Doctober films tells stories of power, protest and the press.
The largest documentary film festival in the Pacific Northwest has returned for another season.
The annual Doctober festival kicks off this week at the Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay Street in Bellingham, bringing dozens of films. The festival runs throughout the month with stories that probe environmental battles, political protest and community resilience.
Salish Current is sponsoring three of this year’s selections, each highlighting how ordinary people challenge authority and reveal hidden truths:
- “Middletown,” where high school videographers stumble onto corrupt practices in their small town
- “Unearth,” focused on Alaska’s salmon-rich fishing communities, where two sets of siblings take on the federal government and a massive mining company, with a sensitive and significant salmon habitat at stake
- “WTO/99,” centered on the tear-gassed streets of Seattle in 1999, when more than 40,000 people came out in protest of the World Trade Organization’s impacts on human rights, organized labor and the environment.
Student films, serious reporting
“Middletown follows a group of high school students in 1990s upstate New York who unexpectedly find themselves at the center of a major investigative story. The project begins in a media class led by teacher Fred Isseks, known as “Hippie Fred,” who encourages students to explore their town using school video cameras.
What starts as a series of creative student films quickly evolves into serious reporting. The teens uncover illegal toxic waste dumping in a local landfill, revealing a web of political corruption, corporate negligence and connections to organized crime.
The documentary revisits the student reporters and the impact of their work, exploring how their determination and sense of civic duty led them to challenge powerful institutions. “Middletown” highlights the enduring value of local journalism and the power of young people to hold truth to account.
A Q&A with Isseks will follow the October 12 screening.
Who will be the watchdogs?
As of July, federal funding for NPR and PBS has ended, and other independent news organizations have faced cuts, limiting public access to reliable information. As news outlets face shrinking resources, the story of high schoolers uncovering corruption in their town takes on new urgency: Who will carry forward the work of watchdog journalism?
At Sedro-Woolley High School, students publish The Cub newspaper, continuing a tradition that began more than 100 years ago. Journalism teacher Anna Ferdinand said she embraces the responsibility of carrying on this longstanding student news legacy.
Last year, Ferdinand’s students created community-focused projects, including a feature on the school’s new Latinos in Action class.
“Our head editor produced and wrote a story on the class, focusing on the ways it empowers a sense of community and identity in the school that was lacking prior,” she said.
Students showcased their films in a theater that spring. Ferdinand said “it was powerful to watch” as the groups spotlighted community voices driving change and saw firsthand the impact on both the subjects and the audience.
The Cub faces the same obstacles as other local and national outlets: shrinking budgets, rising costs and limited staff.
“Paper is more expensive, causing us to only print one issue last year,” Ferdinand said. With a new printer and a leaner budget, she hopes to produce four to five issues this school year.
Fundraising, including a community yard sale on Oct. 4, helps sustain the program. So does participation in the Washington Journalism Education Association, which defends student press freedoms and connects young journalists with professional opportunities.
According to Ferdinand, more than student bylines are at stake.
“Teaching students about ethical journalism, how to access it, how to recognize it, how to write strong, evidenced-based stories has never been more important,” she said.
Students and community members interested in supporting local journalism can connect with these student-run publications in Skagit, Whatcom and San Juan counties:
- The Front (Western Washington University)
- The Horizon (Whatcom Community College)
- The Cardinal (Skagit Valley College)
- The Cub (Sedro-Woolley High School)
- Carnegie Chronicle (Andrew Carnegie Middle School)
Ferdinand said, “The journalism classroom is a place where students have the most agency. It is transformative for a student to realize they can interview the governor, the mayor, the superintendent of public instruction … to shine lights and give voice to things they see as important.”
— By Mickey Mann
Also read in Salish Current:
• “Western alums create investigative reporting fund, as transparency barriers grow,” July 3, 2025
• “Commentary: Post-election realignments mean greater role for local news,” Nov. 26, 2024
• “Pickford film documents launch of news startup with nontraditional lens,” Oct. 6, 2023
• “‘Lyra’ sheds light on power, dangers of journalism,” July 14, 2023
• “Truth and news: film series spotlights today’s issues,” Nov. 11, 2022