One of Seattle’s most reliably excellent film fests, the Children’s Film Festival showcases family-friendly films from around the globe in an 11-day parade of filmmaking workshops, pajama parties, pancake breakfasts, and other things to help kids fall in love with cinema. Grown-ups won’t be bored, either: CFF’s films are impressively ambitious, ranging from exquisite stop-motion cartoons to serious dramas featuring young protagonists. Today’s centerpiece: Horizon Beautiful, a tough, terrific Swiss film about the football dreams of an Ethiopian boy. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, nwfilmforum.org, Jan 23–Feb 2)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...