Today's SIFF schedule

Today's schedule

Egyptian

4:15 p.m. — "Black White + Gray": James Crump's efficient documentary profiles the late art collector Sam Wagstaff, who devoted much of his life to accumulating a landmark collection of 19th- and 20th-century photography. (Sold to the Getty in 1984 for $5 million, the collection is now considered priceless.) Crump gives little time to Wagstaff's long, complex relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (who deserves his own documentary) or his friendship with punk-rock artist Patti Smith; instead, the collector himself emerges. In archival footage, Wagstaff movingly describes his love for photography: "the pleasure of looking and the pleasure of seeing, like people dancing through an open window." 77 minutes. (Moira Macdonald)

6:30 p.m. — "The Bubble": Openly gay soldiers? No big deal in the modern Israeli army. But when one of them falls for a Palestinian boy at a checkpoint, a same-sex variation on "Romeo and Juliet" is set in motion. Complicating the forbidden relationship are the romantic adventures of the Israeli boy's roommates, one of whom has long been in love with him. He's oblivious to this and much else, living in "the bubble" that keeps him youthful and optimistic, while the world goes to hell around him. The director and cowriter, Eytan Fox, who made the remarkable "Walk on Water" (and is being celebrated as one of the festival's "emerging masters"), is at his best here. 117 minutes. Director Fox is scheduled to attend the screening. (John Hartl)

9:30 p.m. — "The Missing Star"

Harvard Exit

Festival facts


Seattle International Film Festival runs through Sunday at SIFF Cinema (321 Mercer St.), the Egyptian (801 E. Pine St.), Harvard Exit (807 E. Roy St.), Neptune (1303 N.E. 45th St.), Pacific Place (600 Pine St.) and Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.), all in Seattle; and at Lincoln Square Cinemas (700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue).

Main box office: Pacific Place, second level. Eastside ticket office: Lincoln Square Cinemas. Ticket prices are $5-$10; various passes also available; 206-324-9996 or www.seattlefilm.org.

For a complete schedule, visit www.seattlefilm.org or pick up The Seattle Times' film-festival guide at any Western Washington Tully's Coffee location or SIFF screening venue. Please call ahead (206-324-9996) to verify schedule; screenings are subject to change.

The Seattle Times provides daily coverage of the festival in Northwest Life (Mondays-Thursdays and Saturdays), Ticket (Fridays) and Entertainment & the Arts (Sundays), or online at www.seattletimes.com/movies.

5 p.m. — "La León"

7 p.m. — "Angels in the Dust": "We spend a lot of time crying," Marion Cloete says in Louise Hogarth's haunting documentary about the impact of HIV/AIDS on South African children. Cloete and her family years ago left Johannesburg to found a village orphanage for hundreds of children, many HIV-positive. This subject matter, which also includes child rape (a horrific myth says that sex with a virgin cures AIDS), is devastating, and Hogarth's camera finds the tragedy in the eyes of the orphans, many of whom have grown too old too soon. Audiences will be drawn, though, by the children's irresistible spirits and by Cloete's fierce blend of goodness and outrage. 95 minutes. Director Hogarth is scheduled to attend the screening. (M.M.)

9:30 p.m. — "Lovely by Surprise": Director Kirt Gunn is scheduled to attend the screening.

Lincoln Square Cinemas

4 p.m. — "Dry Season"

6:30 p.m. — "Joshua": A little sibling rivalry can be a dangerous thing in George Ratliff's spooky tale of a 9-year-old New York genius who gradually makes life hell for his family after a baby sister arrives. Mom goes off her meds, Dad starts losing it at the office, an evangelical grandmother turns fanatical, and a musical-comedy-loving uncle quietly discovers the depths of the boy's manipulative spirit. A clever mixture of "The Omen" and "The Bad Seed," the movie is always on the edge of becoming ridiculous, but the cool plot twists and the stellar cast (Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Dallas Roberts) rein it in whenever it threatens to spin out of control. 105 minutes. (J.H.)

9:30 p.m. — "Frozen City": In the opening scenes of this initially engrossing Finnish production, an angry Helsinki cab driver rants about the filth of the city where he works, hoping that a giant blizzard will cover its sins with a blanket of white. He could be Robert De Niro in "Taxi Driver," and in fact director Aku Louhimies encourages the comparison by pulling out a "Taxi Driver" poster and throwing in a "You talkin' to me?" sequence. But what would De Niro's character have done if he'd had a wife and three kids, and she kicked him out because he'd been cheating? Unfortunately, the answer is not that interesting. 90 minutes. (J.H.)

Neptune

4 p.m. — "Falkenberg Farewell": Watching Jesper Ganslandt's loose, hand-held-camera drama is an exercise in frustration: It's very, very slow, until it suddenly becomes gripping and even lyrical, and then it's over quickly. It's the tale of a group of young men (overgrown boys, really) facing adulthood in their Swedish town, and nothing much happens for most of the film. Maybe that's true for the town, but it doesn't make for compelling viewing — until the end, when it's too late for the film to overcome the torpor it's created. 88 minutes. (M.M.)

7 p.m. — "Cthulhu" : Director Daniel Gildark and actor Jason Cottle are scheduled to attend the screening.

9:30 p.m. — "Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls": Directors Lainy Bagwell and Lacey Leavitt are scheduled to attend the screening.

Neumos

8 p.m. — "Face the Music Rock Party 2007"

Pacific Place

Cinema

2 p.m. — "7 Years"

4:15 p.m. — "The Bothersome Man"

6:30 p.m. — "Expired": "I'm one of the most hated people in the world. Nobody likes me," murmurs Claire (Samantha Morton, speaking in uncertain whispers) in a voice-over. She's a sweet-natured L.A. meter maid, and she's the center of Cecilia Miniucchi's uneven comedy/drama about a messed-up love affair. The performances, particularly Morton and Jason Patric as the angry colleague with whom she becomes entangled, are very strong, but the story becomes long and oppressive — you don't want to see these people together for another minute. But Morton movingly creates an endearing character; in her bad makeup and sadly scraped-back hair, she's a wistful beauty. 110 minutes. Director Miniucchi is scheduled to attend the screening. (M.M.)

9:30 p.m. — "Vacation"

SIFF Cinema

4:30 p.m. — "How is Your Fish Today?"

7 p.m. — "Nömadak Tx": Director Igor Otxoa is scheduled to attend the screening.

9:30 p.m. — "Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot": Director Todd Harrison Williams is scheduled to attend the screening.