Right now, the Egyptian Theater feels a bit like the doors to the Oz’s Emerald City, with a mustached doorman telling us reporters to get the hell out, that “nobody can see the Great Oz.” The long-running theater closed its doors back in the fall of 2024 after a busted pipe caused excessive flooding damage, followed by SIFF ending its lease with the historic building. Now, the theater, which has been owned by Seattle Central College since 1992, will reopen for three days only, for the brand-new film festival FIN de FEST, showcasing independent, contemporary Latin American cinema.
Dustin Curtis is the man with access to the Wizard. He’s the holder of the titles Events & Rentals Coordinator for Seattle Central College, and Executive Producer at Socks on My Hands Productions (which is producing the festival)—permitting him one-off use of the vacant theater. Curtis explained to me over the phone that when SIFF pulled out of the Egyptian, it left the building in the hands of the college, which is still deciding whether to sell the building or rent it out. “There’s the potential of running a rental program in the Egyptian,” Curtis says. “I’m working with my department, the Seattle Auxiliary Services theater department, to do a test of concept, because the building is not commercially rentable right now.”
As it stands, the theater is in rough shape—stripped of decor and full of equipment and water-damaged furniture that SIFF is temporarily storing. “We thought,” says Curtis, “how can we test a proof of concept in this space without disappointing a paying renter? This agreement allows us to see things from both a client and production viewpoint—to see what’s possible and what’s needed.” So, much like the punk houses and DIY venues featured in the festival’s documentaries, the SOMH team will push the musty furniture to the side and create a space for art.
Socks on My Hands Productions is a nonprofit arts organization that produces community events, including the annual Puget Sound Puppetry Festival. “It’s very puppet-centric,” Curtis tells me, “because that’s what my background is.” But, not wanting to be limited to puppets, SOMH launched the New Project Playground, funding event ideas from folks without the infrastructure or production experience needed to produce their own. The first edition kicked off last November with Idol Dreamscape, a celebration of the Japanese pop idol fanatics in the Pacific Northwest.
Artistic director of FIN de FEST Danette Newcomb Cotera, moved to Seattle seven years ago from Mexico City, where she worked in film and art production. “While living there,” she explains, “I developed a deep appreciation for Latin American independent cinema—work that is often raw, experimental, and deeply human, a sharp contrast to the stereotypical Latinx narratives that are commonly circulated in the US.” Fueled by the desire to see a wider range of Latinx cinema in the PNW, she developed the idea of an indie film festival to fill this void in the city’s programming. “I believe audiences in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest would appreciate the opportunity to encounter this other side of Latin American culture,” says Cotera.
Cotera knocked on doors last year in search of funding and support with no luck. Finally, in the fall of last year, she approached Curtis and the New Project Playground board with the idea. “When she pitched this idea to me, I thought it sounded really cool, and the board was pretty enthusiastic, too,” says Curtis. By January, the team quickly got to work on the inaugural festival, booking two independent documentaries centered on Mexico City’s thriving punk scene, past and present, and how lifestyle and philosophy shaped Mexican counterculture—Tutti Frutti: The Temple of Underground,an ode to one of Mexico City’s most iconic venues in the ’80s underground punk scene,and Sex Panchitos,which follows three members of the legendary ’80s punk gang Los Panchitos.
Established in 1985 by 19-year-old Brisa Vázquez and 21-year-old Danny Yerna, DIY punk venue Tutti Frutti got its start in the back of a restaurant, with a mission much like FIN de FEST: to carve out a space in the city for rarely seen art and music. Over the years, the Tutti Frutti stage hosted trailblazing Mexican punk bands like Las Insólitas Imágenes de Aurora (who later became Caifanes), Café Tacvba, and Maldita Vecindad, allowing a space for artists to experiment, collaborate, and showcase their work. Laura Ponte and Alex Albert’s 2022 documentary traces the history of the venue as told by fellow patrons, whom they found on a 10k+ member Facebook group dedicated to the long-defunct venue. The film is a fitting testament to how important small-scale, DIY art spaces are in cultivating art and culture.
Curtis wants it to be known that this is not just a film festival, but an immersive experience with workshops, speakers, art installations, and vendors set up throughout the Egyptian. The directors of both films will be present for filmmaking workshops: Ponte (Tutti Frutti), teaching guerrilla filmmaking, Gustavo Gamou (Sex Panchitos), hosting a “DIY Protagonist Lab,” and public artist Hernan Paganini leading the “Inner Landscapes” workshop, walking participants through “returning to a primitive and ludic state.”
“As a new program, we’re doing it small and not running a full week,” says Curtis. But moving forward, both Curtis and Cotera hope to expand their programming and become a “reference point for Latin American cinema in the Pacific Northwest,” while maintaining the festival’s independent identity. “SOMH always approaches its programs one at a time,” he continues. “That way, if Danette wants to do it differently, she can walk away. But we’re hoping that we can work together and make it an annual festival.” As for the vacant theater, the future is still uncertain. “I really wish I could just turn on the lights and be like, ‘Come and rent it!’” says Curtis. “It’s a beautiful space, and I really love it.”
Attend FIN de FEST April 9–11 at the Egyptian Theater.
