Local Sightings
To prove that it does more than just give lip service to the local scene, every year the Northwest Film Forum presents a series called Local Sightings, chock full of good, Seattle-based stuff. Things get rolling on Thursday the 19th with the Super-8 Open Screening: Year in Review, a collection of some of the best short, small-gauge films. That will be followed by the world premiere screening of Benny, Marty and Jerkbeast. Spun off from the trash-talking public access TV show, the press kit says, “They will show the world what life is like when you live without boundaries!” What more could you expect from the makers of Polterchrist?
Friday kicks off with Shorts I: Narrative, which includes gems like Kodachrome Confidential (which I wrote) and Carboy (which I worked on), along with the rat-tastic eRATicate, the boisterous See You in Spokane, the oddly unresolved 3:45, the sweet Umbrella, and a handful of other ones I’m curious to see. That’ll be followed by a long-awaited public screening of Kris Kristensen’s ghost story Inheritance, which features the most beautiful credit sequence you’ll see all year, though I must admit that for my quirky taste, the story could have gotten away with a couple more darker twists by the end.
On Saturday, three features will be shown. Though The Woman Chaser is not locally made, director Rob Devor has since become a local, to the point where he’s teaming up with Charles Mudede to make the latest Start-to-Finish film, Police Beat, in town. Besides, The Woman Chaser is a great film, based on a Charles Willeford novel featuring the deadpan hilarious Patrick Warburton (Puddy from Seinfeld). Afterward comes the charming First Aid for Choking by Megan Griffiths, about a small-town girl overcoming her fear of relationships and dealing with the fucked-up-ness of her divorced parents, particularly her father. Then comes the Troma-esque thrill ride of Sue Corcoran and Angie Louise’s Gory Gory Hallelujah, which follows four Jesus wannabes who set out on a cross-country trek but fall into a small-town conspiracy.
Sunday finishes things off with a screening of Jamie Hook’s first feature, The Naked Proof. It’s a corker of a film–sometimes hilarious, sometimes a narrative mess–that examines the false delusions of a philosophy professor. That’s followed by Shorts II: Experimental, where I’ll put my money where my mouth is by showing my brand-spankin’-new film Eternal Return to Sender. Other great (some bastards might say better) films will show with it. Finally, there’s Shorts III: Documentary, which features a documentary about our city’s glorious Typing Explosion girls, and two other films. And to think that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as SIFF showed some features not included in this list. Damn! Filmmakers in town have been busy!