SCC well-represented at Seattle International Film Festival

Jarrett Nelson edits When the Lights Go Out, a documentary about the projectionist at the Seattle Center laser show, John "Ivan" Borcherding.  Photo courtesy SCC Academics News blog.

By Jim Hills, SCC

Shoreline Community College is well-represented at the Seattle International Film Festival which opened on May 19.

Not just in the audience, on the screen.

“The program here at Shoreline - the faculty, the students, the support – is really building and that’s reflected by the work being done here,” said Tony Doupé, Performance Arts and Digital Filmmaking department chair.

Shoreline has a direct connection to four films being shown at the 37th edition of SIFF, the largest festival of its kind in the United States. Running from May 19-June 12, the event will feature 257 feature films and 184 shorts, including 96 premieres.

Doupé and Shoreline student Garr Godfrey appear in “The Off Hours,” which shines a light on the drama that comes while working the night shift at a diner. The project that premiered earlier this year at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival also features Seattle’s Lynn Shelton of “Hump Day” fame. 

“The Off Hours” is scheduled to play at 7 p.m., June 6, and 4 p.m., June 7, at the Neptune Theater in Seattle’s University District.

Perhaps one of the more interesting efforts due its source is “When the Lights Go Out.” The six-minute video was created by students as a collaborative final project for Shoreline faculty member Ruth Gregory’s Film/Video 287 class on documentaries.

“We offer the class during winter quarter because it is designed to coincide with the International Documentary Challenge as the final project of the class,” Gregory said. Although the video didn’t make the finals for the challenge, SIFF judges liked the work and subject – a story about the projectionist at the Seattle Center laser dome, a man named John “Ivan” Borcherding – enough to give it a coveted spot in the festival.

While Gregory served as producer, every other role was filled by students, including director Karen Ducey. A former Seattle PI photojournalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and National Geographic, Ducey said she loved the filmmaking process. “One thing I learned was that when you see all those names on a film, it really takes all those people working together,” Ducey said.

“When the Lights Go Out” is scheduled to show with the Seattle Stories package of shorts at 11 a.m., Monday, May 30, at the SIFF Cinema in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, part of McCaw Hall at Seattle Center.

“Photo Booth,” another piece of the Seattle Stories package, was edited by Shoreline faculty member Kris Boustedt. The 18-minute murder mystery is also the work many Shoreline students. The film is scheduled to play at 11 a.m., Monday, May 30, at the SIFF Cinema

Boustedt also edited “Tilting at Windmills,” an entry in The Fly Filmmaking Challenge, one of SIFF’s most popular events. This year, the filmmakers raced the clock with a week to write a script, three days to shoot with only 2,000 feet of Kodak film and then five days to edit a total of 10 minutes of screen time. And, there was a documentary crew there to catch all of the behind-the-scenes action. The Fly Filmmaking Challenge is scheduled to play at 4:30 p.m., May 30, at the Egyptian Theatre, in downtown Seattle, and 5 p.m., June 7, at the SIFF Cinema.

“Having a film festival like SIFF in our backyard is a tremendous asset,” Doupé said. “Having the work of our students and faculty in the festival is even better.”