So I’m in the midst of taking a couple days off of SIFF, but in the meantime, I’ve got some scoops. If you love seeing celebs at screenings (admit it: there’s a celebrity whore in all of us), here are some peeps in town this week that you may have heard of (and their respective movie screening they’ll be attending):
Doug Pray, director of Art & Copy
Iben Hjejle, actor in The Escape
Barbet Schroeder, director of Inju, the Beast in The Shadow
Sandy Cioffi, director of Sweet Crude (who made news not too long ago when she and some of her crew were arrested in Nigeria during the making of this film!)
Justin Kirk, actor in Four Boxes
Paul Giamatti, actor in Cold Souls
Also, today begins the week-long run of KIFF, aka SIFF at Kirkland Performance Center, for all you Eastsiders. I know a few people that take full advantage of the convenience of going to the Eastside screenings rather than tackling the dreaded bridges during rush hour. So have fun over there!
Also, SIFF announced the awards for Best Short Fiims at the end of a shorts marathon at SIFF Cinema over the weekend. Big congrats to the following winners:
SIFF Short Film Awards
Narrative Grand Jury Prize
“Short Term 12,” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, USA
Jury Statement: For its raw and honest depiction of life in a teen detention center, which blurs the lines between caretaker and patient, through exceptionally written characters, humorous dialogue, and a captivating sense of immediacy.
Special Jury Prizes
“Lowland Fell,” directed by Michael Kinirons, Ireland
“Next Floor,” directed by Denis Villeuneueve, Canada
Animation Grand Jury Prize
“Photograph of Jesus,” directed by Laurie Hill, United Kingdom
Jury Statement: For answering the public’s ludicrous questions with a playful flair and a firm hand in filmmaking.
Documentary Grand Jury Prize
“The Herd,” directed by Ken Wardrop, Ireland
Jury Statement: For its unflinching portrayal of interspecies bonding and its celebration of hopping.
One groovy new perk of winning SIFF short film honors (specifically the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative short film and Best Animation short film awards) is that these films are now qualified to enter the Short Films category of the Academy Awards®. Wahoo to that! Good luck, all!
