The invasion was by some quality films

On a Sunday night when a kick by a guy named Adam Vinatieri had much of America’s television audience holding its breath, a group of Spokane filmgoers gathered in The Met and watched movies. And they weren’t just any movies. They were foreign, one had subtitles and both were about such serious issues as the inevitability of death and what we leave behind. They were perfect film-festival fare, and they were the perfect way for the 2004 Spokane International Film Festival to end.

Today was supposed to be a three-for, beginning with the documentary “My Flesh and Blood,” continuing with Guy Maddin’s bizarre “The Saddest Music in the World” and culminating with Danish director’s serio-comic “Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself.” But because festival programmer Bob Glatzer was able to negotiate a deal with Miramax Films, the festival was able to schedule a late showing of Denys Arcand’s Oscar-nominated “Les Invasions Barbares” (in English, “The Barbarian Invasions”).

Those who stayed until the end saw the best that this, still young, festival had to offer. This year, though the fifth year that the Contemporary Arts Alliance has sponsored the event, was the first time that film festival chair Leslie Ronald and the CAA board had given Glatzer the OK to expand the festival from one that played only regional film to one that sought the best movies that he could book. And if what Glatzer was able to schedule is any indication, then, given enough support, Spokane could just have the kind of quality film festival that is already established in Seattle, Portland, Olympia and Vancouver, British Columbia.

That may be a fantasy. Far more people stayed home to watch the Super Bowl than came to The Met tonight. But for the first time, Spokane put on a festival that showed films good enough to play anywhere. And, hey, we can always dream, right?