October 9-13, 2025

October 9-13, 2025
  • About
  • Sponsors
  • FAQ
  • Volunteer
  • Sign Up
  • Submit a Film
  • Schedule + Tickets
  • Films
  • Join the Story
    • Attend
    • Volunteer
    • Intern
    • Sponsor the Festival
    • Donate
    • Spread the Story
    • Become a Member
    • Student Showcase
  • Donate

55 Steps

55 Steps is based on the inspiring true story of the unlikely relationship between an outrageous and wickedly smart psychiatric patient and her workaholic patients’ rights attorney. The patient, Eleanor Riese (Helena Bonham Carter), has been mistreated in the psychiatric unit of a hospital and as a result, her attorney, Colette Hughes (Hilary Swank), takes on the uphill battle of representing Eleanor against the psychiatric establishment. In this heartfelt tale told with humor and emotion, Eleanor makes it her mission to mentor Colette whether Colette likes it or not! The film features an award-winning cast including Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland, Suffragette, and Harry Potter franchise) and Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby, P.S. I Love You, and Logan Lucky).

 

 

Widows (Closing Night)

From Academy Award®-winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and co-writer and bestselling author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) comes a blistering, modern-day thriller set against the backdrop of crime, passion and corruption. Widows is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo) take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms. Widows also stars Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas and Brian Tyree Henry.

Robert Duvall (Cast) will participate in a Q&A following the screening.

Saints Rest

A musical drama set in small-town Iowa, Saints Rest tells the story of two estranged sisters who, over the course of one summer, form a connection through their shared love of music as they grieve the recent death of their mother.

Devin Landin (Producer) will participate in a Q&A following the screening.

Bullies

A 10-year-old boy is relentlessly bullied until he discovers a secret beneath his school that promises to keep him safe—if he’s willing to play by the rules.

Headway

An eleven-year-old boy deals with the singularities of autism, and a late thirties MMA fighter faces the delicate moment of retirement. Both stories converge in a deep and exciting encounter that triggers within each the solutions to overcome their issues. The film is based on true characters.

Camila Rizzo (Director & Writer), Bruna Cabral (Producer), Ligia Osorio (Co-Producer), and Connor Chess (Actor) will participate in a Q&A following each screening.

Telephone

A prisoner accidently discovers a forgotten telephone wire just behind his cell bed. He steals an old telephone device and starts making random calls … and finds himself falling in love with a travel agent.

Muhammad Bayazid (Director & Writer) and Samah Safi Bayazid (Director & Writer) will participate in a Q&A following each screening.

Shoebox

On a Pennsylvania farm in the 1980s, if an animal didn’t serve its purpose, it did not survive. Five-year-old Beth, the youngest in a large family, struggles with the parallels to her own position, so she makes it her mission to care for the weak. Based on the autobiographical book Shoebox Funeral by Elisabeth Voltz.

The Divide

Set in drought-plagued Northern California in 1976, The Divide chronicles the story of Sam Kincaid, an aging rancher with a failing memory; his estranged and independent-minded daughter, Sarah; and Luke, a migrant ranch hand who finds himself in the midst of a family in crisis. Internal struggles, the realities of an unforgiving landscape, and the need to reconcile a long-ago tragedy collide to create the backdrop for this classic American Western.

Perry King (Director & Lead Actor), Jana Brown (Screenwriter), and Greg Sims (Distribution Manager) will participate in a Q&A following the screening.

Rich Kids

Rich Kids is a film that sympathetically views the modern-day and ongoing challenges of economic disparities, gentrification, displacement and evictions through the lens of Latino and Afro-Latino American youth. Matías is a bright teenager whose family struggles with harsh financial troubles. When he discovers “Los Ricos,” a wealthy family, are out of town, Matías breaks into their mansion, where he and his friends spend an afternoon basking in the good life. The party is soon disrupted when a trouble-making relative shows up uninvited. At its heart, Rich Kids is about a young man’s transformation from the person he thinks he’s supposed to be into the person he really is, as he comes to terms with the realities and consequences of living in a community ravaged by the wealth gap and income inequality.

Laura Somers (Director, Producer, and Co-Writer),David Saldaña (Co-Writer & Co-Producer), Eddie Rodriguez (Producer), and Justin Rodriguez (Cast) will participate in a Q&A following the screening.

Caroline

When plans fall through, a six-year-old is faced with a big responsibility on a hot Texas day.

Join Our Mailing List

We’re doing big things. Make sure you don’t miss any of it.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Support

  • Donate
  • Sponsors
  • Volunteer

Engage

  • Contact Us
  • Press Kit

Follow

© 2025 Washington West Film Festival. All rights reserved.

Website by Atmosphere