DEC 1-3 Fri-Sun at 2pm

THE HARMONIC RESISTANCE OF BÉLA TARR

SEATTLE PREMIERE

SATANTANGO

(Bela Tarr, Hungary, 1994, 35mm, 450 min., with two intermissions: one 15 min. long and the other an hour.)

Sponsored by University of Washington Russian & East European Studies

Tarr's masterpiece, shown here for the first time in Seattle, has been hailed as a definitive statement on the demise of communism in Eastern Europe. Over seven hours, this epic masterpiece gradually reveals the failure and destruction of a collective farm as seen from the perspective of different characters. Tarr creates a visually sublime, darkly comic and understatedly haunting film on complacency, duplicity and greed. SATANTANGO is intricately structured into twelve overlapping, discontinuous chapters that visually replicate the rhythm of the tango.$12/$7 NWFF Members

"Devastating, enthralling for every minute of its seven hours. I'd be glad to see it every year for the rest of my life." -Susan Sontag

"Brilliant, diabolical, sarcastic...impressed me more than any other film of the '90s." -Jonathan Rosenbaum, CHICAGO READER

DEC 1-3 Fri-Sun at 7pm, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE

THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS

(Albert & David Mayles, USA, 2006, BetaSP, 90 min.)

Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM

When Albert and David Maysles released GREY GARDENS in 1975, it became an instant classic. The film depicted the eccentric and reclusive Beales, the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis , who faced a Health Department eviction for the dilapidated condition of their 28-room Hamptons mansion. Albert Maysles recently opened his film vault and realized that there was enough unseen footage to create a feature-length follow-up. Typical of the Maysles' style, the images here are left to speak for themselves, with no interviews or voiceover. THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS serves as a mesmerizing companion piece for anyone who has seen the original film and a hugely enjoyable introduction to the Beales for those who haven't.

DEC 2 Sat 4pm

FREE!

TWISTED

(Laurel Chiten, USA, 2006, DVD, 53 min.)

ITVS Community Cinema and Northwest Film Forum Present:

Co-presented by the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. It took 20 years and countless doctors for filmmaker Laurel Chiten to be properly diagnosed with a form of dystonia, a neurological disorder that forces muscles to involuntarily contract and twist. Following the lives of other people struggling with this affliction, TWISTED shares stories of survival, stigma and hope. Free admission.

DEC 5-7 Tues-Thurs at 7pm, 9:15pm (no 9:15pm screening Tues)

SEATTLE PREMIERE

DIRECTORS PRESENT

ENCOUNTER POINT

(Ronit Avni & Julia Bacha, USA, 2006,35mm, 89 min.)

How does one of the most divisive and explosive conflicts in world history get resolved? From the creators of CONTROL ROOM comes the story of an Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian brother, all of whom have sacrificed something precious as a result of the conflict. In an inspiring documentary, this group of brave individuals rejects revenge and the endless cycle of violence, thereby risking ostracism from their own communities. The compelling story is one of forgiveness and ultimately one of hope, where progress begins with a single step.

DEC 8-10 Fri-Sun at 7, 9:30pm

THE HARMONIC RESISTANCE OF BÉLA TARR

DAMNATION

(Bela Tarr, Hungary, 1988, 35mm, 120 min.)

Sponsored by University of Washington Russian & East European Studies

Karrer plods his way through life in quiet desperation. His environment is drab, rainy and muddy. Consumed by solitude, his hopelessness would be incurable without the existence of the Titanic Bar and its beautiful, haunting singer. But the lady is married and Karrer is determined to keep her husband away. The first collaborative project between Hungarian novelist Laszlo Krashnahorkai and filmmaker Bela Tarr, DAMNATION is a bleak and nihilistic portrait of isolation, ennui and emotional betrayal. Using a nearly static camera, slow pans, languid character motion, pervasive inclement weather, bleak industrial landscapes and a melancholic soundtrack by composer Mihaly Vig, Tarr captures the desolation and spiritual lethargy of his directionless and morally bankrupt protagonists.

"DAMNATION is the ultimate film-noir, a deeply existential rumination on the miserableness of existence and the search for a meaning or a means of escape." -Susan Sontag

DEC 8-14 Fri-Thurs at 7pm, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE

DIRECTOR IN ATTENDENCE FRI and SAT

MUTUAL APPRECIATION

(Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2005, 35mm, 109 min.)

Alan, a musician whose band has just broken up, mmoves to New York hoping to put together a new version of the group. Hel lines up a show, searches for a drummer and otherwise goes about the mechanics of self-promotion. In downtime, he drinks and strategizes with his old friends, grad student Lawrence and his journalist girlfriend Ellie. Alan endeavors to keep his shoulder to the wheel, fending off distractions of both romantic and decidedly unromantic nautres. Bujalski's loose-limbed approach serves the material perfectly; he allows actors to feel their way through a story that has the freshness and spontaneity of life itself. With nods to John Cassavettes and Mike Leigh, MUTUAL APPRECIATION is that rare American independet film not araid to let its characters and sotry simply exist.

Boston filmmaker Andrew Bujalski's previous film, FUNNY HA HA, won numerous awards as it made its way around the festival circuit, ultimately nettinug the young director an IFP "Someone to Watch" award.

DEC 10 Sun at 3pm, 5pm

Northwest Boychoir Intermediate Choir at 3pm

Northwest Boychoir Advanced Choir at 5pm

Holiday High Notes

The old meets the new in this rollicking and not-so-silent film presentation! Don't miss two of Seattle's renowned Northwest Choirs as they sing in joyful accompaniment to three vintage holiday films: A HOLIDAY PAGEANT AT HOME (1901, 5MIN.), A WINTER STAW RIDE (Walter McCutcheon & Edwin S. Porter, USA, 1906, 7 min.), and SANTA CLAUS (F.E. & Mrs. F.E. Kleinschmidt, USA, 1925, 29 min.). The films offer a charming trip back to the dawn of cinema, while the sparklingly voices of Seattle's best boy choir will fill audiences with hopes for a bright future.

For over 34 years, Northwest Choirs has been committed to helping young people discover the challenges and joys of music as a performing art. Their performing choir is recognized as one of the top boy choirs in the nation.

DEC 11-14 Mon-Thurs at 7pm, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SHORTS

(2000-2006, 35mm, 95 min.)

Offering a variety of aesthetic and moral insights, these six short films prove that cinema is alive and kicking everywhere on our not-so-little planet. The breathtaking WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO DIE (Daniel Askill, Australia) uses a series of ritualized tableau to convey transcendence of the body in the modern age. In LA PERRA (Hugo Maza, Chile), a bourgeois Chilean couple derives sexual pleasure by accusing their maid of stealing. UNITED WE STAND (Hans Petter Moland, Norway) presents a sweet parable on labor, unity and age that culminates on a field of Norwegian quicksand, while ANTICHRIST (Adam Guzinski, Poland) is a gripping 28-minute phantasmagoric splatter about a boy with delusions of devilhood. THE OLD WOMAN'S STEP (Jane Malaquias, Brazil) finds a sneaky old woman selling a rooster to buy a present for her grandson—and possibly sneak a glimpse at his rock-round bottom. The program ends with the visionary animation, RING OF FIRE (Andreas Hykade, Germany), a black-and-white western about catastrophe, illusion and hope told through a barrage of kaleidoscopic, hyper-sexualized images.

DEC 15-17 Fri-Sun at 6:30, 9:30pm

THE HARMONIC RESISTANCE OF BÉLA TARR

WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES

(Bela Tarr, Hungary, 2000, 35mm, 150 min.)

Sponsored by University of Washington Russian & East European Studies

Accompanied by a mysterious and uncontrollable figure referred to as "the prince," a traveling circus comes to town offering to exhibit the biggest whale in the world. Despite the bewildering cold, hundreds of people stand around a circus tent erected in the main square to see the stuffed carcass of a real whale. This strange state of affairs - the appearance of the foreigners, the extreme frost disturbs the order of the small town. WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES is an elegantly composed, seductively lugubrious and haunting cautionary tale of moral ambiguity, lawlessness, petty self-interest and inertia.

"A totally sustained immersion in the magisterially bleak, voluptuously monochromatic, undeniably beautiful universe of muddy villages and cell-like rooms." -J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE

DEC 15-21 Fri-Thurs at 7pm, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE

DANIELSON: A FAMILY MOVIE

(JL Aronson, USA, 2006, BetaSP, 105 min.)

Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM and Easy Street Records

This new documentary follows eccentric musician and visual artist Daniel Smith as he leads his siblings and friends along an unusual path to indie-rock stardom. A devout Christian from rural South Jersey, Smith recruited his brothers and sisters (the yougest just 11 years old at the time) to help him perform his senior art thesis at Rutgers. From that session was born a phenomenon. The Danielson Family began wearing homemade nurse uniforms, channeling the Holy Spirit and creating euphoric cacophony from the stages of both church halls and rock venues. Their combination off-kilter indie rock and school-play pageantry gained them the attention of music critics and audiences and they were soon touring the world. Director JL Aronson traces Smith's journey—the birth of his unusual group, his mentoring of then-unknown singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, and his struggle to become viable as a solo act after many of his siblings and friends moved on along their own paths. A FAMILY MOVIE is an engaging and entertaining look at the life, art, faith and creative process of a true American original.

DEC 29 - JAN 4 Fri-Thurs at 7pm, 9pm

NEWLY RESTORED 35MM PRINT!

BONJOUR TRISTESSE

(Otto Preminger, USA, 1957, 35mm, 94 min.)

Sponsored by Broadway Market Video

Join Northwest Film Forum in celebrationg Otto Preminger's centennial and the 50th anniversary of BONJOUR TRISTESSE. Using the relatively new format of CinemaScope to present its five characters in various tableaux, Preminger depicts ambiguous, shifting relationships in a tale of conflicting obsessions. As Cécile, a willful seventeen-year-old intent on containing the develping relationship beween her stylish godmother and plyaboy father, the wonderful Jean Seberg scampers and schemes throughout a lusciously colorful French Riviera setting. BONJOUR TRISTESSE vividly evokes the emotional damage wrought by cavalier gestures.

JAN 4 Thurs 8pm

NWFF AND THIRD EYE CINEMA PRESENT:

ONE SHOT FILM CHALLENGE

This quarter Northwest Film Forum takes ites film challenge nod from the serenity of the work of Bela Tarr. Cease all editing right now! What can you do with a single shot? That's right just one-shot for a full five minutes, no edits, no cuts. Take your shot and submit the film. We'll screen all submissions.

RULES: films must be no longer than 5 minutes; formats, Super-8 or 16mm (but will accept DVD submissions); include title, fimaker's name and contace information with submission. The project is open to all levels of skills and experience. Submissions are due December 22 to: Northwest Film Forum, c/o Adam Sekuler, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122.

JAN 5 - 7 Fri-Sun at 7, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE!

THE TREASURES OF LONG GONE JOHN

(Greg Gibbs, USA, 2006, DV-CAM, 95 min.)

Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM and Easy Street Records

Long Gone John, self-described anti-mogul of the legendary Sympathy for teh Record Industry label, gives a tour of all that he holds dear. His penchang for collecting ephermeral objects and paintings became his livelihood when he translated his passion for acquistion into a thriving party of the record industry. Without ever signing a contaract he haunched the careers of Holly Golightly, The Tards and The White Stripes—a small sample of artists on the 750+ records he has produced. Moreover, Long Gone's collection represents a who's who of the current so-called lowbrow art world. Featuring interviews and work by Tim Biskup, Clayton Brothers, Coop, Frank Kozik, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr and scores more.

JAN 11 Thurs at 7pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE!

ONE SCREENING ONLY

DIRECTOR AND SELECT MUSICIANS IN ATTENDANCE

RURAL ROCK & ROLL

(Jensen Rufe, USA, 2006, BetaSP, 61 min.)

Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM and Easy Street Records

Six hours north of the San Francisco, Eureka, California is home to one of the most vibrant, varied and self-contained music scenes in the country. Juggling jobs and family and making do with limited resources, tihs tight-knit community keeps making music for all the right reasons. Director Rufe offers an admiring ode to Eureka's main players, presenting a week-in-the-life of unique musicians such as construction-working mountain-meatalheads THE HITCH, soft gothgirls THE IAN FAYS, and karaoke glampoppers, THE BUFFY SWAYZE. The screening is followed by a party at the Comet Tavern with performances by bands featured in the film.

JAN 5-18 Fri-Thurs at 7,9pm

SEATTLE THEATRICAL PREMIERE!

OLD JOY

(Kelly Reichardt, USA, 2006, 35mm, 76 min.)

Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM and Easy Street Records

This elegiac, lyrical featrure about two old friends who reunite for a weekend camping trip outside of Portland offers one of the most sensual film experiences in recent memory. Stunning cinematography captures the beauty of the Cascades as the film delves into the complex friendship between two men. For Mark, the weekend outing offers a respite from the pressures of imminent fatherhood and bohemian respectability; for Kurt, it is part of a long series of stoned, carefree adventures. As the hours progress and the landscape evolves, the twin seekers move through a range of subtle emotions, enacting a pilgrimage of mutual confusion, sudden insight and spiritual battle. The heart of the film comes from astounding performances by Daniel London and the unparalleled Will Oldham, the prolific and influential musician who gave life to Palace and Bonnie Prince Billy and who turned in equally astounding perfromances in MATEWAN, JUNEBUG and other films. The soul of the film comes from the intimate compositions and soundscapes of singular band, Yo La Tengo.

JAN 5-18 Fri-Thurs at 7,9pm

SEATTLE THEATRICAL PREMIERE!

GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club

(Kurt Voss, USA, 2006, DV-CAM, 97 min.)

Sponsored by KEXP 90.3 FM and Easy Street Records

This provocative documentary examines and celebrates the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce in all his puckish, shit-stirring glory. Director Kurt Voss salutes Pierce's legendary group, The Gun Club, one of the most notorious and incendiary bands in the history of American popular music. The film boasts comprehensive interviews with ex-Gun Club members Kid Congo Powers, Ward Dotson, Terry Graham, Jim Duckworth and Dee Pop, as well as observations and revelations from Pierce intimates such as Dave Alvin, John Doe, Henry Rollins and many others. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY delivers new insights into the volatile psyche of Pierce, who died at age 37. Still criminally undervalued, The Gun Club were the first group to fuse punk and blues, thus paving the way for more high profile contemporary acts like The White Stripes.

JAN 12-18 Fri-Thurs at 7,9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE!

51 BIRCH STREET

(Doug Block, USA, 2005, BetaSp, 88 min.)

Do we ever really know our parents? If we were suddenly given the chance to know all about them, would we take it? These are the human questions at the heart of the riveting 51 BIRCH STREET, the latest entry in the growing genere of autobiographical documentaries (TARNATION, CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS.) Both unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking, 51 BIRCH STREET is the first-person account of director Doug Block's unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades-old family secrets and the ensuing reconciliation with this father. What begins as Doug's own intimate, autobiographical story soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family.

JAN 19-20 Fri-Sat at 7pm

LIVE SCORE BY AONO JIKKEN ENSEMBLE

BENSHI NARRATION BY NAHO SHIOYA

TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM

(Kalzo Hayashi, Japan, 1986, 16mm, 81 min.)

Sponsored by KBCS 91.3 FM

The lost art of the benshi is revived in the Aono Jikken Ensemble's live accompaniment of TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM, Kalzo Hayashi's stylish homage to Japanese silent cinema. By turns clever, funny, poetic, mysterious and ultimately quite moving, TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAM features an aging actress searching for her kidnapped daughter. It's up to the heroic detective and his trusty comic assistant to rescue this damsel in distress. Off they go, tracking down leads and sniffing out clues. Join us for this unique live cinema experience and for a rarely screened and almost forgotten gem of the sound era.

JAN 19-20 Fri-Sat at 7pm (no 9pm screening Thursday)

THE PHOTOGRAPHER, HIS WIFE, HER LOVER

(Paul Yule, UK, 2005, BetaSp, 80 min.)

O. Winston Link took elegant back-and-white nighttime photographs of the last of the great steam locomotives as they chugged majestically across small-town America in the 1950's. Link married Conchita Mendoza when he was 73 and she was 48. From there, the story could be told by Stephen King: Conchita successfully marketed the photogbraphs for increasing profit while becoming sexually entangled with another man, all the time keeping Link captive and incommunicado in his basement darkroom. Paul Yule's documentary is a fascinating investigation into personality, crime, marriage, contemprary art and the ever-malleable nature of truth.

JAN 20 Sat 4pm

FREE!

HIP HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES

(Byron Hurt, USA, 2006, DVD, 53 min.)

ITVS Community Cinema and Northwest Film Forum Present:

Co-presented by KCTS, The City of Seattle Office for Civil Rights, The Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas and the Langston Hughes African American FIlm Festival. HIP HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES takes an in-depth look at machismo in rap music and hip-hop culture, where creative genius, poetic beauty and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence and homophobia. Made by a former football star and ladies' man who loves hip-hop music, the film leaves no stone unturned and unveils a reality bordering on the surreal—an Americana that is historically and unconsciously identified with violence, a wounded black community fighting to re-create what images define it and a corporate power structure that has adopted gangster rap as its black face. Free admission.

JAN 21 Sun at 8pm

SEARCH AND RESCUE

Search and Rescue teams up with The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) while they're in town for a midwinter conference in order to engage in a discussion about discarded media. S&R will go to the source, inviting librarians to bring 16mm film work unique to their respective collection and ask the question that has been on our minds for so long: why is this media such an endagered species? Come out for what will certainly be a provocative media conversation and presentation.

JAN 24 Wed at 8pm

Northwest Film Forum and The Henry Art Gallery Present:

QUIET FILMS

(Various Directors, USA/UK/Canada/Alabania, 1974-2003, BetaSP and 16mm, 73 min.)

It's a matter of the stomach. Stomachs are very sensitive.

A film and video program selected by Walid Raad

In conjunction with his exhibition on view at the Henry Art Gallery until Feb 11, acclaimed media artist Walid Raad presents an evening of selected contemporary film and video. The program features short film and video works by Anri Sala, Peter Greenaway, Gene Gort, Lisa Steele, Julia Meltzer and David Thorne. The presentation is part of Artists' Cinema, an ongoing series co-presented by The Henry Art Gallery and Northwest Film Forum.

WINDOWS (Peter Greenaway, UK, 1974, 4 min.)

BIRTHDAY SUIT WITH SCARS AND DEFECTS (Lisa Steele, Canada, 1974, 12 min.)

THE GIRL CHEWING GUM (John Smith, USA, 1976, 12 min.)

WHIRL WITHOUT END (Gene Scott, USA, 1996, 4 min.)

DAMMI I COLORI (Arni Sala, Albania, 2003, 16 min.)

IT'S NOT MY MEMORY OF IT: THREE RECOLLECTED DOCUMENTS (Julia Meltzer & David Thorne, USA, 2003, 25 min.)

JAN 25 Thurs at 7pm

NORTHWEST ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT GALA!

Northwest Asian American Film Festival (NWAAFF) is Washington State's largest showcase for Asian American films and videos. Join us as we open our four-day festival with a screening and reception at Northwest Film Forum. This year's festival promises to be another bonanza of the finest Asian American works from across North American. NWAAFF is co-produced by Theatre Off Jackson.

JAN 26-FEB 1 Fri-Thurs at 7, 9pm

UGETSU

(Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1953, 35mm, 94 min.)

A work of unsurpassed lyricism and emotional power and one of the most beautiful films ever, UGETSU ranks among the greatest films of all time. Simultaneously realistic, allegorical and supernatural, it features magnificent examples of Mizoguchi's panoramic, long-take shots in a 16th-century story of an ambitious village potter who abandons his devoted wife for the wealth of the city and the illicit pleasures of a ghost woman. A poignant evocation of the illusory nature of worldly desires, as well as one of the most haunting depictions of the supernatural ever committed to celluloid. Winner of the 1953 Venice Film Festival Silver Lion.

"Ravishingly composed, evocatively beautiful...Its reputation as a landmark of the Japanese cinema has remained undented." -TIME OUT, LONDON

JAN 27 Sat at 9:30am

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

GRAND OPENING PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

Bring the whole family for our annual children's film fundraiser - an all-you-can-eat pancake and bacon breakfast with gallons of hot coffee for the adults. $25 per family includes admission to the 11am screening of LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS. This event sells out, so buy tickets early!

1/27 Sat @ 11am, 1/28 Sun @ 3pm, 1/29 Mon @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 11am, 2/3 Sat @ 1pm, 2/4 Sun @ 3pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS: AWARD-WINNING ANIMATED FILMS

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

This magical program of short films will take you on a whirlwind trip around the globe. LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS has it all: breathtaking animation, awe-inspiring poetry, belly laughs, action and adventure, and even some surprising love stories. Suitable for all ages, though best appreciated by those 5 and older. Total Running Time: 94 min.

FLY (Eva Colmers, Canada): A little girl spreads her wings, and soars. ANAELLE (Stefan Gruber, USA): Ladybugs help two new friends bridge a language gap. THE FAERY WIND (Edith Pieperhoff, Ireland): Despite warnings, a widowed father decides to fell trees in a fairy fort. WAR AND PEAS (Jannik Hastrup, Denmark): A fat king and his army are no match for a small brigade of hungry animals. LET GO (Wayne Gilbert, Canada): An old warrior learns to let go of everything he has in order to advance. FUMI AND THE BAD LUCK FOOT (David Chai, USA): A heartwarming fable of female empowerment, featuring a wild moose attack. HURRY UP, MUNCHAUSEN, HURRY UP! (Maris Brinkmanis, Latvia): A brave baron defies the odds to save his bride. THE GIFT (Jessica Langford, Scotland): A young girl rescues a seal and meets a sea prince in his underwater palace. THE CANDLES (Viktor Azeev, Russia): On a snowy windblown night, some candles dream of dancing. BLUE WILLOW (Veialu Aila-Unsworth, Australia): This haunting proverb takes audiences into the heart of a traditional Chinese porcelain plate. BUBBLE (Maija Burnett, USA): A boy lives on a tree in a watery bubble world -can he escape? BOX (J.C. Reyes, Australia): A closed box proves irresistible to a greedy child. BUT SOFT (Britta Johnson, USA): Birds build the dreamiest nest ever. THE FAN AND THE FLOWER (Bill Plympton, USA): A tale of true love you'll never forget.

1/27 Sat @ 1pm, 1/28 Sun @ 3, 7pm, 2/2 Fri @ 1pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

WORLD OF WONDER

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

This program of award-winning short live-action films will take you to Madagascar, England, Peru, Mali and Iran to meet determined, brave and resourceful kids who play hard, live large, and sometimes break the rules in order to do the right thing. You'll never forget their stories. Program is suitable for ages 7 and up. Total Running Time: 88 min.

THE BIG RACE (Phil Aupperle, Madagascar): Two friends have fun with a tin can and lots of imagination. KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE (Sander Francken, Mali/The Netherlands): Using traditional West African storytelling through song, this film tells the story of a student who is asked to answer one of life's most difficult questions. LARD (Ornette Spenceley, England): Jake longs to play soccer with the other children, with disastrous results. CHICLE (Josh Hyde, USA/Peru): Pablo, an eight-year-old Peruvian street kid and his older brother, Mano, discover Mary, an American girl lost in the chaos of Cusco's Plaza de Armas. ONCE AGAIN RAIN (Ali Vazirian, Iran): This lyrical and visually stunning film tells the story of a young boy who dreams of having a sturdy black umbrella.

1/27 Sat @ 1pm, 1/28 Sun @ 11am, 1/31 Wed @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 3pm, 2/4 Sun @ 11am

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

DANCING FROGS AND HELPFUL HEDGEHOGS

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

We've crawled through animated jungles and combed cartoon barnyards to put together this international collection of amazing animal adventures, The program is suitable for all ages. Total Running Time: 83 minutes.

PENGUIN'S CHRISTMAS (Arjan Wilschut, Netherlands): It's not easy to get a letter from the South Pole all the way up to Santa's house in the North! AGRICULTURAL REPORT (Melina Sydney Padua, Ireland): A cow grazes without a care until she hears a disturbing report on the radio. THE FOUNTAIN (Marcial Carrillo, Spain): A little bird and a little boy join forces to get a drink of water. THE BALLERINA FROG (Staffan Erlandsson & Anna Hansson, Sweden): A clumsy frog dreams of becoming a ballerina and dancing on the stage. JUNGLE BEAT: MONKEY 2 (Brent Danes, Zimbabwe): A chasm separates a monkey from his favorite meal: what's he going to do? WUTZ & WIEBKE (Leonore Poth, Germany): Two unlikely friends attempt to embark on an international holiday. SMALL ANT SYNDROME (Ann-Marie Denham, Australia): All-pervasive one-upmanship strikes an ant colony. RETURNING HOME (Behzad Farahat, Iran): A hedgehog pays attention to his surroundings and saves a lost family. THE PROPELLERBIRD (Jan Locher and Thomas Hinke, Germany): A big gray bird tries to find a better way to fly. HEART AND MOLE (Katharina Frank, USA): A mole and a hedgehog discover that love overcomes their differences in perspective. LON PO PO (Cha-Pow!, USA): A Chinese version of the classic fairy tale. KNUFFLE BUNNY (MaGiK Studio, France): Don't tell little Trixie her bunny is just a stuffed animal! LISTEN, RABBIT...DADDY GOES TO LONDON (Nils Skapans, Latvia): Who would think that an ordinary fruitcake could be a means of transport?

(Prog 1) 1/27 Sat @ 3pm, 2/1 Thurs @ 10am, 2/3 Sat @ 11am (Prog 2) 1/28 Sun @ 5 pm, 2/2 Fri @ 5pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

ENCHANTED VISIONS: THE FILMS OF MICHAEL SPORN

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

Inspired by early collaborations with renowned animators John and Faith Hubley and Richard Williams, Michael Sporn opened his own animation studio in New York City in 1980. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to produce an astonishingly diverse body of work that includes adaptations of children's books, TV specials for broadcast and cable networks and his own self-financed films. Sporn's award-winning children's films run the gamut from gentle, minimalist animation for preschoolers to searing explorations of social issues facing urban kids. Whether working on commission or independently, Sporn has always created seamless films filled with memorable moving images on budgets that are miniscule in comparison to the Hollywood studios.

Sporn is an Academy Award nominee (DR. DESOTO) and the winner of several Emmy and CableACE awards. His most recent film, THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS (2005) is a 10-minute short adapted from the book by Mordicai Gerstein. It has won multiple awards at recent international film festivals. Currently in production is a feature length film derived from the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Program 1:

DOCTOR DESOTO (1984), THE RED SHOES (1990), MONA MON AMOUR (2002), ABEL'S ISLAND (1988), THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS (2005). Program is suitable for all ages. Total Running Time: 76 min.

Program 2:

CHAMPAGNE (1997), WHITEWASH (1994), THE MARZIPAN PIG (1990), THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK (1989). Program is suitable for ages 6 and up. Total Running Time: 80 min.

1/27 Sat at 3pm, 1/28 Sun at 11am, 2/2 Fri at 3pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

EMPRESSES, ANGELS AND IMPS

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

You"ll be amazed at the lessons learned by these fictional and real-life young women. Program is suitable for ages 9 and up. Total Running Time: 77 min.

THE ZHANG EMPRESSES (Christina Hoglund, Sweden): In this amazing documentary from Sweden, four young girls who were adopted as babies journey back to the orphanage in China where they began their lives. BIG GIRL (Renuka Jeyapalan, Canada): Josephine suggests a high-stakes competition with her mothers boyfriend. SIRAH (Christine Spindler, USA): Sirah, a Muslim girl who dresses modestly and wears a headscarf, must make a difficult decision.

JAN 27 Sat @ 5pm, 1/28 Sun @ 1pm, 1/30 Tues @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 1pm, 2/3 Sat @ 5pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

BLAST OFF TO ADVENTURE!

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

Fasten your seat belts for this collection of animated adventures: you'll go from the ocean floor to Mars, and beyond! This program is suitable for all ages, though best appreciated by those 5 and older. Total Running Time: 78 min.

THE BREEZES (Grega Mastnak, Slovenia): The Beezes are weird, wild, and positively Suessian! THE LOVE TRAIN (Eva Bennett, England): A dragon takes a journey to find love, with incendiary results. HAIRY SCARY (Jan van Rijsselberge, France): Far away, in another world, two opposite civilizations clash. DREAM DWARVES (Dace Riduze, Latvia): A tiny gnome must earn his stripes. THE INCREDIBLE SPLAT (Cleo Cobb, England): A tale of two monsters and one very big mess. MR. JONES: THE MAP (Oystein Stene, Norway): A treasure map proves very difficult to read. QUEST FOR THE MYSTIC MOOGOO FRUIT (Ila Soleimani, Iran): An astronaut spends years locked in a stuffy rocket ship in a never-ending search for forbidden space fruit. SHIPWRECKED (Frodo Kuipers, Netherlands): A castaway and a pirate vie for buried treasure. I SWEAR I SAW IT: IARA (Sergio Glenes, Brazil): A river siren shows a young boy the way to gold. CLOSED (Albert Radl, Germany): A stubborn man faces a tightly locked door. JOURNEY TO MARS (Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina): Antonio wants to go to Mars, and his grandpa knows the way.

JAN 27 Sat at 5pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

SNEAK PREVIEW!

OPAL DREAM

(Peter Cattaneo, Australia/UK, 2005, 35mm, 85 min.)

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

OPAL DREAM tells the touching and haunting story of Kellyanne Williamson, a young girl whose unshakable faith in her two imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, resonates through her small hometown in the Australian Outback. For the most part, Kellyanne's fantasy grates on her big brother's nerves and worries her mother to distraction. However, their father, an opal miner with his own wild dreams, insists on indulging his daughter. One day he unwittingly - or perhaps deliberately - "leaves" Pobby and Dingan in the opal mine. With her two imaginary friends now gone, Kellyanne wastes away with grief, and her brother must rally the Williamson family and the community to find his sister's missing friends. Soon, everyone discovers what Kellyanne and her father have long known: that you don't necessarily have to see in order to believe. With a moving and enchanting story and unforgettable performances by child actors Christian Byers and Sapphire Boyce, OPAL DREAMS has thrilled audiences worldwide on the international children's film festival circuit.

JAN 27 Sat at 7pm, FEB 3 Sat at 3pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

WEST COAST PREMIERE!

THE TREASURE OF THE WHITE FALCONS

(Christian Zubert, Germany, 2005, 35mm, 92 min.)

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

It's the summer of 1981, and 11-year-old Jan bands together with his friends to solve the puzzle of a mysterious treasure map. Investigating the dark and hidden secrets they unearth bonds the three friends forever. Facing their worst fears, their quest finds them electrifying a fishpond, almost blowing up an old weapons cache and putting their friendship, and themselves, in unimaginable danger. This thrilling film, an award-winner on the international children's film festival circuit of 2006, will have you on the edge of your seats. In German with English subtitles.

Shown with

STREET

(Frodo Kuipers, The Netherlands, 2005, 35mm, 1 min.)

A man tries to cross the street, but the traffic is not so cooperative.

JAN 28 Sun at 1pm, FEB 4 Sun at 1pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

WEST COAST PREMIERE!

AMONG THE THORNS

(Lotta & Uzi Geffenblad, Sweden, 2005, 35mm, 46 min.)

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

This gorgeously animated and joyously noisy film tells an unforgettable story of friendship between two misfits at a summer music camp. In Swedish with English subtitles.

Shown with

MR. VINEGAR AND THE CROSSWORD

(Peter Elbling, USA, 2006, 35mm, 8 min.)

A man plans a quiet morning doing the crossword; however, the world has other plans.

JAN 28 Sun at 5pm, FEB 2 Fri at 5pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

POINT OF DEPARTURE

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

Designed to challenge and inspire older kids, these animated and live-action films are sometimes funny, sometimes spooky and always intentionally provocative. Each film promises to spark discussion and debate. Dive into a great jumping off point for a lifetime of adventurous cinema going. The program is suitable for ages 9 and up, depending on the sensitivities of the child. Total Running Time: 70 min.

SPACE TRAVEL (Steven Lall, England): A spaceman on a spiritual journey seeks the answer to the ultimate question. VENT (Erik van Schaaik, The Netherlands): A man struggles against a storm and wonders what is causing so much wind. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (SJ Chiro, USA): The classic tale, kicked up a notch. THE LEGEND OF THE SCARECROW (Marco Besas, Spain): A scarecrow's life changes when he decides to befriend the birds. EL GRAN ZAMBINI (Igor Legarreta & Emilio Perez, Spain): A retired circus performer goes to great lengths to prove his love for his son. WOLVES IN THE WOODS (B.J. Schwartz, USA) During a game of hide-and-seek, a child finds a new playmate. CRACKS (Aage Rais-Nordentoft, Denmark): Where do kids who can't sleep go to spend the night? FREE PARKING (Laura Jean Cronin, USA): The task of picking blackberries turns into a power struggle between two sisters.

JAN 29-30 Mon-Tues at 7, 9:30pm

LONG TAKE ON MIZOGUCHI

SANSHO THE BAILIFF

(Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1954, 35mm, 120 min.)

Early Japan comes to life in this deeply moving period piece based on a folktale about a provincial governor whose forced exile affects this his wife and children. Pitting humanism and democratic ideals against cruelty and barbarism, SANSHO was the third Mizoguchi work in a row to win a major prize at the Venice Film Festival. Shot by UGETSU and RASHAMON cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa.

"SANSHO THE BAILIFF is a film of breathtaking visual beauty." -NEW YORK TIMES

FEB 2-8 Fri-Thurs at 7, 9pm

SEATTLE PREMIERE!

DARKON

(Andrew Neel & Luke Meyer, USA, 2006, BetaSP, 89 min.)

An epic war rages. The riches and glory of an empire are at stake. Deep in the forest, a legion of rebels prepares to overthrow the oppressive forces of the ruling clan. This is not a Hollywood adventure film, but a fascinating new documentary about an endearingly bizarre live-action role-playing game and its hundreds of participants who, with fictional personae, homemade costumes and armor, give new meaning to the term "weekend warriors." In the medieval world of DARKON, average suburbanites find themselves (or rather, their alter-egos) battling enemies, developing interfactional relationships, buying special powers, making treaties, learning bizarre secret languages and partying around bonfires. DARKON focuses on several of the participants, both in character on the battlefield (with the kind of sweeping cinematography and rousing score we've come to expect from epic fantasy films) and at home in their real lives, comparatively mundane and, to many of the gamers, unimportant. This South By Southwest Audience Award-winner is an exuberant, hilarious celebration of a culture that lies just beneath the surface of everyday American life and a reminder that, to some extent, we all play roles and we all want to be heroes.

"A clear-eyed and oddly touching docu about a gaggle of Baltimoreans who dress up in homemade medieval garb and chase each other around soccer fields and meadows." -VARIETY

FEB 4 Sun at 5pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

Closing Awards Ceremony and Presentation of Student Films

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

Experience the glamour of a world premiere and the excitement of an awards presentation! The program will feature Festival Trailer 2008 and other films created in Cinema K: Children's Film Festival Seattle workshops, the announcement of the Children's Jury awards, and a presentation of several award-winning films from the festival.

FEB 5-6 Mon-Tues at 7, 9:30pm

LONG TAKE ON MIZOGUCHI

THE LIFE OF OHARU

(Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1952, 35mm, 136 min.)

Based on one of Japan's most revered novels, THE LIFE OF OHARU established the director's international reputation with its exquisite compositions and breathtaking sequence shots. The film offers a study of a beautiful 17th-century Kyoto court lady expelled for dallying with a lower-class man (Toshiro Mifune in his only Mizoguchi appearance) and gradually reduced to prostitution and begging. Most critics place it with UGETSU at the pinnacle of Mizoguchi's artistry, and the filmmaker himself called it his masterpiece.

"[THE LIFE OF OHARU] should further enhance Mizoguchi's reputation as the cinema's greatest ever director of women, and as one of the most meti culous craftsmen of the period film." -TIME OUT, LONDON

FEB 7 Wed at 7, 9pm

HALF-COCKED

(Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley, USA, 1995, 89 min.)

Sponsored by Easy Street Records

We are pleased to present a special screening of Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky's first feature, HALF-COCKED, a film that has become an indie-rock legend. Shot on 16mm black and white film in 1994 the film follows a group of kids who steal a van full of music equipment and pretend to be a band in order to stay on the road. Set in Louisville, Chattanooga and Nashville, starring members of Rodan, Crain, Ruby Falls, The Make Up and the Grifters (who manage to play themselves with complete authority).

FEB 8 Thurs at 8pm

OPENING NIGHT EVENT

KEEPING SCORE

Feb 8 Thur at 8pm

FILM MUSIC PANEL DISCUSSION AND SALOON

Sponsored by Easy Street Records, Scarecrow Video and KEXP with support from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

KEEPING SCORE kicks off with a special evening investigating the art and craft of creating music for film. Guest composers Stephen Cavit (CHUCK & BUCK, THE GOOD GIRL), Steve Fisk (SHARDS, KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON) and David Wingo (MANIC, ALL THE REAL GIRLS) will speak about their work, process and influences. The discussion will be immediately followed by a social hour - a rare opportunity for filmmakers, composers and filmgoers to mix and mingle.

FEB 9-15 Fri-Thurs at 7, 9pm

DIRECTOR IN ATTENDANCE OPENING WEEK

FRIDAY: DAVID WINGO LIVE AFTER 9PM SCREENING

SATURDAY: KIMYA DAWSON LIVE AFTER 9PM SCREENING

GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE

(Todd Rohal, USA, 2006, 35mm, 96 min.)

Sponsored by Easy Street Records

NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE meets GUMMO in this quirky, surreal, Lynch-like tale of loss and love. The film explodes with childlike wonderment and the innocence of discovery. Rohal draws upon the talent of his multi-faceted cast (musicians, including Will (Bonnie Prince Billy) Oldham, dancers, models and a retired bubble gum mogul) to give us a film that celebrates individuality and the ephemeral beauty of life. In the confusion following a massive power outage, a socially outcast demolition derby driver vanishes, setting off a chain of events involving his curmudgeonly dad, his pregnant girlfriend, her hotheaded father and multitudinous sisters, a pack of renegade boy scouts, a woman obsessed with her missing dog and a lactose intolerant roller rink employee. As the driver's best friend, a ten-year-old girl named Turkeylegs, sets out to find him, a woman attends her own funeral, a strange orange car trades hands again and again and events culminates with a spectacular demolition derby that brings everyone together before setting them in motion again.

FEB 12-13 Mon-Tues at 7, 9pm

LONG TAKE ON MIZOGUCHI

UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN

(Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1946, 35mm, 89 min.)

Mizoguchi's fictionalized biography of the famous artist, UTAMARO details the "floating world" - the licensed pleasure zone of bars and bordellos in 17th-century Edo - and some of its most beautiful (and entrapped) denizens. By linking the stories of five women using long, fluid shot sequences, Mizoguchi reveals Utamaro's as an artist whose obsession to capture women's haunting beauty clearly echoed the director's own. UTAMARO marks the first appearance in a Mizoguchi film of Kinuyo Tanaka, who would be a cornerstone of his later work.

"The exercise of an exceptionally active and intricate intelligence." -NEW YORK TIMES

FEB 14-15 Wed-Thurs at 6:30pm

KEEPING SCORE

BERNARD HERRMANN

Side A: VERTIGO

(Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1958, 35mm, 129 min.)

Sponsored by Easy Street Records, Scarecrow Video and KEXP with support from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Hitchcock's classic psychological thriller stars James Stewart as a policeman whose fear of heights prevents him from saving his love, Madeline, and whose obsession with the uncannily similar Judy eventually leads to unavoidable tragedy. From the suspenseful opening prelude, Herrmann's score perfectly conjures the spiraling vortex of the lead character's fears, obsessions and despair with a haunting and hypnotic use of thirds in a parallel series of notes. It's a mark of Hitchcock's trust in his composer that VERTIGO, their fourth collaboration, contains more music than spoken dialogue.

FEB 14-15 Wed-Thurs at 9:30pm

KEEPING SCORE

BERNARD HERRMANN

Side B: ON DANGEROUS GROUND

(1952, Nicholas Ray, Ida Lupino, USA, 82 minutes)

Sponsored by Easy Street Records, Scarecrow Video and KEXP with support from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Following a decade of scoring mainly drama and fantasy films, this 1952 film noir thriller was Bernard Herrmann's only effort in the genre and his first full action/thriller score. The film takes a turn from usual noir motifs, exploring the psychology of a bitter and violent New York City cop and the duality of life. Herrmann's bold score signaled a change in his approach to more ferocious mounting of tension and peril, and laid the foundations for his later, more famous scores.

FEB 16-22 Fri-Thrus at 7, 9pm

CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007

OPAL DREAM

(Peter Cattaneo, Australia/UK, 2005, 35mm, 85 min.)

Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy

OPAL DREAM tells the touching and haunting story of Kellyanne Williamson, a young girl whose unshakable faith in her two imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, resonates through her small hometown in the Australian Outback. For the most part, Kellyanne's fantasy grates on her big brother's nerves and worries her mother to distraction. However, their father, an opal miner with his own wild dreams, insists on indulging his daughter. One day he unwittingly - or perhaps deliberately - "leaves" Pobby and Dingan in the opal mine. With her two imaginary friends now gone, Kellyanne wastes away with grief, and her brother must rally the Williamson family and the community to find his sister's missing friends. Soon, everyone discovers what Kellyanne and her father have long known: that you don't necessarily have to see in order to believe. With a moving and enchanting story and unforgettable performances by child actors Christian Byers and Sapphire Boyce, OPAL DREAMS has thrilled audiences worldwide on the international children's film festival circuit.