It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and features a diverse assortment of predominantly independent and foreign films, and a strong contingent of documentaries.
The 2010 festival featured over 400 films, shown primarily in downtown Seattle and its nearby neighborhoods, and in Renton, Kirkland, and Juanita Beach Park.
[3] The festival began in 1976 at a then-independent cinema, the Moore Egyptian Theater, under the direction of managers Jim Duncan, Dan Ireland, and Darryl Macdonald.
[4] The first SIFF featured "Hedda," with Glenda Jackson, Louis Malle's "Black Moon," Luis Buñuel's "Phantom of Liberty.
The Egyptian theater remains a prime festival venue to this day, although the festival now typically uses about half a dozen cinemas (including, since 2007, its own SIFF Cinema at Seattle Center), with the exact roster varying from year to year.
During the 1980s, SIFF audiences developed a reputation for appreciating films that did not fit standard industry niches, such as Richard Rush's multi-layered The Stunt Man (1980).
[citation needed] SIFF was instrumental in the entry of Dutch films into the United States market, including the first major American debut for director Paul Verhoeven.
[2] In 2006, Longhouse Media launched the SuperFly Filmmaking Experience, in partnership with the Seattle International Film Festival, which brings youth together from diverse backgrounds to work collaboratively on film projects that promote awareness of indigenous issues and mutual understanding of each other's cultures.
Fifty youth from across the United States arrive in Seattle to then travel to a local Pacific Northwest reservation to create 4 films in 36 hours.
[12] In October 2011, SIFF Cinema moved from McCaw Hall to its current location in the Uptown Theater.
Previous winners of the Golden Space Needle include Whale Rider for 2003, Trainspotting for 1996, Kiss of the Spider Woman for 1985 and Boyhood for 2015, the latter two being the only films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and win the Golden Space Needle.