With ballots cast and election season in the rear-view mirror, and your civic duty done (right?), what better way to reward yourself than by… going to the movies.

And, what a menu from which to choose.

The Friday Harbor Film Festival, three full days of cinematic splendor featuring stories from all across the Pacific Rim, from the arctic to the tropics, and with plenty of the Salish Sea in between, gets under way this Friday.

We weren’t quite sure how the Film Fest brain-trust would follow up on its blockbuster inaugural year, and, admittedly, we remain uneasy about the shift from mid-October to the first weekend in November.

But if this year’s lineup is any measure, with 33 full-length documentaries, a dozen short films, Filmmakers’ Forum sequel and first-ever showcase of select movies by young filmmakers, the 2nd annual FH Film Fest promises to make the first a distant— although dear—memory.

In addition to the story of the infamous Colton Harris-Moore, aka The Barefoot Bandit, the lineup includes a bio-pic about the late Ernest K. Gann, a familiar to many, harrowing story of survival at sea, “Red Sky in Mourning,” removal of the Elwha River dams, “Return of the River,” the precarious fate of the local orca whales and Chinook salmon, “Fragile Waters,” as well as tributes to the late, acclaimed Hollywood director and patron of island arts, Andrew V. McLaglen.

If you have yet to pick up the Film Fest brochure, then do so; see what’s in store. You’ll be glad you did.