Port Townsend Film Festival
The Port Townsend Film Festival was started in 1999 by a group of volunteers in Port Townsend, Washington, United States. The annual festival's motto is "A film lover's block party celebrating great films and filmmakers."
Noteworthy guests
In addition to Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne and NPR's West Coast Live host Sedge Thomson, who have been frequent festival guests, the following noteworthy people have made appearances at PTFF:
- 2000
- Actor Tony Curtis
- 2001
- Actress Eva Marie Saint
- Actor Vincent Schiavelli
- 2002
- Actress Patricia Neal
- Screenwriter Stewart Stern ("Rebel Without a Cause", "The Ugly American")
- 2003
- Actress Shirley Knight
- Actor / Director Peter Fonda
- Actress Verna Bloom
- 2004
- Actress Jane Powell
- Former Child Actor Dickie Moore
- Writer Tom Robbins
- 2005
- Actress Debra Winger
- Actor Arliss Howard
- Mountaineer Jim Whittaker
- 2006
- Actor Malcolm McDowell
- Actress Greta Gerwig
- Director Joe Swanberg
- 2007
- Actor Elliott Gould
- Actress Melissa Leo
- Director Charles Burnett
- Poet Billy Collins
- 2008
- Actress Piper Laurie
- Writer / Producer Sherman Alexie
- 2009
- Actress Cloris Leachman
- 2010
- Actress Dyan Cannon
- 2011
- Writer / Actor Buck Henry
- 2012
- Actor Bruce Dern
- Actress / Singer Chely Wright
- 2013
- Actress Karen Allen
- 2014
- Director / Writer John Sayles
- Producer Maggie Renzi
- Association Football Goalkeeper Nicky Salapu
History
The non-profit Port Townsend Film Institute was formed to promote the festival.
With the efforts of more than two hundred local volunteers, the festival made its debut on September 22, 2000. Taylor Street in downtown Port Townsend was closed off three days to make way for a giant Turner Classic Movies outdoor cinema. In the first year, the festival screened 24 documentaries, features and shorts in three venues. Recent years have seen more than 50 features shown throughout the weekend event.
Founders
The Port Townsend Film Festival founders were Jim Ewing, Rocky Friedman, Jim Westall, and Linda Marie Yakush, all veteran attendees of the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. That festival served as the model for the Port Townsend event. These founders began their initial planning in September 1999 and soon established an organizing committee consisting of Erik Andersson, Nancy Biery, Michael Harvey, Sherry Jones, Peter Simpson, and George Yakush.
Future festival dates
September 25-27, 2015
External links
References
"Port Townsend Film Festival". Retrieved October 23, 2010.
Coordinates: 48°07′02″N 122°45′38″W / 48.11722°N 122.76056°W