In the strange and sprawling documentary Seat of Empire, Shaun Scott—a young director who comes from North Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in history—blends instrumental music (mostly jazz) with strange/disturbing/beautiful historical footage of Seattle. The melding of the music with the images often has a hypnotic effect—the viewer becomes caught or lost in the kind of remix of history that DJ Spooky attempted in his experimental film Rebirth of a Nation. Tonight, Scott and I will talk about local history, race, critical theory, and the art of filmmaking: Scott is expected to side with Adorno, me with Benjamin. (Duwamish Longhouse, 4705 W Marginal Way SW, www
.seatofempirefilm.com. 7:30 pm, $5.)
