Vashon Film Institute (VFI), a local non-profit organization dedicated to fostering independent filmmaking in the Pacific Northwest, has announced the lineup for the third annual Vashon Island Film Festival (VIFF), set for Aug. 8-11, at Vashon Theatre.

VIFF will screen 12 features and 10 short films that have distinguished themselves on the international film festival circuit, in addition to three local projects in the festival’s newly minted “Local Spotlights” category.

The Festival will also include notable events, including the Red Bicycle Awards Ceremony, hosted on Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Vashon Theatre and its outdoor pavilion, The Backlot.

The festival’s slate of films was curated by the its founder, Mark Sayre, along with a programming team.

“I don’t envy our jury’s job,” said Sayre. “Our lineup is as strong as it has ever been — it truly is the best of the best from this year’s festival season. Even our patrons will have a difficult time choosing which films to watch, which is a good problem to have.”

The program includes seven narrative and five documentary features, with many having Pacific Northwest premieres at the festival.

Features

Director Vincent Grashaw’s “Bang Bang” stars Tim Blake Nelson, whose prior films include “Watchmen,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” as Bernard “Bang Bang” Rozyski — an eccentric retired pugilist obsessed with rectifying his past sins. The film premiered at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival.

Guan Hu’s “Black Dog,” a North American premiere at VIFF, won the Un Certain Regard Award and Palm Dog Grand Jury Prize at Cannes this year.

The film takes place on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwest China, as Lang (Eddie Peng) returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team, he forms an unlikely bond with a black dog, and the two lonely outcasts find purpose in each other.

Brendan Gabriel Murphy’s “Fluxx” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the Malibu Film Festival this year. It follows a famed actress (Shelley Hennig) after she inexplicably awakens in her bathtub with no memory of the prior events. Desperate for answers, she must race against time to discover the truth of her circumstances.

Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow,” was the Audience Award winner for Best American Feature Film at this year’s Champs-Élysées Film Festival, and won the Seattle Film Critics Society award for a feature film at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. It is a once-in-a-generation horror story praised as “the best film of 2024, if not the decade” by Movie Marker.

Nicholas Colia’s “Griffin in Summer” swept the Tribeca Film Festival in June with top awards including Best U.S. Narrative Feature (Founder’s Award), Best Screenplay, and Best New Narrative Director. The film follows the summer vacation of 14-year-old Griffin Nafly (Everett Blunck) as he becomes smitten by a kindred spirit, Brad (Owen Teague) — a zoned-out handyman and failed performance artist hired by his mother.

Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo” was the Grand Jury prize winner for Dramatic World Cinema at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It chronicles the struggles of Sujo, who was only four years old when his cartel gunman father was killed, as he grows into a man and finds out that fulfilling his father’s destiny may be inescapable.

Bartek Bala’s “Swarm” (“Rój”) had its U.S. premiere at Cinequest in 2023, and follows a family that has self-exiled on a remote island at the command of its patriarch (Eryk Lubos). The score for this gut-wrenching thriller features over 60 highly-specialized musicians and atavistic vocalists.

Documentaries

Director Paul Levatino’s “Bastards of Soul,” a West Coast premiere, had its world premiere at Sun Valley Film Festival this year, going on to win the audience awards at the Dallas International Film Festival and the Hill Country Film Festival.

The film follows the band, Bastards of Soul, as it emerged from the Dallas music scene, generating buzz that was cut short by the unexpected death of its frontman Chadwick Murray.

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s “A New Kind of Wilderness,” was the Grand Jury prize winner for Documentary World Cinema at Sundance in 2024, and the Documentary Competition award winner at the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival. It follows a family seeking a wild and free existence on a small farm in the Norwegian forest — until a tragic event changes everything.

Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s “Porcelain War” won the Grand Jury Prize for a documentary at Sundance; the Golden Space Needle award for Best Documentary at Seattle International Film Festival; and the Special Jury prize for Best Documentary Feature at Telluride Mountainfilm. It is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, using extraordinary footage filmed by ordinary civilians in war-torn Ukraine.

Alison Tavel’s “Resynator,” the Audience Award winner for a documentary feature at SXSW 2024, chronicles Tavel’s journey through unsettling secrets and complex truths as she builds a relationship with her late father, inventor Don Tavel, who died when she was only 10 months old. Her project to resurrect her mythical father’s synthesizer prototype turns into a globe-trotting quest aided by estranged family members, lost friends, fellow inventors, and celebrated musicians including Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, and Jon Anderson.

Contessa Gayles’ “Songs from the Hole,” the Audience Award winner for Visions at SXSW 2024, is a moving visual album composed behind bars.

Shorts and more

VIFF will also screen award-winning short films: six narratives, three documentaries, and one animated — all fully detailed on the festival’s website.

A new out-of-competition screening section, Local Spotlight, will include Emily Moss Wilson’s feature film, “Inheritance;” the world premiere of Thomas Scott Stanton’s short film “Mare;” and the world premiere of the production company Children of The Setting Sun’s television pilot, “The Sound.”

VIFF will also feature selections from its local short film competition “shortCUTZ,” sponsored by C’Mon Barber, owned and operated by islander Tara Morgan. The films in the section will compete for a year of free haircuts and passes to the Vashon Theatre.

All features compete for jury and audience prizes to be awarded by the festival’s jury. This year’s jurors are actors Dian Bachar and Olivia Kuan, writer/director Paris Zarcilla, actress/producer Decker Sadowski, and writer/director Justin Foia.

Sayre is excited for islanders to see what he and his cohorts have lined up for the festival.

“We are able to mirror the experience offered at major festivals — the difference is we do it in shorts and sweatpants instead of black tie attire — what you might call ‘island casual,’” Sayre said. “… Our commitment remains to quality and comfort.”

Find out more and get tickets at vashonislandfilmfestival.com.