Catch a movie on a stranger’s couch this weekend

How would you like to go over to a stranger’s house to watch a movie this weekend?

Private residences will be opening their doors to Couch Fest Film festival goers around Seattle this Saturday.

“We are a film festival that replaces traditional theater venues with cozy residential venues and alternative locations,” the festival explains on their website.

KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz had some questions about the concept: “It combines something I absolutely love with something that makes me uncomfortable: films and strangers.” So he called up one of the organizers to hear more about it.

Organizer Erin Knobler tells Rantz she first discovered the festival in 2009 and quickly was hooked. She had never really been exposed to short films, which is what the festival features, and she enjoyed the sense of community.

A $10 ticket will get you entry to all the home and alternative venue locations with sites in Greenlake, Capitol Hill, Madison Park, Belltown, West Seattle, Columbia City, South Rainier and around Lake Union.

Films play on the hour beginning at 1 p.m. and running through 6 p.m. At each screening there is a 5 minute intermission and some time to chat after films. This can be one of the best parts, Knobler says.

“You can choose definitely to sit there and you don’t have to talk to anyone, but because there is that intermission and you’ve all kind of experienced the same thin, you have a tendency to sort of talk to people a little bit,” says Knobler. “It creates this sort of instant connection that you have with strangers.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased online or at the first film location you visit.