May 24, 2007
33rd Annual Seattle International Film Festival coverage
May 24 - June 17
The 33rd annual Seattle International Film Festival kicks off today with the Sundance refugee, Son of Rambow. Son of Rambow made the rounds at Sundance with - well, at least according to Seattle critic Kathleen Murphy - polarized reactions. Regardless, the IndieWood subsidiary, Paramount Vantage, snagged it for $7 million - the biggest purchase of that fest.
Suffice to say, I won't be seeing Son of Rambow (hell, I didn't know what it was when I initially heard of the title; I had assumed that it was another sequel to the Sylvester Stallone franchise). The fact that the film's producers refused to show it during press screenings did not boost any anticipation on my part.
I will, however, be seeing some familiar film festival entries. These include: Hong Sang-soo's Woman on the Beach (New York), Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century (Venice), Tsai Ming-liang's I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Venice), and Corneliu Porumboiu's 12:08 East of Bucharest (Cannes).
Keep an eye on this entry, as I will keep you updated on all the 15 films I shall be seeing at SIFF.
SIFF Reviews so far (6/17 update):
Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006)
12:08 East of Bucharest (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006)
After This Our Exile (Patrick Tam, 2006)
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2006)
No Regret (Hee-il Leesong, 2006)
Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
Congorama (Philippe Falardeau, 2006)
Grimm Love (Martin Weisz, 2006)
Eternal Summer (Leste Chen, 2006)
