In the 36 years since the inaugural Seattle International Film Festival, many other festivals have sprouted up, some to a lot more hype.  But after three and a half decades, the SIFF keeps evolving and expanding, enabling film lovers of the Pacific Northwest a chance to see interesting independent films, special retrospectives, and adaptive musical perfomances from several eclectic performers.

SIFF runs through June 13^th, and in that time, at 11 venues throughout the Seattle area, viewers can see close to 400 films: 189 features, 54 documentaries, 13 archival films, and 150 shorts. As one of the largest film festivals in the world, it also allows the ticket buying public to attend several of the galas in conjunction with screened films.

This year’s festival kicked off May 20^th with a screening of “The Extra Man,” starring Paul Dano, Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, and Katie Holmes. Dano plays wannabe bon vivant Louis, who moves to Manhattan. He rents a room from an eccentric playwright named Henry (Kline), who moonlights as an “extra man”—somebody who escorts wealthy widows when they make their social rounds.

Written and directed by Shari Springer and Robert Pulcini (“American Splendor,” “The Nanny Diaries”), the two have created a quirky, memorable story. While employing an often used premise of pairing two eccentric characters that seem to have different arcs and just happen to come together, the movie works because of the investments made by the actors. Nobody plays odd and ebullient like Kline, and Dano continues to build on an impressive resume. Holmes plays the object of Louis’ affection, and Reilly (who seems to be everywhere these days, including “Cyrus,” also at SIFF) plays Henry’s downstairs neighbor.

This year, SIFF presents a tribute to Edward Norton, awarding the actor the Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. The tribute includes a screening of his latest film, “Leaves of Grass,” an onstage interview session with the actor including highlights of Norton’s career, and screenings of three of his most influential films: “25^th Hour,” “American History X,” and “Fight Club.”

In “Leaves of Grass,” Norton plays a pair of estranged twins, Bill and Brady Kincaid. When Brady is murdered, Bill goes to Oklahoma to find out that there’s more to the story of his brother’s death than he originally thought. Norton will be on hand June 4^th after the screening at the Egyptian Theater for the Q & A session.

One of SIFF’s special presentations includes Ambiente: New Spanish Cinema, honoring 27 (18 features and nine shorts) contemporary Spanish films. “Cell 211,” a big winner at this year’s Goya Awards (think of them as the Spanish Oscars), will be screened June 5^th at the Neptune Theater. Daniel Monzon directed and co-wrote this film, which tells the story of a new prison guard who gets injured a day before he’s supposed to start working at the prison. His co-workers put him into a cell to recover, but in the meantime the prison falls into the hands of some vicious inmates.

The guard poses as an inmate, hoping to escape the situation unscathed, but soon finds himself amongst the inner circle of Malamadre, the inmates’ leader. The tension increases when it’s discovered there are three Basque separatists in the prison. In “Cell 211,” Monzon has created a multi-dimensional, layered story complete with political undertones.

Other special programs on the SIFF schedule include Face the Music Live, offering several films with live soundtracks, featuring performances by The Maldives (performing the score to Tom Mix’s “Riders of the Purple Sage”), Donald Sosin’s live piano accompaniment to “A Spray of Plum Blossoms,” and Stephen Merritt, who will provide a brand new soundtrack to the 1916 adaptation (featuring a new 35mm restored print) of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

For filmmakers, SIFF features interactive forums and digital media labs on June 5^th and 6^th in the Alki Room at Seattle Center. Screenings and sessions for audio, character arc, film financing, an introduction to Final Cut Pro, film editing, character and plot essentials, DVD authoring and encoding (because now most filmmakers work in digital) will all be held.

SIFF closes out June 13^th with a special awards show invitational brunch. There are three competition programs, which have whittled the thousands of entries down to the 400 films shown, and then down further to the juried awards:  The New Directors Showcase Competition, Documentary Competition and SIFF Shorts.

And then there’s the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards, selected by audience members. Last year’s Best Feature Film went to the hilarious “Black Dynamite” and the Best Director to Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” which went on to win several Oscars, including one for Bigelow herself as the first woman to win Best Director.

Getting the honor to close out the festival is “Get Low,” directed by Aaron Schneider and starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. The film had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of 2009 and has been a film festival darling throughout the first part of 2010. “Get Low” centers on Felix Bush (Duvall), a reclusive backwoods character whose legend has intrigued and terrified the people who live in his town.

Things get strange when Felix rides into town and requests a “living funeral,” where people can come and tell stories about Felix while he takes it all in. Murray plays Frank Quinn, the funeral home director who sees the living funeral as a chance to cash in. Both director Schneider and producer Dean Zanuck are scheduled to attend the closing night screening.

For a festival that runs nearly a month, and which takes place in 11 venues throughout the city, the scope of SIFF is hard to take in. It doesn’t limit itself to simply screening films, which is why the festival has thrived and continues to succeed. It is a celebration of film, not just for viewers, but also for the people that see filmmaking as their lifeblood.