Have We Got A Show For You!
Would you like a chance to win two FREE tickets to see the legendary band Los Lobos at the McCurdy Pavillion, Fort Worden on September 28th AND two FREE 6-Passes to the Port Townsend Film Festival?
Tune into Near and Far with DJ Kani-ma on KPTZ 91.7, or stream it live at https://www.kptz.org, this coming Tuesday, September 1 at 10AM for your chance to win!
Hot off the press!
The 2026 PTFF Program PDF
The Intermission -
Sunday, Sept 27, 5:30-7:30pm, Taylor Street
featuring DJ David Bonobo
DJ David Bonobo spent over two decades immersed in L.A.'s Rare Groove, Pan-African, and Latin Electronica music scenes before moving to Port Townsend in 2016. Coming up alongside L.A.'s Mezklah, Very Be Careful, Fósforo, and The Boogaloo Assassins, he earned the affectionate nickname "la mancha blanca en el lado moreno."
David toured Mexico with Mezklah and held DJ residencies in Oaxaca, where he helped break the group Sidestepper. A self-described xenophile, he spent years hosting an internet radio show in L.A. and, later, eight years on KPTZ 91.9 FM, promoting the concept of a "kilombo musical" — a musical community rooted in resistance and social consciousness, one that celebrates diversity while tracing the musical threads that connect it.
David's walked that talk, too: playing music to help protect the South Central Farmers' garden, at protests against the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in support of several local non-profits on the Quimper Peninsula.
Today he carries that same lineage forward through close regional ties to Terror/Cactus and DJ Rizoma of Seattle's Global Groove. Inspired by Fela Kuti's belief in "music as the weapon of the progressives and the givers of life," David Bonobo brings decades of hard-earned, socially conscious Latin sound to this year's Port Townsend Film Festival.
Festival Sponsor Spotlight-
The City of Port Townsend
Shelly Leavens, Communications and Marketing Director, The City of Port Townsend
“The Port Townsend Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC), for which I am the City staff liaison, voted to support the Port Townsend Film Festival with a marketing grant in 2026 because of their mission to bring visitors to Port Townsend for events that benefit our local community. LTAC has a set of grant criteria they review annually, and currently a multi-day festival in September, during the shoulder season for PT tourism, is ideal for increasing sustainable tourism, benefits our creative economy, and fills our local accommodations with film patrons, filmmakers, and their friends – all part of the big extended family of people who love Port Townsend and who love the arts.”
A brief answer to the question: What movie had a big impact on you? Why?
“It's hard to choose of course, but I would say all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films have had a pretty big impact on me with Spirited Away being the first I saw in the early 2000s. These were the first films I had seen that combined animation with pace and storytelling where I saw animated films as a true artform. Prior to that I think I had just been exposed to more traditional forms of animation like Looney Toons and Disney. No shade on those, but Miyazaki set the bar really high for incredible, emotional stories in animation and I watch and rewatch everything I can from Studio Ghibli generally.”
Port Townsend Film Festival is sponsored by:
Festival Film Spotlight-
Feature Documentary - Our Mr. Matsura
Photographer Frank Matsura journeyed from his native Japan to live in rural WA in the early 1900s. His story departs from the existing pop-culture narrative and celebrates the singular contribution of a community-building immigrant artist in America.
Showings
Fri, Sep 25th, 7:00 PM @ Key City Public Theatre
Sun, Sep 27th, 10:30 AM @ Rosebud Cinema
Our Mr. Matsura is sponsored by:
Support the Festival
Loretta and Martha will match your donation!
Now through August.
Loretta Atkins and Martha Trolin
Long-time supporters of the Festival, Loretta Atkins and Martha Trolin, have issued a challenge to all who love this special Port Townsend experience. Donate before the end of August, and they will match your donation up to $5,000!
Their reasons for supporting PTFF are simple and clear, and shared by so many:
"It's our favorite festival of the year. Each time, we leave the experience changed. We learned something new. We understand something more deeply. We feel something more keenly."
From the films themselves, to the filmmakers’ descriptions of their motivations, to the connections built when you walk out of the movie talking about it with the former strangers who sat next to you, we know the experience of PTFF makes a lasting impact.
Won’t you become a part of the community?
Your support:
Keeps our passes and tickets affordable
Makes free passes available to those with limited income
Presents free movies on Taylor Street every year
Puts copies of PTFF films in our public library
Collaborates with local nonprofits to amplify their missions through film
Supports local filmmakers
Encourages and coordinates film production in Port Townsend
