Meet our talented team of programmers – the people who work and watch movies all year long to curate the best films possible for the Seattle International Film Festival, celebrating its 49th year from May 11 to 21, 2023. Full program info siff.net/festival.

What are your 10 favorite films ever?
Ok Sight & Sound let’s go! For the time being, and just in chronological order:

The Red Shoes (1948, Powell/Pressburger)
La Dolce Vita (1960, Fellini)
Carrie (1976, De Palma)
Out of the Blue (1980, Hopper)
Possession (1981, Zulawski)
Smithereens (1982, Seidelman)
Goodfellas (1990, Scorsese)
Chungking Express (1994, Kar-wai)
Boogie Nights (1997, Anderson)
Frances Ha (2012, Baumbach)

What is one of your favorite festival moments?
Probably when I was publications manager in 2018 and we finished the catalog. But honestly, my favorite moments include every time I ever sit down in a cozy dark theater and feel the buzz of excitement from all the other attendees around me. Grabbing a beer after screenings and chatting about newly discovered gems.

What is your guilty pleasure film?
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures—let’s all embrace our cringe! I’m a Michael Bay fan, and love the big budget sentimentality found in movies like Pearl Harbor and Armageddon. Also will forever be obsessed with Titanic, and stuff like Tony Scott’s Man on Fire and Déjà Vu (really anything Denzel). Other things that might not be everyone’s cup of tea is just ultra ugly and gross horror, whether that’s super goopy body horror movies or 2000s “torture porn,” I can typically get into.

What's one thing we should know about you that is NOT film related?
Some of my favorite things are thrifting, dinner parties, and hot yoga.

What do you consider your hometown?
Lynnwood, WA. I grew up at the Alderwood Mall.