Festivals Previews

As ever, Orcas Island Film Festival wows with blockbuster line-up of must-see films

by Josh

In their twelfth year of running a festival on the gem of the San Juan islands, it’s basically a given that the small but mighty Orcas Island Film Festival will quietly drops one of the season’s most complete and compelling film festival lineups of the year. The quality of the program is an embarrassment of riches and it’s basically in our backyard (provided that your backyard has a seaplane or a ferry boat).

Led by the sure handed leadership of Co-Directors Carl Spence (Chief Curator) and Donna Laslo (the no-nonsense Co-Producer), the festival has been curating a selection of the very best films from around the world for more than a decade. Not that anyone from Seattle needs an excuse to take a weekend trip to the islands, but the annual event is one that has locals and visitors alike flocking to the quaint town of Eastsound year after year.

Running from October 14-18th (with some additional programming on the shoulder season), the selection of films brought to the tiny island is truly stunning with highlights from the year’s most prestigious festivals making their first appearances in the Pacific Northwest via a handful of cozy island theaters. In total, The program brings together 43 feature-length films from 15 countries: 33 narrative features, including three animated films, and 10 documentaries; with 18 films helmed by women directors.

Behold!

Based on what I’ve seen so far at Sundance, SIFF, Telluride, and TIFF, some of the very best movies of 2026 are on this lineup, including four out of six of Toronto’s People’s Choice Awards winners (La Bola Negra, overall winner; Elsinore, international champ) and runners-up (I Play Rocky, Possible Love). Aside from the Spanish language “gay magic” sudden best picture heavyweight from “Los Javis” and the Lee Chang-dong’s literary exploration of labor in Korea, it’s almost certain that the Best International Film Oscar is almost surely on this list (All of a Sudden, Fjord, Fatherland, … maybe even Rose, Coward, or Everytime to name a few); not to mention a feel-great film about a Pacific Northwest broadcasting hero (Radioheart: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole). There’s also Julianne Moore showcase The Debut, which is absolutely best experienced with a crowd.

For my part, I’m most excited to catch up on a handful of films that I simply couldn’t fit into my recent festival spree: Paper Tiger, fresh off it’s North American debut in New York and La Gradiva, which has been getting rave reviews since it’s debut in Cannes; and German Oscar submission Everytime. There are so many amazing discoveries on this list, it’s hard to imagine fitting them all into a long weekend, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying!

Get your tickets and passes here. Patron passholders will be able to start reserving seats starting today; festival pass holders get their shot on Sunday; and individual tickets go on sale on October 2rd. In addition to all the movies; there’s also a Red Carpet Soiree and a Saturday Night Party. You should probably also set an alarm for Washington State Ferry reservations, too while you’re at it!