EVERETT — The red carpet has been rolled out.
Moviegoers welcomed the official opening of the city’s portion of the Seattle International Film Festival on Thursday night at the Everett Performing Arts Center.
It’s the second year the country’s larges
t film festival has been in Everett and the excitement has carried over from last year, said Deborah Person, the event’s managing director.
“Last year, I got several emails from people up here saying please bring it back,” Person said. “The showing of support here is really great. It’s really wonderful to see it working and bring films to where people are.”
People who wanted to be part of the opening night festivities began showing up more than an hour before the screening of “Young Goethe in Love.”
The German movie is about the life of writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
Mary Leslie of Bellevue and her mother, Pat Leslie of Pebble Beach, Calif., waited outside the center along the red carpet before they could take their seats. Leslie said she watched two hours of movie trailers during a preview event to find out which of the 458 movies from 74 different countries she wants to see. She and her mother have been coming to the Seattle festival for years, she said. They typically try to see about 20 movies.
“We thought we’d come to the opening night. It looked like kind of a fun movie and was also about figuring out traffic patterns,” Leslie said. “I was telling her the (New York) Yankees are in town this weekend so we’re coming back (to Everett) tomorrow night.”
Mukilteo residents Katie Kinney and Luke Baranouskas said they like to see the shorts during ShortsFest, a weekend of the festival devoted to short films. They chose their seats in the fourth row Thursday in the center that seats more than 500 people. Kinney said she has read a novel by the German writer about love lost but said she hoped the movie wasn’t depressing.
“I remember reading in college ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’ and so I thought this would be interesting to see,” Kinney said.
The Seattle International Film Festival began May 19 and runs through June 12 at venues including Everett, Seattle, Kirkland and Renton.
A total of 25 films are scheduled to screen in Everett through Thursday. Several of the screenings during the 37th Seattle International Film Festival will premiere in the city and run again at different venues, said Carl Spence, festival artistic director. The movies showing at the Everett Performing Arts Center is a good selection from the festival’s overall lineup, he said.
“Tonight is a German film and tomorrow we have a Spanish film, followed by an Australian film and a Japanese film,” Spence said. “In the span of a week you can really travel around the world from Everett.”
Spence said he was hoping for a pretty full house on opening night and for larger audiences throughout the festival’s run in Everett. A crowd of 216 people left seats empty Thursday night but those who attended were given the opportunity to have their photo taken on the red carpet and attend a party following the screening that featured food from local restaurants.
Some people at the event weren’t there to see the film. Mill Creek resident Diane Driscoll greeted people at the door and directed them where to pick up or buy tickets. She met people at last year’s event who inspired her to volunteer, she said. Earning vouchers to see movies for free by being a festival volunteer is a key motivation, she added.
“I work down in Seattle so I volunteered the last couple of nights in Seattle, too,” Driscoll said. “Everything is so well organized. I’m so impressed.”
The full schedule and descriptions of all the films is available on the festival website at www.siff.net. Tickets can be purchased at the venue 30 minutes prior to each screening.
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
If you go
SIFF plans to screen 24 more films at the Everett Performing Arts Center. The schedule includes:
Friday: “Flamenco, Flamenco,” 4:30 p.m.; “Summer Coda,” 6:30 p.m.; “Outrage,” 9:30 p.m.
Saturday: “A Thousand Times Stronger,” 1 p.m.; “Kinshasa Symphony,” 3:30 p.m., “The Bengali Detective,” 6 p.m., “Love Like Poison,” 8:30 p.m.
Sunday: “Nobody,” 1 p.m.; “Black, White and Blues,” 3:30 p.m.; “If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” 6 p.m.; “Our Life,” 8:30 p.m.
Monday: “A Cat In Paris,” 1 p.m.; “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” 3:30 p.m.; “Simple Simon,” 6 p.m.; “A Thousand Fools,” 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday: “Amador,” 4 p.m.; “The Whistleblower,” 6:30 p.m.; “Bruce Lee, My Brother,” 9 p.m.;
Wednesday: “Our Home,” 4 p.m.; “Saigon Electric,” 6:30 p.m.; “Johan Primero,” 9 p.m.
Thursday: “The Child Prodigy,” 4 p.m.; “As If I Am Not There,” 6:30 p.m.; “Letters From the Big Man,” 9 p.m.
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