Seattle has earned its reputation as a city of cat-lovers, so it comes as no surprise that an audience of over a hundred joined the SIFF Uptown Theater for an International Cat Day Celebration on October 29.
While SIFF is best known for its annual Film Festival held every spring (the largest film festival in the United States), it also hosts special screenings, educational events, and regular cinema programming throughout the year. Locally owned and operated since 1976, SIFF offers its patrons a bevy of unique films and events (and reasonably priced snacks) year-round at SIFF’s three classic movie houses. The National Cat Day Celebration featured a special screening of the documentary Kedi and hosted a cat toy-making station, courtesy of Mud Bay.
The screening began with a 50-minute curated selection of the best cat videos the internet has to offer, including an extended collection of the YouTube famous Maru and ending with the quintessential (and local!) keyboard cat. While most of us know what it’s like to watch a cat video at home, the SIFF show was a unique chance to watch along with a crowd of vocal and enthusiastic cat lovers.
The collection was followed by Cats of the Urban Wild, a 10-minute short film from the New Yorker about volunteer efforts to effectively and humanely control the overpopulation of stray cats in New York City.
The feature presentation, Kedi, is a critically-acclaimed documentary on Istanbul’s street feline population, directed by Ceyda Torun. The film is a charming series of vignettes on individual cats across Istanbul and the humans in their lives, all interspersed with beautiful, sweeping shots of the city.
As the audience was reminded at the beginning of the screening, “National Cat Day is not just a day to celebrate cats, but also remember there are lots of cats out there who need homes.”
You can find information about SIFF’s variety of upcoming events here. SIFF also offers year-round educational programming for youth, filmmakers, and the general public. See what they’re up to on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on their very own media page.
