Despite a wet, windy start on Friday morning, the 17th annual Port Townsend Film Festival ended up being all about blue skies, warm nights spent watching movies under the stars and the synergy that comes from bringing filmmakers and film lovers together for a magical weekend.

Aside from the scheduled programming, the festival had many "magic moments," from impromptu street improv by cast members of "Bastards y Diablos" as they got out of their vintage Chevrolet Impala during the car parade, to a salmon dinner for 700 on Taylor Street, to sunny afternoons of drinking wine while sitting on hay bales and chatting with celebrities in line for coffee between films.

This year's festival featured live theater, with a single show of Annie Baker’s “The Aliens" at Key City Public Theatre late Saturday. Jen Clark, of Port Townsend, who saw the play before seeing the same actors in "Bastards y Diablos," said, "The intensity was amazing. I felt so much more connected to the movie, having first seen them on stage."

PTeRider's free shuttle service made the six-block walk from Taylor Street venues to Monroe Street venues effortless, and there were enough grab-and-go food options on hand that even gotta-see-them-all film diehards stayed fed and hydrated.

Thanks to an innovative partnership, the comfortable stacking chairs in the Legion Hall venue are here to stay. In the past, PTFF has rented chairs. This year, PTFF donated $1,250 – the cost of two years' chair rental – to help the Legion buy chairs, which then become a longterm resource. Andy Okinczyc, Legion post commander, took a leap of faith and bought 250 chairs, totaling $7,800, and has been fundraising to make up the difference. Community members interested in helping the "chair fund" can contact Okinczyc at 360-821-9962.

Everyone seems to have their favorite films, and the broad array of genres and choices left people talking over movies as diverse as "Pickle" (about a couple who rescues hopeless-case animals) to "Embrace" (about body image, women and the media) to "Transpecos" (about the gritty reality of the federal Border Patrol). Somewhere in between were romantic comedies, biotech seeds and the heretofore untold story behind some of Hollywood's best-dressed heroines. And in “Chicken People,” show-chicken breeder Brian Caraker explained his passion, saying simply, "The chickens don't judge you."

Janette Force, PTFF executive director, summed up the weekend perfectly when speaking before Saturday night's screening of "Toy Story" and introducing animator David Tart: "Movies are about letting go of the practical in pursuit of magic."

Festival-goers have a week to weigh in on a survey at

ptfilmfest.com, helping organizers plan for the 2017 festival, to be held Sept. 15-17. Fans and businesses should note that next year's festival is scheduled a week earlier than usual, on the weekend immediately after the Wooden Boat Festival; the date change recognizes the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana, which is Sept. 21 next year.

The "PTFF Volunteer of the Year" award goes to Kathy Stafford, who, despite injuring herself badly enough to necessitate a trip to the emergency room when she tripped on a Taylor Street hatchway (which claimed several other victims before being blocked by hay bales), still managed to compile all of the ballots for the Audience Choice awards as planned.

(Leader staff Nicholas Johnson, Katie Kowalski and Jen Clark contributed to this story.)