What is it about the Northwest that breeds and attracts this odd artistic character that thinks self-expression is most satisfying at 24 to 30 frames per second?

This year, over 350 pet projects came whizzing over mountain, stream, Space Needle and strip-mall to our doorstep and watching every last one of them creates a sort of periodic chart of the lements of Northwest style. Of course a handful of them are not so great, and some others look as if their makers might aspire to directing big budget handheld dramas for TV, but for the most part, these stories are unexpected, personal and, whether animated or live, fact or fiction, they are fresh and rewarding visions and we have 44 that are definately worthy of your look-see. If you're not inspired, someone better check your pulse.

Over the years, the Film Center has come to know the community of artists who call the Northwest home and we are honored to showcase their work in a context where adventurous audiences can sample the water and draw their own conclusions about what makes the Northwest such an ardent and unique filmmaking environment.

Reels and reels of thanks go to the brilliant minds of happylucky who brought us the "FILM MADE ME DO IT" creative campaign that taps right into the glorious fiasco-ridden process of making un-dependent films. Special thanks to Brian Hennessy of Thread Creative for his copywriting expertise and Mike Wellins for his spectacular animation for the Festival trailers. And thanks, of course, to our great cadre of sponsors who appreciate and support this singular celebration of Northwest Filmmaking and have done so for 33 years now.

Finally, we thank our Festival Judge, Pacific Film Archive curator Stephen Seid, who traveled to the Film Center to view, empathize, and finally assess the collected shorts in this year's program. His eye was definately searching for the good in all of them and his choices speak convincingly for themselves.