Filmmaker in Attendance, First Time Filmmaker
Artists, researchers, and activists explore the relationship between their lived experiences and the patterns of uneven development in Metropolitan Detroit and its art ecosystem.
First Time Filmmaker
12 films at Fresh Coast 2026
Art in a Changing Landscape: Detroit and the Disconnected Logic of Funding
Best Day Ever
Has Subtitles, Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker, Staff Pick
Best Day Ever follows the stories of two adaptive mountain bikers as they navigate the relentless challenges of their disabilities and embrace the tremendous support, friendship, and joy they find in their rural Vermont riding community.
Boys of Summer
Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker
Two boys arrive at a remote summer camp in the Vermont woods. Free from screens and societal expectations, they learn to open up, support one another, and redefine what it means to be a boy.
Finding The Universe
Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, Adult Language, Subject in Attendance, Filmmaker in Attendance
Finding the Universe follows photographer John Berry as he journeys into the Colorado Rockies to capture a time-lapse of the Milky Way over his favorite alpine lake. Along the way, he reflects on personal struggles, creative perseverance, and the quiet, demanding work behind filming the night sky in the mountains.
Fish for the Future
Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker, Student Filmmaker
This short documentary builds on the Fish for the Future project put together by the Wisconsin Sierra Club to explore why the Great Lakes are critical and how to preserve them for future generations. The independent filmmaker was a seventh-grade student at the time.
Jac
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere, First Time Filmmaker
At 86 years old, Michigan fly fishing legend Jac Ford still paddles rivers across Michigan and Montana, guiding clients and teaching fellow guides his craft. In Jac, the master angler reveals some of his secrets, and shares a lifetime of wisdom for living a long, happy life.
Join Us Tomorrow
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, World Premiere
Casual friends meet at a Lake Superior beach on a beautiful September morning. Soon they’re dipping regularly while their friendship grows as they show up for each other, and themselves dipping through the winter, in the icy lake.
Life Model Protégé
First Time Filmmaker, World Premiere, Michigan Premiere, Nudity
Life Model Protégé is a glimpse behind the curtain at the unique world of figure art. Meet models who pose in the nude and the artists who draw them.
Miss Adventure
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, First Time Filmmaker, Work in Progress, Making Waves Recipient, Representative in Attendance, Staff Pick
Mikah Meyer grew up a Midwest pastor’s son, hidden in a religion-sealed closet. After his social media crowns Mississippi “The Most Homophobic State in America,” Mikah attempts to run across it in flamboyant colors. Alongside his college mentor, Larry, they confront traumas from their shared time in America’s Bible Belt. Together, they try to exist loudly, so the next generation has an easier road to travel.
Neon Reef
Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, Nudity, Staff Pick
Part nature documentary, part queer love letter to community and action, Neon Reef immerses you in the sun-drenched, surreal beauty of Miami’s underwater world. Dive past the waves that break on the pulsing neon shores of America’s glitziest beach town with this unlikely reef warrior couple as they dive, strategize, schmooze politicians, and rally a diverse community to defend the coral reef at their doorstep.
Water is Life
Filmmaker in Attendance, First Time Filmmaker
Water is Life covers issues facing the Great Lakes in brief yet explains how people around the region are doing something when it comes to the challenges they face. This is a synopsis of the longer documentary still in production.
Women of Wampum
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker
Across the salt-sprayed shores of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, a gathering of Indigenous women comes together to rematriate wampum as a living system of justice, truth, and inherent relationship. Through practices of teaching, making, and collective remembrance, the film examines how patriarchal disruption, colonial extraction, and climate-driven coastal change threaten not only living shores but the relationships that sustain them.