It is a bad time for any arts organization to be raising money, yet SIFF continues to slog ahead—slowly—with its $3 million dream of converting the old Alki Room at Seattle Center into a permanent headquarters. (But on the bright side of our benighted economy: Its current South Lake Union digs, in a Paul Allen-owned building, aren’t likely to be bulldozed soon either.) So, to raise capital from the faithful, six favorite flicks will be screened in the 12-Hour Movie Marathon, with a variety of perks—pillows! Lunch! Champagne!—depending on your ticket level. Dan Ireland, who co-founded SIFF back in 1976, will appear to introduce the opening The Whole Wide World (1996) which helped make a star of Renée Zellweger. (Um, thanks for that?) Then after To Die For, The Road Warrior, Blood Simple, and The Fourth Man, Bainbridge Island’s own Alan Rudolph will discuss his 1985 Trouble in Mind, a larky, latter-day noir shot in Seattle with prominent appearances by the monorail, Space Needle, and Divine (not in drag for once). All of which may whet your filmgoing appetite for SIFF, which begins May 20—only two short months away. BRIAN MILLER

Sun., March 21, 9 a.m., 2010