It’s that time of year again: The daffodils have bloomed, the trees have leaves again, and the Seattle International Film Festival is back on our doorstep. 

The festival is a little smaller than it has been in the past, which is no surprise. SIFF has been through a hell of a year, from layoffs to ousted leadership to closing down the Egyptian. So before we dove into the film lineup, Stranger contributor Chase Hutchinson asked them the question we all want to know the answer to: SIFF, you good? (They’re not, but staff say they’re feeling optimistic.). 

And then there’s the lineup. It’s rich with locally made films this year, and we’re really excited about some of them. Two titles we are still talking about include Valerie Veatch’s chilling film about the origins of AI and its connections to eugenics and Chezik Tsunoda’s stunning, nuanced documentary about Seattle’s homeless crisis.

But this issue isn’t all about SIFF. Remember in our March issue, when we found out that a McDonald’s might move into the old Broadway Theater/Rite Aid space on Capitol Hill? Arts editor Emily Nokes begged the city to have a little more imagination—an arts space, or a skating rink, perhaps? But since we don’t have faith that whimsy will trump McDonald’s cold, hard cash, this month we tried a different angle. Make it whatever you want, but leave us the sign. You’ll see our pitch to the Landmarks Preservation Board: We need density, we need progress, we need storefronts that aren’t empty. But we also should be able to see pieces of our city’s history. 

In the spirit of preservation, we’re also honoring a space that wasn’t saved: the Old Fire House. The all-ages space in Redmond was a rare, essential space for teens in the Aughts, and Jas Keimig went to its goodbye party. 

And as always, we have an arts section bursting at the seams: an interview with our homecoming queen Jane Don’t, after her incredible performance on RuPaul’s Drag Race, a haunted exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum, a calendar with everything you could possibly want to do this month, and more. 

See you in the SIFF lines, passholes.

This Issue Brought to You by:

Panic, but not pain
Lopsided DIY Breasts
Perfect breasts
Breasts that have had a long day
The Enya-coded interior design of the mammography wing at Virginia Mason
Learning in therapy that procrastination is a manifestation of never being taught you’re worthy of basic self-care as a child, and growing up believing you deserve that disruptive chaos.
Once again, Adderall
Iris Murdoch
Using a cold Strawberry Kiwi Capri-Sun as a post-cry eyemask
Mini Tug
Pumpkin head essay face
The 45-hour-long Sylvia Plath biography audiobook
Daiso musubi maker
Nearly 18,000 angry hockey fans chanting “Ref, you suck!” no fewer than seven times during the Torrent’s final game of the season because what the fuck, refs, that wasn’t hooking or tripping, and you absolutely missed a boarding call!
Pondering at the beach
Balls in Chicago
Kuck Patel
The Neglected Daughters of Twinks
The angry hornet that refused to leave the office, no matter how many windows we opened, until, finally, Hunter, who was the only person tall enough to reach the bee’s flight path, trapped it in a cup and released it outside against its will
$1k from 10 gentlemen
“Mushrooms only / ketamine weekends”
Hentai afternoons with a margarita in my hand
The two wolves inside of me that are going on strike
Winning Monopoly by eating all the money
Breaking all my toes playing “roly poly” with my cousins
The way Cole Escola says “eat ass” in Season 3, Episode 5 of Difficult People
Baking the Pastry Project’s recipe for Brown Butter Blondies twice in one weekend
A mother beagle who does not like her son very much

COVER ARTWORK
Ghostroke
www.ghostroke.com