SIFF Announces Opening Films For 52nd Festival Happening May 7-17

March 27, 2026• byMichael Strangeways

The Seattle International Film Festival (aka SIFF) has announced its opening night film for its 52nd festival, happening May 7th through the 17th, as well as its first 6 films, with the whole slate of films to be screened to be announced April 15th. The opening film for SIFF 52 is Boots Riley’s I LOVE BOOSTERS a fun, raucous, colorful, hyper energetic comedy set in San Francisco and centered on a gang of young woman who make their living “boosting” (aka, stealing) high end fashion from snooty boutiques to resell at a fraction of the cost to their fashion obsessed fans.

The gala event is happening Thursday, May 7th at The Paramount in downtown Seattle with writer/director Boots Riley scheduled to attend. The after party will be at “Cannonball Arts, featuring immersive gallery exhibits, a signature photo activation, food, drinks, and a live set from DJ Eliogold, the artist behind the festival’s official trailer music.” Do note that the after party is a 21+ event! You can snag tickets to the screening and the screening/party at: https://www.siff.net/festival/opening-night-2026

This is Riley’s follow up film to his highly acclaimed Sorry To Bother You from 2018, and the film has a terrific cast including Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore. It doesn’t look like Keke Palmer will be attending this gala, but you can check her out in person in June when she headlines at Queer Pride Festival on Capitol Hill! The trailer looks great and we love the design of it all!

SIFF has also announced six other titles playing the fest including the latest film from Gregg Araki:

In preparation for the 52nd annual Seattle International Film Festival on May 7-17, six of the features scheduled to screen have been revealed. This first look includes: Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex; Nuisance Bear, which documents a polar bear’s place in a human landscape; the Basque-language folk horror tale Gaua; Sons of the Neon Night, a crime thriller packed with Hong Kong cinema legends; the Goya Award-winning Sundays; and Franz, an exploration of the enigmatic Czech writer Franz Kafka. For maximum cinelation, buy a Festival 6-Pack and get a ticket to each of these unique titles.

The entire program will be announced on April 15. Passes and ticket packages are on sale now at siff.net/passes. Individual tickets will go on sale to SIFF members on April 15, and to the general public on April 16.

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.