Local Sightings 2025 – MIPoPS Moving History: Forum Flashback Vol. 2
In-person tickets >
$15 General Admission
$10 Student/Child/Senior
$7 Member
$100 General Admission
$70 Student/Child/Senior
$45 Member
Full Festival Passes and Individual Tickets are available!
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.
The majority of seats in our main cinema are 21″ wide from armrest to armrest; some seats are 19″ wide. We are working on creating the option of removable armrests!
We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at rajah@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.
Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.
As of August 2024, NWFF has adjusted its mask policy from universally required to strongly encouraged at the majority of screenings. Occasional exceptions will be noted on each event’s page.
Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them.
Read more about NWFF’s policies responding to the present pandemic here.
About
The vault is opening once again! Behold the triumphant return of Moving History, a collaboration between Northwest Film Forum and Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS), a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting archival video treasures. For this special edition, we’ll delve deep into the Forum’s own archives, from our days as WigglyWorld Studios to ancient Local Sightings screenings of yore.
Take a trip down recent-memory lane with MIPoPS archivists at this celebration of local filmmakers and Pacific Northwest creativity!
Header image credit: Straight Hustle, by Josh & Benny Safdie, commissioned for NWFF’s One Shot program.
BUY TICKETS HERE
- This year’s festival will be in-person only! For the past several years, we have been proud to offer the festival as a hybrid virtual-and-in-person experience, but due to staff capacity, we cannot do this for the 2025 fest.
- Purchase your ticket through Brown Paper Tickets; come to the show!
- You can also purchase a ticket on the day of the screening at Northwest Film Forum’s box office (1515 12th Ave, Seattle).
- Pass-holders, we will be able to look you up using the name you purchased under.


About Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS)
Ever wonder what kind of video treasures are sequestered in the depths of places like MOHAI, the Wing Luke Museum, or Seattle Art Museum? Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (or MIPoPS – pronounced mee-pops) works with your favorite local libraries, museums, and archives to digitize the video treasures hidden in their collections. They have U-matics, Betacam, DVCAM, LaserDiscs, VHS tapes, and more – and MIPoPS has the equipment and know-how to bring those old formats back to life. Founded in 2013, MIPoPS is a tiny non-profit with a large reach. They have partnered with heritage organizations all over Puget Sound to help make the region’s video heritage accessible again.
📼 Find out more about MIPoPS at mipops.org
📼 Watch past screenings on their YouTube Channel
📼 Browse hundreds of videos they’ve digitized on their Internet Archive collection
📼 Find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
Festival Directory
Presented by Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum, the 28th Annual Local Sightings Film Festival is a showcase of creative communities from throughout the Pacific Northwest. The 2025 program, which runs from September 19–28, features a competitive selection of curated short film programs and feature films, inviting regional artists to experiment, break, and remake popular conceptions around filmmaking and film exhibition.
Local Sightings champions emerging and established talent, supports the regional film industry, and promotes diverse media as a critical tool for public engagement.