SIFF kicks off with star-studded opening night gala

The Seattle International Film Festival’s (SIFF) Opening Night Gala drew some big names to McCaw Hall on May 22. Director Stuart Townsend, Charlize Theron, Martin Henderson, André Benjamin and Michelle Rodriguez all walked the red carpet at the event that boasted the premier of their film, “Battle In Seattle”, a semi-fictionalized drama about the 1999 WTO riot. The film debuts in theaters in September 2008.

The 34th annual SIFF, which runs through June 15, hosts about 248 feature-length films and 169 shorts from 59 countries.

Films are primarily shown at six SIFF venues: the SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall, Uptown, Pacific Place, Egyptian, Harvard Exit and Northwest Film Forum.

Randall Miller’s “Bottle Shock,” the closing night film playing on June 14, is a drama about winemaking in 1970s California, starring Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman.

SIFF is also hosting a mid-festival “Gay-La Extravaganza,” featuring C. Jay Cox’s “Kiss the Bride,” a comedy in which a man treks to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding to a woman, intent on rescuing him from a huge mistake.

Many of the festival’s films are internationally acclaimed, including Polish film “Katyn” and Russian film “Mongol,” which were both nominated for last year’s foreign-language film Oscar.

According to SIFF artistic director Carl Spence, about 70 percent of this year’s lineup doesn’t have U.S. distribution and likely won’t return to Seattle theaters. However, those set for summer release are “Kung Fu Panda” (June 6), “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” (June 13), “Mongol” (June 20), “Baghead” (July 18) and “American Teen” (Aug. 1).