Named one of the "Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World" by MovieMaker Magazine, the Capitol Theater has hosted the Olympia Film Festival since 1984. The gathering is a five-day, around-the-clock extravaganza of films, filmmakers, and film-related guests, special performances, discussion panels, and educational workshops. It attracts between 5,000 and 7,000 attendees each year.
The festival is well known and respected throughout the film world. It is hosted around the Olympia, Washington downtown area, mainly inside the Capitol Theater, a 1924 concert and movie palace owned and operated by the Olympia Film Society. This organization supports a small staff and board of directors, along with over 125 dedicated volunteers who select films, organize events, and run the Capitol Theater.
Recent guests of the festival include: Todd Haynes, Whit Stillman, Crispin Glover, Chantal Akerman, Elliott Gould, Les Blank, Fred Willard, Megan Griffiths, Philip Kaufman, Ian Svenonius, Mary Woronov, Hari Kondabolu, SJ Chiro, Denise Crosby, Carl Gottlieb, The Julie Ruin (with Kathleen Hanna), Sophy Romvari, Avery Trufelman, William Nolan, Wendy Jo Carlton, Vanessa Renwick, Jolie Holland, Richard Elfman, Sophia Mitri Schloss, Kevin Nolting, Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, Gillian Wallace Horvat, and many more!
Best Entries will be screened during the Olympia Film Festival at the Capitol Theater, April 22 - 26, 2026.
- July 2019
- November 2017
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Kristin Pearson
November 2017 -
Martin Waldron
November 2016 - November 2016
