The Grand Illusion

35th anniversary of Todd Haynes's New Queer Cinema classic.

The second feature directed by Haynes, this groundbreaking American indie was one of the most fervently debated film of the early 1990s and a trailblazing landmark of queer cinema. A work of immense visual invention; audacious, disturbing, and thrillingly cinematic.

Inspired by the writings of Jean Genet, POISON deftly interweaves a trio of transgressive tales — “Hero,” “Horror,” and “Homo” — that build toward a devastating climax. “Hero,” shot in mock TV-documentary style, tells a bizarre story of suburban patricide and a miraculous flight from justice; “Horror,” filmed like a delirious ’50s B-movie melodrama, is a gothic tale of a mad sex experiment which unleashes a disfiguring plague; while “Homo” explores the obsessive sexual relationship between two prison inmates.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.

“Boldly self conscious, Poison switches channels among its three stylistically varied but thematically linked tales with cumulative, claustrophobic power.” David Ansen, Newsweek

“‘The whole world is dying of panicky fright’ are the words that open the movie. Poison makes the fear palpable.” Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle

“Has restored my faith in youth.” John Waters

30th anniversary screening of the cyberpunk nightmare underground classic in memory of makeup effects artist Yoshihiro Nishimura (TOKYO GORE POLICE) and director Shozin Fukui. Presented in a new 4K remaster.

Rogue scientists conduct sadistic experiments, pushing the boundaries of sensory overload and drug-induced psychic abilities, leading to madness and destruction. From the visionary mind of Shozin Fukui (964 PINOCCHIO), RUBBER'S LOVER is drenched in industrial horror and psychedelic visions that transport viewers into a world of tech, sensory overload, and mind-melting paranoia. This brutal fusion of body horror and high-concept sci-fi is shot in stark black and white, creating a raw and visceral look that fans of extreme cinema and the cyberpunk genre won’t want to miss!

In Japanese with English subtitles.

“a mindf*** of the first order… [Rubber’s Lover] is not like anything you’ve probably ever seen before – and for this reason alone it should be essential viewing for anyone out there looking for something new, different, and weird. Cinema doesn’t always have to be safe, and the films of Shozin Fukui prove this time and time again.” Mike Bracken, IGN

Presented in collaboration with our friends at Central Cinema, legendary independent director, writer, actor Alex Cox (REPO MAN, SID & NANCY) joins us in-person for a special screening of his brand-new film, DEAD SOULS!

For his directorial swan song, Alex Cox stars in this frontier fable of American greed. Follow mysterious drifter ‘Strindler’ as he scours the West for the names of dead Mexican labourers.

Here at this border town in 1890, Strindler – or is it ‘Swindler’? – raises eyebrows when he offers to pay a pretty penny to add to his list of names. Wandering affably from saloon to ranch, Strindler exercises the old adage that money talks – but sometimes too loudly. Between the town drunk, hot-headed cowherds and local outlaws, Strindler soon finds himself tangled up in his own tall tales.

The Western fits storied filmmaker Cox as snugly as the black bowler hat he wears throughout DEAD SOULS, a loose adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1842 novel of the same name. Pistol duels and crooked officials abound, and spaghetti Western legend Gianni Garko claims a co-writer credit. But Cox’s idiosyncrasy stands out as the film veers tonally through the picaresque, dark satire and genre curveballs you won’t expect.

A meditative, sincere landscape at the borderlands of the American nightmare: where fortunes rest on a dirty deal, and legacies are built on blood and gold.

Please note: Special event ticket pricing is in place to help support Mr. Cox’s travels.

“Wild, original… Dead Souls is funny in that offbeat, purely Cox kind of way.” Bobby LePire, Film Threat

“Jauntily odd and surreal… a diverting love letter to the spaghetti west of the movies, and a satirical thorn in the flesh of Trumpian politics.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“[An] enjoyably quirky labour of love from an admirably uncompromising indie auteur… a charmingly eccentric, mischievous late-career effort with an impressively strong authorial voice.” Stephen Dalton, The Film Verdict

The new movie from director Adam Rehmeier (DINNER IN AMERICA, SNACK SHACK), CAROLINA CAROLINE is a romantic crime thriller starring Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner). Together, they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.

“Nestled into its classic blueprint like a pair of old, reliable jeans, it banks on the quality of its ingredients — its magnetic stars and soulful sincerity.” Beatrice Loayza, The New York Times

“If you’re looking for an update on the old Bonnie and Clyde story, this is it. It’s modern without feeling like it’s pandering, it toes the line between feeling almost fantastical without actually being fantasy, and the love on screen is as addictive as the heists those two lovers pull… From the country music needle drops to the oozing on-screen chemistry, anyone who loves a good crime movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously will need to get their butts into the theater for this one.” Therese Lacson, Collider

TRAINS is a deeply personal and contemplative journey through the twentieth century, composed entirely of archival film footage. In this wordless film, full of beauty and bitterness, the excitement of adventure becomes a curse, and tears of joy mingle with the pain of despair.

A train compartment is a place where, for a while, people are taken out of their everyday context. For a few hours or days, they inhabit a temporary community, and their lives unfold according to a timetable. A train journey is something beautiful, magical, but also often very dramatic. Sometimes, the journey is accompanied by the hope that something will change in our lives upon reaching the destination, or conversely, by a stark absence of hope.

Co-presented with Mount Analogue Art + Cinema, TRAINS is a documentary crafted in the found footage genre, using archival film materials from 46 archives around the world. This film harnesses the vast potential of cinematic language to forge an emotional connection between the viewer and the archival reality.

“Trains is not just a technical achievement – a skillful and patient result of working with archives – but also a meditation on the moral weight and responsibility of images.” Ola Salwa, Cineuropa

“Like Koyaanisqatsi with an Interrail pass… this magnetic cine-essay is also a hidden tribute to that second voyager in space and time: the train’s contemporary, the movie camera.” Phil Hoad, The Guardian

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler, THE CURRENTS is a quietly gripping psychological mystery with dreamlike, hallucinatory threads that weave a portrait of a woman on the verge of unraveling.

While visiting Switzerland to accept an award for her work in the fashion industry, Argentinian designer Lina (Isabel Aimé González Sola) is seized by the sudden urge to jump off a bridge into an icy river. She survives the plunge and returns to Buenos Aires; she tells no one of the incident, yet a transformation has taken place within her. Left with a paralyzing fear of water, Lina finds it impossible to readjust to her former identity as a wife, mother, and artist. She distances herself from her husband (Esteban Bigliardi) and career, growing increasingly isolated and fragile as she confronts long-buried existential questions.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Critic’s Pick! “Superb, sensuously realized… Its bravura filmmaking is all in the service of letting us travel alongside Lina as she feels her way to self-understanding.” Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times

“A lush, hypnotic character study… a work of impressive, at times thrilling, assurance from start to finish. The elegance and, especially, empathy with which Mumenthaler captures the gaping chasm between how we present and who we are give the film a voluptuous pull all its own.” Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter

John Woo’s Vietnam War-era saga of greed and betrayal, newly restored!

Three friends fleeing Hong Kong after a violent crime find themselves trapped in the chaos of the Vietnam War, where their loyalty and morality are tested beyond repair. What begins as a desperate bid for escape descends into a harrowing portrait of friendship under unimaginable pressure. As war strips away ideals and innocence, the bonds between the men fracture, leading to betrayals that cut deeper than any bullet.

Fueled by rage and grief Bullet in the Head trades balletic elegance for raw emotional devastation. This is heroic bloodshed turned inward, and a legendary filmmaker pushing himself into completely new territory.

In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Special live intro from local Hong Kong genre film connoisseur and one of the programmers of the Seattle Film Society, Patrick McFarland.

“As operatic as he is in crafting his set pieces, John Woo proves he is equally adept at making a Shakespearean tragedy from characters of great depth. Bullet in the Head is a reminder that John Woo is considered a master because of his expertise and supreme style. At the same time, some of his great works, like this one, also possess great substance.” Aneesh Raikundalia, High on Films

New HD master supervised by director Katsuhito Ishii.

Maverick director Ishii pulled out all the stops for this endearing outré take on the Japanese psyche, replete with non-stop irreverent gags, anime digressions, musical numbers and candy-coated lysergic passages.

The pristine image of the Japanese family is turned on its uber-polite head with surreal aplomb in this far out collection of hilarious vignettes. Set in the languid countryside, Mom is an eccentric artist who eschews household chores for an animation project with occasional help from crazy Grandpa. Meanwhile, Dad is just your everyday hypnotherapist. Their teenaged son suffers from hangups about the opposite sex while his little sister must contend with a doppelgänger. Uncle is a groovy music producer on a respite whose ghostly past experiences still haunt him.

In Japanese with English subtitles.

“So delightful and strange… one of my favorite films… It reminds me that small, personal acts of creation can still be cosmic.” Chase Burns, The Stranger

“A character remarks (in regard to what will hopefully amount to a classic musical sequence): ‘It’s more cool than weird, and it stays in your head.’ Perhaps unintentionally, The Taste of Tea encapsulates its own kinky allure in that line of dialogue. As sweet as the lives it celebrates, it’s something to savor time and time again.” Rob Humanick, Slant

With director / writer Mark Alan Hoffman in-person for an intro and Q&A.

Starring Richard Blackmon in a breakout lead role, A SIMPLE MACHINE is a coming-of-age story following Nick Allander, a recent college grad trying to figure out his life’s direction during the late stages of the pandemic. In a last-ditch attempt to get out of debt, Nick makes a series of radically frugal lifestyle choices without telling his girlfriend (Gabriela Bloomgarden) that he's going off the grid.

Shot in luminous black and white in Portland, Oregon by award-winning cinematographer Kevin Fletcher (It’s What’s Inside) and featuring an original score by Mark Orton (Nebraska, The Holdovers), A SIMPLE MACHINE is a deeply human and timely story about personal freedom and the cost of wanting less in a culture built on more. At a time of economic crisis, housing instability, and digital saturation, it offers something rare: a grounded, thoughtful counterpoint rooted in the deliberate choice towards simplicity and financial freedom. Based on the novel A Simple Machine, Like the Lever by Evan P. Schneider.

“…relevant to almost everyone in America, as affordability becomes one of our biggest worries.” Tim Molloy, MovieMaker

Tickets on sale soon!

Among the boldest accomplishments of Hong Kong cinema’s golden age, this uniquely visceral martial-arts movie puts a gritty new spin on the story of the one-armed swordsman, an iconic figure from the moment he was introduced by the Shaw Brothers studio in 1967.

Composed in a whirlwind of immersive close-ups and fractured editing, THE BLADE follows the young sword-maker Ding On (Vincent Zhao), who, after losing an arm in an ambush, transforms himself into a furious avenger. With its intentionally disorienting stylization and starkly brutal tone, THE BLADE was a rare commercial disappointment for Tsui Hark, but it has since been reclaimed as one of the director’s most radical visions—a tour de force of action expressionism, and a scathing reappraisal of the wuxia genre’s code of masculinity, that achieves a feverish intensity.

In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Special live intro from local Hong Kong genre film connoisseur and one of the programmers of the Seattle Film Society, Patrick McFarland.

“The action scenes are some of the most chaotic in Tsui’s canon, with an emphasis on rapid, almost cubist editing that seduces you with swings and strikes caught from multiple angles.” Jake Cole, Slant

“Watching [The Blade] is like sitting in the passenger seat of a feature-length, high-speed car chase sequence. It’s thrilling, it’s confusing, and you’ve never seen anything like it before. And you want to go again and again, like a rollercoaster ride through hell.” Peter Martin, ScreenAnarchy

Tickets on sale soon.

In an effort to get his buddy out of a gambling debt, Gou Fei agrees to join forces with his friend Judge in a weapons heist. The job goes bad and Judge betrays him. Gou Fei plots the ultimate revenge on Judge and his followers and sets forth a plan of violence and deceit. Starring legendary actor Chow Yun-Fat and directed by Ringo Lam (CITY ON FIRE).

In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Special live intro from local Hong Kong genre film connoisseur and one of the programmers of the Seattle Film Society, Patrick McFarland.

“With Full Contact, Lam takes the action genre and proceeds to not merely transcend it but explode it.” Beth Accomando, KPBS.org