2022 Spokane International Film Festival aims to offer a wide range of cinematic perspectives

After taking a hiatus in 2021, the Spokane International Film Festival returns this weekend and promises to present a local and international palate of cinema that cannot be seen anywhere else.

“We felt it was important that the community have an opportunity to experience art in a collective way,” says Pete Porter, SpIFF director and EWU film professor. “We also wanted to offer a forum for filmmakers to screen their work, and we were surprised by the high number of open submissions.”

SpIFF will be trying something different this year by hosting a hybrid festival due in large part to the risk of omicron, but also to give everyone a chance to view films and shorts on their own schedule.

For the first time in the history of SpIFF, every film at the festival will be available virtually. That’s 16 feature films and more than 70 shorts from more than 20 countries, as well as 20 films from the Pacific Northwest or with a PNW connection.

Every SpIFF entry will be available virtually on Eventive, a platform that can be watched from a computer but that also supports devices such as AppleTV and Roku. Buying a SpIFF virtual ticket will give access to the entire library of entries ranging from animations and shorts to documentaries and features.

Virtual tickets can be purchased at watch.eventive.org/spiff and are $15. All features and shorts will be available on Eventive from Friday through Feb. 16.

“I love the idea that someone could buy a virtual pass and watch every SpIFF film and probably see something that they have never seen before,” Porter says. “It matters that SpIFF is able to survey the universe of filmmaking that is out there.”

One of the entries that sticks out is a local documentary titled “In the Garden of Forking Paths.” The film was shot almost entirely by children in the sovereign Indigenous territories of Canada’s West Coast.

The children-filmmakers lead viewers on a breathtaking journey through the mind and imagination of what it’s like to be a kid again while showing audiences the limitless potential of what a movie can do.

In terms of international features, another standout is “RK/RKAY.” It is a Hindu film that pays tribute to cinema of the 1960s. The main character is RK (Rajat Kapoor, who also wrote and directed the movie), a filmmaker attempting to make a new movie where he also plays the lead role and deals with all the drama that comes with the territory serving as a film-within-a-film.

SpIFF will still have a number of in-person events over the course of two days. The events start Friday at Bing Crosby Theater at 7 p.m. with “Best of the Northwest.” This includes a collection of nine short films made by local filmmakers ranging from comedy and drama to documentary.

These shorts will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers, then a showing of the documentary feature “Reclaim Idaho,” which details one family’s journey in a busted RV to campaign for Medicaid expansion to help more than 62,000 uninsured Idahoans. The doors for this event open at 6 p.m., and all COVID-19 protocols will be in effect. Tickets are $13.

On Saturday, the in-person events will continue at Bing Crosby Theater throughout most of the day and evening. Events start at 11 a.m. with the Animation Showcase, a collection of 10 animated shorts from around the world covering a variety of subjects and art styles.

At 1 p.m. will be the world premiere of “Re-Opening,” a documentary that details the ups and downs of the All Voice Is Theater company and crew as they attempt to reopen their theater in the middle of a global pandemic. The filmmakers are scheduled to attend.

At 3:30 p.m. will be a showcase of short films from around the world, including eight shorts from countries including France, Mexico, Norway, the U.K., Spain and the Netherlands.

At 5:45 p.m. is one of the premier films of the festival, with Morocco’s submission for Best Foreign Language for the 2022 Academy Awards, “Casablanca Beats.” Inspired by the director’s own experiences, the film explores a former rapper teaching hip hop in an underprivileged neighborhood despite the many differences in politics and religion.

The evening ends with a screening of “Vinyl Nation” at 8 p.m. This documentary chronicles the vinyl record renaissance that has occurred over the last decade.

Whether you attend the in-person events or watch everything virtually, SpIFF aims to offer a wider range of films than ever before, with focus on local filmmakers, the LGBTQ+ community and an international flavor, as well foster an atmosphere that celebrates these filmmakers and our shared love of movies.