Notes From The Program Director | Week of October 25th, 2024
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Notes From The Program Director
Week of October 25th, 2024
Melissa Tamminga
Rich Text
October 25-31, 2024
Hello, friends!
It’s been a wonderful month of documentaries, and the last official day of Doctober is Sunday, October 27, but be sure to check out the handful of encores of some of our most popular films on Oct. 28-31.
And if you’ve not yet submitted your star ratings for the Doctober films you’ve seen, stop by our lobby and fill out those paper ballots! We’ll be tallying numbers -- both from paper ballots and electronic submissions -- on Monday morning, Oct. 28, and the highest rated film of Doctober will receive our Doctober Film Festival Audience Award, which we’ve affectionately dubbed the “Ham d’Or.”
Continuing this week is the electrifying new film starring Demi Moore, The Substance, an experience that has a number of Pickford patrons exiting the crowded screenings with a mixture of shock, incredulous laughter, and praise. The Substance will be leaving us next week, with its last showing on Halloween night, Oct. 31, so be sure to catch this wildly unique film before it leaves. |
And new this week is a terrific film full of the juiciest of Machiavellian schemings, Conclave, directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) and starring a top-notch cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini. The film’s story follows Fiennes’s character, Cardinal Lawrence, who, after the sudden death of the Pope, is tasked with running the secretive process of electing the papal predecessor, something that might sound dry in theory, but in this movie is pure entertainment. As Bilge Ebiri aptly notes in his Vulture review, Conclave ultimately “combines the pulp velocity of a great airport read with the gravitas of high drama.” Critics are loving this one as are festival audiences, particularly the film’s crowd-pleasing tension and plot turns. As Ebiri further comments, “Berger expertly milks [the] anticipation, then nails several artfully heated and lively climaxes. My audience at the Telluride Film Festival began roaring with delight and surprise, and I’ve heard similar reports out of Toronto screenings as well. So don’t be surprised if this sinfully entertaining movie wins a few awards.” It's the kind of film that's becoming rarer these days: a smart, absorbing, twisty thriller with high production values and a star-studded cast playing meaty roles. I don’t think we could ask for a more perfect lead-in to this year’s Oscar season! |
Bellingham’s signature horror festival, Bleedingham, is also here to usher us into Halloween with horror film thrills! Co-founded by Gary Washington and Langley West, Bleedingham is now in its 13th year and it’s a celebration of local and independent horror films: “Bleedingham's ongoing mission is to provide Pacific Northwest filmmakers with an opportunity to receive accolades from their peers, as well as gain critical feedback from a panel of judges chosen for their experience in horror, filmmaking, and digital storytelling.”
There are four opportunities to come see and celebrate Bleedingham selections: the Best Feature Film Showcase: Strange Harvest, Sat., Oct. 26, 6:10 pm; WA State Shorts, Sat., Oct. 26, 8:50 pm and 10:30pm; Creepy Cornucopia, Oct. 27, 4:15 pm; and Beyond WA, Oct. 27, 7:00 pm.
And we’ll close out this spooky month with the final film in our Bad BloodHalloween series: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Many of you are already anticipating the newest iteration of this story with Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu, opening on Christmas Day, but what better way to prepare for that film than to watch the Nosferatu film that started them all? F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is a film which, as Criterion notes, “remains to many viewers the most unsettling vampire film ever made . . . its bald, spidery vampire, personified by the diabolical Max Schreck" influencing contemporary horror to this day.
This viewing of Nosferatu will be all the more special as it’s not a version of the film you can watch at home: it is part of the Silents Synced series, which “pairs classic films with epic soundtracks and screens only in independent cinemas.” In this case, Nosferatu will be perfectly paired with none other than Radiohead’s KID A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001).
Join us on Wednesday, October 30 at 8:00 pm or Thursday, October 31 at 6:05 pm for this once in a lifetime experience!
And, finally, listed below is what we’ve got for our final Doctober films!
Mediha -- Fri., Oct. 25 -- Co-presented by Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS), Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival (BHRFF), and WWU International Affairs Assoc.
Union -- Fri. Oct. 25 -- co-presented by Western Academic Workers United and Industrial Workers of the World
The Body Politic -- Sat., Oct. 26 -- with a post-film discussion with filmmaker Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough. Co-presented by WWU International Affairs Assoc
The Day Iceland Stood Still -- Sat., Oct. 26 -- SOLD OUT! -- Co-presented by CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival and WWU International Affairs Assoc.
Borderland: The Line Within -- Sun., Oct. 27 and Wed., Oct. 30 -- Co-presented by WWU Morse Leadership and WWU Political Science Dept
Call Me Dancer w/ “Then Comes the Body” short -- Mon., Oct. 28 -- featuring a pre-recorded introduction from director Leslie Shampaine. Co-presented by CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival Red Fever -- Mon., Oct. 28 Fish War with short film “West Shore” -- Tues., Oct. 29 -- SOLD OUT! -- Co-presented by Salish Current and Sierra Club Mt. Baker Group Rainier: A Beer Odyssey -- Tues., Oct. 29 -- SOLD OUT! -- Co-presented by Salish Current and Seattle Documentary Association (SeaDoc) Every Little Thing -- Thurs., Oct. 31 -- Co-presented by Whatcom Humane Society and North Cascades Audubon Society
See you at the movies, friends! Melissa |
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Pickford Film Center
1318 Bay St
Bellingham, WA 98225
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