2016 • USA • 4 min • Ryan Maxey

An (unofficial) history of our nation’s National Parks.

2017 • USA • 22 min • Tyler Wilkinson-Ray

Aaron Rice was a couple years out of college, ski bumming through winters and scraping together work over summers, but getting sick of resort crowds and feeling a little aimless, like he needed to pick a direction. The direction he eventually settled on: Up. Rice set out to become the first person to ski 2.5 million human-powered vertical feet in a year, which is the equivalent of climbing from Everest Base Camp to the summit over 200 times. Through fatigue and injuries, excursions to South America and storms, he climbed and skied. Along the way, he learned a lot about self-determination, grit and what’s possible if you set your mind to it.

2017 • USA • 10 min • Peter Byck

At the Ranney Ranch in arid Corona, New Mexico, Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing is restoring soils and benefiting the environment – and was implemented during a 15 year drought.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Wylie Overstreet

Wylie Overstreet was hanging out in his L.A. apartment one night and, out of boredom, decided to take his high-powered telescope out to the street to peer at the moon. Pretty soon people began wandering up and asking him what he was up to. When he showed them, they nearly fell over in awe. A New View of the Moon is just the reminder we need to keep looking up. Because as Galileo said, back in 1610, “it’s a beautiful and wondrous sight to behold the body of the moon.”

2017 • USA • 50 min • Sarah Menzies

Terry Myers is in search of a wild steelhead on a different river each month of the year, painting her fishing prowess in a self-effacing and amusing light. With her husband Jerry in tow, we see the challenges they face with depleting runs, while still fully enjoying every aspect of being on the river together – rain or shine, fish or no fish.

2016 • USA/Kenya • 6 min • Isaac & Jacob Seigel-Boettner

A Way Forward tells the story of how the bicycle empowered two young women to not only pursue their own dreams, but inspire others to do the same.

2017 • Iraq • 25 min • Max Lowe

Adult Content

Adventure Not War is the story of three U.S. veterans traveling back into the mountains of Iraq on a mission to heal wounds and experience the country and its culture without the shadow of war.

2017 • USA • 10 min • Jenny Plevin

Meet Venice Williams, executive director of Alice’s Garden, a community garden in Milwaukee. Venice shares her connections with rivers and water, and shows how the garden is using innovative water solutions that are a model for other communities nationwide.

2017 • 24 min • Vivienne Smith

Four western ski and snowboard athletes, invited into the restricted Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China to explore the untapped Altai Mountains, interact with a 2000 year old skiing culture, learn how to make ancient traditional skis and make first ascents as they discover what has been hiding in the back country of China’s remote mountains.

2018 • USA • 17 min • Zach Weisberg

In Summer of 2018, The Inertia traveled to El Salvador with Kassia Meador, Leah Dawson, and Lola Mignot, three outstanding women who are inspiring the next generation of ocean lovers through their alternative approach to both surfing and life. Each has developed a strong voice as a leader in surfing, and managed to do so on her own terms. They ride the boards they want, spearhead projects that speak to their passions, and keep their eyes peeled for interesting ways to engage that fascinating nexus where surfing and the rest of the world collide.

2018 • USA • 30 min • Matt & Jenny Acker

Filmmaker in Attendance

A floofty lil video from Matt and Jenny Acker’s bike packing trip on the Baja Divide during November/December of 2017. A glimpse into some of the terrain, animals and snacks encountered along the way told in a truly weird way by an amateur videographer and bearded cyclist. Thanks to all our sponsors for hooking us up with the goodies necessary to ride the Baja, and to Mexico, for being so hospitable, beautiful and delicious, and for welcoming Matt and I and our bikes with open arms. Hope many more people get a chance to ride and enjoy the Baja Zig Zag Divide

2016 • South Africa • 5 min • James Suter

Black Mamba is a documentary about young, fearless women working in the anti-poaching unit who go out in the bush everyday — weaponless — to patrol and protect wildlife. These courageous women have inspired many through raising awareness of poaching by visiting 668 learners, educating the youth and providing jobs.

2018 • USA • 9 min • Andrew Wyton

In the film, the world’s freshwater supply has become too toxic to support mass human life. A lone survivor is mystically transported back in time to the present day, where he and his surf pals were still able to enjoy the greatness of the lakes before the toxifying effects of agricultural and industrial pollution reached a tipping point.

2017 • USA • 9 min • Colin Ruggiero

Bison were nearly exterminated across North America. Thanks to the Shoshone tribe, the National Wildlife Federation and the coordinated efforts of a host of other individuals and organizations, bison have finally been brought back the Wind River Indian Reservation and a landscape that they once defined. This short film show their return after a 130 year absence and the significance it has for the Shoshone and the rest of America.

2018 • USA • 5 min • Jordan Halland

A dash of spelunking. A pinch of ice climbing. A sprinkle of semi-psychedelic light show. This brief recipe is just right for a short feast.

2018 • USA • 3 min • Dietrich Ludwig

In the second teaser for the proposed Dead River Community Forest, we talk with Jeremiah Johnston from the Noquemenon Trail Network. NTN is one of Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy’s partnering organizations to help build trail systems within the forest. The trail systems will serve as a multi-accessible path allowing for hikers, bikers, and runners to use the path simultaneously. Jeremiah explains how trail building and land protection go hand-in-hand.

Target Audience: Parents & young children
Planning a canoe trip but thinking the kiddos need to stay home? Don’t call the babysitter just yet. Canoe camping with babies and toddlers is loads of work but incredibly fun! Learn best packing, meal planning, gear, diapering, and sleeping practices from Bobby and Maura Marko. The Markos take their two children, Jack and Rowan (ages 4 and 2), along on all their adventures including frequent visits to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota.

2017 • USA • 2 min • Charles Hallett

A collection of my best time-lapse work in 2017. Featuring shots from all around North America. From Michigan and the Upper Midwest, to Casper Wyoming, the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and the North Cascades of Washington.

2018 • USA • 14 min • Dietrich Ludwig

Filmmaker in Attendance

Name your favorite outdoor female role model. Don’t worry, we’ll wait. Before, women in the outdoors sounded like a gimmick – but they are far from that - they are a force to be reckoned with. From around Michigan, a group of women shares how they set out on a path and found adventure. Their reasons and activities may vary but they all have these things in common; they are strong, they are in this together, and they will not back down.

2017 • USA • 8 min • Ryan Heffernan & Grayson Schaffer

Clare Gallagher was headed toward medical school, until she realized the path everyone else wanted her to take wouldn’t make her happy. So she took one step back, 100 miles forward, and went in a new direction.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Melanie Sommerfeldt

Filmmaker in Attendance

If an international clothing company from Sweden offered an opportunity to manage your own dog sled team across the Scandinavian Arctic, would you spend a month collecting the necessary votes on Facebook to win a spot on the team? The Fjällräven Polar is a 300 km dogsledding expedition through the Scandinavian Arctic, and it’s Melanie’s dream to earn a spot on the team. After volunteering at the Copperdog 150 Melanie developed an interest in dogsledding and having the opportunity to join Fjällräven’s efforts in showing that EVERYONE can get out and enjoy more winter activities, she’s inspired to apply in the hopes of encouraging others to chase adventures of their own.

2017 • USA • 34 min • Troy Anderson

Filmmaker in Attendance

Detroit is known as Hockeytown. When the city had to close many of its recreation centers in the early 1990’s the once abundant outdoor ice rinks disappeared with them. Except for one. Clark Park is the story of the Southwest Detroit community that saved a rink, helped stabilize a neighborhood, and gives inner city youth the opportunity to play the game of hockey. This short documentary with a runtime of 34 minutes is told through the perspectives of seven southwest Detroiters ranging from 12 to 87 years of age.

2018 • USA • 9 min • Dominic Gill, Producer: Nadia Gill

Bryant Huffman spent his days deep water soloing, sport climbing and bouldering as founder of Climbing Puerto Rico. Then Hurricane Maria dropped a nuclear bomb of water and wind, which destroyed much of the island. With his work as a guide temporarily suspended, Huffman and his climbing buddies put their skills to good use by morphing into emergency arborists. And out of the devastation comes a glimmer of something positive. The hurricane peeled huge chunks of limestone from cliffs, creating scores of new routes. Climbing Out of Disaster is about shifting your perspective to see the silver lining in calamity.

2018 • USA • 26 min • Corey Adkins

Filmmaker in Attendance

Three men from the group “Stand Up For Great Lakes” put their bodies to the test and paddle board more than 90 miles across Lake Huron for something they believe in.

2018 • USA • 14 min • Spencer Seibert

“Crosstown” is set against the backdrop of Chicago in 2016 as the Cubs return to the World Series for the first time since World War II. The city celebrates…some of it, that is.

2018 • USA • 20 min • Coltin Calloway

At the age of 82, Dale Sanders completed the entire Appalachian Trail in 2017. It took over 7 months took walk the 2100+ miles.

2018 • USA • 2 min • Dietrich Ludwig

The Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy is in the process of raising money to acquisition the a 181 acre property along the Dead River to serve as a accessible community resource for multi-use recreation and environmental education. While UPLC will own the land, the resources on the land and management decisions which affect land will be based around what will bring the most benefit to the community. The Dead River Community Forest will protect 3.5 miles of riparian corridor along the Dead River and provide innumerable benefits to the region.

2017 • 8 min • Jacques de Vos

Award-winning underwater photographer Jacques de Vos journeys to the Lofoten Islands in Norway to realize his dream of photographing orca while freediving. His experience in the presence of these creatures is beyond anything he could have imagined.

2017 • USA • 8 min • Leanne Allison

For Banff locals, Don Gardner is a name associated with legendary climbs and epic ski traverses. Don’s Canoe is a simple short film that shows his lifelong passion for old ways. A life well-lived shapes this beautiful canoe.

2017 • USA • 8 min • Christina Franklin

The next generation is becoming increasingly plugged in to electronics and out of touch with the outdoors. This will have enormous effects on future conservationism. A mother of four kids decides to turn off the screens and make a change. Though challenging, her kids go from fearing and ignoring nature to understanding and loving it.

2017 • USA • 2 min • Joshuah Melnick

Big dreams start small, as World Champion skier, Aaron Blunck, reminds us.

2018 • USA • 16 min • Italia Millan

These are the stories of three DREAMers and the fight for their right to live in the only country they know as home.

2017 • USA • 5 min • Juicy Studios

Take an adventure into a world where the trails never end. Through jungles, across volcanos, into caves, and down frozen rivers… there’s no place your imagination can’t take you.

2018 • USA • 5 min • Juicy Studios

Step into a world built on imagination and trails that can only exist in one’s dreams. Combining a Dr. Suess-inspired narrative, some of the world’s wildest natural oddities and one dream on a mountain bike, this film will take you on an adventure like no other.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Andy Wakeman

Filmmaker in Attendance

A glimpse into a young life in rural northern Michigan. Elijah looses sight of what’s important and doesn’t finish high school. While working on the family farm and old pick up truck, he decides to get things back on track and earn his GED through a local nonprofit

2017 • USA • 12 min • Graham Zimmerman

As a couple, Ultimate frisbee world champion Shannon McDowell and professionalclimber Graham Zimmerman decided they needed a new sport that they could learn together, on an even playing field. What they found was the adventure of a lifetime and a deeper appreciation for their adventurous relationship, along with a lot of wipeouts! Follow along as they engage the learning curve and leave the training wheels at home.

2018 • Canada • 8 min • Anjali Nayar

There is something gloriously incongruous — and almost incomprehensible — about a risk-averse, non-athletic, native Rwandan DJ finding the real meaning in his life by pedaling across Canada to its frozen Arctic Ocean shore in an attempt to break the record for the longest, continuous, fixed- gear bike ride. Through the course of this unlikely adventure, the protagonist, Jean-Aime Bigirimana, also finds that the truth about escaping is not as black and white as, say, his spandex silhouette against the cold Canadian snowscape.

2017 • USA • 5 min • Andy Wakeman

Filmmaker in Attendance

A senseless family tragedy effects a northern Michigan man in a profound way. Part lumberjack, part philosopher, Rob’s story of giving back to the community through a local nonprofit will warm your heart.

2018 • USA • 7 min • Grant Piering

Filmmaker in Attendance

Even in Michigan, the search for unspoiled waves lures in brave surfers who know how and when to find them. Up here, it’s never about riding the biggest waves in the world, but rather the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction of catching a freshwater wave - even if only for a couple of seconds. Follow local Great Lakes surfer and shaper Loukas Bethea as he shares the local sense of adventure.

2018 • USA • 16 min • Pat Noyes

Filmmaker in Attendance

Understanding rip currents in the Great Lakes

2018 • USA • 1 min • John Berry

Filmmaker in Attendance

Flying Over The Upper Peninsula is a collection of drone video I captured while visiting the Upper Peninsula in July. After putting my favorite shots together, I created the ambient music to go over it. This was shot over the period of a week, with me going to my favorite spots around Marquette.

2017 • Netherlands • 38 min • Bob van de Gronde

Jerrie van de Kop follows the wind cycle to kiteboard between the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the snowy peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to raise awareness of ecological threats to the region.

2017 • USA • 22 min • Adam Clark & Isaiah Branch-Boyle

After stumbling upon a copy of the cult classic guidebook, The Chuting Gallery, which lays out a set of 88 ski mountaineering lines across Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, sixteen-year-old Caroline Gleich decided she wanted to ski them. Although she was met with laughter—“Maybe it was because I was five feet tall, or I was a little blonde girl, but I remember that clearly — and it didn’t feel good” says Gleich—she spent a decade building her skills and becoming the skier she dreamed of being—and deciding, in this age of hyper-connectivity, which voices to choose to hear and which to ignore.

2018 • USA • 5 min • Ryan Busch

Filmmaker in Attendance

During summer 2018, four friends from Marquette, Michigan will embark on a kayaking voyage around Lake Superior to help raise education about the Great Lakes. During their journey, they will live with the land and water, and will conduct research for the Superior Watershed Partnership. In addition, they will learn with the residents who share the water, and how our lakes connect us all.

2018 • USA • 15 min • Maggie Franks

Filmmaker in Attendance

Inspired by a magazine called Blast, Freddy takes a rare day off as a service rep at a wheelchair company to fulfill a dream that’s been brewing in his head for 23 years. Freddy’s dream? To be the first wheelchair athlete to ski, surf and skate – all in one day. Is it worth the risk? Hell, yes!

2018 • USA • 12 min • Tyler Allyn

True wilderness is hard found in an era of social media and geotagging. These kayakers won’t settle for second descents, and with enough effort and determination, they’re able to find a Frontier of Firsts.

2016 • USA • 3 min • Corey Robinson

Every morning in the summer, Grandded rises at dawn to row twice around the lake. Join himon his morning meditation.

2017 • USA • 6 min • Sam Ketay

Dr. Paul Auerbach, a professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University, and Dr. York Miller, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, were recent medical school grads when they decided to take a backpacking trip high into the San Juan Mountains. Above 11,000 feet, they experienced abdominal discomfort, bloating and premonitory belching. Wilderness medicine had no term for these combined symptoms. They dubbed it high-altitude flatus expulsion (HAFE), and their findings were published in The Western Journal of Medicine, evoking a surprising response. This film is for anyone who has ever gone camping and eaten too many beans.

Children of all ages will have the opportunity to explore outdoor gear (set up inside the cafeteria). Let your young children climb in and out of a canoe, try dry land paddling, explore a tent and sleeping bag, carry a camping backpack, and “warm up” next to our indoor campfire. Child friendly camping snacks will be available. Bobby and Maura Marko will be on hand to chat with parents and children, offer camping and canoeing tips and answer any questions.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Nick Nummerdor & Andrew J. Morgan

Filmmaker in Attendance

Every year in the small town of Irons, MI snowmobile enthusiasts gather at the Oak Grove Tavern for a unique and quirky “hat auction”; an event that is held to fund the grooming of local ORV trails.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Freddy Dakota

Filmmaker in Attendance

Fred Dakota reflects on his childhood growing up in a Native American orphanage in Assinins, Michigan

2017 • USA • 28 min • Brendan Leonard

The odds were stacked against Jayson Sime early in life: poverty, homelessness, dyslexia, bullying. But he learned to fight, literally and metaphorically, and battled his way to a successful career as a political organizer. In 2017, he entered his first 100-mile mountain ultramarathon, betting on his lifelong resilience to carry him to the finish line.

2017 • USA • 11 min • Julia Dahr

The film follows young activists as they break the law to stop a mining company from dumping 250 million tons of waste into a Norwegian fjord. On the top of a freezing, icy mountain, 80 youths chained themselves to mining drills to save the fjord, in what became the biggest civil disobedience action in Norway in 30 years. Norway, which proudly brands itself as a ‘green country’ and whose pristine fjords draw hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, is the only country in Europe that allows sea dumping of tailings.The film tells an intimate and personal story about a political battle, and why young people decide to break the law for a fjord that’s hundreds of miles away from their home.

2017 • USA • 5 min • David Mossop

Have you ever been that little kid sitting in the backseat of your parents car, wishing you were somewhere else? So you imagine a skier on the side of the road, your fingers commanding back flips, roof drops and improbable rail slides. Join us as we travel through the eyes of a young boy who brings professional urban skier Tom Wallisch to realization. Together, they turn an otherwise drab winter commute into a ski adventure for the ages.

2017 • Australia, French Polynesia, New Zealand • 5 min • Krystle Wright

Surfers and free divers know well those dark, lung-searing seconds waiting to surface after a wave has pinned you to the ocean floor. It can feel like an eternity. In those underwater minutes, Australian adventure photographer Krystle Wright envisions herself in a desert with roiling grey skies and bootpacking a snowy ridgeline, her trusty Canon capturing the stunning dreamscapes. Vivid and ethereal, In Perpetual Motion is about the remarkable beauty revealed when time stands still for just a moment.

2017 • Canada • 5 min • Lacy Kemp

Professional mountain biker and artist Micayla Gatto recreates in her paintings the sweeping vistas of ridgelines she rides on her bike. Both cornering berms and putting paintbrush to canvas allow Gatto to achieve that magical flow state where she exists completely and happily in the present moment. Intersection takes us inside the vibrant space where artist and athlete collide, as Gatto pedals through her artwork with a splash of color.

2016 • USA • 12 min • Jordan Manley

Cautioned not to travel to Iran, skiers Chad Sayers and Forrest Coots go anyway. They find comfort in Tehran’s bustling bazaars, Isfahan’s dazzling mosques, and the powder-filled slopes of the Alborz mountain range. Iran is a culture not easily understood, but profoundly welcoming.

2015 • USA • 9 min • Thomas C. Johnson

Filmmaker in Attendance

Ironhead documents the creative work of ironmonger Kelly Ludeking and the happenings at his Down on the Farm Iron Pour, a yearly communal gathering of local and national artists collaborating to make cast iron art at the Ludeking family farm in Decorah, Iowa.

10 min • J.J. Kelley

Filmmaker in Attendance

While most of us take electricity for granted, there are more than a billion people in developing countries who live without power. Just plugging in can be the difference between surviving and thriving. An unexpected alliance between a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a motorcycling crew is empowering a nation, one lightbulb at a time.

2009 • USA • 55 min • J.J. Kelley & Josh Thomas

Filmmaker in Attendance

Two best friends build their own kayaks and paddle alone for 97 days in the wilderness over 1,300 miles from Alaska to Seattle and survive to talk about most things.

J.J. Kelley

Filmmaker in Attendance

Americans are now taking the commander of the Hermit Kingdom seriously on his threats of nuclear war. Kim Jong-un’s proclamations of leveling the “cesspool of evil” are now backed with missile tests demonstrating the capability of striking anywhere in the U.S.. Explorer travels from the beaches of Hawaii to the Great Plains of the Midwest to see how Americans are preparing for a nuclear attack.

J.J. Kelley

Filmmaker in Attendance

National Geographic embeds in the world of the “Godfather of Gaza” to investigate the business of surviving an occupation. Through exclusive access to a Gaza tunnel boss, we go inside a society with its back against the wall telling the story of one network that supplies both humanitarian aid and terrorism.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Nick Geib

There’s something oddly romantic about ultrarunning. Sure, to the uninitated that may sound like an intimidating oxymorning, but to the men and women who willingly push themselves to the brink of physical and emotional exhaustion, there’s nothing that quite compares to getting out into remote, wild places on foot.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Joseph Daniel McMahon

Subject in Attendance, Filmmaker in Attendance

Music video featuring local Surfer Dan.

2017 • USA • 12 min • Dana Romanoff

La Cumbre unveils the reality of what it means to live as an amputee in the developing world. In partnership with the Range of Motion Project we join world class mountaineer and wounded warrior Chad Jukes on a heartfelt journey to shed light on a public health issue affecting amputees world wide.

2017 • France • 6 min • Hugo Manhes

La Torche shows two crazy French surfers, surfing by night the famous spot of La Torche, one of the best in France.

Target audience: 12 years and older
The Joyineering Fund Founder and and Young Explorer Lilliana Libecki, at the age of 15, has already been to 28 countries, all 7 continents, and five major expeditions, including two ski expeditions to Antarctica, ascent of Kilimanjaro in Africa, and a 150-mile trek through the Himalaya of Nepal, 18K foot peaks in Peru, that have all focused on humanitarian and conservation work. Mike and his daughter Lilliana just founded a nonprofit 501c3 organization that will focus on conservation and humanitarian work around the world…Lilliana has already received 4 grants from the American Alpine Club at the age of 14! “In a world where we can be and do anything, be kind and do good!” – Lilliana Libecki

2017 • USA • 7 min • Goal Zero

Join the father and daughter team Joyineers and Goal Zero ambassadors, Mike and Lilliana Libecki, along with Human Outreach Project and Dell computers on a journey of giving back in Pashpa.

2017 • USA • 21 min • Jim Cricchi

Undocumented immigrant workers in Wisconsin and the farmers who employ them struggle with a new political climate, which increasingly threatens their ability to perform business as usual. Pairing brave, moving interviews with revealing context about the state’s dairy industry, Los Lecheros is a sensitive portrayal of an urgent situation.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Aaron Peterson

Filmmaker in Attendance

Mike Horton is Marquette’s original surfer, and co-founder of the Presque Isle Depot art studio. This is his story.

2017 • USA • 26 min • Grant Slater

In the remote Russian Arctic, an aging scientist and his son are trying to recreate the Ice Age. They call their experiment Pleistocene Park –a perfect home for woolly mammoths, resurrected by modern genetics. But the mammoths are only a means to a bigger end: defusing a carbon timebomb frozen in the permafrost to slow the effects of global warming.

2017 • USA • 7 min • Thomas C. Johnson

Filmmaker in Attendance

Marieke Penterman is an acclaimed Dutch cheesemaker from Throp, Wisconsin, who passionately explains her award-winning Gougda making, which has earned her more than 30 awards. Marieke makes wonderful use of traditional Holland cheesemaking methods, in addition to having special relationships with all of her cows.

National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Mike Libecki can define his life in two ways: An obsession with exploring and climbing the worlds most remote and untouched corners of the planet to find huge, world class first ascents…And a being a dedicated father to a daughter that wants to help save the world. Mike has completed more than 75 major expeditions all over the planet with a goal of 100 expeditions, from Afghanistan to Antarctica, to Greenland to Guyana, to Siberia to Socotra Island Yemen and everywhere in between…His pride and joy is being a father to his daughter Lilliana.

2014 • USA • 11 min • Mountain Hardwear

Mountain Hardwear athlete Mike Libecki and his daughter Lilliana venture across Antarctica. There are many lessons learned along the way.

USA • 9 min

2018 • USA • 4 min • Finn Ryan

Filmmaker in Attendance

Brief history of Sandy Lake tragedy and story of memorial ceremony from this past summer. The Sandy Lake tragedy is the story of how 450 Ojibwe people died in 1850 waiting for the Federal Government to distribute annuity payments and food.

2018 • USA • 98 min • Bing Liu

Adult Content

Welcome to Rockford, Illinois, in the heart of Rust-Belt America, home to debut filmmaker, Bing Liu. With over 12 years of footage, Bing discovers connections between two of his skateboarder friends’ volatile upbringings and the complexities of modern-day masculinity. As the film unfolds, Bing captures 23-year-old Zack’s tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend deteriorate after the birth of their son and 17-year-old Keire struggling with his racial identity as he faces new responsibilities following the death of his father. While navigating a difficult relationship between his camera and his friends, Bing weaves a story of generational forgiveness while exploring the precarious gap between childhood and adulthood.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Nick Jensen

Filmmaker in Attendance

Moving Mountains in Iron Mountain, MI is a coordinated effort between many highly energized, dedicated volunteers and Pine Mountain Resort. Instructors involved with this program have been trained by, and follow the processes and procedures of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA). This is the story how Dorothy Paad gained confidence through Moving Mountains to brave the challenges of attending Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI.

2015 • Canada • 3 min • Craig Hall

Twelve-year old Noah Isaac explores his passion for mountain unicycling, known as “Muni”, on the black diamond mountain biking trails in Canmore, Alberta as his mountain guide father encourages him to challenge himself and build his mountain sense.

2018 • USA • 32 min • Ben Weaver

Filmmaker in Attendance

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, musician, poet and athlete Ben Weaver set out to ride his bicycle unsupported down the country’s most formidable physical break, the Continental Divide, offering free concerts to those who live, work, and play along this iconic American corridor. Music For Free is the story of his journey to celebrate the people of these communities while pedaling 2800 miles carrying his banjo and guitar. By sharing his music and poetry, Weaver encounters the hidden soul of humanity and uncovers clues that reveal how deeply connected we all are despite what is often portrayed by mainstream media.

2017 • United Kingdom • 25 min • Hannah Maia

A youngish woman has fallen out of love with her own body. Frustrated, she wishes they didn’t have to hang out quite so much. Committed to making a change she sets herself the simple goal of swimming in open water at least once a month for a year. As she braves the elements throughout the seasons to swim in wild places she also begins to appreciate the quiet heroism of a female life and it’s body. A story about womanhood, miscarriage, healing, loving your own skin & freezing your bum off in cold water.

2018 • Iceland • 10 min • RC Cone

Life has a way of putting us where we need to be. For Vala, that’s in both Greenland – where she works at her family’s fishing lodge – and Reykjavík, where she teaches her daughter how to do it all on her own, too.

2017 • France • 3 min • Ben Leclair

Benjamin Leclair makes the most of a bad situation wakeboarding through the streets of a flooded Paris. Gorgeous aerial footage makes it look much better than it probably smelled.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Dietrich Ludwig

Filmmaker in Attendance

Andrea has found that nature can provide tools to cope with her anxiety, depression, and overall mental health, but what if she had learned these skills during her teen years? As the Community Programs Manager for The Little Forks Conservancy, Andrea found the opportunity to bring these skills, awareness, and environmental education to local teens in alternative High-Schools. Teaching youth in grades 9 – 12, Andrea has inspired these group of students in a relatable way.

2016 • USA • 3 min • Jonathan Jarosz

Filmmaker in Attendance

Five or six years ago, Marti O’Brien was feeling burned out. She was overwhelmed and pushing her friends and family away. Late one sleepless night, she took her dog Obie on a trail run and had an encounter with an owl that stunned her. She said that after that experience, she was never quite the same. Now one of Marti’s favorite ways to unwind, trail running holds a dear place in her heart and she owes it all to the Power of Nature.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Loren Earle

Filmmaker in Attendance

A video portrait depicting the life’s work of Upper Michigan’s premiere artist Nita Engle. Her watercolor landscapes keep record of the few and fleeting wild spaces left in the world.

2018 • USA • 10 min • Kevin Warwick

Filmmaker in Attendance

Every winter the Women Ice Angler Project gathers for a long weekend of fishing on frozen lakes in numbing temperatures. Though the conditions are far from glamorous, each member of the Project savors her time on the ice. Not only does she get to fish alongside friends, she gets to contribute to a narrative that focuses on females excelling in the sport.

2016 • Canada • 8 min • Jake Kovnat

Surfing on a lake? Impossible, right? Wrong. Loveable wild-man Larry Cavero lives for surfing the ice-cold waters of The Great Lakes in this short documentary about the burgeoning surf scene around Toronto, Canada.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Liam Kaiser

Filmmaker in Attendance

Fly Fishing in Northern Michigan is a great way to get outside and enjoy nature. This film follows professional angler Brain Pitser and reveals why fly fishing in Northern Michigan is so alluring.

Target Audience: Parents & children ages 5 to 12
This 27 minute 1966 film by Bill Mason was nominated for an Academy Award for best live action short film. The film follows the travels of the carved, toy sized canoe from the north shore of Lake
Superior through Canada’s waterways to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the film, children will have the opportunity to make their own birch bark toy size canoes to take home!

2017 • Belgium • 13 min • Erik Bulckens

Mona Seraji is a professional snowboarder. Which is a distinction, of course, but what really sets her apart is that her home mountain is in Iran. One of the unique delights of this endearing short film, in addition to glimpses of a country and culture we hear so little about (and rarely anything positive), is that fretted lutes, ancient Persian percussions and haunting Farsi vocals perfectly counterweight the very modern, very cool, hip-hop segments of the musical score.

2017 • USA • 10 min • Kyle Buthman & Perry Gershkow

A look at the World Surfing Reserve of Bahia de Todos Santos in Baja Norte, Mexico, and how the local community is working together against environmental threats.

2018 • USA • 7 min • Mike Olbinski

When it comes to storm chasing, you can’t give up. But that also applies to life. Keep chasing, keep pursuing. Whatever it is. That’s the only way to get what you want.

2018 • USA • 10 min • Pat Noyes

Filmmaker in Attendance

This was a fun little collaborative project. In October of 2017 surfers and filmmakers Pat Noyes and Rusty Malkemes circumnavigated Lake Michigan in the Grey Potato (Rustys’ Van) with a half dozen surfboards, a tent, a few cans of soup, some veggies, and a dozen eggs. Setting out from St Joeseph, MI and driving up the state of Michigan and across the Bridge, they camped and surfed on the Garden Peninsula for two days as well before surfing in front of the historic Seul Choix lighthouse where Pat interviewed Rusty about his unique Midwestern Surfing roots. After that they slowly made their way back to The Southend of Lake Michigan through Wisconsin, stopping in Milwaukee to surf with friends along the Illinois/Wisonsin state line, and eventually through Illinois, and Indiana, where they met up with Ryan Gerard to surf in front of a newly reopened Mt Baldy, and then finally back to Rusty and Ryan’s hometown of St Joeseph, MI just in time for one of the best swells of 2017. Surfing the Great Lakes is incredibly fun. So we hope you have as much fun watching.

2017 • USA • 12 min • Michael Parenteau & Christopher Naum

Ride of the Dead takes us into the world of the Mexican mountain bike culture during the famous annual celebration known as Dia De Los Muertos. This film follows Oaxacan, born and raised rider and trail builder Yefra Ram through some of Mexico’s best mountain bike trails as he honors the passing of loved ones and competes in the first annual Transierra Norte 3 day endure race.

2018 • USA • 2 min • Dietrich Ludwig

Filmmaker in Attendance

Ice climbing was previously a male dominated sport. Now women are rising up to the challenge and making their own headway in the sport. Anissa and Nicky have just begun partaking in ice climbing and both have felt the intimidation with the presence of the opposite sex.

2018 • Nepal • 16 min • Joey Schusler

Rajesh Magar has been obsessed with bikes since he was a small child growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal. When the other kids were studying, he’d be dreaming about, designing and drawing bikes. As the son of a construction worker and housemaid, however, a bike wasn’t easy to come by. Undeterred, he built one, a clunky Frankenstein, but a mountain bike nonetheless. He started racing, and his drive and raw talent got noticed, leading to a job as a mountain bike guide and a path to professional racing. Today, Nepal’s National Champion is living proof that it pays to stick to your passion, no matter how implausible it seems.

2017 • USA • 71 min • Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer, Quinn Costello

Adult Content

The residents of Louisiana never know what will attack them next: floods, hurricanes, even monstrous swamp rats. Gigantic orange-toothed nutria are eating up the coastal wetlands, destroying the landscape, and threatening the very existence of the human population. This invasive South American species breeds faster than the roving squads of hunters and trappers can control them. But the people who have lived here for generations are not the type of folks who let their land—and their livelihoods—recede into the Gulf without a fight. Meet fisherman turned bounty hunter Thomas Gonzales and a pack of colorful diehards as they defend their land, culture, and way of life against the unforgiving forces of nature. It is man vs. rodent. May the best mammal win.

2017 • USA • 8 min • Ian Fritz & Conor Murphy

Spring is a time when life returns to the woods. Saint John’s has been crafting Maple syrup since the sugar shortages of World War 2 and their story has largely remained unchanged. Explore the history and individuals behind the timeless process of turning sap into syrup.

2018 • USA • 3 min • Sam Needham

A glimpse into the life of Salsa riders Eszter Horanyi and Scott Morris as they travel the country by way of their home, the Scamp.

2017 • USA • 57 min • Dan Bertalan

Explore how farmers are working toward better land and water stewardship through managed grazing and other practices.

2018 • USA • 10 min • Liam Kaiser

Filmmaker in Attendance

The Story of Sleeping Bear Surf and Kayak highlights one of the first surf shops in Northern Michigan and their story of the growing surf community on the Great Lakes.

2018 • USA • 3 min • Aaron Peterson

Filmmaker in Attendance

The Thompson family of Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis craft custom skis from quality hardwoods in Northern Michigan.

2016 • USA • 15 min • Max Lowe, Forest Woodward, & Charles Post

Each fall our skies fill with the wings of migrating raptors, a migration that relies on two hemispheres worth of wild and healthy ecosystems. Join ecologist and filmmaker, Charles Post, as he shines a light on the network of backcountry scientists and sentinels at the front lines of raptor conservation.

2018 • USA • 30 min • Nick Nummerdor & Andrew J. Morgan

Adult Content, Filmmaker in Attendance

The year is 1977 and the custom van movement was at full-tilt-boogie. Midwest Vans Ltd. was a club at the center of everything. Over 500 members strong and with multiple chapters, Midwest Vans set out to throw a truck-in to best all truck-ins. At a small campground in Monticello, Indiana, they set about building a ramshackle resort town around a small pond they christened “Sleeze Lake”. They expected a few thousand people and a good time. When over 6000 vans and upwards of 20,000 people showed up that’s when the sh*t hit the fan! Sleeze Lake: the greatest party you’ve never heard of. Coming in 2019 from Little Cabin Films.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Nick Jensen

Filmmaker in Attendance

Start the Cycle is a cycling team program that introduces at risk youth to a life full of success through winter fat tire and summer mountain biking. The volunteers and mentors provide the structure for participants to achieve goals and have a sense of belonging. The goal of the program is to complete the 906 Polar Roll Fat Tire Bike Race in February and the Ore 2 Shore Epic Mountain Bike Race in August.

2018 • USA • 7 min • Brandon Snyder

Filmmaker in Attendance

“Straight U.P.” is a look into the everyday life of tree climbing professionals here in Marquette, MI.

2018 • USA • 28 min • Torrin Grange & Andrew Plomer

Filmmaker in Attendance

Every spring in the Upper Peninsula migratory rainbow trout, we have come to know as “steelhead” run up the glacier carved tributaries of Northern Michigan to spawn. A window of only a few weeks a year we are able to pursue these fish in these raging spring fed rivers; melt off from the Huron Mountain Range. It is hard enough to catch these fish but to capture on video is near impossible.

2015 • Canada • 9 min • Desiree Bilon

You can surf anywhere – even 1500m above sea level and 1000km away from the nearest ocean. This is the story of a group of river surfing pioneers who are building not only a world-class wave on the Kananaskis River (forty-five minutes outside of landlocked Calgary, Alberta, Canada) but also a river surfing community.

2018 • USA • 8 min

Subject in Attendance

Dan Schetter is a native of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is a local legend with a love for the outdoors and Lake Superior’s wicked, winter waters. He’s not your typical profile, and the documentary showcases his charm, interesting character and dedication to surfing in below freezing, dangerous waters.

2017 • USA • 13 min • Joris Debeij

The 14-year-old BMX rider Erik Aguilar is on track to reaching professional status in just a couple years, but in the meatime, he uses biking to keep himself out of trouble and off the streets.

2017 • USA • 2 min • Derek Knowles & Spencer Seibert

A random act of kindness from a stranger changes a young man’s life. Tamba is a two-minute gem faceted perfectly by sharp editing and softly shined by a lyrical camera.

2018 • USA • 23 min • Bobby & Maura Marko

Filmmaker in Attendance

Maura and Bobby Marko are impassioned outdoor explorers. After becoming parents they knew that passing on a love and respect for the wilderness would be a major priority for their family. The family attempted a bold traverse of the Arrowhead of Minnesota traveling from the Mississippi River to Lake Superior by bicycle, canoe, and foot; all with their 3-year-old son and 9-month-old daughter along for the adventure.

2018 • USA • 27 min • Stephanie Gandulla

Filmmaker in Attendance

The Big Five Dive is a short adventure documentary that follows a group of women as they attempt to SCUBA dive one historic site in all five Great Lakes within the span of 24 hours. Directed by Elizabeth Kaiser, and filmed by a female led crew, these women show that there is a place for everyone under the water.

2017 • Latvia • 14 min • Jacob Dimiters

This documentary features the difficult and time-consuming process of making a traditional expanded dugout canoe using mostly traditional hand tools and techniques. The woodworker is Rihards Vidzickis, an experienced green woodworker, wood sculptor and dugout canoe maker. Rihards’ passion for green wood and solid wood creations has only grown since his childhood days.

2018 • USA • 5 min • Nick Loud and Chris Loud

Filmmaker in Attendance

Bike Leelanau is advocating for building and sustaining accessible trails for all abilities while helping to build a local community focused around a love of biking

2018 • USA • 5 min • Courtney and Michael Kent

Filmmaker in Attendance

On an island in Lake Superior, creativity, environmental philosophy, and remote wilderness come together to create an artist residency like no other. The Compass Points Here provides a visual taste of this unique remote island.

2016 • United Kingdom • 10 min • Jen Randall

The Bothy Project is about exploring the wilds on your own terms, in your own style. Artists Tessa Lyons, Natasha Brooks and writer Claire Carter take themselves into the vast emptiness of the Sheneval bothy in the Scottish Northwest to let go and unravel. A run, a hike, a swim; a painting, a poem, or an animation, each woman’s experience is woven into this beautiful short film.

2018 • USA • 17 min • Jake Youngman

Filmmaker in Attendance

A Superior Island is a personal travel documentary with stunning nature cinematography sequences that tells the story of when two diabetics set off to the Upper Peninsula into the remote wilderness of Isle Royale National Park, with five pounds of medical supplies, eleven pounds of food, and twenty two pounds of camera gear.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Matthew Key

Filmmaker in Attendance

This film is an interview with a local rock climber in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

2017 • New Zealand • 4 min • Briar March

Death is inevitable. And expensive. But it doesn’t have to be boring. In New Zealand, a group of rebellious retirees are shunning black garb, dull funerals and mahogany caskets by creating a club where they construct their own coffins. The whimsical boxes are painted with shamrocks, beach scenes, cartoon chickens and pictures of Elvis, and reflect the colorful lives of their makers. The Coffin Club is a glittery, musical number that celebrates how these seniors will make a splash on their final day.

2018 • USA • 16 min • Jason Whalen

Filmmaker in Attendance

A film about the spring songbird migration through the Great Lakes region and the people who interact with them. From research to rehab, it takes a lot to understand and conserve this natural phenomenon.

2018 • USA • 14 min • Michelle Smith

Jacques “The Frenchy” Houot is a Colorado icon. He is an 82-year-old badass athlete who gets after it non-stop on skis, mountain bike, and the cyclocross race circuit. He inspires us with his contagious love of life, epic tales of survival, ability to counter aging though laughter, and his impace on the community over decades.

2017 • USA • 17 min • Daniel Sherer

Filmmaker in Attendance

Amid a snow-covered Nordic landscape, a portal on the side of a frosty mountain leads to a long, dark tunnel and then a frozen door. Behind that door: the history of agriculture — of cultivation, selection and environmental symbioses— as told by more than 880,000 seeds. This is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the largest collection of seeds in the world and a safeguard against loss of diversity, insurance that human agriculture can adapt and continue to feed the world. This film follows world-renowned scientist Cary Fowler as he delves into the state of agriculture, co-evolution, extinction and the future of our food supply.

2017 • USA • 5 min • Tim Roberts

If you’ve spent time skiing around the Utah’s Wasatch Front, you’ve probably seen or shared a chair with Burke Weir. A local at Alta, Brighton, Snowbird, and Solitude, Burke and his blades are a well-known fixture on the hill. His love for skiing is unparalleled.

2016 • USA • 29 min • Tucker Marder

Adult Content

A poor and uneducated nurseryman from Northern Michigan is sent back from heaven with the mission to save the world from global warming by cloning the world’s oldest and largest trees.

2017 • Canada & USA • 23 min • Jacob Wise

Vancouver Island is home to some of the largest areas of old-growth forests on the planet. This is the story of ancient, biodiverse forests and the indigenous people who live among them, a system being mismanaged closer and closer to extinction.

2017 • USA • 6 min • Will Stauffer-Norris

Unsung environmental hero Jimmy Carter grew up inspired by nature’s wonder. But not until he first paddled the Chattooga River did he understand the true power of wild rivers. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, President Carter urges all Americans to protect our rivers.

2017 • France • 10 min • Guillaume Broust

If dirtbag dreams could come true, climbers would send routes all day and never pay dues on the other end of the rope. This dream has been realized by a handful of climbers, thanks to belay sensei Ray Verseau. Verseau has been dubbed the world’s best belayer, leaving climbers everywhere with one burning question: how can we find him?

2017 • USA • 3 min • Grant Piering

Filmmaker in Attendance

It’s not the places you go, the fancy equipment you bring along or the people you try to impress through social media that make a trip special. Rather, the ones you go with are what really matter.

2018 • USA • 3 min • Aaron Peterson

Filmmaker in Attendance

2018 • USA • 3 min • Ben Cole

A brief escape from life at school in lower Michigan to the backcountry paradise and powder pockets of Mount Bohemia in the Kewennaw Peninsula. A short edit put together from our weekend spent ripping around in the trees and tossing ourselves off a few cliffs. Skiers - Matt Eckel, Mikey Knoth, Ben Cole

2018 • USA • 3 min • Layne Johnston

Filmmaker in Attendance

A day in the life of a 9 year old. A brief reminder of how simple life is as a kid and a reminder of where our thirst to explore the world begins.

2018 • USA • 1 min • John Berry

Filmmaker in Attendance

This was shot in about an hour! I was camping near the dunes, and spent the afternoon hiking and exploring the sand dunes that overlook Lake Michigan. I also created the music for this piece.

2018 • USA • 4 min • Mark Knight

Take a four-minute journey to some of the planet’s most spectacular glaciers, waterfalls, beaches, rivers and waterways. Destinations include, Iceland, Igauzu Falls Brazil, Atchafalaya Basin Louisiana, Lake Tahoe California, Black Canyon of the Gunnison Colorado, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

2017 • USA • 22 min • Michael Premo

Adult Content

In 2013, Texas-based SWN Resources arrived in New Brunswick, Canada to explore for natural gas. In response, a multicultural group of unlikely warriors–including members of the Mi’kmaq Elsipogtog First Nation, French-speaking Acadians and white, English-speaking families–set up a series of road blockades, preventing exploration. After months of resistance, their efforts not only halted drilling; they elected a new government and won an indefinite moratorium on fracking in the province. Water Warriors is the story of a community’s successful fight to protect their water from the oil and natural gas industry.

2018 • USA • 6 min • Brenda Piekarski

Filmmaker in Attendance

In 2017, Jay Gustafson launched Paddle for Progress, a two-year, 4,300-mile personal journey in response to Governor Dayton’s call for water action. Jay’s mission to reconnect humanity with one of our most precious resources took him to the most remote and least visited corners of Minnesota, as well as through nearly every major community in the state. Alone in the wilderness, Jay reminds us how we are all linked to water, one of the most powerful elements on earth that is in a constant state of danger. His passion for paddling and call to something greater than himself leads us down water trails into our own spirit’s journey and connection with the earth. Waterway Jay is the story of this one man’s journey to save water, and how we are connected to it all.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Riley Hooper

Blind and afraid of water, Vivian Stancil learned to swim at 48. “I heard that blind people can’t swim,” Stancil says, followed by: “Oh, yes they can!” Two hundred and twenty-one medals later, at half her former body weight, Stencil is still at it.

2017 • Canada • 5 min • Kelsey Thompson

SUP surfers Emre Bost and Glen Pearson discuss the experience of living and surfing in Tofino, British Columbia.

2017 • USA • 3 min • Paxson Woelber

Filmed in south-central and southeast Alaska over the course of two winters, “Wild Ice” features members of Alaska’s backcountry skating community including nordic bladers, hockey players, and figure skaters as they hunt for wild ice on rivers, lakes, or glacial lagoons, or in caves.

2016 • USA • 5 min • Stefan Hunt

A young surfer helps kids get clean water.

2016 • United Kingdom • 2 min • Jiaqi Wang

Adult Content

The World Naked Bike Ride is a global protest where people cycle naked through cities. The ride is a celebration of bikes and bodies, a protest against oil dependency and a demonstration of cyclists’ vulnerability. All scripts are based on true people and true stories.

2017 • USA • 11 min • Ile Mitaru

In 2011, Russia’s largest meat producer, Miratorg, began recruiting American cowboys to help restart a national beef industry that had been destroyed during the Soviet era. Follow four of these American cowboys as they attempt to train their Russian counterparts and create new lives for themselves and their families in this new unexpected Russian frontier.

2018 • USA • 2 min • Finn Ryan

Filmmaker in Attendance

A winter portrait of the Yahara Watershed and trail for upcoming film examining the history and environmental challenges of one of the best studies watersheds in the world.