Before last night's screening of SIFF's opening film Battle in Seattle, amidst all the self-congratulatory speeches, Mayor Nickels remarked that the 1999 WTO riots are "strongly rooted in the fabric of our city" and that every Seattleite would be well-served to have their feelings of the events "validated by an outside perspective." We'd be apt to agree---if only the outside perspective that followed wasn't such ham-handed dreck. Battle in Seattle isn't as bad as......

Just announced: The 34th Seattle International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, May 22 with the premiere of Battle in Seattle, a gripping dramatization of events that rocked the world when Seattle was host to the World Trade Organization. The evening unfolds at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall with a red carpet welcome for expected guests Charlize Theron and Martin Henderson, stars of the film, and director Stuart Townsend. A gala party will......