Arts & Entertainment
SIFF to open with A24’s PAST LIVES from Celine Song
The film will be followed by a Q&A with Writer/Director Celine Song & Opening Night Gala at the Paramount Theatre.
SIFF announced today that the 49th Seattle International Film Festival will open with Celine Song’s heartrending modern romance Past Lives from A24.SIFF’s Opening Night screeningwill take place Thursday, May 11 at The Paramount Theatre followed by a party inside the theatre and outdoors on Ninth Avenue.
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), two deeply connected childhood friends who are torn apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
“At this year’s festival, SIFF is celebrating the joy of discovering new worlds through cinema,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “We’re honored to start that journey with Celine Song’s achingly beautiful debut feature film Past Lives, which embraces the connections that happen at specific times, for specific reasons, and can help us understand the people we are, and who we will become.”
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Writer and director Celine Song will be in attendance and participate in a Q&A after the screening. Song’s play “Endlings” received its world premiere in 2019 at American Repertory Theater and had its New York premiere in 2020 at New York Theatre Workshop. She has been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a semifinalist for the American Playwriting Foundation's Relentless Award. Past Lives is her debut feature film.
Following the screening and Q&A, SIFF will hold a party at the Paramount Theatre and on Ninth Avenue with an outdoor beer garden; food trucks from Wood Shop BBQ, Where Ya At Matt, Tutta Bella, and Full Tilt Ice Cream; live music from C89.5 DJs; and libations from The Walls, Georgetown Brewing, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Jiant Hard Kombucha and Pathfinder Non-Alcoholic Spirits.
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Tickets for Opening Night Film & Gala are available online at siff.net and in person at SIFF Cinema box offices and are $75 for SIFF members and $85 for the general public. Opening Night access ranges from the festive, see-it-all Film & Gala Package to the exclusive Red Carpet Experience featuring a walk down the red carpet into a pre-film reception, a swag bag, reserved seating at the film screening, and VIP bar and lounge at the famous after-party.
