SEATTLE – A film highlighting the unique experience of growing up in Seattle debuts tonight at the SIFF Cinema Uptown. 

“Know Your Place,” the story of a 15-year-old Eritrean American boy navigating family, identity and a changing city, begins its run in Seattle after touring the globe for nearly two years.

The movie made its world premiere in 2022 at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), where it won the Golden Space Needle award, an audience favorite. Since then, it has been showcased at numerous film festivals worldwide, including New York, Vancouver, London, Ireland and Johannesburg.

“Know Your Place” will premiere in front of a general audience Friday, and the film’s creator, Zia Mohajerjasbi, told FOX 13 Seattle that the movie is for Seattle.

“I feel nervous, anxious, excited, and very grateful,” he said. Mohajerjasbi, who started his career in Seattle making music videos for artists like J-Kwon and Macklemore, developed the story for “Know Your Place” out of homesickness for Seattle while living in Los Angeles. 

“I love filming in Seattle. It’s like my favorite place to film. I mean part of it is when you know somewhere so intimately,” he said.

Determined to create an authentic film, Mohajerjasbi returned to Seattle to use a local cast and crew.

“I want to make a film in Seattle, with a Seattle crew, with a Seattle cast, and if we’re also being specific about narrative, and the community that we’re depicting on screen, then the community has to represent itself,” he explained.

The film centers on a young boy trying to help a sick family member, set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Seattle. Many of the film’s locations have since disappeared, adding a layer of poignancy to the narrative. Although it is told through the lens of an Eritrean American, Mohajerjasbi believes the film conveys a universal human story. 

“Based off what they’re maybe bringing to the table watching the film and ingesting that. So, I hope different people take away different things,” he said. 

“Know Your Place” was shot entirely in Seattle over a three-year period, and Mohajerjasbi hopes different people take away different things from it.

“We really want to give this to Seattle, and we hope that, you know, the audiences here will sort of complete, you know, the lifecycle of the film,” Mohajerjasbi said,

For the first time ever, the film is available outside of film festival screenings and open to the public where the journey began. There are two screenings on Friday, with Mohajerjasbi holding a Q&A session after the 7 o’clock show. 

“Know Your Place” will continue playing at SIFF Cinema Uptown throughout the week, with plans to expand to theaters across the country and eventually to streaming platforms.

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Geno Smith has resurrected his career since taking over the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback job two years ago.

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After starting just five games between 2015 and 2021, Smith earned AP Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2022 with a breakout season that saw him lead the NFL in completion percentage and finish seventh in ESPN’s QBR metric. Smith’s production declined a bit last year, but he still finished 14th in QBR, even while playing behind an offensive line that was decimated by injuries.

However, as Pro Football Focus analyst Trevor Sikkema pointed out in his recent 2024 NFL starting quarterback rankings, the 33-year-old Smith really had four distinct stretches of play over the past two seasons. Over the first half of 2022 and the second half of 2023, he was among the best quarterbacks in the league. But over the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, he struggled.

Those dramatic peaks and valleys are why Sikkema ranked Smith 18th out of the NFL’s 32 potential starting quarterbacks for 2024.

“Honestly, when I had him at 18, it felt low for the highs that I have seen in Geno,” Sikkema said Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “But it was just the up and down … for the last two years that was kind of tough for him. I believe he’s a really good quarterback. It’s just kind of a consistency thing. But we’ve seen it from him, for sure.”

Over the first eight weeks of the 2022 season, Smith’s 88.4 PFF grade ranked second among all quarterbacks in the league, trailing only Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen. During that stretch, Smith had 17 big-time throws and 10 turnover-worthy plays, according to PFF (see the bottom of this article for a definition of both stats). However, over the final 10 weeks of 2022, Smith had a league-high 19 turnover-worthy plays and his PFF grade plummeted to 66.8.

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It was the opposite in 2023. Over the first nine weeks of last season, Smith had a 74.2 PFF grade, 12 big-time throws and 13 turnover-worthy plays. But he heated up in the second half of the season, posting an 85.0 PFF grade with 20 big-time throws and eight turnover-worthy plays over the final nine weeks. He had the third-most big-time throws over that span, despite missing two games with a groin injury.

“He’s had these streaks over the last couple of years and you’ve just gotta all put it together,” Sikkema said. “Him being healthy, the guys around him being healthy, having that consistency, getting to play a ton together, that chemistry. I think that it’s all there for Geno.”

Note: PFF defines big-time throws as passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.” Turnover-worthy plays are either passes that have a high chance of being intercepted or when a quarterback fumbles.

Listen to the full conversation with PFF’s Trevor Sikkema at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Bump and Stacy airs live from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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