The Port Townsend Film Festival (PTFF) is an annual independent film festival held in Port Townsend, Washington. The festival was founded in 1999 and is organized by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, focused on independent narrative, documentary, and short films. The event takes place over multiple days in late September within the city's downtown National Historic District on the Olympic Peninsula.
History The festival was conceived in 1999 by Rocky Friedman, Linda Yakush, Jim Ewing, and Jim Westall, and was modeled on the Telluride Film Festival. The inaugural festival was held on September 22, 2000.
Film historian Peter Simpson served as the festival's first executive director until 2009. Historically, the organization's primary fundraiser was an annual gala held in late February or early March.
Programming The festival has a submission period from January to April, selecting approximately 70 films. Submissions are evaluated by a rotating panel of approximately 34 reviewers. The festival has several juried awards including Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Short Film. Noteworthy guests
Notable past special guests have included: Elliott Gould, Tony Curtis, Dyan Cannon, Debra Winger, Karen Allen, and Bruce Dern.
The following actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, critics and authors have made appearances at PTFF. This is by no means a complete listing: 2000 Actor Tony Curtis Film Historian Robert Osborne 2001 Actress Eva Marie Saint Actor Vincent Schiavelli 2002 Actress Patricia Neal Screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rebel Without a Cause, The Ugly American) 2003 Actress Shirley Knight Actor / Director Peter Fonda Actress Verna Bloom Film critic / Screenwriter Jay Cocks Screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rebel Without a Cause) Director Mark Decena (Dopamine (film)) Actor John Livingston (Dopamine (film)) 2004 Actress Jane Powell Former Child Actor Dickie Moore Writer Tom Robbins Director Zana Briski (Academy Award winner Born into Brothels) Actor Tshewang Dendup (Travellers and Magicians) 2005 Actress Debra Winger Actor / Director Arliss Howard Mountaineer Jim Whittaker 2006 Actor Malcolm McDowell Actress Greta Gerwig (LOL (2006 film)) Director Joe Swanberg (LOL (2006 film)) Producer Mike Kaplan (The Whales of August) Filmmaker Linda Hattendorf (The Cats of Mirikitani) 2007 Actor Elliott Gould Actress Melissa Leo Director Charles Burnett Poet Billy Collins 2008 Actress Piper Laurie Writer / Producer Sherman Alexie 2009 Actress Cloris Leachman Author Gail Buckley (Daughter of Lena Horne) 2010 Actress / Director Dyan Cannon Radio Host Sedge Thomson 2011 Actor / Screenwriter / Director Buck Henry Film Critic Moira MacDonald (The Seattle Times) 2012 Actor Bruce Dern Actress / Singer Chely Wright Composer / Keyboardist Wayne Horvitz Radio Host Sedge Thomson 2013 Actress Karen Allen Mountaineer Lou Whittaker Film Critic Robert Horton 2014 Director / Writer John Sayles Producer Maggie Renzi Filmmaker Lynn Shelton Director / Writer Ari Seth Cohen Author Daniel James Brown Film Critic Robert Horton 2015 Actor Beau Bridges Actor Chris Cooper Actress / Writer Marianne Leone Cooper Director Ali Selim Producer Jim Bigham Sweet Land 2016 Actor / Writer Andrew Perez Actress / Director Karen Allen Director / Composer Alexander Janko (Year by the Sea, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Director Charlie Soap (The Cherokee Word for Water) 2017 Director Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom) Director / Actress Karen Allen Editor / Producer Doug Blush Astronaut Trainee Alyssa Carlson 'Bionic' Chef Eduardo Garcia 2018 Actor / Director / Activist Danny Glover Director Charles Burnett Director Jane Campion Filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi (Academy Award winner for Period. End of Sentence.) Director Tedy Necula (Beside Me) Director / Screenwriter Megan Griffiths Human Rights Advocate Rais Bhuiyan 2019 Actor Stephen Tobolowsky Writer Cheryl Strayed Director / Actress Karen Allen Director Michael Brown (film director) Director Ward Serrill (The Heart of the Game) Editor / Producer Doug Blush (Academy Award winner for 20 Feet from Stardom and The Elephant Whisperers) Film Critic / Author Robert Horton (National Society of Film Critics, Scarecrow Project) Film Critic Moira Macdonald (The Seattle Times) Co-publisher & Co-editor Joseph Bednarik (Copper Canyon Press) Educator / Film Producer Warren Etheredge 2020 Virtual Festival only 2021 Virtual Festival only 2022 Former Director & Programmer John Cooper (Sundance Film Festival) Filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) 2023 Actress Lindsay Wagner Actor and Stunt Performer Alex Kingi 2024 Director / Production Designer / Producer Catherine Hardwicke Director & Cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg Screenwriter Kristen Smith
See also List of film festivals
References
External links Port Townsend Film Festival Official Site