If you love a good crime story, you’re in luck! The Noir City film festival at SIFF kicked off last night, with a double-feature of two classics: Pitfall and Larceny, a perfect introduction to the theme of this year’s week-long revisit of classic noir, “Lust and Larceny.”
The 4th annual noir fest will show two classic flicks a night that represent the best of what the Film Noir Foundation, who is running the event in conjunction with SIFF, describes as “an original American cinematic movement.”
Foundation member Vince Keenan wrote to us, talking up what the festival will bring to the silver SIFF screen this year:
Noir City is a long-running series spotlighting film noir, the quintessential American genre. 1940s and ’50s crime dramas with style to burn, featuring dark alleys and darker hearts. The series is based in San Francisco where it regularly sells out the 1,400-seat Castro Theater. This marks the fourth year that “Czar of Noir” Eddie Muller has brought an abbreviated version of the festival to Seattle.
2 movies a night for 7 nights, as close as you’ll get to the experience of attending the movies in 1947. The highlight of this year’s festival is the Northwest premiere of the new 35mm print of 1951’s Cry Danger, restored courtesy of The Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, on Saturday, February 20.
Some of the films will begin with a special introduction by Czar of Noir Eddie Muller. There are also two events during the week where noir lovers and SIFF patrons can get up close and personal with the noir czar:
- Intimate Fireside Chat with the Czar of Noir Eddie Muller– Sunday, February 21, 3:30pm, The Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel: A free and open to the public chat with Eddie Muller Czar of Noir, moderated by Sean Axmaker of The Stranger.
- Film Noir Dinner with Eddie Muller – Wednesday, February 24, 5:45:pm, The Signature restaurant: A special dinner event in celebration of the Noir City Festival at SIFF Cinema and the great works of the Film Noir Foundation, hosted by Czar of Noir Eddie Muller. Great opportunity to chat one-on-one with Eddie Muller over a delicious meal and glass of wine!
To see the full schedule and get more information about the Noir City special events, click here.