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Gig Harbor Film Festival

Festival provides a bevy of films worthy of your attention

Emilia Clarke stars in Voice from the Stone, one of many movies featured at the Gig Harbor Film Festival. Photo credit: denofgeek.com

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One of the best parts of autumn is the unbridled flow of quality films that tend to inundate theaters. Even disregarding the mainstream output that makes up the majority of what people will be seeing, the Pacific Northwest becomes overrun with film festivals. We've already written about the Destiny City Film Festival and the Tacoma Film Festival, and the glut of entertainment that both events provided, but we'd be remiss to not shine a light on the Gig Harbor Film Festival, now entering its 10th year. Like the aforementioned fests, the Gig Harbor Film Festival (GHFF) brings in movies from around the world, providing a snapshot of where cinematic expression lands in 2017.

Over the course of four days, GHFF will be bringing in a few dozen films -- documentaries and narratives, shorts and features -- to the Galaxy Theatre in Uptown Gig Harbor. There's no overriding theme to the festival, other than the general desire to provide the viewing public with the best possible films at their disposal. Still, GHFF proclaims that their desire is to "draw on the unifying power of film to promote understanding, tolerance and global awareness," which is certainly what film is capable of doing, at the peak of its powers.

As with any festival of this sort, it's advisable to trust in the organizers, and to take a chance on a film -- or short film compilation -- in the hopes of discovering something new. GHFF has two screens running during the fest, so you've got ample opportunities to see something you'd never have given a second thought to. For our money, though, there are a few movies that demand your attention.

For music lovers, Hello Hello Hello: Lee Ranaldo: Electric Trim should give a fulfilling glimpse into the collaborative process of making music. Ranaldo may be known to some as one of the members of Sonic Youth, and the documentary shows an extended process of enlisting writers, producers and fellow musicians in the songwriting journey. Lives Well Lived, which opens the fest, is a doc about people ages 75-100 sharing advice on how to get the most out of existence.

Dark comedy Funeral Day and Hitchcockian thriller Voice from the Stone are also tantalizing offers from GHFF, to say nothing of the short film packages and the bevy of other features. Accept the challenge laid before you, and see as much as you can. To be enriched by film is an artistic pursuit that's eminently accomplishable -- especially when aided by events like this one.

Gig Harbor Film Festival, Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 26-29, Galaxy Theatre Uptown, 4649 Point Fosdick Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, $8-$288, gigharborfilm.org

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