7 p.m. — ][“Movie, or An Introduction to the Philosophy of Auteur Filmmaking”
9 p.m. — ][“Who’s Afraid of Kathy Acker?”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Head-On”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Edge of Heaven”
4:15 p.m. — ][“Everything is Fine”
7:15 p.m. — ][“Up the Yangtze”
9:45 p.m. — ][“The 3 Little Pigs”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Heavy Metal in Baghdad”
1:15 p.m. — ][“Love and Honor”
4:15 p.m. — ][“Opium - Diary of a Madwoman”
6:45 p.m. — ][“King of Ping Pong”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Vexille”

Uptown Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Terra”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Sita Sings the Blues”
4 p.m. — ][“The Last Mistress”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Fall”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Camille”

Suicide has turned up as the subject of an unusual number of festival films this year; four will be screened today. The standout is “Boy A,” a thoughtful British drama about an uphill attempt to rehabilitate a very young ex-prisoner, forcefully played by relative newcomer Andrew Garfield (recognizable as the student who spent much of “Lions For Lambs” being lectured by Robert Redford). “Everything Is Fine,” a French-Canadian film about a teenager whose friends have killed themselves, seems as mopey and self-absorbed as its central character. "Ballast" does a more incisive job of dramatizing the aftermath of a Mississippi suicide, and it has an ending that will have people talking for the rest of the festival. The documentary, “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” focuses less on death than it does on the adventures of a journalist who always seemed to be living on the edge.

So John Hartl recommends "My Effortless Brilliance" today. Any other suggestions?

Egyptian
11 a.m. — ][“A Man’s Job”
1:15 p.m. — ][“Mermaid”
3:45 p.m. — ][“Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Children of Huang Shi”
9:30 p.m. — ][“My Effortless Brilliance”
Midnight — ][“Epitaph”

Harvard Exit
11 a.m. — ][“All Will Be Well”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Foster Child”
4 p.m. — ][“Slingshot”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Chris & Don: A Love Story”
9:15 p.m. — ][“California Dreamin’ (Endless)”

Northwest Film Forum
5 p.m. — ][“Milky Way”
7 p.m. — ][“Eat, For This is My Body”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Dust”

Pacific Place Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Continental, A Film Without Guns”
1:30 p.m. — ][“The Three Little Pigs”
4:30 p.m. — ][“Ballast”
7 p.m. — ][“Everything is Fine”
10 p.m. — ][“Heartbeat Detector”

SIFF Cinema
11 a.m. — ][“Nocturna”
1 p.m. — ][“Hair: Let the Sun Shine In”
3:30 p.m. — ][“The Red Awn”
6:30 p.m. — ][“Love and Honor”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Heavy Metal in Baghdad”

Uptown
11 a.m. — ][“Before the Rains”
1:30 p.m. — ][“Elite Squad”
4 p.m. — ][“The Home Song Stories”
7 p.m. — ][“Boy A”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Transsiberian”

How do you create a documentary about a decades-long love affair, especially when one of the partners, Christopher Isherwood, died 22 years ago? Guido Santi and Tina Mascara solved the problem by hiring actors to re-enact certain key scenes in “Chris & Don: A Love Story,” which they’re presenting this weekend at the Harvard Exit. “We had photographs but they weren’t emotional,” said Mascara during a Seattle visit with her partner. “Film can create the illusion of feelings, and we wanted to dwell on those moments (such as Isherwood’s first meeting with Don Bachardy) and have them be visual.” Bachardy inspired the project when he showed the filmmakers some remarkably pristine 16mm footage: home movies which they imitated “by shooting a lot of stuff out of focus and handheld,” said Santi. “And we had an actor who really looked like Don,” he added. The result is a unique achievement, even if the filmmakers see room for improvement. “It’s hard to cast Isherwood,” said Mascara.

The few SIFF gala-goers we've heard from today were none too pleased with either "Battle in Seattle" or the cash-bar party afterward. (See comments below.) But how about the rest of you who were roaring your approval at the film? It's your turn to defend your position.

Excerpts of comments from readers:

"This was a great cast of talented actors whose talent has never been more wasted on a lame, predictable screenplay."

"I certainly will not go to another opening night. They really need to not sell as many tickets or not charge 50 bucks. ... I've certainly seen worse movies, but not that I paid 50 bucks for."

"I flat-out loved my first SIFF gala event!

1. The drinks were free
2. The food was good, varied, and plentiful 3. The movie, 'Son of Rambow,' was an unqualified joy to behold.

This is my second SIFF gala event. It will very likely be my last.

1. Fifty bucks for a ticket AND I have to buy my drinks?!?
2. The food, while good, was scarce, and there were only a few take-it-or-leave-it selections.
3. The movie was LAME and a trip down Revisionist Lane. What on earth is the point of making a movie based on true events and INVENTING characters such as the mayor? Why not call him 'Paul Schell' and have an actor PORTRAY him? (I hear actors do this "portrayal" thing pretty well if you let them.)"

Every festival has its love-it-or-loathe-it movies, and tonight they’re really out in force. While the tasty costume drama “The Last Mistress” may be the most entertaining movie to date from experimental director Catherine Breillat (“Romance”), some fans feel betrayed by the lack of avant-garde touches. A few festival-goers respect the graphic Hungarian-German lobotomy drama, “Opium,” for its use of silence and stark imagery; I found it a chore to sit through. But it’s hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t fall in love with the Turkish-German delight, “The Edge of Heaven,” a trippy fable about the generosity of strangers and the frequently absurd coincidences that shape our lives. Your thoughts?

For complete ticket and venue information, see SIFF's Web site.

Egyptian
4 p.m. — ][“Vexille”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Edge of Heaven”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Last Mistress”
Midnight — ][“The Mother of Tears”

Harvard Exit
4:30 p.m. — ][“PVC-1”
7 p.m. — ][“Opium - Diary of a Madwoman”
9:30 p.m. — ][“The Wrecking Crew”

Northwest Film Forum
7 p.m. — ][“Portraits in Cinema”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Movie, or An Introduction to the Philosophy of Auteur Filmmaking”

Pacific Place Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“The Pope’s Toilet”
7 p.m. — ][“Ballast”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Continental, A Film Without Guns”

SIFF Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“Café de Los Maestros”
6:30 p.m. — ][“The Red Awn”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Still Life”

Uptown Cinema
4:30 p.m. — ][“The Fall”
7 p.m. — ][“Before the Rains”
9:30 p.m. — ][“Elite Squad”

OK, so let's talk about the SIFF opening-night "gala." For this, I'll enlist the help of my Party Pal.

Here are some things PP likes about the party this year:

1. The swag. SIFFsters are handing out VitaminWater and fennel salt and Stella Artois glasses. OK, not too exciting, but free is free, right?

2. The crowd: mixed and interesting. Running into friends and acquaintances from so many different quadrants of your life makes you realize that movies are a great equalizer.

And a couple things to which PP strenuously objects:

1. The $6 charge for drinks -- new this year. This calls into question the value of the $50 ticket: What exactly does this pay for? A chance to stand in (yet another) deadly long line for a couple of crab dumplings?

2. The all-too-conspicuous VIP tent, which makes a person feel all too keenly that there are people in the world having more fun than the rest of us.

I won't critique "Battle in Seattle" here; I'll leave that to the pros. (Or to you? Comment here if you have an opinion.) But I do have something to say about McCaw Hall as a movie theater: It's lousy. The sound is so awful I have to make up a new word to describe it: Muzzy? Fuzzled? It's bad, is all you need to know.

After the customary, tedious Naming of the Sponsors that always precedes the opening night film at SIFF, director Stuart Townsend came on stage at McCaw Hall. He looked a little stunned, commenting on the size of the theater. And then he talked a bit about the WTO riots that provide the backdrop of his film, "Battle in Seattle." At one point he asked the audience, "Who was there?" Hundreds of hands shot in the air; cheers erupted. Townsend said, "Oh shit." But he shouldn't have worried. For whatever reason (political sympathies? pre-show cocktails?) the audience was predisposed to love the film, and they shouted encouragement every time the protesters in the film scored a victory.

It took us three tries to find the right line to get into the opening night screening tonight. Now we're sitting in the very last row of McCaw Hall waiting for "Battle in Seattle" to begin. The place is packed -- people are standing and milling, looking for seats that don't appear to exist. So here goes SIFF 2008 ....l

Three Academy Award winners will be in town for the first weekend of the 34th Seattle International Film Festival, which kicks off tonight at McCaw Hall with "Battle in Seattle," a fictional treatment of the 1999 World Trade Organization protests. Its star, Charlize Theron, who won an Oscar for "Monster," is scheduled to attend. Sir Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi") will be the subject of a tribute at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Egyptian. An Afternoon with F. Murray Abraham ("Amadeus") begins at 2 p.m. Memorial Day at Northwest Film Forum. Although "Battle in Seattle" has not been screened for the local press, it received favorable reviews from Variety ("it mostly works, as a non-didactic portrait of the clash between grassroots activists and the powers-that-be") and The Hollywood Reporter ("these fictional stories show a genuine fascination with the role politics plays on both sides"). SIFF apparently wanted to screen it for critics, but for some reason the distributor said "no." So you be the critic: Come back tomorrow and tell us how you liked it.

I just quizzed my movie-going pals here at The Times about their most and least favorite SIFF opening-night films ever. The crummy ones are naturally the easiest to remember -- from the unimpressive ("The Anniversary Party," 2001) to the hotly debated ("Love's Labour's Lost," 2000) to the truly egregious ("The Notebook," 2004). Longtime movie critic John Hartl has been carrying around the disturbing memory of "Chicago Joe and the Showgirl" since 1990 ("pretty disastrous," he says). Some that make the favorites list: "Me and You and Everyone We Know" and "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum." But you must have your own best and worst list. Care to share?

Speaking of opening night, I just talked to someone at SIFF who told me that tickets for this Thursday's local premiere of "Battle in Seattle" and the after-party are off sale, because they're nearly gone. That doesn't mean a few more won't be released beforehand: Keep checking SIFF's Web site for details. There may even be some rush tickets available right before the show. In any case, it's going to be a full house. And it looks like the crowd won't be disappointed: Both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter have given "Battle" good reviews. Can't vouch for it myself, unfortunately, since the distributor -- for some reason -- has declined to screen the movie in advance for press here.

Today in The Seattle Times, movie critic Moira Macdonald suggests various SIFF "itineraries" -- helping you choose which of the hundreds of movies to see based on your special interests.

Me? I like a party, so I'm starting with the opening night gala. But you may have your own siff game plan. If you want to share it with readers, add a comment below. Or take a minute to ask Moira or John Hartl's advice about movies you're thinking of seeing. Between the two of them, they've already watched dozens of this year's festival entries in early press screenings, so they can point you toward some of the gems.

The Seattle International Film Festival is gearing up again, and you can use this blog as your source of information about festival happenings, especially when it kicks into gear on May 22. PIck up a Seattle Times festival guide at any SIFF venue for a complete rundown on all the movies at SIFF this year; you can also find info on the films and buy tickets at siff.net.

For an overview of this year's festival, check out Moira Macdonald's story here.

So run out, get your guide, and we'll see you at the festival!