MAY 20, Tuesday at 7pm
ANTHEM FILM CHALLENGE
This quarter we screened Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short film ANTHEM (April 15, 16, 22, 23), created as a nostalgic tribute to a tradition in Thailand in which a Royal Anthem honoring the King is played before all movies and is therefore an integral part of the experience of going to the cinema. This quarter’s film challenge charged Seattle filmmakers with creating their own unique anthem films, using the Star Spangled Banner or ANY anthem as a basis. For further incentive to filmmakers, tonight's audience will determine the best film and the winning film will be screened before all future film challenges as a sort of Film Challenge Anthem.
Click here for entry rules!
JUNE 8 - 12, Sunday - Thursday at 7:30, 9:30pm
35th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING
WATTSTAX
Sponsored by Easy Street Records
(Mel Stuart, USA, 1973, 35mm, 98 min)
A legendary concert film, WATTSTAX documents the Woodstock of black America. The Stax label, along with Tamala Motown, was one of the greats of American soul, funk and R&B recording. With a lineup that included such greats as Isaac Hayes, Booker T & the MGs, the Emotions and many more, the Stax label oozes cool. WATTSTAX represents both a fantastic timepiece and a prophetic look into the future. Held in 1972 to commemorate the 1965 Watts riots, the concert "drew an overwhelmingly African-American crowd of 100,000 and turned into a memorable black-pride event," according to the BALTIMORE CITY PAPER. Director Mel Stuart not only focuses on the big names on the Coliseum's stage but also takes his camera out into the community, watching and listening to Watts residents talk about everyday life in the inner city.
JUNE 8 - 12, Sunday - Thursday at 7, 9:30pm
RESPECT YOURSELF: THE STAX RECORDS STORY
Sponsored by Easy Street Records
(Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon, 2007, USA, BETA, 115 min)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stax Records, Morgan Neville (THE COOL SCHOOL) and Robert Gordon (MUDDY WATERS: CAN'T BE SATISFIED) made a chronicle of the rise of the Memphis soul label that changed the world. RESPECT YOURSELF is jammed with amazing archival rarities, live performances, forgotten TV appearances, home movies, news footage and lost recordings of all the legendary Stax artists -- from Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes to Booker T & the MG's, Sam & Dave and The Staples Singers. Their definitive film is also a story of the civil rights movement and how the music created at Stax mirrored the glories and pains of that struggle.
JUNE 13-15, Friday - Sunday at 7, 9:15pm
SPECIAL ENCORE PRESENTATION!
ZIDANE, A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT
Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM, Easy Street Records, and Cafe Presse
(Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, France / Iceland, 2006, 35mm, 92 min)
After turning scores of people away during our screenings in April, we’re pleased to bring this stunning portrait of one of the greatest players in the history of soccer, Zinédine Zidane, back to NWFF! Seventeen synchronized cameras were used, each focusing on Zidane in real time, from the first kick of the ball to the moment he was ejected from the game. The match, between Real Madrid (Zidane's team) and Villarreal, was played on April 23, 2005 and was witnessed by eighty thousand screaming fans. Zidane himself recounts, in voice-over, what he can and cannot remember from his matches. Magnificently edited and accompanied by a majestic score from Scottish rock heroes Mogwai, this is perhaps the best sports films ever made, but also one of the finest studies of man in his element, an ode to the loneliness of the athlete and the poise and resilience of the human body.
AUGUST 5 - 6, Tuesday - Wednesday at 7, 9:30pm
HAL ASHBY'S COMMINGLING SEVENTIES
BOUND FOR GLORY
Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM
(Hal Ashby, USA, 1976, 35mm, 145 min)
Based on the life of Woody Guthrie, BOUND FOR GLORY explores the social, economic and political hardships that molded the legendary folk singer’s beliefs. Beginning with his life in Texas and his terrible experiences in the Southwest Dust Bowl, the film follows Guthrie as he moves to California to begin his radio career. There he discovers the political power of music, which he harnesses by writing and singing his own songs. BOUND FOR GLORY broke new ground as the first feature film in which the Steadicam was used. For his brilliant work, director of photography Haskell Wexler took home an Oscar. The film, which was produced by music promoter Harold Leventhal, was also recognized for its score, which was based on Guthrie's own music.
"Elegantly crafted, hugely beautiful and interesting film, which reveals loving integrity in every frame." -LOS ANGELES TIMES
JULY 4 - 10, Friday- Thursday at 7, 9pm
THE GITS
Sponsored by Easy Street Records
(Kerri O'Kane, 2007, Digi-BETA, 80 min)
In a pre-Nirvana Seattle, The Gits were the resident musical underdogs. With the unparalleled vocal power of front woman Mia Zapata they set the bar for indie rock in the Pacific Northwest. After inspiring such incendiary bands as Seven Year Bitch to pick up their instruments, they caught the ear of major label record execs who heard the muscular riffs and soulful hooks and realized what fans already knew – The Gits were anything but your typical street punk outfit. Because of this, the tragedy that struck in 1993 was that much harder to swallow.
With intimate live footage and interviews with the surviving members, director Kerri O’Kane explores the mystique and digs into the mystery of one of the rock world’s most enigmatic bands. One part The Filth and The Fury, one part CSI: Seattle, THE GITS is a rock doc as engaging and powerful as the music that inspired it.
JULY 12, Saturday at 7pm
LIVE PERFORMANCE!
THE KIDS OF WIDNEY HIGH
The world-renowned Kids of Widney High are a group of young adults with developmental disabilities who write, record and perform their own unique brand of rock music. They have been compared to Daniel Johnston and Wesley Willis. For the first time in their illustrious underground career, the Kids are embarking on a full-fledged multimedia tour up the West Coast in which they will be showcasing their artistic endeavors, which include short films that evoke the "gaze" avant-garde aesthetic of Stan Brakhage, Harry Smith and Jonas Mekas. The Kids will be performing after the screening for all audience members who wish to stay and boogie.
JULY 18 - 24, Friday - Thursday at 7, 9:30pm (plus Sat & Sun at 2, 4:30)
GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN 12 PARTS
(Scott Hicks, Australia, 2007, 35mm, 112 min)
Philip Glass's achievements in music - film scores, operas, symphonies - make him one of the most important composers of our era, crossing divides between elitist concert halls and popular venues. His minimalist compositions are so iconic that he has been featured as a character on THE SIMPSONS. Director Scott Hicks (SHINE, SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS) gains access to confidants and situations that the average documentarian could never obtain. The film traces an eventful year in Glass' life, as he stages the opera WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS, writes his eighth symphony, scores several films, travels the world and maintains a family with his fourth wife, Holly. Throughout the ups and downs, Glass maintains a Zen approach: "You don't like my music? Listen to something else."
JULY 31, Thursday at 8pm
SOUL NITE
Presented by Northwest Film Forum and Emerald City Soul Club
Sponsored by Cafe Racer
Don’t miss our quarterly celebration of great 60s and 70s soul music, featuring vintage performance footage on the big screen and djs and drinks in the cinema. Dancing in the aisles is encouraged!
AUGUST 1 - 7, Friday - Thursday at 7, 9pm (plus Sat & Sun at 3, 5pm)
THE SILENCE BEFORE BACH
(Pere Portabella, Spain, 2007, 35mm, 102 min)
The meaning is in the music, or so the story goes in veteran surrealist filmmaker Pere Portabella’s THE SILENCE BEFORE BACH. Portabella, who in the 1960s produced Luis Buñuel's VIRIDIANA, proves he is still as idiosyncratic and energetic with this film on all things Bach. The title refers to a poem by the Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson, "The Silence of the World Before Bach." In it, the significance of Bach and the position of his music in the history is made clear by the simple reflection that there was once a world without Bach's music. Filled with visually stunning images, this wonderful film is as much music for your eyes as for your ears.
“Beguiling. A work shaped by correlation and metaphor… by beautiful images and fragments of ideas, a work that locates the music in the twitching of a dog’s ears, in the curve of a woman’s belly, a child’s song and an adult’s reverie. Like the music it celebrates, this is a film made in glory of the world.” - Manohla Dargis, NY TIMES
AUGUST 7, Thursday at 7:30pm
KARAOKE CHALLENGE
Rise to the challenge and explore one of the last uncharted territories in film – the Karaoke Video! Join us for the third year of this hugely enjoyable program. Create your own work for our ever-expanding NWFF Karaoke Catalog. Expect over-the-top performances, spontaneous sing-a-longs, and a whole mess of surprises in this one of a kind event. For more info email Adam Sekuler at adams@nwfilmforum.org.
Rules: 1). Songs must be no longer than five minutes 2). Acceptable formats are mini-DV, DVD, Beta-SP, or if you're feeling ambitious, Super-8 and 16mm 3). Include title, filmmaker's name and contact info with submission. Send to: Northwest Film Forum, c/o Adam Sekuler, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122. Submissions are due July 31.
