Press Launch

The SIFF press launch! It was 5/10, at SIFF’s new space at McCaw, aka “SIFF Cinema.” Shortly after the appointed starting time of 11 am, we were let in. First you pick up your passes, and a folder of press info; this used to be in a three binder notebook, but are now in an eco-friendly paper folder. I must say, the photo reproduction on my pass was rather poor, I’m in extremely soft focus.

There were all the mimosas you could drink (not just OJ, but peach juice too!), plus coffee. A quite nice food spread courtesy of Seasonal Goods Catering; more lunch fare than brunch fare, with vegetarian options, plus cookies. We then had an hour to socialize, and catch up with folks you hadn’t seen since last year. There was some swag scattered about on tables, from Jones Soda. Flavored lip balm, that was fine at first, but after a day or two started to smell funny. And carbonated candy, mine the charmingly titled “M.F. Grape,” with seems rather rude to me, unless it’s meant to stand for something benign like “my family.” They taste like pop rocks, if you remember that fizzing treat.

At noon we were herded into the cinema, where we heard opening remarks from Carl Spence and Deb Person, then watched a bunch of trailers. My favorite was for Black Sheep, a tongue-in-cheek horror film about killer sheep; that actually drew laughs from the jaded press corps. There was also a trailer for a raunchy teen comedy called Superbad that seemed decidedly un-SIFF-ish, and I am happy to say that according to a recent SIFF Media Advisory, “The screenings of SUPERBAD have been cancelled. A replacement will be announced soon.” Whew! Then again, it was only going to be a midnighter, so why should I care? Don’t worry, it’ll undoubtedly turn up at the Meridian 16 before too long.

But, sad to say, the opening night film, Son of Rambow was not screened for us, as is usually the case at the press launch. Instead, they showed the closing night film, Moliere, and due to other pressing matters, I didn’t stay. I was hoping some other SIFF blogger would write up something about it before it opens.