Seattle International Film Fest showcases local films

This year's Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) will have even more of a local flavor. The 35th annual festival, which begins next month, will feature a record number of films from and about the Northwest, with 16 features and documentaries and 13 short films.

SIFF's Centerpiece Gala this year will be Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton's comedy "Humpday," which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year and was acquired there for distribution by Magnolia Pictures. It will have a regular run in theaters this summer but will make its local premiere at SIFF June 5.

Other prominent locally filmed features include two more Sundance selections, David Russo's "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" and Bobcat Goldthwait's comedy "World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams and filmed in Wallingford; as well as Craig Johnson's tale of a Northwest rocker "True Adolescents," with Mark Duplass (who also stars in "Humpday") and recent Academy Award nominee Melissa Leo ("Frozen River").

Among the festival's local documentaries are Sandy Cioffi's "Sweet Crude," about the oil industry in the Niger Delta; Ronald Colby's "Pirate for the Sea," about marine environmentalist Paul Watson; Anne H. Bass's "Dancing Across Borders," about Cambodian dancer Sokvannara Sar's journey to becoming a company member at Pacific Northwest Ballet; and Eric Johannsen's "It Takes a Cult," about the Seattle communal-living movement The Israel Family (a.k.a. The Love Family).

The festival runs May 21 through June 14 at a variety of locations throughout Seattle. For more information, see www.siff.net, or see the complete program schedule as a special pullout section of The Times on May 7.

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