It is always a wonderful experience being in-person for a film festival, and this year, I was finally able to return to the Seattle International Film Festival’s in-person experience.

I had the distinct opportunity to meet up with filmmakers, like Zahida Pirani, director of the SXSW and SIFF selected short film El Carrito who I interviewed during SXSW, and Dani Lijun, SXSW-featured music video producer. We had a wonderful conversation over lunch while they were in town about their experience at SXSW and how important it is to support indepentent filmmaking and continue endorsing minority representation in storytelling.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Soule and Daniel Talbott, the co-directors of Midday Black, Midnight Blue, which had it’s world premiere at SIFF. Plus, I had the chance to interview James Morosini in person about his cringe comedy drama I Love My Dad, a film I thoroughly enjoyed during it’s premiere at SXSW.

In addition, this was a great opportunity to meet up and watch SIFF movies with friends. ForReel writer Taylor Beaumont made the trek down from Vancouver, BC to attend the festival for a couple days on the first weekend, which allowed us to catch films like Voice of Silence, Buffalo Soldiers, and Celts, as well as attend the first of two Secret Fest Screenings.

Then, I spent the second weekend of the festival hanging out and watching films with Taylor Baker from Drink In The Movies. We we able to see films like Inu-Oh, The Man In The Basement, and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On - a screening that serendipitously reunited me with friends I knew from Bellingham’s Pickford Film Center. These friends, Taylor, and I were also able to attend the second of the two Secret Fest screenings on the final day of the festival. And after that, Taylor and I had a hard time passing up the opportunity to revisit Cha Cha Real Smooth in a theater - a narrative experience that loses none of its luster upon repeat viewings.

It all amounted to a phenomenal return to the in-person SIFF experience. I want to give a very special thank you to SIFF’s press team for coordinating screening RSVP’s, connecting me to publicists for interview requests, and reserving space to film my videos.

To wrap up the festival, Taylor Baker and I hopped on camera while we were together in Seattle to discuss what we thought about the experience overall and talk about some of the films we saw and liked. These are the ones we ended up liking the most: