TFF mementos │ The Evergreen Echo
If you’re curious about the 20th Tacoma Film Festival and some of the highlights from this year’s programming, I’ve got you covered.
The Vibes:
TFF has a quirky, uncommercial energy. I sense a bold artistic spirit behind this festival and in the film choices they’ve made. The ads were eccentric and funny, and I could see the personal touches that had been put into each aspect of the programming. I’m even walking away with some fun little memorabilia: a friendship bracelet made by the director of morningshed, a short included in the late night horror shorts program, and a miniature shovel(!!!) handed to me by the director of a local short, Digging Your Own Grave is Hard.
Another aspect of TFF that stands out is their support of DIY, low budget, and first time filmmakers. Dwarf Neon Mayfield was director Leland Nally’s first film, made largely with a DSLR. The local crew behind Kareena Desai Naik’s hilarious narrative short All For the Gram are both in and fresh out of college and made the film on an extremely low budget. It’s also the team’s first festival!
Yvonne Shuyu Zhang and Shu-Yi in Ephemera │ Courtesy of TFF
Favorite feature: Ephemera (Shan Jiang, 2026)
This film was just pure joy to me. The narrative feature tells a one-night love story: Asher, a Chinese American actor staying in Shanghai, asks out her hip hop dance teacher Tori the night before she returns to the States. Although lacking a hugely original concept (in fact, it’s directly referential to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise), I frankly don’t care.
The movie feels like a poem. With a sweeping score and soft, warm lighting, director Shan Jiang paints a luscious portrait of a single day in Shanghai. Magical realism and surrealist elements are interspersed in the story as the characters imagine their love story through different film genres. Pac-Man and spatiotemporal cubes are also used as metaphors for the fleeting nature of Tori and Asher’s connection. The real standout element of the film is the writing and the actors’ naturalistic performances. It’s actually rare for on-screen chemistry to move me, but it fully did. Ephemera speaks to the relatable and painful experience of knowing someone only briefly and leaving a lasting, meaningful imprint on your story.
PNW Representation:
Pacific Northwest filmmakers had some major representation at TFF, which was really cool to see. At the Northwest Tales showcase of narrative shorts, filmmakers and crew people from nearly every film were present in the audience. A theme in these selections featured kids as protagonists. For instance, The Barbarian follows a young teen processing the grief of losing his dad through playing D&D. The director, Isaac Lakey, said in the following Q&A that the child actor, Windsor Williams, blew the crew away with his ability to improvise in the core emotional scene during the shoot.
Two other PNW shorts also stood out. Very Cool, directed by Austin Milner, begins in what feels like a surreal comedy sketch about three people with similar names all applying for the same job, and then descends into a horror comedy nightmare. Milner said in the Q&A that the genre changed mid-shoot as the actors’ performances got more unhinged and a crew person made an accidental lighting choice.
Secondly, I recommend MAN or MOUNTAIN by Collin Monda, a fictionalized reenactment of lodge owner (not President) Harry R. Truman’s final morning before being buried in the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helen’s. Truman, played by legendary Seattle theater actor R. Hamilton Wright, ignored evacuation orders, choosing to stay in his mountain house on Spirit Lake until the end. It’s a beautiful portrait of an eccentric man and the feelings one has in their last moments.
Still from All for the Gram │ Courtesy of TFF
Horror Highlights:
As one of The Echo’s horror lovers, my first priority at TFF was seeing the Beautiful, Bloodthirsty, Broken horror shorts program. A central theme in this showcase’s selections—one I am always excited to see—was women as villains. In fact, every single film in this group had women leads. I also noticed a trend of three of the films paying homage to older filmmaking styles. HELLUVA HEEL TURN, LINDA, partially shot at nearby Grit City Wrestling School, resembles an ‘80s infomercial as a divorced couple battle it out over their family wrestling school. The Mrs. Wolf Show by Drew Highlands is a darkly humorous twist on the black and white sitcom. And Pepper’s Meal from local filmmaker Jared Hines is an ethereal 5-minute experience that feels like a forgotten VHS tape of someone else’s nightmares.
And that’s a wrap on TFF! For someone who hasn’t been before, I highly recommend keeping up with Tacoma Film Festival and getting to the Grand for a screening.
