We certainly hope you've been enjoying week two of the 41st annual Seattle International Film Festival. Don’t forget that our massively searchable festival guide—trailers, synopses, reviews, schedules, tickets, the lot—is conveniently located right here in our online calendar, Things To Do. If you're looking for tips about what to see tonight (or even, indeed, if you are not), here is some sound advice:
Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana
When you think of all the ways a doc about Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling could’ve been kind of sloppy and still done the job, it makes you want to stand up and cheer for the filmmakers, who go several extra miles to imbue a story about Seattle’s irrepressible underculture with narrative drive and visual stealth that elevate everything about it. Talk all you want about how the city is changing. Here’s a movie that shows you the Seattle you sometimes forget is right in front of you, struggling to stay afloat. (SEAN NELSON)
Thurs May 21, 9:30pm at SIFF Cinema Egyptian
Beats of the Antonov
There’s so much going on in this film. Bombs drop from hovering planes, a musician fashions a rebab from scrap metal, resistance armies assemble and arm, an ethnomusicologist captures and categorizes sounds and melodies, languages are forgotten. All these elements are woven together deftly in this beautiful portrait of a region with a deeply fractured identity. Great interviews, great music, and an impressive diversity of perspectives. (KRISHANU RAY)
Thurs May 21, 6:30pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown
Itsi Bitsi
The '60s hippie dream of political activism, plentiful sex and drugs, world travel, and acoustic-guitar picking plays itself out among attractive Scandinavians in Ole Christian Madsen's sporadically inspirational Itsi Bitsi. Based on the exploits of Eik Skaløe, frontman for important Danish psychedelic-folk group Steppeulvene (the Steppe Wolves, Hesse homage noted), the film follows Eik's transformation from earnest anti-nuclear-arms protester to struggling novelist to full-blown rock star. Along the way, he gets busted for possession a few times and competes with other men for his beautiful muse, Iben. Ultimately, Eik loses that battle and exits this mortal coil in a most romantic, stoic manner. (DAVE SEGAL)
Thurs May 21, 9:30pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown
King Georges
A well-done documentary that captures the essence of the kitchen of a high-end restaurant—the pressure, the relentlessness, the perfectionism. Charismatic chef Georges Perrier yells at his employees, throws food on the floor, and is singularly focused on his restaurant, one of the last holdouts of formal French dining. But the culture of eating out has changed, and you see Perrier wondering if there is still a place for him. (GILLIAN ANDERSON)
Thurs May 21, 4pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown
Tea Time
If you’ve ever yearned for a window into the souls of upper-class, octogenarian Chilean women, Tea Time is yours to cherish. This documentary studies the faces and hands of longtime friends during their monthly high-tea ritual as they joke and argue, and the servants bring a steady parade of sandwiches and intricate-looking cakes. Their discussions—about infidelity, death, homosexuality, religion, melancholies past and present—are gratifyingly candid but feel as if they’re coming from a century away. (Though they do take brief detours into emo culture and twerking.) Tea Time may be as close to a home movie from the Edwardian era as we’re ever likely to see. (BRENDAN KILEY)
Thurs May 21, 4:30pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown
Boulevard
Thurs May 21, 7pm at Harvard Exit
ShortsFest Opening Night
Thurs, May 21, 7pm at SIFF Cinema Uptown
