Local Sightings Film Festival 2022 @ Northwest Film Forum

Spot some local talent 👀

📸: NWFF | Tariqa Waters + Martyr Sauce Pop Art Museum

Click here for the 2023 edition of Local Sightings.

Capitol Hill’s funky and friendly Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) is a fundamental resource for Washington state’s film community, which is about to get a significant boost thanks to extra funding that just passed through the state Legislature. NWFF’s signature local-focused event is its Local Sightings Film Festival, dedicated to Pacific Northwest filmmakers. The fest is now in its 25th year—!!!—and will continue its pandemic-era pivot of presenting in-person screenings alongside virtual ones, allowing the fest to reach its intended audience, which is really the whole PNW. This year’s program runs from September 16th to 25th and screens shorts and features, hosts panels and workshops, and throws in a few special presentations.

NWFF’s festival catalog is available on their site, but here’s a quick appetizer:

Opening Night Shorts: The curator and leader of Pioneer Square’s colorful art gallery MS PamTariqa Waters, will debut her talk show, Thank You, MS PAM, in a collection of three Seattle-based shorts. Waters’ film promises to “probe” the brains of “Seattle dancers, tattoo artists, musicians, and restauranteurs” with MS Pam’s characteristic style. The other shorts also look great, with one focusing on Seattle’s skating community Roll Around Seatown and the other on performance art, ghosts, and “chakra-opening encounters.” In-person only.

Bubble Bubble Bubble Meows: Look, there’s a lot of talent to spotlight at Local Sightings, but the entry that’s got us the most curious is probably the feline Bubble Bubble Bubble Meows, an 89-minute animated film about “a poorly-drawn cat, the end of the world, and chewing gum” that’s “co-written, co-animated, co-starring, and co-produced by the producer/director’s children.” It gives off family-friendly Adult Swim vibes and will apparently be the third time the Bubble Bubble Bubble Meows cinematic universe has visited NWFF.

Of course, that kitty pick barely scratches the surface. This year the fest also features a live comedy set, “family reunion,” and a film about CHOP and Seattle’s 2020 BLM protests called Our Block

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Author

Chase Burns

Chase Burns is The Ticket’s editor. As a reporter, he’s covered everything from gay luchadores to chemical weapons to Isabella Rossellini’s favorite pets. Right now he’s really into the fruit sandwiches at Baiten in Capitol Hill.