44th SIFF Opens Thursday With “The Bookshop”

May 16, 2018• byMichael Strangeways

The film, “The Bookshop” will open the 44th annual Seattle International Film Festival on Thursday, May 17, 2018

The 44th Seattle International Film Festival officially kicks off this Thursday, May 17th at McCaw Hall at Seattle Center with the Opening Gala screening of THE BOOKSHOP, Spanish director Isabel Coixet’s adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald’s 1978 novel of the same name, starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson. The film won several awards at the last Goya Awards, Spain’s “Academy Awards” and makes its Seattle debut with this special screening that includes two price options…

One is the fancy Red Carpet Experience and includes all sorts of special treats/add ons or there’s the General Admission option.

More detail below. The rest of this year’s festival will kick off into high gear on Friday with screenings all over the metro area for the next three + weeks until June 10th!

There’s dozens of films and events to see including 32 LGBTQ offerings! More details in the weeks ahead!

Spanish director Isabel Coixet heads to the English coast circa 1959, where a headstrong widow (Emily Mortimer) opens a bookstore in a sleepy village and encounters both pride and prejudice from the provincial locals. Winner of Best Film, Director, and Screenplay at Spain’s Goya Awards.

“Its subversive undercurrent, embodied in fine performances by Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy, is what makes it really interesting.” Jonathan Holland – The Hollywood Reporter

OPENING NIGHT GALA

Start the Festival right by attending the Opening Night Gala, the best party of the year, at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. The kick-off event is always a fabulous time, with hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and cocktails immediately following the screening.

Tickets
General Admission: $75 | $65 Members
Includes admission to the film, entry to the Opening Night Party, and two drink tickets.

Buy General Admission Tickets

Red Carpet Experience: $275 Members/Non-Members
Includes admission to the film with valet parking, reserved section seating, a premium gift bag, entry to the Opening Night Party, and unlimited drinks. *This is a fundraiser for SIFF*

Get the Red Carpet Experience

FILM: Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
PARTY: Fisher Pavillion (21+)

SHOWTIMES

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

7:00 PM

Who thought opening a bookstore would be so difficult, catering to small-town conservative British folks who aren’t too enthusiastic about reading? Set in 1959, Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop centers on Florence Green (Emily Mortimer), a widow who decides to open a bookstore in the town of Hardborough, Suffolk. The location of the shop is an old abandoned house that local bigwig Violet Gamart (Patricia Clarkson, ice-cold and endlessly calculating) wants to turn into an arts center. Despite the mild-mannered but ruthless opposition she faces from Violet and other stubborn townsfolk, Florence presses on with her underdog business, also striking up a friendship with the local recluse Mr. Brundish (the delightful Bill Nighy), who becomes her best client. Restrained but quietly subversive and bolstered by strong lead performances, The Bookshop is a melancholic celebration of bibliophilia, based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s 1978 novel of the same name, with a strong resonance of the world today, suggesating that a world without books is a nasty place to live.

Director Biography

Isabel Coixet has directed 12 films since the start of her career in 1988, making her one of the most prolific filmmakers in contemporary Spanish cinema. Coixet studied 18th and 19th century history at the University of Barcelona before briefly working in advertising and copywriting. Her first feature, Demasiado viego para morir joven (1989) earned her a Goya Award nomination for Best New Director.

Sponsored by Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo Private Bank, Alaska Airlines, Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC in Renton, Red Element Studios

Director:Isabel Coixet
Principal Cast:Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, Patricia Clarkson, Julie Christie
Premiere Status:Seattle
Country:United Kingdom, Spain, Germany
Year:2017
Running Time:110 minutes
Producer:Jaume Banacolocha, Joan Bas, Adolfo Blanco, Chris Curling
Screenplay:Isabel Coixet
Cinematographers:Jean-Claude Larrieu
Editors:Bernat Aragonés
Music:Alfonso de Vilallonga
Website:Official Film Website

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.