Though I hadn't reckoned on the rain, I'd carefully planned on arriving the day after the gala celebrating Nicole Kidman, Samuel Jackson, Kevin Spacey, and others. I knew that even if I met them, or if I got their attention as they paddled up the soaking red carpet, I've really got nothing to say to movie stars. The festival itself is famous for showing as many of the foreign-film Oscar submissions as they can get their hands on, which is great, but PSIFF was bigger and more diverse than I thought it would be. I shouldn't have been surprised, as this is where Darryl Macdonald ended up after leaving Seattle's film festival. Even though the board of directors seem more excited about the stars than the movies, Macdonald has kept the festival true to its movie-loving core.
Behind the scenes, the staff included a ton of nomadic film-festival folks from Seattle, from Director of Programming Carl Spence to theater managers to those working in print traffic, guest relations, and such. I must admit, it was nice to fall into the familial embrace of the Seattle Mafia, if only because it meant I always had someone to talk to at the parties. The festival looked to me like it was running smoothly--outside of one or two non-Seattle people who hadn't worked festivals and were in a bit over their heads--so I was surprised to hear about an employee's tell-all blog that was dishing dirt and creating quite the scandal, and I was disappointed that it was taken offline before I could read it.
There were even more Seattlites at the festival. Garrett Bennett brought his SIFF favorite A Relative Thing to town, and it looks like he's gearing up to make another movie this spring. Meanwhile, Jon Ward had the world premiere of his heartfelt and engaging tribute to the author most famous for writing Rebel Without a Cause, called Going Through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern. Still teaching in Seattle, Stern is a national treasure. I also want to give a shout-out to East Coast filmmaker Matt Kohn, whose documentary Call It Democracy is an engaging look at election reform; also because he makes a good drinking buddy. Next week, Sundance!
