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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Penultimate SpIFF showings move to the Bing

Dan Webster

Eight days down, two days to go for the 2014 Spokane International Film Festival. And what a festival it has been. Dark, at times. Even bleak. But realistic. Always intriguing in how the filmmakers contributing to this year's lineup inspect this mystery we call the human experience. And, on occasion, uplifting. And we have tonight and Saturday to go.

Thursday night at the Magic Lantern was a good example of the bleak — though, yes, the Polish film "Aftermath" grudgingly does betray a bit of redemption at the very end. And the re-screening of the Finnish documentary "Aatsinki" gave the movie fans who sat through it a look at life as one small village lives it up around the Arctic Circle (which is to say, they go on picnics but, overall, life is nothing like one).

Tonight, as we move to the Bing Crosby Theater, we head back into documentary land. First up, at 5:30, is "Minor Differences," which has filmmaker Heather Drew Oaksen, who is scheduled to attend the screening, exploring the lives of five juvenile offenders and what becomes of them two decades later. (Irv Broughton will introduce.) It will be preceded by the documentary short "Rintocchi" ("Trollings"), which is about Italian bell ringers and the men who make them. At 8 p.m., Mary Pat Treuthart will introduce the Oscar-nominated Cambodian film "The Missing Picture," in which director Rithy Panh uses carved figures and artistic tableaux to re-create the events he experienced during the Cambodian genocide on 1975-79.

Click here for ticket information. The Bing has 750-some seats, so neither show is likely to sell out. But downtown parking can be hard to find in the late afternoon, so it's always good to show up early.