Zach Youngs 5/12/26 Zach Youngs 5/12/26

Sound Cinema: SIFF Downtown (Cinerama)

Before the brilliance of IMAX or the new immersive theater gimmicks of today, there was Cinerama. The technique was to use three synchronized projectors to run a film on a staggeringly large, curved, widescreen. It was a way to mimic how the human eye sees. The format began in 1952 and quickly spread in the 1960s. Seattle obtained its own Cinerama theater in 1963. Though, soon after, the format fell out of fashion and the suburban multiplexes kept people closer to home and away from these one-screen wonders. Seattle's theater languished and was ready to close for good when Microsoft co-founder and all around pop culture philanthropist Paul Allen saved and revamped our Cinerama.

Zach Youngs 5/9/26 Zach Youngs 5/9/26

Spanish Films at SIFF Explore Spectrums of Intersectional Experiences

This year's Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) boasts a fantastic assortment of Spanish language films. Not only that, there are also two films in Basque, a language and a people whose ancestral lands span a portion of Spain and France.

Funnily enough, though, the three Spanish-language films that really excited me this year all come from Mexico. Like Mexico itself, these films are unique to their places and diverse in their storytelling. They take place in the ancient forests of untold beauty, the city with its grit and glamor, and the vast plains where the rancheros roam.

Zach Youngs 5/1/26 Zach Youngs 5/1/26

SIFF 2026: Bigger, Queerer, Wilder, and More Inclusive Than Ever

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is here at last! The 10-day celebration of cinema starts May 7 and closes on May 17. This year, the festival's physical locations feel like they will keep us in the heart of everything—all four venues are within a reasonable walking distance of each other. There are the three remaining SIFF theaters: the Uptown, Downtown, Film Center, and PACCAR IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center serves as the fourth. The festival brings together film lovers and filmmakers in a raucous cavalcade of films from around the world and right here at home.

Gray Harrison 4/27/26 Gray Harrison 4/27/26

Cadence Video Poetry Fest Inspires Interdependence with Blended Media

It was a warm and springlike day in Capitol Hill, but not even the good weather could deter the creative community from showing up for the Cadence Video Poetry Festival, which has been running yearly in Seattle during National Poetry Month since 2018. This was Day 3 of in-person screenings, and the event, titled proof that we were here, was about to begin.

Parker Dean 10/25/25 Parker Dean 10/25/25

STUFF Kicked Off with Hilarious, Mundane, Relatable Trans Moments

Seattle Trans Underground Film Festival (STUFF) held its first viewings on October 16, 2025, at the lovely Northwest Film Forum. I had the honor to snuggle into a cozy theatre amongst a host of creative Queer and Trans individuals to watch the festival’s first double feature, CW’s Laughtrack and Henry Hanson’s Dog Movie. There were many laughs and a few tears shed, especially at the films’ closes, where both received minutes-long applause.

Gray Harrison 10/3/25 Gray Harrison 10/3/25

Masculinity Interrogated at Local Sightings Film Fest

Local Sightings Film Festival returned to Seattle for its 28th year from Sept. 19-28 at Northwest Film Forum. I was able to catch the second weekend of the festival and view three feature-length documentaries from Pacific Northwest filmmakers as well as the All in My Head horror shorts. A tendency in the weekend’s selections was examining large-scale social issues from a personal place, following people enmeshed in the heart of these issues. I noticed a clear thread in several of the films I saw: They contained powerful interrogations of masculinity.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 9/27/25 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 9/27/25

Commingling at HUMP: Festival Newbies and Veterans Savor Sexuality on Screen

Upon arrival, we mingled, got in line for the bar, and sat in the lobby chatting about the excellent playlist, the overall vibe, and any preconceived notions (of which there were few). Once the doors to the theater opened, we meandered in, a perk of arriving early and secured seats that would allow for the optimal middle-of-the-theater view. We tried to answer the trivia questions as they popped up on the screen, the preshow displaying information about the sponsors as well as information for submitting a film to HUMP! for next year.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 9/24/25 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 9/24/25

HUMP! Redefines Community with Humans’ Most Basic Instinct

On The Boards hosted the “pervs” of Seattle for part two of its 20^th anniversary year. Submissions from all over the world to our backyards were carefully curated down to a selection of erotic short films that have a little bit of everything for everybody. And at least one thing that expands your mind to possibilities previously unthought of.

Gray Harrison 9/19/25 Gray Harrison 9/19/25

HUMP! Returns to Seattle for 20th Anniversary Tour

HUMP! Film Festival will return to the Puget Sound this fall with the second half of its 20th anniversary programming. The indie adult short film festival created by Dan Savage has been a staple in Seattle since its debut. This new collection of 22 shorts, selected from hundreds of submissions, will run 17 screenings in Seattle from September 18-27 and October 10-11 at three venues across the city: On the Boards in Queen Anne, Quality Flea Center in Capitol Hill, and The LumberYard Bar in White Center.

Zach Youngs 8/29/25 Zach Youngs 8/29/25

Fall Film Fests to Fit into Your Travel Plans

It’s lucky if you live here around the Puget Sound because you do not have to go far to experience great cinema. There are vast possibilities here that will have destinations like Port Townsend, Tacoma, and Orcas Island on your mind. Here are a few highlights of local film festivals and archival series coming this fall.

Zach Youngs 7/9/25 Zach Youngs 7/9/25

Pride Continues: Seattle Queer + Trans Film Fest Celebrates 30 Years

For their 30th Queer and Trans Film Festival, Three Dollar Bill Cinema is taking us back to 1996 when it all began. This event will be a mix of throwback favorites and some new shorts in the TRANSlations Shorts program. The festival will open with Beautiful Thing, which was the film that kicked it all off 30 years ago.

Andre Stackhouse 6/25/25 Andre Stackhouse 6/25/25

SAAFF Opening Night Welcomes Community, Calls to Action

The 2025 Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) kicked off its two days of in-person screenings on June 20 and continues virtually through June 29. The opening night screened Reflections & Legacies, a feature-length compilation of films focused on stories of refugees and immigrants of Southeast Asian communities into the United States. While only a few hours of programming in a shorter-than-usual SAAFF, the evening captured a deeper sense of meaning and community than its schedule would suggest.

Andre Stackhouse 6/20/25 Andre Stackhouse 6/20/25

SAAFF Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Vietnam War’s End and More AAPI Stories

It’s opening night! Today marks the start of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival—a two-day affair held in Seattle at the Wing Luke Museum (International District) and Broadway Performance Hall (Capitol Hill), and followed by a week of virtual screenings for those who can’t attend in person. This year commemorates 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War (or “The American War” as it is known in Vietnam).

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