The Best of the 45th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival touring program presents a carefully selected cross-section of filmmaking from the Northwest. The Northwest Film Center presents this showcase to bring the filmmakers wider exposure while offering regional independent films to venues and audiences large and small.
FROM PARTS UNKNOWN (dir. Michael Workman) // Missoula, MT, 27 mins, Documentary
Ten years after starting an underground amateur wrestling league in the backyards of Spokane, Washington, Jesse “Madman” Manson must make a decision about the sport that allowed him and his community self-expression in the face of societal challenges, but also left him with multiple injuries.
HERO (dir. Andrew & Nate Garcia) // Boise, ID, 13 mins, Narrative
In an emphatic nod towards action/adventure cinema, two quarreling brothers set out on a neighborhood quest to vanquish their friends’ alter-egos, and discover what it truly means to be a hero.
HOW TO SAY GOODBYE (dir. Christy NaMee Eriksen & Ryan Cortes Perez) // Juneau, AK, 6 mins, Narrative / Documentary
A poem about grief, gratitude, and friendship dedicated to Eriksen’s lifelong close friend who recently passed away from cancer.
RUPTURE (dir. Yassima Karajah) // Vancouver, B.C., 18 mins, Narrative
A wandering journey of four Arab teens on their quest to find identity and a public pool in their new city on a hot Summer day.
TRAHERE (dir. Caryn Cline & Linda Fenstermaker) // Seattle, WA, 3 mins, Documentary
An exploration of our timeless relationship with the natural world as a young farmer entangles herself among the flowers, shot using in-camera double exposures.
TWO BALLOONS (dir. Mark C. Smith) // Portland, OR, 8 mins, Animation
Two adventurous lemurs navigate their flying ships halfway around the world to a place where happenstance and fate threaten their reunion.