SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One

The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film selections from other regions of the world.

 

BREATHING

Austria
Directed by Karl Markovics

A jailed teenager finds a renewed sense of purpose after parole officer gives him a new job and new responsibilities. A film lauded for its day-to-day quality and appropriately posited scenes and shots, Breathing is less mind-blowing than it is simply a solid tale of what happens when life exerts pressure on an individual.

May 20th @ 8:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 23rd @ 3:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

 

BEL AMI

United Kingdom
Directed by Declan Donnellan

A period piece about love, seduction, power, and deception, as a former soldier seduces Paris’ most influential women. Based off a book by Guy de Maupassant and featuring Robert Pattinson, Christina Ricci, and Uma Thurman, amongst others.”

May 20th @ 9:00pm, Egyptian Theatre
May 27th @ Noon, SIFF Cinema Uptown


A CHECKOUT GIRL’S BIG ADVENTURES

France
Directed by Pierre Rambaldi

A comedy and light romantic tale about the ups and downs of being a supermarket check-out girl, full of feminine humor.

May 30th @ 4:00pm, Egyptian Theatre
June 8th @ 7:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
June 9th @ 12:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown


COUSINHOOD

Spain
Directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo

After his fiancé tells him she can’t marry him, Diego attempts to solve his problems in most unconventional and tragicomic of ways.

May 24th @ 6:00pm, Harvard Exit
May 28th @ 8:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 26th @ 12:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown


CRACKS IN THE SHELL

Germany
Directed by Christian Schwochow

Reserved drama student Josephine is chosen for a leading theatre role as a destructive temptress. As she attempts to understand the complexities of her character, Josephine herself takes on the character’s qualities, to her own dismay as well as enlightenment.

May 18th @ 9:30pm, AMC Pacific Place 11
May 22nd @ 9:00pm, Egyptian Theatre
May 25th @ 9:30pm, Everett Performing Arts Center


THE INTOUCHABLES

France
Directed by Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache

France’s second-highest grossing film of all time follows the comedic and true story of an unlikely friendship between Philippe, a wealthy, quadriplegic millionaire, and his live-in caretaker Driss, a young Senegalese immigrant from the projects. Certainly a feel-good story.

May 18th @ 6:30pm, Egyptian Theatre
May 20th @ 4:00pm, Egyptian Theatre


KILL ME

Germany/France
Directed by Emily Atef

Incapable of killing herself, an adolescent girl finds opportunity through an escaped and injured murderer hiding on the family farm. She offers to help him escape if he promises to kill her. As they flee and bond, she begins to have second thoughts.

May 19th @ 6:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 20th @ 3:00pm, Harvard Exit
May 22nd @ 4:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown


KING CURLING

Norway
Directed by Ole Endresen

A bizarre comedy in the vein of The Big Lebowski, disgraced curling champion mounts a comeback to pay for his former coaches medical costs.

May 23rd @ 9:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 30th @ 4:30pm @ SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 26th @ 9:45pm, Egyptian Theatre


MADRID, 1987

Spain
Directed by David Trueba

A professor and student find themselves strangely trapped, naked, in the same bathroom, and forge a peculiar bond as a result.

May 20th @ 1:30pm, AMC Pacific Place 11
May 22nd @ 6:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 30th @ 9:00pm, Harvard Exit


OSLO, 1931

Norway
Directed by Joachim Trier

“Recovering addict Anders searches over 24 hours in Oslo for meaning in old haunts, broken connections, and new possibilities in this beautifully haunting exploration of what it takes to be a living person. A masterpiece.”

May 19th @ 9:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 22nd @ 3:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown


POLISSE

France
Directed by Maïwenn

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes, Polisse tells the story of the French Police’s Child Protective Unit through a sprawling narrative in this character-driven drama.

May 18th @ 9:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 20th @ 2:30pm, Harvard Exit


ROSE

Poland
Directed by Wojciech Smarzowski

A gripping love story centered around the WWII persecution of the Mazurians, an indigenous people in Poland.

May 20th @ 1:30pm, Egyptian Theatre
May 22nd @ 9:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 25th @ 8:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown


TEDDY BEAR

Denmark
Directed by Mads Matthiesen

Bodybuilder Dennis has an impressive physique that masks his socially awkward nature. When his uncle marries a Thai girl, Dennis tries the same path in his search for love in this unlikely yet charming romantic adventure.

May 18th @ 4:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 24th @ 9:00pm, Egyptian Theatre


THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH

United Kingdom/France
Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

Desire and deception abound in a fascinating connection between a novelist, played by Ethan Hawke, and a mysterious woman, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, whose role in his life he is to decide.

May 18th @ 9:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 21st @ 4:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Ω

Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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