The 3rd annual North Olympic Farming Film Festival kicked off with a showing of “The Biggest Little Farm” on Jan. 6, beginning six weeks of free film showings every Monday on the topic of sustainable farming.

Films are shown each Monday at 12 p.m. at the Port Townsend Library and at 6 p.m. at the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock, from Jan. 6 to Feb. 24.

The films range in topic from creating a permaculture orchard, using rainwater harvesting techniques, to finding land as a new farmer.

Each was chosen to inspire Jefferson County’s farmers, future farmers and gardeners in new techniques and sustainable farming.

“We looked at a lot of films,” said Michael Pilarski, organizer of the film festival. “We picked a couple because they’re really new, others because they have great practical information, and some because they have inspirational stories.”

Both old and new farmers come to enjoy the free films offered, said Brwyn Griffin, administrative services manager at the Jefferson County Library which is one of the hosts and sponsors of the film festival.

“There’s always a discussion at the end and it becomes a discussion where the expertise derives from the audience, because there’s so much knowledge there,” she said.

The films themselves reflect many of the experiences of Jefferson County’s local farmers. The next film, shown on Jan. 13, called “After Winter, Spring,” gives a study of French farmers grappling with a question that many farmers in our county face: will the next generations carry on farming?

“We’ve seen the growth in the internship aspect of our farming here, with internships at places like Spring Rain Farm and Red Dog Farm,” Griffin said. “The film festival is also trying to grow new opportunities for young people to learn.”

But the films don’t just provide expertise for experienced or upcoming farmers.

“Grow Food,” which will be shown Jan. 27, documents the life of a new farmer who leaves his career to begin a farm and his struggle to find a piece of land.

“It shows that just about anybody can get started,” Pilarski said.

Meanwhile, the first two films shown in February, “The Permaculture Orchard” (Feb. 3), “Abundance on a Dry Land” (Feb. 10) and “One Man, One Cow, One Planet” (Feb. 24) offer new techniques for permaculture farming, info on biodynamics and using rainwater to create sustainable food production in dry regions. These films apply not only to farmers, but to local gardeners and anyone interested in a sustainable future.

“There’s a philosophical aspect to these films as well,” Pilarski said. “They highlight the fact that we need to do this for the future of the human race.”

All the films are offered for free, Pilarski said, because the festival is sponsored by local organizations, including the Jefferson County Library; Friends of the Trees Society; Global Earth Repair Foundation; Port Townsend Public Library; Chimacum Corner Farmstand; Finnriver Farm; Jefferson County Local Food Systems Council; and Friends of the Port Townsend Library.