PORT TOWNSEND — It’s a film festival that adds straw and seawater to celluloid.
The fifth annual Port Townsend Film Festival concludes today, with the fast filmmaking contest, Film 2880, wrapping things up at the Rose Theatre around 9 p.m.
The festival officially began Friday evening when celebrity actor Jane Powell cut the ribbon — actually a length of film — to launch the event.
This year the film celebration features local films, documentaries, shorts and special events in three theaters as well as an outdoor venue.
The beginning of the three-day film lovers’ block party blazed with all the trademark attributes promising an exciting weekend of grand film viewing.
The crowds, gripping to their tickets, lined up around the theaters.
Excited paparazzi, Port Townsend-style, tossed and shuffled under the potted palm trees positioning for a better shot of Powell and her husband, former child actor Dickie Moore, another major guest of the festival.
‘Beautifully organized’
Crowds danced to the live music, ate salmon and drank Port Townsend brew while resting on the straw bales that transformed Taylor Street into an outdoor movie theater.
“I think it’s beautifully organized,” Powell told Peninsula Daily News on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s been a wonderful display of talent. I have been at the festivities and everybody has been enjoying it.”