What to Watch at the Port Townsend Film Festival
[caption id align="alignnone" width="1920"]
Remaining Native is one of the amazing documentaries on offer this weekend at the Port Townsend Film Festival [/caption]
Art News by Nhatt Nichols0
I didn’t realize that by taking the time to watch ten films in two weeks for the Port Townsend Film Festival, I would change my relationship with how I see the world around me as a visual storyteller. And, not to tell you something you already know, but that’s what’s brilliant about film festivals; your brain makes connections it wouldn’t make on its own, leaving you with a new, profound sense of the world you live in.
I typically don’t watch a lot of movies. It’s not that I don’t love getting buried in a good story, but the combination of staring at a screen all day for work and the general life overwhelm I feel from my inbox/news feed means that I typically will pick going for a walk or playing frisbee with Quin, the official news hound, over watching a movie.
All of that changed this month when I had to make good on my commitment to review Port Townsend Film Festival movies. I saw the way director Tessa Blake combined endless summer nostalgia with uncomfortably intense social issues in Boundary Waters, reflected in Remaining Native, a coming-of-age documentary that brought the same edge-of-your-seat energy to a completely different world.
Some of these films are sold out for in-person viewing, but fear not. From September 22-28, you can relive my manic movie streaming by purchasing an online pass and streaming these films at home.
So, without further ado, these are my can’t-miss top five films of the 2025 PTFF:
5. Anxiety Club, Documentary- Follow a diverse group of stand-up comics as they all grapple with varying levels of life-inhibiting anxiety. The insights into their struggle are nearly as interesting as the ways they learn to cope. This documentary seamlessly weaves together comedy clips and interviews with one narrative of a comedian seeking treatment for her crippling anxiety over her kids. Weirdly feel-good, I recommend watching this if you or someone close to you struggles with their mental health; it’s reassuring in its optimistic honesty. Showings: Sat, Sep 20, 1:00 PM @ Key City Public Theater (SOLD OUT) Sun, Sep 21, 4:30 PM @ American Legion
4. Adult Children, Feature Film- In a world where every film is a remake or part of a franchise, it felt absurd to encounter a film this original and good that everyone isn’t raving about (or maybe you are? I don’t get out much). Three adult children and one ready-to-launch teen are thrown into caring for each other when one of the adults has a relapse. This felt like a John Hughes movie without the nostalgia (or the sexism and racism), and with a strong side of realism that somehow, miraculously, still feels like a comedy. Showings: Sat, Sep 20, 1:00 PM @ Starlight Room (SOLD OUT) Sun, Sep 21, 7:30 PM @ American Legion
3. Michael and Damien, Documentary- In a rural town, we don’t often get to see ourselves reflected on screen. That would be reason enough to watch this, but the contagiously human and humane depictions of both Michael and Damien should be required watching for everyone, not just everyone on the peninsula. The documentary follows both Michael, an ex-addict who is the human embodiment of the helpers that Mr Rogers asks that we look for, and Damien, a young man struggling to overcome the huge challenges that life has thrown his way. This could be a deeply depressing documentary, but the levity of Michael and Damien’s relationship is profound, and it adds a much-needed humanizing lightness. Showing: Fri, Sep 19t, 1:30 PM
2. Boundary Waters, Feature Film- Is it possible to have a film be both suspenseful and a slow burn? Shot in the golden light of summer, we watch a time eek by from the view of a teenage boy in small-town Minnesota. His summer is spent riding bikes, swimming in lakes, and attempting to solve a brutal mystery that is tearing apart his family and their community. For every feel-good moment, there’s a moment of seismic discomfort as we try and align the facts along with him. Perhaps adding to the nostalgia, Carol Kane plays his live-in grandmother, balancing loving sweetness with cigarette-sneaking crust to absolute perfection.
Showings: Fri, Sep 19, 10:00 AM @ Rose Theatre
Sat, Sep 20, 4:00 PM @ Starlight Room (SOLD OUT)
1. Remaining Native, Documentary- There is frankly nothing I love more than when you think you know what’s happening, then partway through, the filmmakers surprise you with another layer of the story. This story would have been dramatic enough if they had only told the story of an indigenous high school student attempting to set records and get into the country’s most prestigious track and field college with zero team support. But, to paraphrase the clickbait content of the 2010s, what happens next will stun you in the most heart-opening way possible. One part high-octane sports story, one part reckoning with intergenerational trauma, this is an unmissable watch.
Showings:
