Seattle International Film Festival: Clear your calendar

It's getting so close, you can almost smell the popcorn. The 34th annual Seattle International Film Festival will unspool May 22 through June 15 at a number of venues around town. Opening night, at McCaw Hall, will feature Stuart Townsend's "Battle In Seattle," a drama about the 1999 WTO protests partly filmed in Seattle. Writer/director Townsend and stars Charlize Theron and Martin Henderson are scheduled to attend. The closing-night film, at Cinerama June 14, will be "Bottle Shock," Randall Miller's drama about winemaking in '70s California, starring Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman.

And in between the two will be approximately 246 more features and 169 short films from around the world — 59 countries, to be exact.

Among the festival's special guests will be filmmaker John Waters, who will be interviewed on stage at Benaroya Hall in an event co-presented with Seattle Arts & Lectures June 3, and will present his 2000 comedy "Cecil B. DeMented" at the Egyptian.

SIFF co-founder Dan Ireland ("The Whole Wide World") will be present for the world premiere of his new film, "Jolene," based on a story by E.L. Doctorow and starring Jessica Chastain and Dermot Mulroney. Julia Sweeney ("God Said Ha!") comes to the festival with her new one-woman filmed performance piece, "Letting Go of God." Acclaimed animator Bill Plympton, a native of Portland (and a two-time Oscar nominee), will attend with his new film, "Idiots and Angels."

As always, SIFF will showcase the efforts of a number of local filmmakers. Lynn Shelton, whose 2006 debut "We Go Way Back" was a prizewinner at the Slamdance Film Festival, returns with her second made-in-Seattle film, "My Effortless Brilliance." Other features with local pedigrees are Jared Drake's comedy "Visioneers," starring Judy Greer and Internet comedian Zach Galifianakis; Joe Lia's drama "Sweet Thing"; Rufus Williams' psychological thriller "Butterfly Dreaming"; and Cornelia Duryé Moore's drama "The Dark Horse."

Documentaries with local ties include Tiffany Burns' "Mr. Big," about the 1994 Bellevue murder case for which Sebastian Burns (the filmmaker's brother) and Atif Rafay were convicted in 2004; Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin's "Good Food," about local efforts in sustainable farming and agriculture; Johnny Symons' "Ask Not," a look at gay Americans in the military; John Andreas' "Creative Nature," a profile of glass artist William Morris; Linas Phillips' "Great Speeches from a Dying World," in which members of Seattle's homeless community recite famous speeches from history; and Deirdre Timmons' "A Wink and a Smile," a look at the local burlesque scene.

The festival plans several musical events. "In the Land of the Headhunters," a 1914 silent melodrama by photographer Edward S. Curtis, will screen, accompanied by a performance by descendants of the original Kwakwaka'wakw cast, and the original orchestral score. The event, co-presented with Seattle Theatre Group and the Burke Museum, takes place at the Moore as part of the theater's centennial celebration (it hosted the film's original Seattle run 94 years ago).

"Alexander Nevsky," a 1938 epic drama from pioneering Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, will screen with its original Sergei Prokofiev score performed by the Seattle Symphony, at Benaroya Hall. And the Sub Pop indie rock band the Autumn Leaf will present a new original live score to a silent-film classic, F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise," in a special evening at the Triple Door.

Many of the festival's trademark events will return: the Secret Festival (hush-hush Sunday screenings of movies whose titles can't be announced); a midnight-movie series; the all-ages Films4Families matinees; and themed programs such as Planet Cinema (environmental subject matter), Face the Music (music documentaries) and Alternate Cinema (experimental works). The festival's usual Saturday-night gala screenings, however, have been replaced with one midfest Centerpiece Gala (Sean McGinly's comedy "The Great Buck Howard") and a Gay-La featuring C. Jay Cox's "Kiss the Bride."

Festival venues include SIFF Cinema, Egyptian, Harvard Exit, Pacific Place and the Uptown, with Cinerama hosting screenings over the final weekend and Northwest Film Forum presenting the Alternate Cinema series during the first week. Unlike the past couple of years, there will be no Eastside screenings.

Tickets go on sale to festival members Thursday (the same day a complete guide to the festival will appear as a Seattle Times pullout section); the general public may buy tickets starting May 11. Prices range from $850 for a full series pass (a jump from $800 last year) to $57 for the popular Cinematic Six-Pack to $11 for individual regular screenings.

For festival updates as this cinematic behemoth draws nearer, see www.siff.net.

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