LYNN SHELTON

Previously shortlisted in 2004, Lynn Shelton—editor, experimental documentarian, and now, feature filmmaker—has exceeded our wildest expectations. From her early documentaries, which were tightly scaled and highly impressionistic, she's made an improbably graceful leap to writing and directing a feature-length narrative film. The Slamdance award-winning We Go Way Back proves Shelton an adept director of actors: first-timer Amber Hubert is properly vague and receptive in the lead role, Seattle theater mainstay R. Hamilton Wright cranks up the satire hilariously as a self-important fringe theater director, and "Awesome" bassist Basil Harris turns in a wonderfully low-key performance as a newfound friend. But perhaps Shelton's most astounding accomplishment is the way she works in a gentle third-act twist that at, on one level, normalizes the film's central conceit and, on another, makes it utterly and excitingly inconsistent. It's a resolution that captures nothing but our own desire for mystery in the world. ANNIE WAGNER

DENNIS JAMES

House organist for the Paramount, Dennis James is only an occasional Seattle denizen (he's constantly on tour, plying his trade at Wurlitzers the world over), but his contributions to the local film scene shouldn't be underestimated. Thanks to his scholarship and insistence on authenticity, the films at Silent Movie Sundays are accompanied by either the original or a carefully inferred score, punctuated by the occasional one-man sound effect, and generally transformed into the kind of giddy event a modern blockbuster can only hope to mimic. James also often prepares the opening lecture, peppering dry film history with salacious details to keep you paying attention. He's an impresario of the first order. ANNIE WAGNER

STEFAN GRUBER

A teacher at Seattle's alternative high school NOVA, Stefan Gruber makes animated shorts that meld Flash technology with a hand-drawn flipbook aesthetic. He often collaborates with performance artists and choreographers like Degenerate Art Ensemble and KT Niehoff, but it's the stand-alone short Anaelle that really has us floored. During a stay in France, the narrator strikes up a nonverbal friendship with the title character, the pulsing outline of an adorable little girl. The female voiceover drops frequently into an ironic lower register you'll recognize if you've ever seen an episode of Daria; the protagonist, however, resembles a gangly young man. Eventually, the narrative meanders over to an anecdote about rescuing ladybugs from a swimming pool. It's a ridiculously touching moment, straddling whimsy and memento mori like something from Miranda July or Khaela Maricich. Seattle could use more artists with the goofy, sideways earnestness of Gruber. (Anaelle, which was funded by a hefty grant from Northwest Film Forum, will be screened in several theaters across the state; it should be also available soon on DVD and via Gruber's website, the Fantasy Pleasure Complex, at www.stefangruber.com.) ANNIE WAGNER

DAYNA HANSON

Longtime member of the recently dissolved dance company 33 Fainting Spells, Dayna Hanson (along with her co-founder, no-relation Gaelen Hanson) has been instrumental in promoting the unique hybrid form of dance cinema in Seattle. In addition to making their own lovely shorts (Measure, set in the bluish hallway of a decrepit Bainbridge boarding school, is my personal favorite), 33FS also produced the semiannual New Dance Cinema Series, now under the auspices of Northwest Film Forum. Hanson and Hanson are presently pursuing separate projects, and the elevated aesthetic of Gaelen's dance short Your Lights Are Out or Burning Badly is nothing to scoff at. But Dayna has plunged into film with a dual dedication to ultra-kitsch and loopy science that I'm not totally sure if I adore or am merely confused by. Either way, shorts like EBE4 (featuring lots of pink cotton, a vicious sunburn, a Pomeranian, an alien, and a seagull painting) and Diesel Engine (involving a Gena Rowlands wig, a bemused restaurant owner, and an alleyway in the ID) are remarkable. Recently, Dayna Hanson has also made forays into production, guiding and even housing Linas Phillips as he edited his excellent film Walking to Werner, which premiered locally at this year's Seattle International Film Festival. ANNIE WAGNER