By Bailey Pennick
There's something special about the Capitol Hill space in which Northwest Film Forum operates in Seattle, Washington. It's like this old auto row building. They used to sell cars in it. The ceilings are extremely high, it's all wood floors, and it's very old, says Vivian Hua, the Executive Director of the nonprofit film and arts center. You can hear their warmth and appreciation of this safe space even through the phone.
It's just a vibe of space that, especially in places like Seattle where there's a lot of ugly new construction, there's not very many places that are like Northwest Film Forum anymore, they continue. It's true that the space itself is special, but the true magic of NWFF is its passionate community who have supported the center for nearly 27 years. Hua, who has been NWFF's Executive Director since 2018, has been part of the arts community as a filmmaker in their own right for much longer.
I am the organization's first executive director who is a person of color, and I also identify as non-binary. Hua says, recalling the sea change at NWFF in 2018. Between those things and our artistic director being promoted to her role at that time - she's a woman of color - really created this message to the community at large that made a lot of people who previously hadn't necessarily felt welcome in the space, feel like it was a space for them.
Representation and utilizing its platform for social justice has been a guiding principle for NWFF, whose mission statement says that NWFF incites public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. The theater, which is one of Sundance Film Festival's seven Satellite Screen partners this year, has seen a shift in what its audiences want to watch ( They like serious things that make you cry. ) and to engage with.
It's also a very sort of radical community space, says Hua. I think during my tenure, and prior to that a bit, we've really been able to establish ourselves as an organization that stands up for our values around racial and social justice in a way that's very explicit.
In the summer of 2020 these values were put to the test in a real way during the Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle. We didn't have a choice to not very vocally stand up for Black Lives Matter because we were literally within the protest zone - and we are also housed next door to the police, Hua recalls.
We opened our doors shortly after the barricades were removed - that kept people from being out of our space - and opened [NWFF] up to citizen journalists and let people recharge their batteries there and rest when needed. We also helped document livestream protests just because we knew that a lot of them got taken down without warning and we wanted to preserve that history. So, I think we saw, in that moment, a very important need for our organization to actually play an active role and to be vocal about it.
Through its diverse programming and commitment to community workshops and more, NWFF continues to redefine what it means to support a city as an independent theater. When asked about their favorite part about the Forum, Hua pauses and reaffirms her belief in the theater as a community center. In the lobby, there will be a mingling of various groups of people who otherwise, maybe wouldn't really intersect. But because of the films, bringing them to the space, it creates this interesting dynamic where you're creating new experiences for people often.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
By Bailey Pennick
