Best of the Fest April 24 Double Feature — Free Screenings on San Juan and Lopez Islands
- FHFF
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Friday Harbor Film Festival's Best of the Fest returns on Friday, April 24 at 7 PM with a special double feature — two documentary films from the 2025 FHFF program, screening simultaneously and free of charge at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Lopez Island. No tickets or RSVP required.
Sitka's Hidden Wonders
A film by Ben Hamilton
The evening opens with Sitka's Hidden Wonders (43 min), a stunning nature documentary by award-winning wildlife filmmaker Ben Hamilton.
After nearly two decades filming for National Geographic, BBC, Discovery, and Smithsonian Channel across 36 countries, Hamilton returns to the place where it all began — Sitka, Alaska — to make sense of what that wild coastal ecosystem has taught him about nature, time, and attention. Humpbacks feed in nutrient-rich waters, bears wander temperate rainforests, seabirds emerge only under moonlight, and bioluminescent plankton spark life from the deep. Filmed over a decade in and around Sitka Sound, the film is an invitation to slow down, look closer, and truly see the world around you.
From Sea to Shining Sea
Directed by John de Graaf
The second film of the evening, From Sea to Shining Sea (37 min), turns its lens on one of American history's most compelling and underappreciated figures: Katharine Lee Bates — poet, professor, and social reformer — best known as the author of "America the Beautiful." As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, director John de Graaf brings Bates' story vividly to life through hundreds of archival photographs, period film clips, watercolors, and contemporary footage. Bates was a woman ahead of her time — she fought for immigrants, women's suffrage, workers' rights, and world peace — and her famous lyrics, inspired by a view from the summit of Pikes Peak in 1893, carried both a love of country and an unflinching call for justice.
Following the screening of From Sea to Shining Sea, director John de Graaf will join audiences at the San Juan Island Library in person for a live Q&A. Lopez Island audiences at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts will be able to participate in the conversation via Google Meet — bringing both islands into the discussion in real time. Bring your questions.
Over a 46-year career, John de Graaf has directed films broadcast nationally on PBS in primetime, won more than 100 regional, national, and international awards, and authored four books. His commitment to storytelling in service of social and environmental justice runs through everything he makes — and From Sea to Shining Sea may be his most timely work yet.
This screening is presented as part of FHFF's 2026 Best of the Fest series — free monthly documentary screenings on San Juan and Lopez Islands, January through September. Sponsored by Friday Harbor Freight Lines.
Explore both films in the Best of the Fest Film Guide at fhff.org.
We thank our film sponsor, Friday Harbor Freight, presenting media sponsor, CascadePBS, and in-kind media sponsor, The Journal of the San Juan Islands, for their continued support of FHFF and the Best of the Fest Series.
Free screenings. No RSVP or tickets required.
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