David Lynch, 1946-2025: SIFFRAFF Reflections

Thursday, January 16, 2025

David Lynch from LYNCH/OZ

Beloved arthouse auteur David Lynch—one of the most iconic and prolific American filmmakers—is passing through the White Lodge. The news today of his death has devastated many of us SIFFRAFF who have been inspired and influenced by his work.

Did many here enter the world of film festivals and arthouse cinema largetly from being exposed to his films at a formative age? Indeed. Few directors have influenced movies in the ways he did, and as we collectively grieve, we reflect on his impact...

Twin Peaks The Return

“Lynch taught me and so many others to let go of our preconceptions of what art should be and to experience the joy of wading into something abstract."

Lynch taught me and so many others to let go of our preconceptions of what art should be and to experience the joy of wading into something abstract. Lynch led first with mood and with feeling, and going through his films and "Twin Peaks" for the first time radically reshaped how I experience film and tv. My favorite media memory is watching "Twin Peaks: The Return" as it was airing. I don’t know if that singular joy of discovery will ever be replicated. Lynch should also be remembered as someone that treated folks on his set with kindness, that gathered a stable of actors and crew members that he gave his whole trust to, and for continuing to create challenging art well into his later life. Hard to process how much of a loss this is.

– Patrick McFarland, Cinema Rentals Manager

Twin Peaks

"Nobody understood the duality of humankind like David Lynch.”

My first Lynch experience was watching "Twin Peaks" as a sophomore in college. I was a Tumblr kid who saw stills from the show, and the aestheticism—in particular, the costuming—drew me in. I’m not a television show person, always a movie person, but "Twin Peaks" took the episodic format and made it cinematic. After this introduction to David Lynch, I was on the hunt for his lexicon of Art Life creations. In doing so, I discovered he’s a very loving man who believes in goodness, but also understands that being human comes with its warts and all. No matter how grounded we may be, there’s a seedy underbelly humming beneath the surface. Nobody understood the duality of humankind like David Lynch.

– Shelby Smout, Social Media Manager

Dune

"I knew I had found that film that I would revisit many, many times the rest of my life."

When Dune came out in 1984, I knew I had found that film that I would revisit many, many times the rest of my life. I spent much of 1990 at the coffee shops in Iowa City dissecting every episode of "Twin Peaks,” and Mulholland Drive unravelled something in my world, setting me on a path to constantly be discovering those unravelling film experiences. The passing of David Lunch, a true film giant, leaves a giant hole for all of us.

– Beth Barrett, Artistic Director

Read Beth's take on why David Lynch’s Dune is the best Dune from the SIFF Blog, June 2023

Twin Peaks

"From the surreal pacing, strange dialogue, and overall atmosphere of his storytelling, Lynch was one of a kind."

I may be biased as a person who regularly soaks in the scenery and coziness of the Pacific Northwest and also regularly seeks a Damn Fine cup of coffee, but my love of the "Twin Peaks" universe runs deep. "Twin Peaks" is foundational to my love of Lynch and all things, Lynchian. How amazing to have filmmaking style, tropes and techniques literally categorized under your name? Mulholland Drive broke my brain in the most beautiful way, helping me understand the levels to which filmmaking can impact and transport its viewer. From the surreal pacing, strange dialogue, and overall atmosphere of his storytelling, Lynch was one of a kind. "I don't know why people expect art to make sense."

– Marisa Bunker, Associate Director of Human Resources

Eraserhead

"He’s the director that introduced me to weird art films."

He’s the director that introduced me to weird art films… My first art film and David Lynch experience was as a teenager during a phase where I craved strange things and films. I was up at 3am on the laptop I shared with my sister and I watched Eraserhead after finding it on Netflix. I think that’s the only proper way to watch Eraserhead.

– Rhys Iliakis, Graphic Design Manager

Mulholland Drive

"David Lynch made me dream."

When I was visiting colleges, one of them was screening Mulholland Drive in the student union and my experience watching it there is mostly what made me decide "this is the place for me." Fast forward a couple of years, I’d made a large circle of wonderful weirdo friends who gathered weekly to rewatch all of "Twin Peaks." I also remember my parents watching "Twin Peaks" when it was airing on ABC in 1990, and catching glimpses, feeling myself in a dream. David Lynch made me dream.

– Clare Garvin, Associate Director of Digital Marketing

Inland Empire

"I saw the beautiful, nightmarish images on the screen and was immediately fascinated."

Early in my Junior year of high school, during video production class, a few Seniors were sitting on the couch in the studio, watching a VHS copy of Eraserhead. I walked by and saw the beautiful, nightmarish images on the screen and was immediately fascinated. I had never seen anything like it. Either that same day or very soon thereafter, I went to a local video store and rented a VHS copy so I could watch the entire thing myself. From then on, anything David Lynch made, I needed to see it as soon as humanly possible.

During one of my later years attending the University of Oregon, David Lynch was on a tour talking about transcendental meditation and one of his stops was at my college. Tickets to the talk sold out instantly, but they opened up an overflow room in a different part of campus that was even larger than the classroom in which he was giving the talk. I snagged a spot in that overflow room and much to the surprise of those of us gathered there, David stopped by our space first to say hello before making his way to the main classroom. He remarked that he liked our welcoming energy so much that he wanted to just stay with us to give his planned talk, but alas he did eventually move on to the preplanned location.

No other artist’s work has had such lingering effects on me. Inland Empire is still one of the most haunting movies I’ve ever seen. After seeing it the day it came out in theaters, I couldn’t watch it again for the longest time because the memory of being frightened by that hallway sequence towards the end had built up in my mind so much over the years that I was afraid to see it again. I have since seen it a few more times, but each time I get incredibly anxious as the movie builds towards the end and it still sends shivers down my spine. And after the finale of "Twin Peaks: The Return" aired, I could hardly think of anything else for the next few weeks and I consumed as many podcasts of people talking about it as I could. That faraway scream coming from the Palmer house at the end of that final episode will haunt me forever.

– Trevor Brandt, Cinema Technology Manager

SIFF has presented nearly all of David Lynch’s films whether at the Seattle International Film Festival or SIFF Cinema over the years. Some presentations include:

Eraserhead - The film had its Northwest Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival 1978 on May 27 at the Moore Egyptian. It was originally on the schedule to be presented at the Festival the previous year, but the print didn’t arrive on time. So, Festival organizers Dan Ireland and Darryl McDonald slotted it in as a midnighter the following year, noting in the catalog:
The Twin Peaks pilot was presented at the Seattle International Film Festival 2013 as part of a Tribute to Kyle McLachlan. The event took place at SIFF Cinema Uptown, presenting the actor with a Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievevement in Acting, followed by the screening.
Wild at Heart - Lynch’s 1990 hallucinatory crime thriller and crazed romance was presented at the Seattle International Film Festival 2014 as part of a Tribute to Laura Dern. The actress was in attendance to receive a Seattle International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievevement in Acting; a screening of the film followed. The event took place on May 17 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian.
Our Dreams and Nightmares: The Films of David Lynch series at SIFF Cinema Egyptian in June 2023 included presentations of LYNCH/OZ, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Short Films of David Lynch, Dune, Wild at Heart, Inland Empire, Elephant Man, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, The Straight Story, Eraserhead, and Lost Highway.

He will be deeply missed by all of us at SIFF.

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Date: January 16, 2025
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