Each year, the Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS) honors Pacific Northwest filmmaking as part of their annual awards. A selection committee carefully considered dozens of films released this year whose primary production took place in the Pacific Northwest and selected five as initial nominees for this year’s Best Pacific Northwest Feature Film award.
In November, SFCS will show these films in collaboration with SIFF and with support from 4Culture, bringing the best films the PNW has to offer and the filmmakers behind them into conversation with local audiences.
- Again Again (dir. Mia Moore Marchant, Heather Ballish)
- The Joyless Economy (dir. Marjorie Conrad)
- The Life We Leave (dir. JJ Gerber)
- Powwow People (dir. Sky Hopinka)
- A Simple Machine (dir. Mark Alan Hoffman)
SFCS is proud to champion these locally shot and set works that demonstrate in glorious fashion that our region is a fertile ground for compelling cinema ranging from immersive documentaries to moving dramas. Over one weekend at SIFF Film Center, SFCS will host screenings featuring Q&As with the talent behind each film’s production: A Simple Machine on Friday November 13; Powwow People and Again Again on Saturday November 14; The Joyless Economy and The Life We Leave on Sunday November 15.
Tickets and information about the screenings are available at siff.net/sfcs.
The winner of the Best Pacific Northwest Feature Film Award will be determined by a vote of the full SFCS membership and announced alongside SFCS’s annual awards on December 14, 2026. Films not yet released remain eligible for consideration for this award.
Screening Series
Friday November 13
A Simple Machine
🎟️ Friday November 13 – 6:30 pm
Director Mark Alan Hoffman and author Evan P Schneider in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Awards Coordinator Mike Ward
“…relevant to almost everyone in America, as affordability becomes one of our biggest worries.” —Tim Molloy, MovieMaker
Saturday November 14
Powwow People
🎟️ Saturday Nov 14 – 3:00pm
Director Sky Hopinka in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Trustee Eric Zhu
“the audience is the real winner for the privilege of having shared the company of so many talented people, the rich textures and engaging sonic environment of a powerful summer day’s gathering” – Josh Bis, The SunBreak
Again Again
🎟️ Saturday Nov 14 – 6:30 pm
Director Mia Moore Marchant in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Trustee Sara Michelle Fetters
“Again Again tasks its characters to live their lives as if today were their last and the unknown possibilities of tomorrow were far from a given. And it wants everyone in the audience to do the same. It’s scary stuff. It’s also beautiful.” – Sara Michelle Fetters, Seattle Gay News
Sunday November 15
The Joyless Economy
🎟️ Sunday Nov 15 – 3:00 pm
Director Marjorie Conrad and producer John Tuthill in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Trustee Eric Zhu
“A bracingly, beautifully confessional film that’s as formally inventive as it is emotionally illuminating, Marjorie Conrad’s documentary … is a daring demonstration of all that independent cinema can be.” – Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap
The Life We Leave
🎟️ Sunday Nov 15 – 6:00pm
Director JJ Gerber in attendance for conversation with SFCS member Kathy Fennessy
“Gerber’s film makes one consider that how we leave this world may matter less than what we choose to leave behind. Is death an ending, or merely a continuation?” – Mike Ward, Should I See It