SIFF Virtual Cinema screens great Hungarian cinema

As someone who has attended every Spokane International Film Festival since its inception, and who for the past decade has served on the festival’s board of directors, my first allegiance when it comes to Northwest film is SpIFF.

Yet at least once in the 1980s, and regularly since 1993, I’ve been a supporter of the Seattle International Film Festival .

If attending SpIFF is like attending your 100-seat neighborhood theater, attending SIFF — one of the world’s biggest, longest and most admired film events in North America — is like seeing a movie in a 1,200-seat theater with a screen as tall as Riverfront Park’s Clock Tower.

But while this year’s SpIFF managed to complete its most recent run well before this COVID-19 quarantine began, SIFF was not as lucky. Scheduled to begin its 2020 run today (and run through June 7), SIFF was forced to cancel.

And like thousands of other businesses across the country, it’s hurting financially.

But like other service businesses, SIFF is attempting to make do. Similar to what the Magic Lantern and other theaters are doing, SIFF is offering what it’s calling the “Virtual SIFF Cinema.” Example: You can watch three of the movies that are available though the Lantern’s feed — “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band,” “The Whistlers” and “Slay the Dragon,” Virtual SIFF is also offering the a trio of Hungarian films.

The films, all of which were directed by the great István Szabó , are “Colonel Redl” (1985), “Confidence” (1980) and “Mephisto” (1981).

Each film rents for $12, a price that allows you to watch the film over five days. And more important, your money goes to help fund SIFF.

I’ve already given money to the Lantern, and I’ve long supported SpIFF. Now it’s SIFF’s turn.