Events

Winner of the 2025 FHFF Audience Choice Award for Best “Explorers & Adventures” Feature Film, Girl Climber follows elite climber Emily Harrington as she pursues a career-defining free ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan. A gripping, intimate portrait of ambition, resilience, and vulnerability, screening free on San Juan and Lopez Islands as part of the 2026 Best of the Fest Series.

The short documentary Lina. offers an intimate portrait of a six-year-old Ukrainian child and her family after their rescue from a Russian-occupied village. Screening January 30 at the San Juan Island Library and January 31 at the Lopez Island Grange, the film is paired with Checkpoint Zoo. The January 30 screening includes a special meet-and-greet with Executive Producer Silke Johnstone of The Humanity Funds.

Friday Harbor Film Festival is pleased to collaborate with San Juan Island Grange #966  on an upcoming community event that brings together documentary film, local knowledge, and hands-on learning around one of our region’s most important marine resources—seaweed. Taking place Thursday, January 15, from 5:00–7:30 PM  at the San Juan Island Grange, this evening is part of the Grange’s ongoing Lecture Series, which highlights timely topics connected to sustainability, food syst

Kick off Friday Harbor Film Festival’s 2026 Best of the Fest Series with a free double feature of Checkpoint Zoo and Lina., Audience Choice Award winners from FHFF 2025. Join us January 30 at the San Juan Island Library with filmmaker Silke Johnstone in person, and January 31 at the Lopez Island Grange with a special interview with director Joshua Zeman. Two powerful films, one unforgettable weekend.

On Tuesday, July 16, you are invited to experience the award-winning documentary film Resident Orca, which tells the story of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut—also known as Tokitae or Lolita—and her decades in captivity far from her Salish Sea home.

This impactful art experience is offered in conjunction with our July 16 screening of the acclaimed documentary Resident Orca, chronicling the decades the Southern Resident orca Tokitae spent confined at the Miami Seaquarium and the dedicated efforts to secure her freedom.

This event brings together film, immersive experience, and expert insights to spotlight the heartbreaking story of Tokitae (Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut), a Southern Resident killer whale who spent her life in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium from her capture in 1970 until her death in August 2023.