Ellington

The University of Washington Student Newspaper Thursday, May 16, 1996

Arts & Entertainment

The Seattle International Film Festival, 5/16-6/9 ticket information: 325-6828festival schedules available at Starbucks Douglas Gritzmacher Daily Staff Image

In its 22-year history, the Seattle International Film Festival has built a reputation for screening world premiers such as Mel Gibson's Braveheart last year and also for enlisting some big name talent on the guest list. Set to make world premiers this year include John Turtletaub's Phenomenon (starring John Travolta) and Roger Christian's Underworld. Among others, Danny Boyle's (Shallow Grave) new film Trainspotting along with Bo Widerberg's Oscar-nominated All Things Fair are set to make their U.S. premiers. Jim Jarmusch and John Sayles, two of the greatest directors of our time, are tentatively scheduled to appear with their films.The festival this year has chosen to screen its biggest-name film, Robert Altman's much-anticipated '30s period piece Kansas City, on closing night rather than opening night, choosing instead to open the festival with The Whole Wide World by first-time director and SIFF co-founder Dan Ireland. The festival also seems heavily geared towards foreign cinema, with almost 90 films from outside the U.S. including a restored print of the 1964 French musical Umbrellas of Cherbourg. There is also a strong list of local pieces making the festival, including Howard Goldberg's Emma (yet another Jane Austen adaptation), the Seattle rock-scene documentary Hype!, and director Ann Copple's work-in-progress, Crocodile Tears.While film festivals generally screen a lot of top-notch work, the law of averages does come into play when some 200-odd films are scheduled to play. In an effort to help you save money and getting the most of the SIFF, the Glass Onion will be running reviews of a few of the films that will be playing in the upcoming weeks. Schedules can be picked up at any Starbucks; ticket information is available by calling 325-6828.

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