SIFF 2026 Roundup: Zach’s Don’t-Sleep-on-These Picks
I anticipated many films this year whose descriptions piqued my interest. These films satisfied me for the most part, but there were a handful of films I did not really expect to knock me back in my seat. It’s rare to capture a film's essence in a descriptive paragraph or even a trailer. It is in the mind of the watcher that a film becomes a more than pleasant surprise or, even better, truly great. The following films surprised and delighted me.
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.
