||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS & KAREN PALMER for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL |||
After an extraordinary four days of documentary storytelling, inspiration, and connection the 2026 Friday Harbor Film Festival has come to a close. We greatly appreciate all the filmmakers who shared their remarkable stories, the audiences who filled our theaters and brought those stories to life through thoughtful conversations, and the energy and generosity of our dedicated volunteers who made it all possible.
We’re equally grateful to our sponsors, supporters, local businesses, and the entire Friday Harbor community for welcoming filmmakers and visitors from near and far. Together, you’ve made this year’s Festival a truly memorable celebration of film, creativity, and community.
THE VOTES ARE IN! Throughout the Festival, audiences celebrated the power of documentary storytelling by voting for the films that moved, inspired, and resonated with them most. Congratulations to our 2026 Audience Choice Award winners!
BEST OVERALL FEATURE FILM: Heart of a Lion Joe Pontecorvo, Director; Joe Pontecorvo, Jeff Hogan, Producers; Joe Pontecorvo, Mark Elbroch, Screenwriters
BEST OVERALL SHORT FILM: Dick’s-A-Thon Dylan Young, Director; Sean Goodwin, Producer
TALES FROM THE HEART FEATURE FILM: RADIOHEART The Drive and Times Of DJ Kevin Cole Peter Hilgendorf, Andrew Franks, Directors; Rebecca Staffel, Producer; Kevin Cole, Subject
THINGS TO CONSIDER FEATURE FILM: The River Remembers Jordan Riber, Director; Darrell Hillaire, Noelani Auguston, Jordan Riber, Producers
EXPLORERS & TRAILBLAZERS FEATURE FILM: Dorothea Lange GRAB A HUNK OF LIGHTNING Dyanna Taylor, Director; Elizabeth Partridge, Screenwriter
EXPLORERS & TRAILBLAZERS SHORT FILM: You And I Are Earth: The Art of Jeanne K. Simmons Ward Serrill, Director; Jeanne K. Simmons, Subject
TALES FROM THE HEART SHORT FILM: For Deer Life Yaz Ellis, Director; Andy Byatt, Tom Fitz, Executive Producers
THINGS TO CONSIDER SHORT FILM: Snowdrops for the Bairns Donna Dees, Director; Ellie Crozier, Producer
YOUNG FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE, International Youth Media Summit: ENVIRONMENT PSA: CHANGES Amarachi Chimezie, Director
YOUNG FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE, 18-26 Age Group: Abiding Lucas Salm-Rojo, Director
YOUNG FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE, 13-17 Age Group: Everything I’m Not; Everything I Am Xavier Alexander, Director
FHFF is proud to recognize our Local Hero, Roger Ellison, and our Andrew V. McLaglen Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, John de Graaf. People like this make our world a better place!
The stories and inspiration will continue! Watch for the announcement of the BEST OF THE FEST films to be shown monthly from January through September 2027, ending just in time to plan your attendance at our 15th annual Friday Harbor Film Festival in October. See you at the movies!
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