Exceptional people and documentaries honored at Friday Harbor Film Festival

||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL |||

During a fantastic weekend of memorable films, inspiring and informative interviews with filmmakers, and special events, the Friday Harbor Film Festival was delighted to present many special awards. We welcomed 70 visiting filmmakers as well as film lovers from around the US and the world.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2025 festival, volunteered their time, and voted for their favorite films. Special thanks go to Suzy Mygatt Wakefield and Jay Wakefield for their financial support of the Friday Harbor Film Festival, with a special focus on San Juan Islands’ students and teachers.

Audience Choice Awards recognized the films chosen by the votes of audience members. Full details are available at fhff.org.

YOUNG FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE

• Best YFS Film, ages 13-17: A Moment in Time. Lake Neill, Director
• Best YFS Film, ages 18-26: Ya Hanouni, Sofian Chouaib & Lyna Tadount – Directors

SHORT FILMS

• Things to Consider: Sandpipers’ Last Supper. Isabelle Groc, Director
• Explorers & Adventures: Love Birds. Elliott Kennerson & Angel Morris, Directors; Nell Augustin & Molly O’Brien, Producers
• Tales from the Heart: Tides of Life. Tatiana McCabe, Director & Producer
• Best Overall Short Film: Lina. Oleksiy Olivar & Mykola Nosok, Directors; Oleksiy Olivar & James Weltz, Producers; Silke Johnston, Executive Producer; Solomon Bluestein, Associate Producer

FEATURE FILMS

• Tales from the Heart: The Ramba Effect. Claire Sandberg, Director; Claire Sandberg & Neill Barham, Producers; Kat and Scott Blais, Subjects
• Explorers & Adventures: Girl Climber: Jon Glassberg, Director; Jennifer Peedom, Philipp Manderla, Producers
• Things to Consider: Parrot Kindergarten. Amy Herdy – Director; Amy Herdy, Cali Bagby, Rich Denmark, & Jim Moscou, Producers
• Best Overall Feature: Checkpoint Zoo. Joshua Zeman, Director; Zachary Mortensen, Joshua Zeman, Ian Davies, Torquil Jones & Pavlo Dorogoy, Producers

The Andrew V. McLaglen Lifetime Achievement Award honored Ken Balcomb, a passionate scientist and pioneer researching the Southern Resident Orca Whales. Ken Balcomb passed away in December 2022, at the age of 82. He is remembered as a pioneer, a passionate scientist, and a fierce advocate for ocean life. His work has inspired generations of researchers and conservationists. Thanks to his dedication and vision, we now understand the Southern Resident orcas better than any other whale population on Earth. Ken showed us that science, when done with rigor, can change minds, change policies, and change the world. In everything he did, he stayed true to one unwavering principle: that truth matters. He pursued it, he protected it, and he passed it on.

The Local Hero Award for 2025 celebrated Orcas Islander Tina Whitman, the Senior Science Director at Friends of the San Juans, where she has led shoreline research, protection, and restoration for over 20 years. Under her leadership, Friends has surveyed hundreds of beaches, protecting more than 12 miles of forage fish spawning habitat, and advanced extensive shoreline, eelgrass and coastal wetland restoration projects across the islands in partnership with Tribal, public, and private landowners. Tina is passionate about exploring and protecting the connections between land and sea, science and community, and people
and place. She lives on Orcas Island with her husband and son and is happiest on the beach—whether for work or play.

Next up for FHFF will be the monthly free screenings of some of our award-winning documentaries from January through September 2026 in Friday Harbor and on Lopez Island. Watch for details on the FHFF website, in social media, and in the press!