The Port Townsend Film Festival (PTFF) and Color of Sound are partnering to present “Black Film in the PNW,” a three-day mini-film festival created to celebrate and explore films by and about Black people in the Pacific Northwest.

Ben Wilson, CEO and founder of Color of Sound, explained that the weekend of Black-centric films will bookend its feature-length film on Saturday, March 15, with two days of short films on Friday, March 14, and Sunday, March 16.

Wilson also curated this event’s lineup of contemporary films, to spotlight the work of established, emerging and student filmmakers, whose selection he said would ensure that Washington state, and the Puget Sound region in particular, are strongly represented.

“Even within the Pacific Northwest, I’ve been excited by the variety of filmmakers with whom I’ve been able to make contact,” Wilson said. “It’s been uplifting to receive such support in bringing the cultures they’ve come from and captured to our admittedly mostly white city and county.”

Since “Black Film in the PNW” is meant to help highlight and improve the lives and experiences of those in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community, PTFF Marketing and Development Director Keith Hitchcock noted the broader context of it taking place within the “current political aversion to DEI” (Diversity, Equity and inclusion) subjects.

“But this event’s purpose is not just for people of color to be able to see themselves on screen,” Wilson said. “We want white people to feel welcome and comfortable to learn about all sorts of different aspects of Black culture and filmmaking. The more empathetic we all can become, the better our shared community will be, for everyone.”

Wilson touted the unique capacity of film to foster such empathy, which was one of the reasons he worked with an assortment of educators to bring younger and aspiring filmmakers on board.

“Film allows you to paint an in-depth picture of a person’s life,” Wilson said. “When Black people and other people of color can see themselves in film, it creates an environment where they can thrive, and will hopefully want to live, which we want the Olympic Peninsula to be for them.”

Among a roster of filmmakers who include a middle school student, the event’s directors also include Anthony Tacket, who serves on the Seattle Film Commission, as founder of the Seattle Filmmakers of the African Diaspora, and as director and board chair at LANGSTON Seattle.

His films, “Black June” and “Perspectives of Violence,” will be screened alongside “What Heroes Do,” directed by Donte Felder, founder of South End Stories, board member of Hugo House and ArtsCorp, and organizer of the Social Justice Film Festival and Conference of Seattle.

“Black Film in the PNW” also will screen a preview of Aaron Johnson’s sequel to “Dark and Tender,” the short documentary he filmed in Whidbey Island and Port Townsend.

Abie Ekenezar’s “Bad*ss Women Doing Kick*ss Sh*t” is the event’s only feature-length film, an 81-minute documentary that won Best Director in 2024 at the Cannes 7th Art Awards. It is about Washington State Senator Mona Das, and seven other BIPOC women, as they ran for political office in the United States.

Wilson noted that the balance of “Black Film in the PNW” has many shorter films not just because of the capital, equipment, training and time required to produce longer films, but because shorter films are favored by younger filmmakers who grew up on social media.

“They’re less inclined to sit through films as long as ‘The Brutalist,’” Wilson laughed. “It’s a cultural shift, and a generational one as well.”

“Our programming for this event explores a wide range of topics, and includes something for everyone,” PTFF Executive Director Danni McClelland said. “We’re proud to be presenting the work of seasoned filmmakers from throughout the Northwest, while at the same time supporting young directors and other up-and-coming filmmakers.”

What to know

The Rose Theatre serves as the site for the short film screenings at 6:30 p.m. on March 14 and 3 p.m. on March 16, as well as the feature film screening at 6:30 p.m. on March 15.

The feature film screening will be preceded by a Black filmmaker panel discussion at the Balcony Theatre at 3 p.m. on March 15.

All three days’ screenings will be followed by question-and-answer discussion periods, led by attending filmmakers and representatives from Color of Sound.

Passes and tickets are available online at the Port Townsend Film Festival’s website, with individual screenings at $15, and passes for all events, including screenings and discussions, at $40. An $80 “Patron Pass” supports discount passes for those who cannot otherwise afford to attend, and a limited number of free passes will be available to people who identify as People of the Global Majority (PGM) or BIPOC.