8 film festivals around Seattle to attend in March and April

Spring is in the air, and that means a new batch of film festivals is coming to the region. Whether you’re looking for a genre festival going into its second year, family-friendly programming that presents an opportunity for a road trip or just a chance to experience exciting new cinematic visions over the next couple of months, this is the place to start. 

Ground to Sound Film Festival

Kicking things off is a festival built around one of the most pressing issues of our time: protecting not just natural resources, but local communities as well as marine ecosystems. The event will consist of a keynote speech from Travel Tacoma CEO Dean Burke, poetry readings by Creative Colloquy, a photography gallery, hands-on art activities and a viewing of film submissions.  

March 1, 6-9 p.m.; William Philip Hall at University of Washington Tacoma, 1918 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; free; groundtosoundfilmfest.com

Seattle Jewish Film Festival

The 29th Seattle Jewish Film Festival is back with films including the opening-night feature “One Life,” a historical drama starring Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is set to get a wide release later in March, to the documentary “Remembering Gene Wilder,” which pays tribute to the legendary late actor’s career. (This screening will include an opportunity to purchase a special brunch of Jewish comfort food.) New this year is an Academy Awards party where you can come dressed as your favorite movie character from this year or your finest formal attire to celebrate the big night. 

March 2-17; various locations; individual in-person tickets $13-$15, virtual tickets $18-$20, ticket packs $70-$115, hybrid festival passes for both virtual and in-person screenings $180-$200, in-person special events $15-$30; seattlejff.org

Emerald City Irish Film Festival

The big showing this year is the documentary “Stolen.” The film shines a light on a dark chapter in the country’s history when mothers and their children were believed to have been incarcerated in institutions in the 1900s, resulting in thousands of deaths and disappearances via forced adoptions. The filmmakers will be in attendance for a Q&A. Another highlight includes the acclaimed animated story “Wolfwalkers,” which tells the story of a young hunter who goes to Ireland where she discovers a world where people transform into wolves.

March 9-10; Pacific Science Center’s PACCAR IMAX Theater, 200 Second Ave. N., Seattle; individual tickets $10 for a single film, $15 for a double feature and $20 for three movies tickets for children 4-15 are $5, toddlers 0-3 get in free; a VIP access pass, which includes access to three films, a shirt, unlimited snacks and more, is $100; emeraldcityirishfilmfest.com

Bellingham Children’s Film Festival

If you’re looking for another reason to take a trip up to beautiful Bellingham for a two-day festival specifically geared toward the infinite imaginations of younger viewers, the Pickford has you covered. Consisting of shorts from France to Germany and Taiwan, the majority of these works are light on dialogue (though they do have subtitles to read along with when relevant). They’re packaged together in programming blocks called “Warm and Fuzzy,” which is meant to leave you just that, and “Surrounded by Symphonies,” which is united around music. Following this is a special singalong screening of the classic 1964 Disney musical “Mary Poppins” with the local Bellingham High School Showstoppers vocal group helping to guide the fun.

March 16-17; Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay St., Bellingham; individual tickets $7; pickfordfilmcenter.org

Make Believe Seattle

Back for its second year with the theme “coming-of-age in genre,” Make Believe Seattle is the film festival for fans of horror, sci-fi, experimental fare and so much else that defies any easy categorization. There is the world premiere of “A Most Atrocious Thing,” about what may just be the world’s worst cabin trip or, if you’re thirsting for something more bloody, there is the closing night film “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.” On top of that, there is a Native American Showcase that has the locally made short film “The Handsome Man” starring former Seattleite and recent Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone.  

March 21-26; various locations; VIP passes $250, festival passes $150, March 23 day pass (except “The George Lucas Talk Show”) $50, March 24 day pass $35, events pass for opening-night party, tribute screenings and more $25; makebelieveseattle.com

Shoreline Short Short Film Festival

Next is another short festival built around giving early filmmakers from Washington the chance to show their work. Submissions are made through FilmFreeway with approximately 12 films being shown. There are awards for People’s Choice and Best Picture, each of which receives $1,000 plus a wood Sasquatch Award to forever remember the magical night of movies. 

April 13, doors at 5:30 p.m. and the event begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by a reception; Shoreline Community College Theater, Main Auditorium, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N., Shoreline; individual tickets $20 for students and $25 for general admission, an anniversary ticket $35, VIP festival pass $50; shorelakearts.org

Seattle Black Film Festival

After last year’s event marked the beginning of the cultural moment that is “Fantasy A Gets a Mattress,” this year’s SBFF is keeping things going with a variety of screenings that include the documentary “Jewelle: A Just Vision” about the poet, novelist, essayist, playwright and journalist Jewelle Gomez; two local films, “Savi the Cat” and “Vanishing Seattle: Queer the Land,” from Northwest Film Forum Education Director Netsanet Tjirongo; and a screening of “Goodbye Julia,” which recently became the first Sudanese film to show in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. 

Apr. 25-28; Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 104 17th Ave. S., Seattle; the all-access pass $108, virtual pass $67.50, senior/student all-access pass $97, senior/student virtual pass $60; langstonseattle.org

Cadence Video Poetry Festival

If you’re someone who loves both cinema and poetry, this is the festival for you. Presented by the Northwest Film Forum, the festival consists of film screenings, workshops and discussions during National Poetry Month. A collaborative programming effort with intermedia artist Rana San and Seattle author Chelsea Werner-Jatzke, it is centered on merging the text of poetry with visual art to become something new.

April 19-21 in-person, April 19-28 online; Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle; passes for virtual/in-person $40 for NWFF members, $55-$85 on a sliding scale for general admission, limited free passes available; nwfilmforum.org