SIFF & CFC Event - The NeverEnding Story
Hop onto your Luck Dragon and ride into the magical world of Fantasia for a very special presentation of The NeverEnding Story. This time, Seattle’s own DJ NicFit will create a live soundtrack to accompany Wolfgang Petersen’s glorious 1984 fantasy classic.
For 40 years, The NeverEnding Story has thrilled generations of moviegoers, though I wager most have only ever seen it on television screens, where, like The Wizard of Oz, the film became a classic. Like Dorothy before him, our hero Bastian longs to escape his mundane everyday life. That opportunity comes when Bastian hides from a trio of bullies by ducking into Mr. Coreander's Bookshop, where the shop’s cantankerous proprietor is reading a beguilingly strange book. "It's not for you," he warns Bastian, which only entices the boy to "borrow" it when Coreander steps away. Late for school, Bastian skips classes to hide in the attic and begins reading the mysterious book. Within its pages, he discovers the kingdom of Fantasia, under threat from a malevolent entity known as The Nothing. Fantasia’s heralds seek aid from the Childlike Empress, only to discover her mortally ill. Atreyu, a young warrior, embarks upon a quest to discover a cure for the Empress. But as Bastian continues turning the pages of Atreyu's adventures, the lines between fantasy and reality grow perilously thin. Although we may not be able to escape into the fantastical world of Fantasia or ride Falkor the Luck Dragon, The NeverEnding Story continues to enchant audiences, particularly when seen on the silver screen as you hear Liamhl’s iconic theme song pounding through the cinema’s thunderous sound system.
Cross-Faded Cinema (curated by Seattle's own DJ NicFit) returns to the Festival to provide an all-new soundtrack to this fantasy classic, promising a trippy, ultra-sensory time done live on two turntables. Previous SIFF appearances include the all-Queen soundtrack to Highlander (1986) and last year’s goth and New Wave-infused presentation of 1996’s The Craft. What will DJ NicFit deem worthy of The NeverEnding Story for this one-of-a-kind music and film hybrid event?
- Director: Wolfgang Petersen
- Principal Cast: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Gerald McRaney, Moses Gunn
- Country: USA
- Year: 1984
- Running Time: 92 min.
- Producer: Bernd Eichinger, Dieter Geissler
- Screenplay: Wolfgang Petersen, Herman Weigel
- Cinematographers: Jost Vacano
- Editors: Jane Seitz
- Music: Klaus Doldinger, Giorgio Moroder
- Filmography: Outbreak (1995), Enemy Mine (1985), Das Boot (1981)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Warner Bros