‘Your Sister’s Sister’ Will Open the Seattle Film Festival

Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt in Your Sister's Sister
Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt in 'Your Sister's Sister' - Photo by Benjamin Kasulke/IFC Films

For the first time ever, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) will open with a film that was produced in and shot by a Seattle filmmaker. Lynn Shelton (Humpday) wrote and directed Your Sister’s Sister starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass, and the film made its debut in 2011 at the Toronto Film Festival.

“Lynn Shelton has made a pitch-perfect comedy of errors, infused with the right balance of humor and pathos that I absolutely love,” stated SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence announcing the film’s selection as the festival opener. “As a rising star in the independent filmmaking scene with international recognition, it makes perfect sense for Lynn Shelton to be the first local-based filmmaker in 38 years to open the Seattle International Film Festival.”

“I am thrilled beyond measure that Your Sister’s Sister has been chosen to open the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, and that it represents the first locally produced film to ever receive this honor,” said writer/director Shelton. “I hope the city will come raise a glass to our incredibly talented crew and to the entire Seattle film community, without which this film would never have been made. After a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and a U.S. premiere at Sundance, our homecoming in May will be the sweetest celebration of them all.”

The Seattle International Film Festival runs May 17 through June 10, 2012. Ticket info and festival details can be found at SIFF.net.The Plot:

A year after his brother Tom’s death, Jack (Duplass) is an emotionally unstable slacker. When he makes a scene at a memorial party, Tom’s ex-girlfriend Iris (Blunt) offers up her family cabin on an island in the Pacific Northwest so Jack can seek catharsis in solitude. Once there, however, he runs into Iris’ sister Hannah, a lesbian reeling from the abrupt end of a seven-year relationship who finds solace in the affable Tom’s unexpected presence, and the two bond over a long night of drinking. The blurry evening concludes with an awkward sexual incident made worse by Iris’ sudden presence at the cabin the next morning which sets into motion a twisted tale of ever-complicated relationships.