In-person Festival in Bellingham on April 24-27 + Streaming Online May 1-11
CASCADIA International Women's Film Festival is thrilled to announce the dates of its ninth festival, showcasing exceptional work by women directors from around the world. The festival will take place in person from April 24th to 27th, 2025, followed by an online festival from May 1st to 11th, 2025.
CASCADIA celebrates the power of stories told by women to entertain, enlighten, and inspire. By bringing together international cinema, artists, filmmakers, and moviegoers, CASCADIA builds community locally and within the film industry nationally and worldwide. The festival has proudly presented the work of more than 250 women directors globally and will feature approximately 30 films over the four-day in-person festival.
Located in the picturesque city of Bellingham, WA, CASCADIA is ideally situated for both film viewing and a weekend getaway. Bellingham, with its vibrant cultural scene, has much to offer for both locals and visitors alike. Special hotel discounts are available through the festival's website.
The festival's diverse programs include short subject films, carefully selected feature narrative films, and award-winning documentaries. CASCADIA showcases women filmmakers from around the world and local directors from the region.
Festival attendees will enjoy Q&A sessions with filmmakers, industry and subject panel discussions, networking and social opportunities, and a special reception and program with the festival's Honored Guest. Previous Honored Guests have included acclaimed directors Catherine Hardwicke, Barbara Kopple, and Martha Coolidge, as well as past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
CASCADIA introduced a hybrid festival in 2020, continuing to offer both in-person and online screenings to provide greater audience exposure and accessibility. The online festival will take place May 1st-11th.
[Photo: Catherine Hardwicke presents to a festival crowd at the Mount Baker Theatre.]
This year the festival will again present an art exhibition entitled "Women Rising: Expanding Visions/Diverse Perspectives," open for submissions through February 16. The exhibit, in collaboration with Allied Arts of Whatcom County, will be displayed at the Dakota Art Store Gallery in Bellingham from April 5 to May 31. Women artists from the Pacific Northwest are invited to submit artworks addressing a broad range of themes, issues, and ideas.
Additionally, the 2025 Script Studio Workshop will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, at the New Prospect Theatre (207 Prospect St., Bellingham). This workshop, open to the public free of charge, provides screenwriters with the opportunity to hear their scripts read aloud by actors, discuss their work with a panel of film professionals, and network with women directors and other industry professionals. Four short screenplays written by women will be selected by judges from the film world.
Stay tuned for the full line-up of films and events!
[Photo: Panelists discuss their films in a post-screening Q&A.]
About CWIFF
CASCADIA is a multi-day annual film festival celebrating exceptional films directed by women from around the world. Ours is one of only a handful of festivals in the U.S. dedicated to this purpose. Currently, it is the only festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Since its first festival in 2017, CASCADIA has presented the films of 250 women. The 2025 festival, to be April 24-27 in person and May 1-11 online, will be our eighth. The organization also works year-round to provide film production, exhibition, and distribution education.
Its program spans all film genres: narrative, live action, animation, documentary, and experimental films of all lengths.
CASCADIA is based in Bellingham, WA., a city of approximately 100,000 people on the shores of Puget Sound. It lies about halfway between the film meccas of Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. The city enjoys strong local and regional support for the arts. It is also a destination for hikers, kayakers, climbers, sailors and other outdoor enthusiasts. Increasingly, filmmakers, too, are finding Bellingham, attracted to its proximity to urban and rural environments, as well as the ocean, lakes, rivers and mountains. It is also home to Western Washington University, with 15,000 undergraduates and graduate enrollment, including the well regarded College of Fine and Performing Arts.
CASCADIA is an IRS-registered non profit 501(c)(3) organization.
