Notes From The Program Director | Week of October 10th, 2025

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Notes From The Program Director

Week of October 10th, 2025

Melissa Tamminga

Rich Text

October 10-16, 2025

Hello, friends!

Doctober is in full swing, and I couldn’t be happier seeing our screens filled with so many powerful stories and passionate audiences. As I’ve been deep in planning for the rest of our fall lineup (and yes, already thinking ahead to the holiday season!), I thought it would be the perfect time to turn things over to my wonderful colleagues.

They’ve picked a Doctober film they’re especially excited about—stories that moved them, surprised them, or simply stuck with them. I hope their recommendations help you discover something new, or maybe inspire your next trip to the Pickford.

Kelsey, Projectionist - Recommendation: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Many of the films slated for Doctober 2025 intrigue me immensely, but there's one in particular that I can't stop wondering about: Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Considering current events in the US, I am deeply fascinated by the courage of one small-town teacher to risk his life to stand up for his principles. Not only did Pavel "Pasha" Talankin refuse to espouse the militant nationalist propaganda demanded of him by the authorities following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he also dared to secretly record the events at his school and smuggle the footage out of Russia.

In explaining the Danish Oscar Committee's selection of Mr. Nobody—which was co-directed by Talankin and Danish filmmaker David Borenstein—as its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Oscars, Tine Fischer lauds the film for "[balancing] humor, absurdity, and seriousness with great precision, and [testifying] to what documentary film can achieve when it insists on both form and content." Aside from being thoroughly intrigued by the film's layered tone and radical content, I'm also very curious about the form this documentary will take; I imagine it will be impossible for such a daring creation to conform to predictable genre conventions.

Abby, Box Office Manager - Recommendation: A Man with Sole

As we live in a world surrounded by corporations who make all of their decisions to serve shareholders and the bottom line, I am looking forward to learning about a man and his business who understand that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing and that they can participate in both capitalism and activism.

Susie, Executive Director - Recommendation: WTO/99

On Tuesday November 30, 1999, I lived in central Seattle and had a three-year-old enrolled in a coop preschool. Three mornings a week he went off to be mostly under the care of other families who were also part of the coop. It required a good deal of work but after a year of being in community there was a good deal of trust that our son was with caring thoughtful friends. I had no idea that the preschool kids and parents had hopped on the Metro bus and headed downtown to protest WTO.

Huh? I had barely paid attention to this world event just blocks from my door outside of rearranging my week so that I didn’t have to circumnavigate a presidential motorcade to get to work. A fellow coop parent called mid-morning to let me know how concerned she was that our kids seemed to be in harms way. In this pre-cellphone reality I sat for the rest of the afternoon, in my kitchen, next to the radio with its nonstop coverage of what beginning to sound like a police riot. The phone was on my lap, I couldn’t move.

My son finally made it home unharmed, exhilarated, chanting, “hey hey, ho ho, WTO has got to go!” When his dad got home, we hunkered down, hearing the blasts from downtown filtering up Union St. We watched a movie. Then, mindful of late fees, he decided to drive to Blockbuster, only five blocks away, to return the tape before the store closed. It took him about 45 minutes to get back. He had run up against a police column marching up Pike Street, forcing remaining protesters onto Capitol Hill. He had parked his car to dash into the store and been tear gassed as political reality jammed up against our lower-middle class lifestyle.

Much has happened since then. We live in a different world. The shame of the SPD has transformed into business as usual. I want to see WTO/99 to finally witness this event from the street view and look back with nostalgia on the innocent optimism of my city thinking that it could change the world.

Skyler, Staff & Projection Manager  - Recommendation: Agatha's Almanac

A week after seeing the film, I'm not sure 90 minutes was quite enough time spent with Agatha. The dreamlike 16mm grain and liberating absence of narrative brought me a sense of peace that feels less and less attainable as the world picks up speed. Agatha doesn't resist or reject modernity; she just isn't interested in its offerings. The camera offers no judgment, no angles (beyond the literal ones), no indication that life should or should not be lived a particular way. It simply observes a life well-lived. Grounding, meditative, and funnier than it has any right to be, this doc belongs on your list.

Joris, Marketing Manager  - Recommendation: Seeds

I’m always drawn to documentaries that do more than inform—they immerse you in a world through image and rhythm. Seeds, Brittany Shyne’s lyrical, Sundance prize-winning debut, does exactly that. Shot in stunning black and white, the film offers a slow, heartfelt portrait of Black farmers in the South, exploring both the beauty and the vulnerability of holding onto land that has been in families for generations. It’s a celebration and a lament, reflecting on legacy, resilience, and the precariousness of Black farming in today’s America. More than just a story, Seeds is an elegiac visual experience that stays with you long after the screen goes dark.

Laura, Projectionist  - Recommendation: Runa Simi

Although I may be one of the approximately 14 people who's never seen any iteration of The Lion King, the film I'm most excited about this year is Runa Simi, the story of a Peruvian man and his son who undertake the task of dubbing the Disney juggernaut into their dying native language, Quechua. The film has something for everyone: Little guy stands up to corporate greed; the importance of identity and the value in seeing oneself represented as heroic; the responsibility of one generation has to the next. Hey! Those sound like the messages in The Lion King! I hope you checkout this fascinating film. Have a great Doctober!    

Finally, if you’re looking to plan your next few weeks of moviegoing, you can find the full Doctober schedule on our website. There’s still plenty more to see, and so many stories worth discovering on the big screen.

My programming notes will return next week with lots of new bookings and upcoming series to share. We’ve got some exciting things in store as we head into the rest of fall and the holiday season.

See you at the movies, friends!

Melissa