Don’t get mad at me Seattle film fans – I just heard someone on iW refer to your wonderful fest that way and couldn’t help but repeat it. With 260 features, SIFF is the biggest fest in the country. It is a great opportunity for NWers to see the movies making the fest rounds from the previous year and to catch some otherwise hard to find foreign films. SIFF’s website format makes it hard to weed through the multitude of titles (just put the director under the damn title), but here is what caught my eye in the quick look I took at the program.

The Sentimental Engine Slayer – Wow I somehow missed hearing about this one when it prem’d at Rotterdam and then played at Tribeca, but this is the debut feature from Omar Rodriguez Lopez (yep, of The Mars Volta fame) who wrote, directed, and stars in this tripped out sounding film. Peep the trailer and move this one to the top of your list.

Farewell – Christian Carion’s French Cold War spy thriller is his follow up to 2005’s Joyeux Noel.

Leaves of Grass – Coming off an acclaimed premier at SXSW, this pot growing drama from Tim Blake Nelson screens as part of a Tribute to Ed Norton that includes screenings of 25th Hour, Fight Club, and American History X (what… no Death to Smoochy?).

American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi – This is the first I have heard of Sebastian Doggart’s (a former Project Runway producer) political docu that delves deep into the career of Condoleeza Rice as “a woman whose pursuit of power has both destroyed her values and hurled America into a perilous new direction.”

The Milk of Sorrow – This challenging sounding Peruvian film by Claudia Llosa was nom’d for the Foreign Language Oscar.

The Dancer and the Thief – Fresh off his fantastic performance in the Foreign Language Oscar winning The Secret in Their Eyes, Ricardo Darin stars as a reformed thief in veteran filmmaker Fernando Trueba’s post-Pinochet era romantic-thriller. This screens as part of a New Spanish Cinema program at the fest.

Skeletons – This British black comedy by Nick Whitfield about skeleton extractors (like the ones in closets) has a decisively Gondry-esque surreal sound to it and might be worth a gander.

Micmacs – I’ve mentioned it a number of times and I am still looking forward to catching the latest from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Ondine – Neil Jordan’s (The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) Colin Farrell starring mermaid story never quite caught hold after its Toronto prem – but it hung around long enough to play at Tribeca last month and again at SIFF.

This Way of Life – Call me fascinated with New Zealand, but this documentary about a family living in New Zealand’s Ruahine Mountains and their struggles with modernity sounds incredibly interesting. Just check out the trailer.

The Trotsky – Jay Baruchel stars as the young Canadian reincarnation of the Socialist revolutionary in this Jacob Tierney comedy hit from Toronto.

Down Terrace – I’ve heard nothing but good about this British gangster flick which screened way back at Fantastic Fest.

Life During Wartime – Paul Reubens and others star in Todd Solondz’s (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) latest dark comedy.

Under the Mountain – You may think Jonathan King’s New Zealand based film will be a fresh take on the youth adventure genre, but it is snores-ville as evidenced by its unimpressive reception at Fantastic Fest.

JAPANESE FLICKS

RoboGeisha – Get ready for wacky as you delve into Noboru Iguchi’s wild world of genital weaponry.

Air Doll – Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking, Nobody Knows, After Life) returns with this odd tale of a man and his doll.

K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces I was no big fan of this big budget action flick starring Takeshi Kaneshiro back at Fantastic Fest.

Kanikosen I don’t know much about the Japanese director who goes by Sabu (Unlucky Monkey), but this film about Japanese-Russian relations in the early days of the 20th century takes place on a crab canning ship and sounds suitably wacky.

ASIAN TOUR

Bakal Boys – This Filipino docu-drama tells the story of the young metal divers in the heavily polluted Manila Bay.

Little Big Soldier – Jackie Chan’s latest action comedy takes place in way ancient China.

At the End of Daybreak – There aren’t a whole lot of movies that make it here from Malaysia. This noir-ish drama could be interesting.

City of Life and Death – You might remember this stylish Rape of Nanking drama from my Toronto write-up way back in September

Mundane History – Thai filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong’s first feature sounds like an impressive exploration of art and life.

SUNDANCE HITS

Quite a few of Sundance’s best narrative films are making their NW premier at SIFF – including the official fest fave, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone. One of my personal faves, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil will be playing as a midnight film along side one of the less popular midnighters, the Adrian Brody + Sarah Polley starrer Splice. The John Lennon as a young man Nowhere Boy is playing – as is the James Franco as Allen Ginsberg Howl. Two more flicks that I caught, Cyrus which stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei and the Jesse Eisenberg orthodox Jew ecstasy smuggling movie I enjoyed, Holy Rollers.

SUNDANCE DOCS

There are also some great Sundance docs at the fest – including one I am still excited to see, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. Restrepo which won the Docu Grand Jury prize will be there, as will the other big war docu The Tillman Story. The Oath, about a Guantanamo detainee won a special cinematography prize and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work had a whole lot of buzz. A couple domestic topics, 8: The Mormon Proposition about California’s anti-gay Prop. 8 and the Davis Guggenheim directed public school expose Waiting for Superman are both playing. Finally, one film I enjoyed about Chinese domestic migration Last Train Home is also on the bill.

For more on these Sundace flicks, check out my Sundance Wrap from earlier this year.