The Northwest’s premiere showcase of new work by regional filmmakers, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival—for 38 years called the Northwest Film & Video Festival—brings artists and audiences together for a singular community celebration. Each year the Festival draws more than 400 entries from filmmakers in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, presenting to the public carefully selected programs of outstanding work and awarding critical recognition to top juror- and audience-recognized films. After the Festival, the event lives on in the form of the “Best of the Northwest” touring program, presented at key cultural and educational organizations across the Northwest. Past tour programs have been presented all the way to the edges of the Northwest, in Great Falls, MT, Klamath Falls, OR, Seattle, WA, Hanes, AK, and Boise, ID, among many other locations.
At each iteration of the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, we present audience awards and judges' awards. Audience awards are awarded at the end of the festival, based on audience balloting. Judges' awards—picked before the festival begins and appearing in our printed schedule—change yearly, based on the the individual judges' categories and criteria. Past judges include Jonathan Marlow, Michael Almereyda, Freude Bartlett, Ellen Bartow, James Benning, Phil Borsos, Ernest Callenbach, John Cooper, Karen Cooper, Jo Ann Danzker, Steve Dejarnett, Gill Dennis, Sam Green, Matt Groening, Andrea Grover, Todd Haynes, Jim Hoberman, Dan Ireland, Edith Kramer, Heike Kuehn, Stan Lawder, Ted Mahar, Leonard Maltin, Jonathan Marlow, David Milholland, Marv Newland, Pat O’Neill, Mike Plante, Bill Plympton, Kelly Reichardt, B. Ruby Rich, Christopher Rauschenberg, Lilianna Rodriguez, Rachael Rosen, Gus Van Sant, Norie Sato, Steve Seid, Maureen Selwood, Jill Sprecher, Deborah Stratman, Amy Taubin, Kenneth Turan, Christine Vachon, Jane Veeder, Carmen Vigil, Melinda Ward, and Gene Youngblood.