The Vashon Island Film Festival just dropped the lineup for its fifth annual edition, locking in a competitive slate of festival circuit hits, high-profile presentations, and regional indie titles. The festival runs August 13-16 at the historic Vashon Theatre.

The main competition features five narrative titles and three documentaries. On the narrative side, the fest has secured Rich Newey and Annika Marks’ award-winning ensemble drama Adult Children, Mickey Keating’s Tribeca-repped casino heist thriller Crooks, and Myrsini Aristidou’s Sundance audience award-winner Hold On to Me. Rounding out the narrative grid are Rodrigue Jean’s international thriller Labrador — Autopsy of Silence and Marie-Elsa Sgualdo and Nadine Lamari’s period drama Silent Rebellion. The documentary competition includes J.J. Gerber’s SIFF-winning The Life We Leave, Felipe Bustos Sierra’s Everybody to Kenmure Street, and Adam and Zack Khalil’s Aanikoobijigan.

Opening Night

A24’s highly anticipated Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, directed by Matt Johnson and starring Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas, anchors the Special Presentations sidebar. The drama will serve as the festival’s opening night film ahead of its theatrical rollout later this month. The section also features Ben McKenzie’s crypto exposé doc Everyone is Lying to You for Money and the premiere episode of Chris Smith’s HBO Max docuseries Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult.

The fest’s Local Spotlight programming focuses on Pacific Northwest ties, featuring Dad Genes, profiling Vashon resident Aaron Long, and the psychological drama Theater is Dead, which shot entirely on the island. 

Outside of features, the lineup includes 17 short films spanning narrative, documentary, and animation. The fest will also host its homegrown shortCUTZ program, in partnership with C’Mon Barber, for local filmmakers, with the submission window closing July 24. Bookending the four-day island fest is the Opening Night Reception and the Saturday Night Party, culminating in the awards ceremony.

Jury-selected films will compete for the Quartermaster and Burton Awards, while attendees vote on the Audience Awards. New to the lineup this year is the S. Gordon Tribble “Superstar” Award, an honor celebrating the legacy of the late industry veteran and Vashon resident Stuart Gordon Tribble who passed away last year. Backed by a $1,000 cash prize and presented alongside Tribble’s close friends and film family, the award highlights a notable LGBTQIA+-focused or -made title. 

The festival’s Opening Night selection, Tony, serves as a tribute to Tribble’s legacy, marking his final industry credit as the project’s hair department head. The inaugural cash prize goes to the Tribeca-winning thriller Labrador — Autopsy of Silence.

Festival passes are on sale now.