Education At the Festival

SIFF Education plugs young people and up-and-coming directors into the Seattle International Film Festival with a variety of programs.

Education programs during the Seattle International Film Festival include Filmmakers in Schools visits, Youth Programming and Jury committees, and Films4Families and Futurewave shorts and features. We also proudly partner with Nia Tero, Big Sky Film Festival, and Points North Foundation to support a creative fellowship program for mid-career indigenous creators called the 4th World Media Lab.

Filmmakers in Schools

Filmmakers In Schools

Throughout the Festival, SIFF Education coordinates filmmaker visits (and sometimes film screenings) to classrooms and community organizations across the Seattle metro area. Oftentimes we have the filmmakers bring a trailer or a few scenes and do a Q&A with students about their work in the industry.

These filmmakers bring real-world application into the classroom, expanding learning outside the traditional school experience and providing role models for students of all ages and backgrounds. We work to pair filmmakers with classes that will be enhanced by their artistic area of expertise, and offer this program free of charge to schools. Interested in bringing SIFF films to your school? Please fill out our interest form or contact megan.garbayo@siff.net to learn more about opportunities for K-12 and Higher Education classrooms.

4th World Media Lab

The 4th World Media Lab provides Indigenous creators a progressive immersion into film learning and film exploration ranging from storytelling basics and pitching, to presentation and marketing, to distribution and industry networking.

The lab includes residencies at Camden International Film Festival in Maine, Big Sky Documentary Festival in Montana, and Seattle International Film Festival in Washington state, and is organized through a partnership between Nia Tero, SIFF, Big Sky Film Festival, and Camden International Film Festival.

Youth Juries

Films4Families Jury

At film festivals around the world, a selection of accomplished filmmakers and other film
professionals are selected to watch a series of films and award one as the best film in the program. At SIFF 2024, seven youth will be selected to award the Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature. The Films4Families Jury is reserved for students between the ages of 8-12. Films from other countries may have subtitles.

Apply for Youth Jury

Futurewave Jury

What is a film jury? At film festivals around the world, accomplished filmmakers and other film professionals are selected to watch a series of films and award one as the best film in the program. At SIFF 2024, seven young adults will be selected to award the Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature.

Application will be available Winter 2024. FutureWave Jurors must be between ages 13-18.

Learn More about Youth Juries

Ernest and Celestine

Films4Families

We believe children are the future of film! Our Films4Families shorts are geared for ages 4–10 and our features are geared toward children ages 6–12, but all are programmed to appeal to the kid in all of us. By offering international film options for kids, we hope to broaden their understanding of other cultures and what cinema can be.

Futurewave

Futurewave is a program of short films made by teens and tweens from around the world and feature films made for teens and tweens to enjoy.

Futurewave Shorts

Celebrating the connection between youth and film, SIFF FutureWave is a multifaceted program that features short films created by youth filmmakers 18 and under.

And the King Said What a Fantastic Machine

Futurewave Features

SIFF’s FutureWave feature program invites teen film-lovers to the cinema for feature films that exemplify thrilling global cinema and have been selected specifically with them in mind.