Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring to close Seattle

As previously announced, Much Ado About Nothing will open Seattle, which is set to run from May 16-Jun 9.

Seattle festival top brass announced the line-up on Tuesday [30] and said that Morgan Neville’s acclaimed documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom will be the centerpiece gala screening.

All in all the festival will screen 272 features – plus four secret films – and 175 shorts representing 85 countries.

Eighteen features are world premieres including Josh Taft’s Alive And Well, Karen Whitehead’s Her Aim Is True and Jamila Wignot’s Town Hall.

There are North American premieres for 38 films such as Isabel Coixet’s Yesterday Never Ends, Jafar Panahi’s Closed Curtain and Ryota Nakano’s Capturing Dad.

Seattle launches its African Pictures programme this year with a grant from the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences and offerings from African filmmakers working outside the continent include world premieres of Leah Warshawski’s Finding Hollywood and Donovan Marsh’s Spud 2: The Madness Continues.

The competition strands are New Directors, New American Cinema, Documentary, SIFF Shorts and the Golden Space Needle audience awards.

“My first knowledge of film festivals came from seeing astonishing and extraordinary films from the likes of Ridley Scott, Peter Greenaway, Lars von Trier and Bernardo Bertolucci,” said SIFF artistic and co-director Carl Spence. “Today, those formative experiences drive my passion for finding the next wave of films from masters and undiscovered talent.

“From the launch of our inaugural African Pictures programme, to our Closing Night Gala, the American debut of Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, to Disney-Pixar’s Monsters University, to Peter Greenaway’s Goltzius And The Pelican Company, the 39th edition of the festival will unleash an incredibly rich and diverse array of fantastic programming.”

For the complete line-up visit the official website.