Today's SIFF schedule

Movies listed without capsule descriptions did not screen in advance for critics.

Egyptian, 801 E. Pine St., Seattle

11 a.m. — "Secret Festival"

1:30 p.m. — "Bluebeard"

3:45 p.m. — "The Cove": You'd need a heart of granite to resist this shattering documentary about the slaughter of dolphins by secretive Japanese fishermen. When a group of activists smuggle themselves in to record the methodical killings in the picturesque cove of Taiji, Japan, the seas run red with dolphin blood. The images, especially the shots of dolphins trying to escape their fate, are the stuff of nightmares. — John Hartl

6:45 p.m. — "Pop Star on Ice": If you're not already a fan of U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir, the first half of this documentary about the preening, flamboyant but gifted athlete won't get you there. But watching Weir slowly turn despondency (over not fulfilling his potential on the ice) into grown-up action — taking himself more seriously — is undeniably moving. — Tom Keogh

9:30 p.m. — "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle": There are some lovely, imaginative moments in David Russo's locally made fantasy/comedy: a bottle scooting along the chilly blue of Puget Sound; calligraphy words floating from a shower wall onto a body. But its message of hope and rebirth (demonstrated quite literally) gets a little lost in a sometimes meandering screenplay. Highly original, though, and worth a look. — Moira Macdonald

Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St., Seattle

11 a.m. — "The Third Man"

1:30 p.m. — "Dodsworth": One of the great, relatively unsung Hollywood movies of the 1930s, William Wyler's 1936 adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel stars Walter Huston as a retiring American businessman whose marriage unravels when his wife (Ruth Chatterton) reveals her true nature on a trip to Europe. — J. H.

4 p.m. — "Welcome"

6:30 p.m. — "My Dear Enemy": A slow-paced, oddly captivating South Korean romantic comedy about a forced reunion of ex-lovers facing a tough economy. They haven't seen each other in a year when she tracks him down at a racetrack to collect the $3,400 he owes her. Director Lee Yoon-kioften succeeds in giving the story a broader impact by suggesting that (in the words of one character) "the whole world's struggling." — J.H.

9:30 p.m. — "$9.99"

Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., Seattle

11 a.m. — "About Elly"

1:45 p.m. — "Shrink"

4:30 p.m. — "Maradona by Kusturica"

7 p.m. — "Skin"

9:30 p.m. — "The Anarchist's Wife"

Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle

6:30 p.m. — "Our Beloved Month of August"

9:30 p.m. — "Film Ist. A Girl & A Gun"

Pacific Place, 600 Pine St., fourth floor, Seattle

11 a.m. — "Mamma Moo and Crow"

1:15 p.m. — "Treeless Mountain": Reminiscent of Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Nobody Knows" (but more hopeful), Korean-American filmmaker So-yong Kim's lovely film follows two soft-faced little girls, ages 6 and 4, coping with the absence of their mother. With the camera at a child's-eye-view, the story unfolds both heartbreaking and gentle, as the older child transitions from quiet misery to acceptance. At the end, the girls sing about wanting to climb a mountain; they don't realize — but we do — that they already have. — M.M.

4 p.m. — "I'm No Dummy": Hello? Did I really just watch a documentary about ventriloquists? Even an aging baby boomer pleased to revisit old TV clips of Paul Winchell and his wooden partner, Jerry Mahoney, has to wonder how this cable-fodder puff piece ended up on a big screen. — T.K.

6:45 p.m. — "Tulpan"

9:15 p.m. — "Raging Sun, Raging Sky"

SIFF Cinema, McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Seattle

11 a.m. — "The Beaches of Agnès"

2 p.m. — "Departures": Reminiscent of "Six Feet Under," this Japanese Oscar winner begins with an unusual death, then proceeds to focus on a young funeral director who takes pride in his work. The buildup to an emotional ending can seem awfully calculated at times, but if you're in the mood for an elegant tear-jerker, the picture certainly delivers. — J.H.

5 p.m. — "Favela on Blast"

7 p.m. — " Morris: A Life with Bells On": Wave your hankies, bang your staves, tune your bells! This gentle spoof of Morris dancing maintains an absurd charm as it pokes along. The allure, mystique and politics of "the Morris," and English folk tradition, are all fully explored. The dangers of experimenting with a hidebound tradition fuel the plot. And some of the dances — "Leeks on Fire," anyone? — have lovely names. — Michael Upchurch

9:30 p.m. — "Bruce Springsteen: Live in Barcelona"

Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle

11 a.m. — "Can Go Through Skin"

1:30 p.m. — "Rumba"

4 p.m. — "Paper Heart"

6:30 p.m. — "Summer Hours": The new film by Olivier Assayas ("Irma Vep") is a wry study of family inheritance and the necessity, sometimes, of discarding the past. Sibling rivalry and love; disconnections due to work, distance and differences of sensibility; the ambiguous burden/privilege of owning art treasures — all are addressed in this quiet, perfectly paced film. Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling and Jérémie Renier shine as the siblings at odds. — Michael Upchurch

9:15 p.m. — "Stella"