Seattle Film Festival

The construction workers lack potbellies and seem capable of chatting about Proust. And the rest of the populace? They, too, are so nice you’ll think you’re starring in a tolerant take on Pleasantville. Additionally, everything is so damn clean, possibly from the constant drizzles, that you can eat off the homeless. As for its Festival, Seattle is one of the best-run, best-programmed celluloid ventures around. With over 240 features, shorts and seminars that spin out over 25 days, if you are an indie fetishist you can go into a delightful sugar shock. And if you’re a filmmaker, expect a great hotel room, star treatment and appreciative crowds. "It’s a really sociable festival," notes Marcus Hu, co-founder of Strand Releasing. "It’s a great way for distributors to see their films with an enthusiastic audience and get their feedback." As for Strand picking up a picture: "I haven’t found one here in a couple of years, but it’s always a possibility." Marc Halperin, vice president of distribution at Fine Line Features, agrees: "It’s a great festival as far as the quality of what’s brought here. And we enjoy seeing a lot of the international films that we don’t normally get to see in L.A. But this year, more importantly, was for us to come here and publicize Saving Grace," Nigel Cole’s tale of a very proper British Martha Stewart—like widow who is suddenly forced to grow marijuana. "We thought this is a film that would have a great response in Seattle," he continues. "And we were blown away by the response we had here; the film sold out almost 10 days before it played. Everyone was just so responsive to it, leading up to it, and then, when they saw the film, the response was just terrific." As for Fine Line acquiring a feature here: "There’s always a possibility."

Cole – who admitted at the "Indie Filmmakers Hold Forth on the State of the Industry" panel that "being a film director is one of the last jobs on earth where you’re treated like a god, where everyone bows down to you and wants you to be happy"– had only one complaint about his Saving Grace Seattle experience "Not enough director groupies." As for advising other directors to submit their films here: "Not if they’re better than mine."

Short-film directors were equally blissful, especially about the contacts they made at the Festival. Just ask Q. Allan Brocka, director of Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World: "I made some connections with Internet people. That’s probably where Rick & Steve will go. It’s too racy for anything else."

Waxing not racy but philosophical, was Peter O’Fallon, the director of the closing night feature A Rumor of Angels. Starring Vanessa Redgrave but still lacking a distributor, O’Fallon knew why he was having his dilemma: "The independent film market was originally started for dark and edgy films, because that was a market that wasn’t being serviced. Now, as we all know, everybody is doing dark and edgy films, including the studios. The new niche in the market are films actually on the flipside of that – films about hope. It’s fascinating the difficulties you can run into pushing hope." Happily, Seattle, thanks to director of programming Darryl Macdonald and his staff, continues to eradicate a few of those impediments. – Brandon Judell

Cannes Film Festival by Noah Cowan
docfest 2000 by Stan Schwartz
The New York Latino International Film Festival by Arnold Salas
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen by Wellington Love
Seattle Film Festival by Brandon Judell
Florida Film Festival by Mary Glucksman