The best film events in February in Seattle. by Audrey Vann Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This That. The Pacific Northwestern TUESDAYS THROUGH FEB 24 Despite the Western genre being associated with images of cowboys in dusty deserts, there are, surprisingly, a large number of Western films set in the lush Pacific Northwest, and SIFF’s Pacific Northwestern series is bringing these gorgeous movies to the big screen. The series kicked off last month, but there is still so much great programming to come, like 1959’s The Hanging Tree, starring Gary Cooper as a doctor in a Montana gold rush town (but filmed entirely in Yakima), Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, following a cook and a Chinese immigrant as they team up to steal milk from a prized cow in Oregon Country, and, my personal favorite, McCabe Mrs. Miller, Robert Altman’s snowbound Western starring Warren Beatty and soundtracked by Leonard Cohen. (SIFF Film Center, 6:30 pm) AUDREY VANN The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo FEB 5–8 Set in the Chilean desert in the early ‘80s, director Diego Céspedes’s feature debut follows Lidia, an 11-year-old who was abandoned as a baby and raised by a fiercely loving queer found family. Their ragtag clan is ostracized by their sleepy mining town, blamed for a mysterious plague that is believed to be transmitted by a single gaze when two people fall in love. Lidia sets out to defend her loved ones and determine whether the rumor is true or not. The surreal Western explores AIDS panic, transphobia, violence, revenge, marginalization, and prejudice, mixing folktale vibes with the scrappy tenderness of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) JULIANNE BELL HUMP! Film Fest FEB 26–APRIL 30 Look, HUMP! is always good. You already know that this indie porn festival is nothing like the 5-minute clips you watch while bathed in the cold, blue, loveless light of your laptop. They’re creative and silly and usually feel like a friend is sharing their new, naked, art project with you. But if the trailer for this year is any indication, this year’s spring lineup isn't one to miss. It has stop-motion praying mantises, pottery, a sexy Bop It, and the Starfish Sex Beetle. One person managed to weave in sanitation workers and labor solidarity into their submission. Another clearly knows what it’s like to bomb on stage as a standup comedian, and used the power of porn to reimagine it. This festival only happens twice a year, and it’s never the same. Don’t miss this one. (Various locations) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER More Truth to Fiction: Black Is… Black Ain’t Feb 5, Northwest Film Forum, 7 pm Fools’ Paradise (lost?) Feb 6–7, SIFF Film Center, 7 pm Resurrection Feb 6–8, Northwest Film Forum, times vary A Void in the Cosmos and From There You Sing: Early Pasolini Feb 8–Mar 5, Beacon, times vary Friday the 13th Feb 13, Beacon, 10 pm The Bridges of Madison County Feb 14, Beacon, 7 pm In the Mood for Love Feb 14, Beacon, 10 pm 2026 Sakinah Film Festival Feb 14–15, Northwest Film Forum, 3 pm Daisies (with Velocity Dance Center) Feb 18–19, Northwest Film Forum, 7:30 pm Star 80 Feb 22 25, Beacon, times vary Martin Scorsese: Maestro of Cinema Wednesdays Feb 25–Apr 29, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm ...read more read less