The Seattle International Film Festival’s gala event to showcase the grand reopening of the Uptown Theatre began with a few nervous moments Thursday night.
Such as whether the team of electricians from Neon and Electric Sign Company would be able to get the marquee sign in front of the theater to work. The company, which had worked on the marquee in the past, worked until the final moments to get the neon addition to the marquee that says “SIFF Cinema” to light up.
But the team was successful, and as local dignitaries began to collect in front of the refurbished theater, the workers were removing their ladders and equipment.
That minor snafu out of the way, the SIFF opening took on an air of excitement and anticipation. A sellout crowd waited in a line that stretched down around the corner and local dignitaries were interviewed on a hastily rolled out red carpet. The event felt like a mix of Entertainment Tonight and a large civic love fest.
Among the red-carpet interviews, Craig Wilson, representing the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce and Arne Zaslove, representing the Queen Anne Community Council spoke about how important the opening of the theater was for the local community. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn added his praise to SIFF and local businesses for working together to make this event happen.
Inside the theater, a packed audience heard speeches from McGinn, who talked about how he had walked by the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood recently and realized how much the area needed the Uptown Theater. Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams reminisced about the first film he had seen in the Uptown.
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Nellams told the audience about the interactive showing. “We yelled at the screen the whole time.”
He said the job of the Seattle Center is to “delight and inspire the human spirit,” and that is what SIFF’s new Film Center and the Uptown Theater will do. The SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center will act as the organization’s permanent headquarters. It will also be a center for the film festivals, events and lectures.
Nellams invoked the image of the iconic “Mr. Rogers” and said that once again it was “a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”
SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence told the audience that it had been only about one year since negotiations began to acquire the Uptown Theater from AMC Theaters, which had closed the theater for financial reasons. But a final agreement was only reached in August of this year. He thanked a number of local businesses including Umpqua Bank and Vulcan Real Estate and many other local businesses for their support and help.
SIFF Managing Director Deborah Person announced that one capital program had been completed, but that SIFF was planning to start another fundraising campaign immediately to help pay for the cost of the theater and other projects.
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