Essential Survival Guide to SIFF Int’l Film Fest 2025

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) has been around for the last 50-odd years. If you take a look at SIFF's festival archives you will see why calling this the 51st festival is a bit of a fudge of the numbers. For however long it’s been around, SIFF has become an annual gathering of cinephiles in Seattle. This year the festival runs from May 15-25.

We come to experience cinema at its purest, at its strangest, and at its least glamorous. SIFF celebrates the highs, lows, and whoas of what the world of film has to offer. It can be a lot to take in, but there are ways to ensure your experience is the best it can be. As someone who has been to a couple of decades’ worth of SIFFs, I want to pass on what I’ve learned to make the fest the best experience for the novice and the expert, the casual movie fan and the diehard cinephile. Let's dive in to make the most of the best ten days of film in Seattle!

Ticket Packages

Box office window with SIFF poster

The Evergreen Echo

If you really just want to see one film, that's OK. If you can feasibly only see two or three films, that's entirely valid. Yet, if you really want to do SIFF, if you want to immerse yourself in this world, you need a pass or a ticket package. In an ideal world we would all be able to take ourselves out of life for ten full days and get one of those wonderful Film, Platinum, or Platinum Plus Passes, but many of us do not have that luxury. Which is why the 6-Pack is a great deal—six films and a guaranteed spot in the theater. Passholders are allowed in only if the theater has space available. The 6-Pack is valid for a nice amount of shows that lets you be flexible about when and what you see. If you prefer physical tickets, they’re available for purchase and pick up at the official box office at the SIFF Film Center in Seattle Center.

Choose Wisely

The film catalog is a bit daunting with 83 features, 35 documentaries, and 122 shorts to choose from. SIFF has realized this, and if you're not a pen-and-paper kind of person, they have a terrific tool on the festival webpage called the Film Finder. With this little beauty of a tool you can sort all of the films based on category, genre, mood, language, country, accessibility, availability, and venue. If you like a physical program to flip through, they are available at every venue and box office.

To really get the most out of the festival I usually choose a documentary, a genre I am into at the moment, a country I haven't seen a lot of films from, a country who has a rich filmmaking history, a Sundance or Fall festival pick, a cool looking package of shorts, and then play the rest by ear. SIFF is about the exploration of cinema, and with 73% of films in the festival having no plans yet for US distribution, it’s also about seeing something you may never get the chance to again. It is meant to be a trip out of the ordinary and beyond the multiplex, so think of any choice as a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Know Your Timeframe

The festival is spread between five different theaters: SIFF Uptown, SIFF Downtown, SIFF Film Center, AMC Pacific Place, and Shoreline Community College Theater. While some are a quick jaunt between them, Shoreline is many miles from the others. You don’t want to schedule yourself for an early afternoon at SIFF Downtown and try for a late afternoon show at Shoreline. You have to make sure your screenings are not overlapping and you can get to your next venue with plenty of time to be in the middle of the ticket line (to ensure a seat at a comfortable distance from the screen).

SIFF 2025 program

The Evergreen Echo

Get There Early

Every. Single. Year. I will be in line 20 minutes to showtime, having gotten to the screening about 45 minutes to an hour early, and someone passes by me at my place about 15 couples back from the front and lets out gasps at the line behind me. These screenings are well attended and while they never oversell, they often sell out. Three o'clock on a Tuesday, maybe not; but just try and get to your weekend or evening show 20 minutes before the start time, and you better have a good chiropractor because you’re sitting in the first few rows or far to one side where you're keeping your neck turned for 90 straight minutes.

Public Transportation is Your Friend

While there are many horror stories of public transit out there (some all too real), the truth is that thousands of people ride the rails or buses every single day without incident. Every venue has a direct route to it on a bus or rail line from many different places in the city. If you need another reason to do it, it will hit you in your wallet—gas and parking are not cheap. 

Four of the five venues are in areas where it’s nearly impossible to find inexpensive parking options. Spots in Lower Queen Anne (Uptown and Film Center) could charge surge pricing if an event is happening at Climate Pledge Arena, and Westlake (Pacific Place and Downtown) has some garages that close at inconvenient times—which means your car gets locked in and raises additional fees for you. Save yourself the cash and hassle and catch a ride. It’s worth it!

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SIFF is the highlight of the theatrical release year for many film aficionados and for others it is their entire theatrical release schedule for the year in one go. Once you go, you see why so many of us brave the crowds and pick films based on a vibe every year. It’s easy to see why we would rather be in a dark room with dozens of strangers than anywhere else. It is a great place to be with a community who loves film and to see exclusives playing nowhere else. 

See you in line!