Tacoma Film Festival offers free passes to students

Established in 2006, the ultimate indie film festival in the Northwest — the Tacoma Film Festival ? has returned for another year of interactive fun in the cinematic world. Thousands of filmmakers, industry critics and fans will gather to celebrate their love for film and to empower emerging filmmakers.

Over the course of one week, Oct. 4–11, venues across Tacoma will be showing the best new independent films from all over the world. Other festival activities will include industry workshops, parties and discussion panels, as well as a virtual reality studio, music video showcase and numerous live music performances.

For the first time ever, the Tacoma Film Festival will also offer free student film passes, which allow any student from primary, secondary, college or trade schools to attend as many TFF screenings ? excluding opening and closing nights, Track 03 and The Veldt Preview Party — as they want for free. Bring your student ID to The Grand Cinema box office starting Oct. 1 in order to obtain your free pass or just simply show your student ID at any of the participating venues day of the screening to attend that specific screening for free.

The festival is not only a great place to watch never-before-seen films, but it also serves as a rich networking and collaborative space for aspiring and emerging filmmakers and screenwriters to engage in meaningful conversations that will push them into the industry. TFF thrives on their unique blend of audience and industry programming, as it has become an important place that fosters diverse networks and discourse needed to advance in the film industry. The goal of this year’s festival is to turn TFF into an educational opportunity through the many free workshops and discussion panels they hold. Participating filmmakers are also going to conduct classroom visits at local schools, from elementary schools to colleges, to share what they do, why they do it and do Q&A sessions with the students.

TFF OPENING NIGHT

This year’s opening night will be held Oct. 4 at The Grand Cinema. The opening night feature film is an independent sci-fi called “PROSPECT,” co-written and directed by Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell. The two met at Seattle Pacific University and shot their atmospheric feature primarily in the Hoh Rainforest, with a crew that included Tacoma-based filmmakers. “PROSPECT” is likely the first science fiction film to build a mesmerizing world out of our beautiful Washington rainforest with a superb cast. Both directors will be in attendance and will also stay after the screening for an audience Q&A.

TFF CLOSING NIGHT

Closing night for TFF will be Oct. 11 at The Grand Cinema, debuting Jordan Albertsen’s documentary “BOOM!,” which tells the story of The Sonics — one of rock ’n’ roll’s wildest and most influential bands that formed in Tacoma in the ’60s. “BOOM!” is a deep dive, exploring how a relatively unknown band from the Pacific Northwest shaped music for decades to come. Albertsen will also be in attendance and hold a Q&A session after the screening of his film.