The Seattle International Film Festival opens tonight, showcasing 203 films from 71 countries over the next 10 days (May 7-17). Those numbers are somewhat smaller than in past SIFF editions, due to multiple factors including the nonprofit’s recent budget struggles, the loss of the SIFF Egyptian venue and organizational layoffs. Not to mention the siren song of the 24-hour movie machines in our living rooms, laptops and phones.
But even at a more intimate scale, SIFF brings the chance (many chances!) to engage in one of society’s greatest communal art rituals and see films that offer reasons to marvel beyond the Marvel universe.
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Among the wealth of independent dramas, comedies, documentaries and straight-up weirdness, this 52nd edition includes two locally made films that illustrate the power of music as a cultural beacon and booster. Both docs begin with the engaging voice of an emcee over a microphone.
In Powwow People, the disembodied voice is that of Ruben Little Head, master of ceremonies for the 2023 Midsummer Traditional Powwow at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Discovery Park. Over the course of this daylong event, Little Head casually guides, encourages, jokes, cajoles, centers and celebrates with the participating drummers, singers, dancers and vendors.
Directed by Ferndale-born filmmaker Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians), Powwow People is a vérité-style documentary that carries viewers from the first stirrings of the outdoor gathering, as people arrive to set up booths, prepare regalia and raise a tipi, through loud outbursts of song, tinkling jingle-dresses, and quiet lulls while people are just hanging out, all the way to the final dance competitions.
If you’re someone who isn’t accustomed to these cultural events, it feels like a special invitation to walk around the grounds as a witness.
Don’t go in expecting much explanation. Rather than producing an educational film, Hopinka — known for his poetic art films — simply presents an immersive slice of contemporary Native life (complete with Seahawks fan gear). But it’s undeniably enlightening and in some moments mesmerizing, such as when the Black Lodge Singers (from White Swan, Wash.) chant a powerful song over a shared drum, as well as in the final 30 minutes, when dancers adorned in vibrant trappings retrace steps learned from “the old ways.”
In the Seattle-made documentary Radioheart: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole, the opening voiceover may be familiar. A career DJ who’s spent the past 25 years spinning discs (and digital files) at KEXP, Kevin Cole uses his unmistakable timbre to introduce listeners to new music from all over. Directed by Seattle filmmakers Peter Hilgendorf and Andrew Franks, the film showcases Cole’s mission — aka obsession — with music as a great gathering force.
From his early and rebellious days as a DJ in Minneapolis (Prince encounter included) to his stint with a then-fledgling music department at Amazon to his work in expanding KEXP’s global scope, the film traces Cole’s unstoppable drive. In addition to being a fun ride through music history (with a killer soundtrack), the film is at its most revealing when we glimpse the more complicated side of Cole — the man behind the mic — as in his recognition that he replaced a drug and alcohol addiction with workaholism.
A wealth of music knowledge and uplifting presence on air, Cole reveals a few cracks in the form of awkward pauses when asked about his own struggles with depression. In these moments he transcends the endearing emcee role to contain multitudes. Such raw, real flashes provide insight into his belief — his need to believe — that music is healing.
Every spring I get the sense that the local arts scene is vying with regional flora for the title of Most Blooming and Abundant. That’s a win-win for the citizenry, though the amount of competing arts events makes for some tough choices. Here are just a few for contemplation.
First, a few more fests
< BonsaiFest! (May 9-10). Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way is one of my top picks for cool places to take out-of-town visitors. If you haven’t been yet, it’s an outdoor museum full of artfully sculpted trees set within a grove of tall evergreens. The annual festival features demos on DIY bonsai, and this year, the opening of a new show of distinct bonsai from 15 different regions (I’ll report on the latter once I’ve taken a look).
< Seattle Art Book Fair (May 9-10). Combining a few of my favorite things — visual art, graphic design and delicious printed matter — this annual fair at Washington Hall is a playground for paper and independent-publishing fanatics.
< Spotlight North Studio Tour (May 16-17). We’ve entered the season of local studio tours, including this fifth annual exploration of artists’ spaces “up north.” Consult the map then venture forth to open studios in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park (you can do this, Seattleites!). There you’ll find work by painter Shruti Ghatak, ceramicist Laura Brodax (and her lovely shop Modern Glaze), printmaker Iskra Johnson and many others.
Next, some not-to-miss visual art shows
> It’s your last chance to catch longtime Seattle artist Norman Lundin’s show Landscapes, Mostly, and Other Things Too at Greg Kucera Gallery (through May 16). If you stop by tonight during Pioneer Square’s First Thursday festivities, you’ll find a respite from the madding crowds in his impossibly still paintings. There’s something both hyper-real and mysterious about his quiet interior spaces, where a milk carton, coffee pot, Windex bottle or piece of blue painter’s tape seems to vibrate with life amid gray walls.
> Also about to expire: Project NW: Ralph Pugay at Tacoma Art Museum (through May 17). Based in Portland and born in the Philippines, Pugay deploys loose, colorful strokes on paper and in projected animations to convey memories and connections. I saw the show recently and loved the absurdity and sweetness of the imagery — naked ladies on horseback, snakes with human faces, dogs dining by candlelight — especially as sited within stellar picks from TAM’s permanent collection. So much resonance across decades and styles!
> And for a one-day-only treat next weekend, beloved Seattle collage artist Deborah Faye Lawrence is staging Dee Dee Does Downsizing at The Grocery Studios on Beacon Hill (May 16, 1-7 p.m.). After a serious studio clean-out, Lawrence is selling more than 125 pieces from her 45 years of witty and wonderful work. Using cut-out “ransom note” letters to write feminist critiques within trippy and comical backgrounds, Lawrence serves up color and bite.
One last note regarding (hyper)local film news… I’m happy to report that we’ve just completed filming for the upcoming Season 3 of Art by Northwest! Launching on broadcast and online starting in August, Season 3 features eight artists from Swinomish Village to Twisp. Now our team is busy scripting narration and editing the new episodes — including my least favorite part: making painful cuts for time.
Meanwhile, I’m thrilled by the recent news that Art by Northwest Season 2 has received two Northwest Regional Emmy Award nominations, for Directing (my colleague Brianna Dorn) and Writing (me!). Fingers crossed.
Lastly: I’ll be on vacation next week, so arts writer Jas Keimig will be stepping in to provide you with plenty of local goodness. See you back here May 21.
Check out Season 2 of our tv show Art by Northwest, featuring in-depth interviews with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers who are creating captivating work across Washington state. Nominated for two Northwest Regional Emmy Awards.
