PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Film Festival and Color of Sound will host a three day mini-film festival this weekend featuring works by Black filmmakers from the Pacific Northwest.
The festival, Black Film in the PNW, will feature 13 films and run from Friday through Sunday at various locations.
“Our programming for this event explores a wide range of topics and includes something for everyone,” Port Townsend Film Festival Executive Director Danielle McClelland said in a press release. “We’re proud to be presenting the work of seasoned filmmakers from throughout the Pacific Northwest, while at the same time supporting young directors and other up-and-coming filmmakers.”
The weekend festival marks the second partnership between Port Townsend Film Festival (PTFF) and Color Of Sound, a Port Townsend-based organization focused on improving the lives of people of color. The first collaboration saw Color Of Sound’s production Dark and Tender as a part of PTFF’s main festival last summer.
Ben Wilson, CEO and founder of Color Of Sound and producer of Dark and Tender, curated this weekend’s event. He said the event can serve the Olympic Peninsula in two ways.
“First, by featuring films by and about Black people, it creates an environment here in Port Townsend where people of color feel welcome and can attend events where they can see themselves, gather together and be entertained,” Wilson said. “This may help to make the Olympic Peninsula a place where people of color want to live and can thrive.
“Second, my experience is that these films educate, build empathy and broaden the perspective of the mostly white population here in Jefferson County. It will also attract those people that want a broader cultural experience in their lives.”
Each event within the festival will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers that Wilson will facilitate.
The schedule
The festival will open at 6:30 p.m. Friday with the “Short Film Program A” at Rose Theatre, 235 Taylor St.
The program will include a screening cut of Black June, a preview of Dark and Tender: The Big Island, What Heroes Do, Lioness and Equity in the Metaverse.
The “Black Filmmaker Panel Discussion” will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at PTFF Balcony Theatre, 211 Taylor St., Suite 401.
Saturday’s main event, set for 6:30 p.m. at the Rose Theatre, will present a boldly titled feature documentary described as capturing authentic conversations about the experience of eight BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) women as they run for U.S. political office, according to a press release.
Former state Sen. Mona Das is the focal point of the film, which documents the women’s daily lives and the struggles of their campaign trails.
The film won Best Director in 2024 at the Cannes’ 7th Art Awards, according to a PTFF press release.
The documentary will be preceded by the short film What is a Woman’s Role.
The “Short Film Program B” will commence at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Rose Theatre. The event will screen the following short films: Caged, Perspectives on Violence, RETCH, Black Card and Book Banning, Book Extinction.
To learn details about the films, visit the festival’s schedule page at https://pgmfest.eventive.org/schedule?date=2025-03-16 and click on the events individually.
Tickets
Tickets and passes can be purchased at https://ptfilm.org/events/black-film-in-the-pnw.
Individual screening will cost $15. A pass for all events is $40. A Patron Pass is $80 and supports discount passes for those who cannot afford to attend the festival. The Patron pass includes all events.
Free passes will be available to a limited number of people who identify as a People of the Global Majority (PGM) or BIPOC. Details can be found by locating the discount code at https://pgmfest.eventive.org/passes/buy.
Black Film in the PNW is a part of PTFF’s year-round Focus Film Series wherein in the organization partners with local nonprofits or small businesses on events. The films are chosen and promoted in collaboration between PTFF and its partner groups. Participation comes at no cost to partner groups and is paid for by sponsors, according to a PTFF press release.
Color Of Sound is a Port Townsend nonprofit with the mission of improving the lives of people of color through racial healing, housing and land access, economic opportunity and reparative justice.
To learn more about Color Of Sound, visit https://www.colorofsound.org.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
