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Whidbey Island Film Festival: Ragtime (1981)
January 15 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Whidbey Island Film Festival January 8 – 18, 2026
Experience AMERICANA at the 2026 Whidbey Island Film Festival. A century of American life unfolds on screen, from Chaplin’s Modern Times to the warmth and resilience of Fried Green Tomatoes. Across classics, musicals, period dramas, and inventive comedies, this lineup explores work and ambition, community and reinvention, struggle, music, and imagination. These films show how America has told its story and why those stories still matter.
Ragtime (1981) | January 15th | 7:00 – 9:00pm
A kaleidoscope of tales from E.L. Doctorow’s eponymous novel evokes life in pre-World War I New York City. A white family find a black baby in their yard and takes on the mother as a maid. A black pianist, Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Howard E. Rollins Jr.), returns for his woman and child after finding success in a Harlem jazz band. Firefighters, dismayed to see a black man own a Model-T Ford, deface it, and Walker demands retribution. The white family becomes involved in Evelyn Nesbit’s trial. 1981, rating: PG
FULL 2026 SCHEDULE
FIRST WEEK | JANUARY 8th-11th
Modern Times (1936) | January 8th | 7:00pm
The Music Man (1962) | January 9th | 7:00pm
The Last Picture Show (1971) | January 10th | 1:00pm
Grapes of Wrath (1940) | January 10th | 7:00pm
The Sting (1973) | January 11th | 1:00pm
Pennies From Heaven (1981) | January 11th | 7:00pm
SECOND WEEK | JANUARY 15th-18th
Ragtime (1981) | January 15th | 7:00pm
The Road to Wellville (1994) | January 16th | 7:00pm
Matinee (1993) | January 17th | 1:00pm
The Art of the Score | January 17th | 7:30pm
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) | January 18th | 1:00pm
Cradle Will Rock (1999) | January 18th | 7:00pm
TICKETS:
Single – First Week Pass | $79.98 – First Week Standard | $139.98 – First Week Star
Single – Second Week Pass | $100.02 – Second Week Standard | $160.02 – Second Week Star
2 Week Full Festival Pass | $174.96 – Full Standard Pass | $294.96 – Full Star Pass
Individual Tickets | WICA Star $27 | Standard $17
Tickets can also be purchased HERE.
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