The 51st Seattle International Film Festival set for May 15-25, 2025, will screen 245 films, including two secret films, from 74 countries and regions around the globe.
The Festival will open with Darren Thornton’s Irish intergenerational comedy Four Mothers, starring James McArdle and Fionnula Flanagan. The film, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. Closing Night will feature Eva Victor’s Barry Jenkins produced seriocomic drama Sorry, Baby from A24.
Additional highlights of the Festival include new restorations of The Glass Web in 3-D and Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers at SIFF Cinema Downtown; the Festival fan favorite Secret Fest, which includes two confidential and unannounced screenings that require each viewer to sign an NDA prior to attending; and the 10th anniversary 4th World Media Lab, a year-long fellowship for emerging and mid-career Indigenous filmmakers.
The Festival will be followed by a week of select films streaming on the SIFF Channel from May 26-June 1.
“At a time when the cultural cornerstones of discovery and diversity that make art so important are being threatened, SIFF is doubling down on bringing those stories to the screen,” says SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “Our lineup reflects our two main focuses this year: international and independent voices. A large majority of these films are currently without distribution, and may not return to theatres. Discovery and connection are at the very core of who we are, and we hope these 10 days are an escape into new worlds and bold, audacious artistic visions. With more than 60% of films coming from new voices, you might meet your next favorite filmmaker.”
2025 Seattle International Film Festival Lineup
Opening Night Film & Party
Four Mothers
(d: Darren Thornton c: James McArdle, Fionnula Flanagan, Dearbhla Molloy, Paddy Glynn, Stella McCusker, Ireland/United Kingdom 2024, 89 min)
Four Mothers, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, follows Edward, a queer, up-and-coming novelist forced to balance press commitments with caring for his aging mother. But when his three closest friends, desperate to feel young and carefree again, go off on an impromptu Pride holiday, they leave their aging mothers in Edward’s care. Over the chaotic weekend that follows, people-pleaser Edward must juggle his burgeoning career plans with the care of four eccentric, combative, and wildly different ladies—none of whom really get along with any of the others. How could the weekend go wrong? In his follow-up to A Date for Mad Mary (SIFF 2017), Director Darren Thornton formulates a note-perfect comedy about the tender bonds between mothers and their sons, drawing upon delightfully deep reserves of wisdom, poignancy, and heartfelt humor.
Closing Night Film & Party
Sorry, Baby
(d: Eva Victor c: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges, John Carroll Lynch, Louis Cancelmi, Kelly McCormack, USA 2025, 104 min)
Eva Victor (“Billions”) writes, directs, and stars in this nonlinear, seriocomic story about a melancholic English professor’s complicated path toward healing in the aftermath of a tragedy. The film spans several nonlinear chapters in the life of Agnes, a people-pleasing English professor, and showcases the ways that trauma ripples through a life and the slow ways it heals (and sometimes doesn’t). Through each hop through time, we follow Agnes as she experiences the unexpectedly transformational powers of the cuddly creatures found along the way, be it dear friends, surprisingly sensitive sandwich vendors, an abandoned kitten, or a sweet neighbor. This aching and tender debut premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Waldo Salt Screening Award.
Competitions
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
Home Sweet Home (d: Frelle Petersen, Denmark 2025, 112 min)
The New Year That Never Came (d: Bogdan Mureşanu, Romania/Serbia 2024, 138 min)
Raptures (d: Jon Blåhed, Sweden/Finland 2025, 108 min)
Rebuilding (d: Max Walker-Silverman, USA 2025, 95 min)
Remaining Native (d: Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee), USA 2025, 87 min)
The Safe House (d: Lionel Baier, Switzerland/Luxembourg/France 2025, 90 min)
Seeds (d: Brittany Shyne, USA 2025, 122 min)
Summer’s Camera (d: Divine Sung, South Korea 2025, 82 min)
NEW AMERICAN CINEMA COMPETITION
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (d: Kahlil Joseph, USA 2025, 113 min)
Color Book (d: David Fortune, USA 2024, 98 min)
F*cktoys (d: Annapurna Sriram, USA 2025, 107 min)
Invention (d: Courtney Stephens, USA 2024, 72 min)
She’s The He (d: Siobhan McCarthy, USA 2025, 81 min)
Slanted (d: Amy Wang, USA 2025, 104 min)
NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION
Beginnings (d: Jeanette Nordahl, Denmark/Sweden/Belgium 2025, 96 min)
The Crowd (d: Sahand Kabiri, Iran 2025, 70 min)
DJ Ahmet (d: Georgi M. Unkovski, North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Serbia/Croatia 2025, 97 min)
Mongrels (d: Jerome Yoo, Canada 2024, 110 min)
Ready or Not (d: Claire Frances Byrne, Ireland 2025, 84 min)
To Kill a Mongolian Horse (d: Xiaoxuan Jiang, Malaysia/Hong Kong/South Korea/Japan/Saudi Arabia/Thailand/USA 2024, 97 min)
The Village Next to Paradise (d: Mo Harawe, Somalia/Austria/France/Germany 2024, 133 min)
IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION
Beef (d: Ingride Santos, Spain/Mexico 2025, 85 min)
Bitter Gold (d: Juan Olea, Chile/Mexico/Uruguay/Germany 2024, 83 min)
Deaf (d: Eva Libertad, Spain 2025, 99 min)
Hanami (d: Denise Fernandes, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde 2024, 96 min)
Manas (d: Marianna Brennand, Brazil/Portugal 2024, 101 min)
The Nature of Invisible Things (d: Rafaela Camelo, Brazil/Chile 2025, 90 min)
Transfers (d: Nicolás Gil Lavedra, Argentina/Uruguay 2024, 90 min)
Undercover (d: Arantxa Echevarría, Spain 2024, 118 min)
DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION
Between Goodbyes (d: Jota Mun, USA 2024, 96 min)
Billy (d: Lawrence Côté-Collins, Canada (Québec)/Finland 2024, 107 min)
Drowned Land (d: Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation), USA 2025, 86 min)
Freeing Juanita (d: Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers, Guatemala/Mexico/USA 2024, 74 min)
The Librarians (d: Kim A. Snyder, USA 2025, 88 min)
Suburban Fury (d: Robinson Devor, USA 2024, 118 min)
Unclickable (d: Babis Makridis, Greece/Cyprus/USA 2024, 74 min)
Viktor (d: Olivier Sarbil, Ukraine/USA 2024, 89 min)
Programs
African Pictures
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (d: Kahlil Joseph, USA 2025, 113 min)
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (d: Embeth Davidtz, South Africa 2024, 98 min)
Everybody Loves Touda (d: Nabil Ayouch, France/Morocco/Belgium/Denmark/Netherlands 2024, 101 min)
Hanami (d: Denise Fernandes, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde 2024, 96 min)
How to Build a Library (d: Maia Lekow, Christopher King, Kenya 2025, 100 min)
Khartoum (d: Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Brahim Snoopy, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, Phil Cox, Sudan/UK/Germany/Qatar 2025, 80 min)
The Village Next to Paradise (d: Mo Harawe, Somalia/Austria/France/Germany 2024, 133 min)
Alternate Cinema
ALT Shorts: Dead Reckoning (short film package)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (d: Kahlil Joseph, USA 2025, 113 min)
The Gloria of your Imagination (d: Jennifer Reeves, USA 2024, 98 min)
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (d: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, United Kingdom/Poland/Germany 2024, 76 min)
Asian Crossroads
Between Goodbyes (d: Jota Mun, USA 2024, 96 min)
Blue Sun Palace (d: Constance Tsang, USA 2024, 116 min)
Boong (d: Lakshmipriya Devi, India/France 2024, 93 min)
The Botanist (d: Jing Yi, China 2025, 96 min)
By the Stream (d: Hong Sang-soo, South Korea/United States 2024, 111 min)
Cloud (d: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan 2024, 124 min)
Fly Me to the Moon (d: Sasha Chuk, Hong Kong 2023, 112 min)
Happyend (d: Neo Sora, Japan/USA 2024, 113 min)
Little Red Sweet (d: Vincent Chow, Hong Kong 2024, 92 min)
Luz (d: Flora Lau, Hong Kong 2025, 102 min)
Meeting with Pol Pot (d: Rithy Panh, France/Cambodia/Taiwan/Qatar/Turkey 2024, 113 min)
Summer’s Camera (d: Divine Sung, South Korea 2025, 82 min)
To Kill a Mongolian Horse (d: Xiaoxuan Jiang, Malaysia/Hong Kong/South Korea/Japan/Saudi Arabia/Thailand/USA 2024, 97 min)
cINeDIGENOUS
Drowned Land (d: Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation), USA 2025, 86 min)
Free Leonard Peltier (d: Jesse Short Bull (Oglala Sioux), David France, USA 2025, 110 min)
Ka Whawhai Tonu: Struggle Without End (d: Michael Jonathan, Aotearoa New Zealand/Great Britain 2024, 115 min)
Medicine Circle: Indigenous Stories of Return (short film package)
Remaining Native (d: Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee), USA 2025, 87 min)
Tinā (d: Miki Magasiva (Maori), Aotearoa New Zealand 2024, 125 min)
Face the Music
1-800-ON-HER-OWN (d: Dana Flor, USA 2024, 78 min)
Monk in Pieces (d: Billy Shebar, David Roberts, USA 2025, 95 min)
Paul Anka: His Way (d: John Maggio, USA 2024, 99 min)
Salsa Lives (d: Juan Carvajal, Colombia 2025, 101 min)
Ibero-American Cinema
Beef (d: Ingride Santos, Spain/Mexico 2025, 85 min)
Bitter Gold (d: Juan Olea, Chile/Mexico/Uruguay/Germany 2024, 83 min)
Deaf (d: Eva Libertad, Spain 2025, 99 min)
Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite (d: Lorenzo Hagerman, Mexico 2024, 83 min)
Freeing Juanita (d: Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers, Guatemala/Mexico/USA 2024, 74 min)
Hanami (d: Denise Fernandes, Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde 2024, 96 min)
I Am Nevenka (d: Icíar Bollaín, Spain/Italy 2024, 112 min)
Manas (d: Marianna Brennand, Brazil/Portugal 2024, 101 min)
The Nature of Invisible Things (d: Rafaela Camelo, Brazil/Chile 2025, 90 min)
Salsa Lives (d: Juan Carvajal, Colombia 2025, 101 min)
Transfers (d: Nicolás Gil Lavedra, Argentina/Uruguay 2024, 90 min)
Undercover (d: Arantxa Echevarría, Spain 2024, 118 min)
The Wailing (d: Pedro Martín-Calero, Spain/France/Argentina 2024, 107 min)
New American Cinema
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (d: Kahlil Joseph, USA 2025, 113 min)
Blue Sun Palace (d: Constance Tsang, USA 2024, 116 min)
By Design (d: Amanda Kramer, USA 2025, 90 min)
Color Book (d: David Fortune, USA 2024, 98 min)
Evergreens (d: Jared Briley, USA 2025, 120 min)
Familiar Touch (d: Sarah Friedland, USA 2024, 91 min)
F*cktoys (d: Annapurna Sriram, USA 2025, 107 min)
Good Boy (d: Ben Leonberg, USA 2025, 73 min)
Invention (d: Courtney Stephens, USA 2024, 72 min)
Monarch City (d: Titus Richard, USA 2025, 70 min)
New Jack Fury (d: Lanfia Wal, USA 2025, 89 min)
Rebuilding (d: Max Walker-Silverman, USA 2025, 95 min)
She’s The He (d: Siobhan McCarthy, USA 2025, 81 min)
Slanted (d: Amy Wang, USA 2025, 104 min)
Sorry, Baby (d: Eva Victor, USA 2025, 104 min)
Twinless (d: James Sweeney, USA 2025, 100 min)
Northwest Connections
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (d: Kahlil Joseph, USA 2025, 113 min)
Evergreens (d: Jared Briley, USA 2025, 120 min)
Monarch City (d: Titus Richard, USA 2025, 70 min)
Sound Visions (short film package)
Suburban Fury (d: Robinson Devor, USA 2024, 118 min)
Wolf Land (d: Sarah Hoffman, USA 2025, 71 min)
WTF: Wild, Terrifying, Fantastic!
The Balconettes (d: Noémie Merlant, France 2024, 104 min)
Chain Reactions (d: Alexandre O. Philippe, USA 2024, 101 min)
Dead Lover (d: Grace Glowicki, Canada 2025, 82 min)
F*cktoys (d: Annapurna Sriram, USA 2025, 107 min)
Good Boy (d: Ben Leonberg, USA 2025, 73 min)
Head Trip Shorts (short film package)
New Jack Fury (d: Lanfia Wal, USA 2025, 89 min)
SIFF & CFC Present The Dark Crystal with DJ NicFit (d: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, USA 1982, 93 min)
Spermageddon (d: Tommy Wirkola, Rasmus A. Sivertsen, Norway 2024, 80 min)
The Spirit Cabinet (short film package)
Time Travel is Dangerous (d: Chris Reading, United Kingdom 2024, 100 min)
The Wailing (d: Pedro Martín-Calero, Spain/France/Argentina 2024, 107 min)
Films4Families
The Family Picture Show (short film package)
Into the Wonderwoods (d: Alexis Ducord, Vincent Paronnaud, France/Luxembourg 2024, 84 min)
Tales from the Magic Garden (d: David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Slovenia/France 2025, 71 min)
FutureWave
Dancing Queen in Hollywood (d: Aurora Gossé, Norway 2025, 87 min)
FutureWave: Teenage Hearts (short film package)
Happyend (d: Neo Sora, Japan/USA 2024, 113 min)
Slanted (d: Amy Wang, USA 2025, 104 min)
Summer’s Camera (d: Divine Sung, South Korea 2025, 82 min)
Unclickable (d: Babis Makridis, Greece/Cyprus/USA 2024, 74 min)