It’s Day 4018 Of SIFF 2012; Spend It With Ms Spacek and Ms Shepherd

A VERY young Sissy Spacek in Terrence Malick's brilliant film, "Badlands" screening at SIFF.

Well, sorta.

The legendary Sissy Spacek IS in town for the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival. She’ll be on hand tonight at The Uptown for “An Evening With Sissy Spacek” where she’ll attend the screening of her brilliant 1973 film, Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” and participate in a talk and q&a. Tickets are STILL available for this event.

Whether portraying a grieving mother consumed by revenge (In the Bedroom) or a honky-tonk angel on the road to stardom (Coal Miner’s Daughter), Sissy Spacek is a fearless actor with a deft grasp of the potency found in small details. This special tribute event will include the presentation of the Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting, an onstage interview with film clips from her career and the opportunity for answering questions from the audience followed by a screening of Terrence Malick’s broodingly beautiful Badlands.

Copies of Ms. Spacek’s memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life, will be available for purchase in the lobby before and after the event.

She’ll also be hanging around for another day to be honored at the big dinner for both herself and fellow SIFF 2012 honoree, director William Friedkin happening Friday, June 8th….a handful of tickets remain for that; get them HERE. But, we encourage you to attend tonight’s evening, not only to see the awesome Ms Spacek, but to see the brilliant “Badlands”…it’s one of Mr. Strangeways’ favorite films, a haunting re-imagining of the infamous Starkweather/Fugate murder spree that occurred in Nebraska in 1958. (Side Note: I used to work at a restaurant not far from the site of the first murder, in Lincoln, Nebraska…but, not in 1958. I’m not THAT old…)

Meanwhile, another big name actress has a film at SIFF this year, but sadly, she’s not in attendance. Still, fans of Cybill Shepherd will want to check out her new film, “White Camellias” a moving drama with LGBTQ themes/characters (but not Ms Shepherd’s character.) 

WHITE CAMELLIAS is a melodrama that revolves around an artist in her early 60s (Cybill Shepherd) who throws a Spanish-themed dinner party in the hopes of rekindling the great love affair of her youth. A passionate woman who fills her home with poetry and paintings, Annie is a genuine romantic which also leaves her vulnerable to disappointment and occasional delusion. As the evening progresses, her expectations of love transform as she faces painful truths about her past and present. Fueled by the strong words of her favorite poet — Federico García Lorca — Annie will redefine her vision for the future and her definition of happiness over the course of this dark night of reckoning.

The film also stars David Burtka (aka, Neil Patrick Harris’s hubby) and Gia Carides. Director Russell Brown will be in attendance for both screenings of this film: Thursday, June 7 at 6:30pm at the Harvard Exit and Saturday, June 9 at 4pm at Pacific Place. Tickets available for both shows.