The 2025 Seattle International Film Festival is a film festival scheduled that was screened in theaters from May 15 to 25, 2025, and streaming May 26 to June 1, 2025. SIFF announced an initial six films on March 26 and the full lineup on April 23, 2025. The selections include 83 new and three archival narrative features, 35 documentaries, and 122 short films, for a total of "245 films from 74 different countries and regions." The theme for the 2025 festival is "Escape to the Reel World."
The festival occurred at various locations, including the SIFF Cinema Uptown (3 screens), the SIFF Cinema Downtown, the SIFF Film Center (a venue at Seattle Center), the AMC Theatres at Pacific Place, and Shoreline Community College Theater. Because of a water leak damaging the SIFF Egyptian Cinema in November 2024, SIFF could not schedule festival films in the 520-seat theater.
The opening, Four Mothers, was at the Paramount Theatre. The closing was Sorry, Baby at the SIFF Cinema Downtown followed by a gala party at MOHAI. The 2025 SIFF Awards ceremony took place at the Seattle Opera House on May 25, the last day of the in-person festival.
There are several juried competitions for prequalified films:
There is a juried competition for short films that has three categories, Live Action, Animation, and Documentary. All three categories qualify these films for the corresponding categories for the Academy Awards.
There are also the Golden Space Needle Awards, which are audience choices for "Best Film, Documentary Feature, Director, Performance, and Short Film."
Jurors served several different juries. For feature films, there were juries for the official competition, new directors, new American cinema, Ibero-American, and documentaries. There were two short film juries, one for narrative films and another for documentary and animated films.
The Golden Space Needle Awards are voted by the audience.
There was also a "Very Special Mention for Indy the dog" who appeared in Good Boy. (Ben Leonberg, director; United States)
FOOL Serious, an "officially unofficial un-organization of the Seattle International Film FestivalâÂÂs passholders" also had their own awards for the 2025 festival.