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.
And the 2026 Best Pacific Northwest Film Award Nominees Are…
- 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)
Photo Courtesy SIFF and SCFS
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.
All films play at SIFF Film Center; details and ticketing links below.
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
Powwow People – Saturday Nov 14 – 3:00pm
Director Sky Hopinka in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Trustee Eric Zhu
Again Again – Saturday Nov 14 – 6:30 pm
Director Mia Moore Marchant in attendance for Q&A with SFCS Trustee Sara Michelle Fetters
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
The Life We Leave – Sunday Nov 15 – 6:00pm
Director JJ Gerber in attendance for conversation with SFCS member Kathy Fennessy
Nominees for this year’s Best PNW Film made their debuts both locally and around the world: Again Again at the 2026 Seattle International Film Festival; The Life We Leave at SXSW 2026 and locally at SIFF 2026; The Joyless Economy at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and as the closing night feature of Local Sightings 2026; Powwow People at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and at SIFF 2026; and A Simple Machine at the 2025 Lighthouse International Festival.
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.
Further information about the Seattle Film Critics Society’s annual awards can be found at seattlefilmcritics.com/upcoming-awards
