Free Best of the Fest Documentary Series Starts with the Best Overall Feature and Short Films on January 30 & 31

Join us for a powerful evening of documentary film and conversation!

Friday Harbor Film Festival’s 2026 Best of the Fest Series kicks off with a free double feature screening of Checkpoint Zoo, winner of the 2025 FHFF Audience Choice Award for Best Overall Documentary, and Lina., winner of the 2025 FHFF Audience Choice Award for Best Overall Short Film, showing on both San Juan and Lopez islands.  

January 30 - San Juan Island Library

Come to the SJI Library on Friday, January 30 at a special Best of the Fest start time of 6 pm for a Meet & Greet + short presentation with Silke Johnstone, CEO & Co-Founder of The Humanity Funds, followed by the film screenings and a pre-recorded Q&A with Checkpoint Zoo director Joshua Zeman. Don’t miss the chance to learn more about the filmmaking process, the real-life events that inspired the films, and the situation in Ukraine.

January 31 - Lopez Island Grange

On Saturday, January 31 join us at the Lopez Island Grange at 7 pm to view the films followed by a pre-recorded interview with Checkpoint Zoo director Joshua Zeman.

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About the Films

Checkpoint Zoo documents a daring rescue, led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers, who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

In the early days of the Russian Ukrainian war Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, was turned into a war zone. On one side of the battlefield was the invading Russian army, on the other side, the defending Ukrainians, and caught in between them, was a zoo called Feldman Ecopark. More than just a zoo, Feldman Ecopark was an animal sanctuary that offered countless therapy programs to everyone from soldiers with PTSD to children with special needs. Drawing from first-hand footage, Award-winning filmmaker Joshua Zeman’s Checkpoint Zoo showcases a story of human compassion, bravery, and sacrifice during Ukraine’s darkest hours. shining a light on the best of humanity when it is all too easy to focus on the worst. 

Lina. - With a warm, strong and confident voice forty-one-year-old mother Alyona tells the story of her beautiful youngest daughter Lina who together with her family flees the brutal grip of Russian occupation in Kherson.

With the help of courageous volunteers, the family travels thousands of miles through hostile Russian territory before finally finding refuge and the idea of peace in a charming village in Ukraine. Yet, the sense of normalcy is deceiving, and the audience witnesses the cruel scars that this war has left on Lina and the emotional breakdown of Alyona as she is confronted with the reality that Lina faces.

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2026 Best of the Fest Series

Each month through September Best of the Fest presents award-winning documentaries along with Q&As with the films’ directors and subjects. All Friday Harbor programs will be at the San Juan Island Library. Lopez Island programs will be at the Lopez Island Grange, Lopez Center for Community and the Arts, or at the Lopez Island Library.  Since they’re on Fridays, they are a great “date night” activity.

Here’s the schedule:

Girl Climber – February 20 at the SJI Library and February 21 at the Lopez Island Grange

The Ramba Effect – March 27 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts

Sitka's Hidden Wonders + From Sea to Shining Sea – April 24 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts 

The Last Dive – May 22 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts 

Parrot Kindergarten – June 26 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts 

The Snake and the Whale – July 17 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Island Library 

Champions of the Golden Valley – August 21 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Island Library

Rebel with a Clause – September 18 at the SJI Library and the Lopez Island Library

Mark your calendar and plan to view the exceptional Best of the Fest documentaries.

2026 BOF Film Guide & Schedule

FHFF appreciates the in-kind media sponsorship of The Journal of the San Juan Islands!