Coming soon: an epic Seattle International Film Festival

Bigger than an IMAX screen! Longer than a Tarantino movie! Yes, the Seattle International Film Festival is just around the corner. The annual movie marathon, in its 33rd edition, gets under way May 24 with a gala opening-night screening at McCaw Hall of the coming-of-age comedy "Son of Rambow," with its British writer/director Garth Jennings ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") in attendance. Several hundred movies later (including more than 60 world, North American or U.S. premieres), the festival will conclude June 17 at Cinerama with Laurent Tirard's "Molière."

Among the festival's many special events is a tribute to Welsh-born actor Anthony Hopkins, who will attend the festival and will introduce "Slipstream," a fantasy drama that he wrote and directed, on May 29. On the 30th, SIFF will honor Hopkins with a screening of the 1993 Merchant/Ivory film "The Remains of the Day," in which Hopkins brilliantly played a reticent yet soulful butler in pre-World War II England. The evening will include an onstage interview with Hopkins, a clips collection and the presentation of a lifetime achievement award.

"Evening," a drama in which a dying woman looks back on her life, will make its local premiere at SIFF. Featuring a powerhouse cast (Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave), the film will screen as a gala June 16, with director Lajos Koltai in attendance. Other SIFF Saturday-night galas include "Battle of Wits," a historical epic from Hong Kong filmmaker Jacob Cheung; "Two Days in Paris," directed by, written by and starring Julie Delpy; and Lars von Trier's "The Boss of It All."

The festival continues its emphasis on documentaries (about 60 overall), some of which are included in the special sections Face the Music (films with musical subject matter) and Planet Cinema (films focused on environmental issues). SIFF will include a wide selection of films for all ages, with the Films4Families series returning as well as the FutureWave section, aimed at moviegoers ages 13-17. Archival offerings include a Saturday swashbuckler series; a film noir mini-series including "A Cottage in Dartmoor," "The Big Combo" and "The Damned Don't Cry" (presented by noir expert Eddie Muller); and the locally filmed 1933 hit "Tugboat Annie," starring a very young Robert Young and Maureen O'Sullivan.

Local filmmakers will be represented with two feature films. John Jeffcoat's comedy "Outsourced," about a salesman who must travel overseas to train his replacement in India, has been an award winner at several film festivals, including the Palm Springs International Film Festival earlier this year. Dan Gildark's H.P. Lovecraft-inspired "Cthulhu," filmed in Seattle and Astoria, will have its world premiere at SIFF. A number of local documentaries will also be included in the festival, including AJ Schnack's biography, "Kurt Cobain About a Son," a nominee at this year's Independent Spirit Awards.

Films screen daily at five theaters throughout the festival: SIFF Cinema (at McCaw Hall), Egyptian, Harvard Exit, Pacific Place and Neptune — and for one week (May 25-31) at Northwest Film Forum. (Broadway Performance Hall, long a SIFF presence, is not part of the festival this year.) The festival is also expanding its presence on the Eastside, screening for 18 days (May 31-June 17) at the Lincoln Square Cinemas in Bellevue.

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