The Seattle Film Society is a filmmaker-run project dedicated to organizing, cultivating, and celebrating the Greater Seattle filmmaking community.

Since its founding in 2023, SFS has blossomed into a 20 person all-volunteer team with an active Discord server and a fast-growing newsletter. We have hosted over two dozen sold out screenings, 150+ educational events, and a burgeoning slate of community initiatives. We’ve partnered with local film organizations like SIFF, the Northwest Film Forum, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Seattle Black Film Festival, the Seattle Documentary Association, and more. Through these partnerships and initiatives, SFS strives to foster a diverse, collaborative, and close-knit community rooted in a shared love for movie making.

Seattle Film Society was founded by filmmakers Marcus Baker, Tommy Meisel, Kalee Quiñones, Quentin Lebeau, Ben Johnson, Caity Petterson, and Harlie Sullivan.

Mission

The Seattle Film Society is where filmmakers and film lovers unite. Through community and educational initiatives, we provide support, opportunity, and mentorship for filmmakers at all levels. We advocate for Seattle’s unique cinematic ethos and strive to foster a diverse, collaborative, and close-knit Seattle film community.

Vision

To provide a community where Seattle filmmakers thrive.

Community & Connection

Our first and primary responsibility is our relationship to the Greater Seattle Film Community. We endeavor to be honest and transparent at every turn in order to build and maintain the trust of our members, sponsors, and fellow cinema arts organizations. We aim to create strong alliances within our community that allow for Seattle filmmakers to thrive.

Accountability & Growth

We are proponents for growth and learning from mistakes. In our view: Mistakes are a part of life and vital to advance in the filmmaking process. Therefore, the most important part of a mistake is not the mistake itself, but the desire and attempt to redress it. Through honest assessment followed by ownership and remedy, we advocate for restorative practices that create room for individual growth and communal healing. Be willing to be wrong and ready to redress.

Inclusivity

Each of us shoulders the responsibility to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable bringing their whole person. As a community-driven organization, it’s our expectation that all who engage with our programs and initiatives do so with respect to diversity and inclusivity. Any discrimination based on race, creed, gender, accessibility, or sexuality will not be tolerated.

The Power of Cinema

To paraphrase Roger Ebert: Film is an empathy machine. We believe that film is a powerful medium that has the ability to affect viewers in ways they do not consciously perceive. Through film, we seek to generate understanding, challenge convention, and drive progressive change.

Nurturing the Future

We aspire to create and embody leadership that leads with compassion, consideration, accountability, and responsibility. We will do this in ways both direct and through the systems we create. Our intention, at all points, is to lower ladders and open doors.

The Art of Having Fun

Film is a vast and deep medium with an untold number of expressions. We seek out all manner of films and filmmaking in order to highlight the craft, skill, and labor that animates it -- all in the name of a good time at the movies.