Of course, a film festival isn't only about films that you can see. SIFF is also full of filmmaker's forums, where you can go to learn about various aspects of filmmaking industry, network with directors, screenwriters, or producers, and listen in on panel discussions about various states of industry. Even if you don't take time to attend a forum, you can get a taste of how a film came together, simply by hanging out at most films after closing credits and listening to director or star of a film take questions from audience. If this is your focus, however, be sure to pay special attention to program guide and see which films advertise that a guest will accompany screening.

Seattle doesn't have festival party scene that you read about with Sundance or Cannes, but there are some parties. The opening night and closing night galas are part of your ticket for those events and can be exceptional fun. We went to closing night film/gala this year and had a great time. The film was Passionada, directed by cofounder of festival, Dan Ireland and party was at new Elliott Hotel (Hyatt) at 7th and Pine Streets. The working class world of a Portuguese community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and grand lobby of Elliott didn't exactly complement each other, but they were both worth it. And how can you pass up a party where drinks are free, food is good, and you get to bump into stars of film or sit next to guy who inspired story of The Big Lebowski?

Now about those films: I saw 56 films in 25 days. Because of way films are scheduled against each other, it isn't actually possible to see all films in festival. Most of films were new, but festival was also doing a retrospective of last golden age in American cinema (the 70s -- a local theater was also showing 70s films as a festival sidebar), a tribute to cinematographer James Wong Howe, and its regular programming of archival films.

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Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

The Olympic-sized swimming pool, lined with a design by David Hockney, is surrounded by teak pool furniture and lush landscaping, a perfect setting for you to experience true Hollywood glamour.

That glamour is what Hollywood Roosevelt is all about. On Spanish tile steps leading from lobby to mezzanine, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson taught child star Shirley Temple to do staircase dance for her movie, "The Little Colonel". Marilyn Monroe posed for her first print ad on diving board of pool. Rudy Vallee made hotel his home during his first trip to Hollywood. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dali gathered at Cinegrill to talk shop. Room 928 is where Montgomery Clift stayed during filming of "From Here to Eternity".

The Hollywood Roosevelt has always been a popular place for TV and movies to shoot "on location." Most recently filmed here were scenes for "Catch Me if You Can", "Charlie's Angeles", "Full Throttle", "Hollywood Homicide", and "Italian Job".

To connect past to present, concrete elements adorn each bathroom, and artwork containing celebrity handprints and autographs decorate each guest room to "cement" Roosevel's relationship with Hollywood.

That relationship is also "alive" in form of ghostly occurrences reported in hotel since it was reopened after restoration in 1985. Most notable is a cold spot in Blossom Room that has never been explained, roughly 30 inches in diameter and 10 degrees cooler than rest of room. A maid reported seeing "ghost" of Marilyn Monroe in a mirror that once belonged to her, and psychics who have "read" mirror talk of feeling much sadness. According to Director of Security, who has logged each unusual event, a man in a white suit, seen by three different people on two different days, walked through a door and vanished!

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Carolyn Proctor, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com