Seattle International Documentary Film Festival

Documentary filmmaking, or perhaps, non-fiction filmmaking surrounds our lives. In the morning, many of us check the television for weather. At night, many of us watch the news and/or a talk show before falling asleep. In between we often encounter a host of other documentary filmmaking, on television, on the internet, and elsewhere.

However, it’s hard to find extended and daring non-fiction filmmaking. In the commercial movie theatres, non-fiction films are rare events. The “art house” and “independent” theatres tend to be more open, but still the non-fiction film tends always to be evaluated against their fictional peers, rather than among each other or as themselves. AS for American television, while some exciting work shows up on PBS and various “specialize” cable stations, too often the documentary film is buried within a “minefield” of other agendas and closed-minded taste-control.

In this context, a forum specifically for documentary filmmaking is a particular value. Here, it is a given that documentaries can be amazing and dynamic. Viewers are invited to contemplate the many wonders of the films at hand, and their worlds.

As at other documentary festivals from Amsterdam to Yamagata, here you can expect to find what you won’t fine elsewhere. Many of our films don’t line up with the ideological commitments of network news, don’t have subjects that would be deemed of interest to “the general viewer,” or dare to depict their worlds in an unconventional style. However, in the past and this year, we will season our festival with more conventional titles, giving the viewer an opportunity to encounter another stirring film.

Why Seattle?

The answer is short and obvious---Seattle is a film city, historically rich in film and in the documentary culture. Even as our festival develops, exciting new documentaries are being produced, distributed and exhibited. This foundation builds a community of makers and viewers, all active in the documentary film culture.

Join us.

Dr Michal Friedrich,
Founder and Festival Director/SIDFF
Seattle International Documentary Film Festival