Friday, September 26, 2003, 12:00 a.m. Pacific

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The movie's the thing in Port Townsend

By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic

The fourth annual Port Townsend Film Festival is set to unspool this weekend, with sunny skies (cross your fingers) and a lineup that includes feature films, documentaries, outdoor movies and several special guests. Peter Fonda and actor Verna Bloom will be on hand to introduce a special screening tonight of Fonda's 1971 directorial debut, "The Hired Hand," and two-time Oscar nominee Shirley Knight will be honored Saturday with a screening of "Dutchman," a rarely seen 1966 adaptation of the play by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka).

All this makes it well worth a trip to the pretty Victorian town; the PTFF is one of the region's most delightful festivals. Individual tickets can be purchased at the festival's four downtown venues, space permitting; see www.ptfilmfest.com for a complete schedule, or call 360-379-1333.

Here in town, the Little Theater kicks off its third annual 1st Person Cinema independent documentary festival with the Seattle premiere of John Walters' "How to Draw a Bunny," about the life and death of artist Ray Johnson. The festival continues through Oct. 5 with a variety of intimate nonfiction features and shorts; see www.nwfilmforum.org for a complete schedule, or call 206-675-2055.

In anticipation of the upcoming Fellini celebration at the University of Washington (in late October), two films by the Italian master screen this weekend at EMP's JBL Theater as part of Seattle Center's Italian Festival. "Roma," Fellini's 1972 tribute to Rome, screens Saturday; the 1959 classic "La Dolce Vita" screens Sunday, both at 3 p.m. Admission is free, but a ticket is required, available day of show at the EMP box office. 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle; call 206-367-5483 for information.

911 Media Arts and the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Network present two documentaries tonight: the local film "Toxic Gardens," which examines a toxic plume currently spreading under Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood and "Playing with Poison," about a Mexican region where neurological problems in children may be linked to environmental issues. 8 p.m. at 911, 117 Yale Ave. N., Seattle; 206-682-6552. Tickets are $6 ($4 for 911 members).

And one of the most delicious comedies ever made graces the screen at the Grand Illusion this week, as Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe sparkle in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot." (Yes, she does indeed walk "like Jell-O on springs.") Through Thursday at the Grand Illusion (no shows Monday), 1403 N.E. 50th St., Seattle; 206-523-3935.

Finally, congratulations to Seattle filmmaker Mimi Gan, whose short film "With Honors Denied," made with fellow locals Jim Dever, Mark Morache and Tom Voelk, won the audience award for favorite documentary at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films last weekend. It's about Fife high-school student Yuki Kubo, sent to an internment camp during WWII just before graduation. More than 265 short films were screened during the fest. "With Honors Denied" will make its local debut in October, as part of the Northwest Asian American Film Festival.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com