Northwest Film Forum began life in 1995 as "WigglyWorld Studios," a filmmakers' collective focusing on post-production founded by filmmakers Jamie Hook and Deborah Girdwood. As the organization expanded to include more aspects of production, it also started showing films - first with the historic Grand Illusion Cinema in 1997 and then with the newly-built Little Theatre in 1999. The name "Northwest Film Forum" was created to describe all of the organization's exhibtion, education, equipment access and production operations. In 2004, NWFF sold its two cinemas and began the move to a brand new space that would consolidate all aspects of the organization under one roof. The current space, at 1515 12th Ave (between Pike and Pine), is Seattle's first proper cinematheque, located on Capitol Hill and housing two theaters (one seating 119, the other 48) as well as facilities and equipment for filmmakers, a dedicated space for workshops as well as filmmaker offices.

Founded as a program of Seattle Center in 2004