A place for film lovers
Published 12:01 am Friday, February 11, 2011
Perhaps you are a huge Kevin Kline fan.
Or maybe you love Wacky Cake (more on that in a bit).
Or perhaps you enjoy the shared experience of watching good movies in an actual theater with other film lovers.
You will have all three desires fulfilled at this year’s 14th annual Everett Film Festival.
“It’s cool to be in the theater where 100 people are laughing or getting a Kleenex out,” festival co-chairwoman Theresa Schaudies said.
“Every year we get a marvelous mixture, a good blend of features and documentaries. We work hard to keep it balanced.”
The festival starts at 6 tonight and continues Saturday at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett.
Kline stars in “Queen to Play,” a French-language movie with English subtitles.
Schaudies described it as a wrought story about a wife balancing her personal needs with the traditional role of wife.
Schaudies also highlighted the film, “Kitchen Conversations,” about a group of professional women who never got paid to cook but who are in their kitchens sharing moments and memories and making family recipes.
One of the desserts from the movie, Wacky Cake, will be served during the festival’s gala. Wacky Cake was made back in the days of rationing and doesn’t have any milk or eggs but is moist and chocolatey.
Schaudies also recommended “No Impact.” The movie’s theme is “let’s go green” but takes place in the unlikely setting of Manhattan, where a family decides to reduce their carbon footprint.
And living in the world of Macy’s and Bloomingdales, the wife definitely struggles.
“It’s the husband’s kind of baby in the first place, so she cheats a few times,” Schaudies said.
This year, the festival board voted to change the name, dropping the word Women’s from the festival’s title. (The festival is still called Everett Women’s Film Festival on the website.)
“There was a misconception that these are chick flicks,” Schaudies said. “But these are really good films and they have a wide appeal.”
Tonight’s lineup, beginning at 7:15:
“No Impact Man”: The film follows, over the course of a year, a Manhattan family that has gone off the grid. Family members travel by foot or bicycle, buy primarily food and produce almost no garbage.
“Avenue Montaigne”: Stars Sydney Pollack and Monica Belucci and takes place on this Paris avenue where Jessica navigates all of its options.
On Saturday, the films start at 10 a.m. with:
“Kitchen Conversations”: This film combines a taste for the nostalgic with a pinch of a network cooking show as professional women reflect and reminisce while they roll out pie dough, fry tempura, or make tamale pie.
“Fumiko Hayashida”: Seattle filmmaker Lucy Ostrander takes us back to 1942 when Japanese residents of Bainbridge Island were among the first people to be relocated to internment camps, the moment captured in an iconic photo taken of Fumiko Hayashida.
“Tootie Pie”: This film by Seattle filmmaker Virginia Bogert is adapted from C. Rosalind Bell’s short story “First Friend,” and puts into action the adage that friends are God’s way of apologizing for family.
“The Delivery”: Also by Virginia Bogert, this film asks the question: To what lengths must a person go to win over a reclusive neighbor?
“Free Parking”: In this short, sisters apply the rules of the board game Monopoly to the blackberry patch.
“Queen to Play”: Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire make chess a game changer when Helene learns to play and shares the rules with her husband, such as “The queen is the strongest piece on the board. Crazy, huh?”
Tickets for the two days including the gala are $40 and $25; tickets for Friday, including the gala are $20 and $15. Tickets for Saturday only are $25 and $15. Call 425-257-8600 or 888-257-3722. For more information go to www.everettfilmfest.com.
Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.
