SAM Films

Get your ticket, grab your seat, and experience films exploring themes connected to the art on view in SAM’s galleries. SAM Films features a changing roster of exciting guest film curators who bring the ideas from the museum’s exhibitions and collections to the big screen.

For over five decades, SAM has offered dynamic and nationally recognized film programming. From 1972 to 2020, noted film curator Greg Olson led SAM Films, showcasing a comprehensive and genre-bending exploration of artists and stories associated with this important medium of the moving image arts. He presented visiting filmmakers including Andy Warhol, Werner Herzog, Matt Groening, Michael Powell, and David Lynch. The program’s celebrated film noir series was a Seattle institution that ran for 43 years–once the world’s longest-running series of that genre.

SAM Films are generously supported by the Bagley and Virginia Wright Endowment and The Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Film and Education Endowment.

SAM Films has limited capacity.

Location, fees, and registration for SAM Films depend on the specific event.

SAM Films is excited to announce a two-part film series related to Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei, on view at the Seattle Art Museum!

The first series presents six films by or about Ai Weiwei provided courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio. These films examine history, society, and culture and question forms of power.

Asian Provocation, curated by Hannah Baek, features documentaries, art house, and full freakout cinema. Each film demonstrates the relevance of Ai’s philosophies and decrees across borders and time.