Seattle International Film Festival to Include Lifetime Achievement Award for Anthony Hopkins

The 33rd Annual Seattle International Film Festival runs May 24th through June 17th. The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) Group works throughout the year to find innovative and distinctive film programs. Each spring they sponsor the Seattle International Film Festival, which attracts directors, actors, and critics from around the world to participate in the events, film showings, and forums.

Special features in this year's line up are the following:

Son of Rambow
Produced by the director of "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", this is a coming-of-age movie about two kids growing up in the 80s in England, one long, hot summer. The 95 minute film will be screen on Thursday May 24th at 7PM.

A Tribute to Anthony Hopkins
Wednesday May 30th at 7:30pm, Anthony Hopkins will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Anthony Hopkins is one of the most versatile, subtle, and commanding actors of our time. His career has provided us with a view into such diverse characters as Adolf Hitler, Yitzhak Rabin, John Quincy Adams, Richard Nixon, Guy Burgess, St. Paul, Captain Bligh, Picasso, Quasimodo, C. S. Lewis and everybody's favorite cannibal, Hannibal Lecter. He's played servants and kings, a homosexual spy, a schizophrenic ventriloquist, a press tycoon, a modest bookseller, authors and artists, doctors and dreamers, psychos and psychiatrists and everything in between. Hopkins has won one Oscar, along with 32 other wins & 27 nominations. His filmography is too long to list. The acknowledged authority Internet movie database, imdb (http://www.imdb.com) lists 99 movies in which Anthony Hopkins was an actor, in addition to his other roles in theater, as director, composer, writer, producer, and other credits.

An Evening with Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer and composer. Lisa participated in a number of scores, but came to fame as a film composer after recording The Insider in 1999, and Gladiator in 2000. She received a Golden Globe award. Her score for the 2000 film Gladiator received an Academy Award nomination. She both sings and is instrumentalist for much of her work,

A Battle of Wits
The director of "A Battle of Wits", Jacob Cheung, also brought us "Never Say Goodbye " in 2001, "Cageman" in 1992, Beyond the Sunset" in 1989, and "China's Last Eunuch" in 1986. His latest movie, "A Battle of Wits", is an historical epic set during China's Warring States period. At the Hong Kong Film Awards, this film won the award for best Film Editing, and was nominated for five others: Best Action Choreograph, Best Costumer & Make Up Design, Best Director, Best Original Film Score, Best Sound Design, and Best Visual Effect.

Passes and event tickets for the Seattle International Film Festival are now on sale for members only, and will be available to the public beginning May 13th.