Revenge of the SIFF: Film festival still racks up record numbers

Umbrellas bloomed and the sun shone during the final weekend of the 31st annual Seattle International Film Festival, which featured unpredictable weather, a record number of guests, the North American premiere of Gus Van Sant's "Last Days" and the traditional presentation of the Golden Space Needle awards (see box).

SIFF, which began back on May 19, was home to 348 films this year (182 features, 55 full-length documentaries, 111 shorts). Festival director Helen Loveridge reported an approximate 5 percent overall increase in ticket sales; a far cry from last year's record 23 percent increase, but still encouraging, particularly in a year when "Star Wars" bumped the festival from its usual downtown venues.

"I think the change of venues has affected us," said Loveridge last week. "Although people are getting used to it, I really am keen that next year we have a downtown presence."

Festivalgoers discovered new neighborhoods this year, away from the fest's usual downtown/Capitol Hill core: the University District (the Neptune) and Queen Anne (the Uptown and Experience Music Project's JBL Theater, where a number of music documentaries screened). There was perhaps less running from theater to theater (easier to do when they're all within a mile) and more camping out at one location to enjoy the day's offerings.

Almost 70,000 ballots were cast for the festival's audience-voted Golden Space Needle awards, with the big prize going to Luis Mandoki's "Innocent Voices." Gregg Araki was named best director for "Mysterious Skin" (and, though not in town, gave a charming acceptance speech at the awards brunch, via a cell phone held up to a microphone at the podium). "Murderball," Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's high-energy look at quad rugby, won best documentary, and the acting awards went to Joan Allen ("Yes") and Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Mysterious Skin").

Hundreds of guests — filmmakers, actors, producers, visiting press — attended this year's festival, including a record 95 on the final weekend alone. Many presented Q&A's after the screening of their films: Paul Reiser, formerly of "Mad About You," entertained the crowd after the screening of "The Thing About My Folks"; a trio of athletes from "Murderball" took the stage at the Egyptian on a special ramp.

Peter Sarsgaard and Joan Allen were the subject of memorable tributes on the opening weekend of the festival. Sarsgaard, his head shaved near-bald for a movie role, remembered with amusement that in his first role on screen "Sean Penn was raping and killing me" (in "Dead Man Walking"), but that Penn took him out to dinner beforehand. Of his breakthrough role, as the murderous John Lotter in "Boys Don't Cry," Sarsgaard said, "It was fun to intimidate someone. I'd never done it." But, more seriously, he discussed his approach to playing villainous characters. "I do believe," he said, "that everyone is worthy of love. The idea of loving your enemy is definitely part of my acting."

Joan Allen's plane was delayed, so she was nearly an hour late for her appearance on the Broadway Performance Hall stage. Still in her sneakers and khakis, she rushed onto the stage and charmed the crowd (nearly all of whom had patiently waited for her), discussing her past as a "failed cheerleader," the change in her career after her success in "Nixon," her "National Geographic"-style nude scene in "Off the Map," and the difficulty of learning her lines as an icy CIA agent in last year's thriller "The Bourne Supremacy."

"It was the least emotional dialogue I'd ever done," she said. "I couldn't memorize it. It was like memorizing the phone book. It made me realize how much I rely on emotional links to memorize lines."

On screen, my favorite SIFF moments this year included a marvelous lineup of documentaries. "Murderball," "Rock School" (whose young musicians treated SIFF-goers to a post-screening concert, featuring guests Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Ann Wilson of Heart), "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Grizzly Man," "Tell Them Who You Are," — all of which open in theaters this summer — received crowded screenings and much acclaim, and rightfully so. I was also moved by "Twist of Faith," Kirby Dick's exploration of the impact of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, and by "The Loss of Nameless Things," Bill Rose's haunting story of an injured playwright's road back to creativity.

Among the fictional films, my favorites included "My Summer of Love," "Letter to an Unknown Woman," "Yes," "Brothers," and "The Dying Gaul" (which had perhaps the best acting ensemble of the festival, with Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, and Campbell Scott). And the made-in-Seattle drama "Police Beat" showed off our photogenic city, to often lovely effect. (But the usual SIFF complaint continues: a few too many mediocre American independent films, particularly in the final week.)

Two archival films were a special treat this year. "Nightmare," a 1956 noir starring Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy and Virginia Christine (better known as Mrs. Olson, the Folger's Coffee lady), was a twisty, delightfully low-rent exploration of a murder, with a couple of jazzy songs (and a very blond herring) thrown in.

And "The Circus," the 1928 Charlie Chaplin film in which the Tramp finds himself under the big top (dealing with monkeys, tightropes and one very excitable pony), was a delight — particularly since it attracted filmgoers of all ages to its two crowded screenings. At its packed debut at the Neptune last weekend, I sat near a little boy of perhaps four. I'm sure he didn't know who Charlie Chaplin was, but he knew what funny was, and his delighted giggles still ring in my ears. For moments like that — thank you, SIFF. See you on the (rainy) sidewalk next year.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com