The following are suitable either for essays or discussions with friends and acquaintances while standing in line at the festival.

• SIFF director Darryl Macdonald was recently quoted by The Seattle Times as saying that Thailand is "the new Hong Kong of Asian filmmaking." Outline the identifiable elements of Hong Kong filmmaking and contrast them with those of the Thai films featured in this year's festival.

• Quentin Tarantino--seven years after Pulp Fiction and still influential enough to be a shorthand reference. Discuss.

• SIFF does/does not owe a debt to the local filmmaking community.

• I generally think of myself as a "good" person.

• True or False: SIFF audiences are less interested in seeing films than in having seen them.

• Discuss the experience of watching a visiting filmmaker at SIFF undergo an audience Q&A session. How do you feel personally when the questions are dumber than the answers?

• The irreverent tone of The Stranger's coverage of SIFF--with particular regard to its capsule reviews--makes me angry/happy. What does that say about me?

• The French think they're so fucking smart and artistic. Pourquoi?

• I have never drowned a kitten. Comment.

• Does the consumption of hundreds of films in a single month mean that our lives are enriched or diminished?

• Comment on the relative importance of the partially retarded buffoon figure in Eastern European cinema.

• Does an audience deserve respect for supporting SIFF, and should that respect extend to T-shirts, mugs, and promotional pens from SIFF's corporate sponsors?

• I am afraid to let others get close to me.

• What is the quantitative difference between seeing a film at SIFF and seeing it when it opens in Seattle a month later?

• Discuss the symbolic significance of cigarettes and coffee in the American independent film of the 1990s.

• The army always seemed like a pretty good deal to me, except for the taking orders part.

• In the films of Paul Verhoeven and Tony Scott, violent gunplay is viewed as gratuitous and harmful, while in the films of Takeshi Kitano and John Woo, it is regarded as artistic and valid. Does this constitute a double standard?

• Outline three major contributing factors to the death of the American comedy.

• Discuss SIFF's attitude toward celebrity: worshipful or obsequious? Contrast with America's general obsession with fame and lionization of the famous, and with your own contradictory personal belief that movie stars are simultaneously better than you and full of shit.