A Sad Story About a Tree

2024 • USA • 14 min • Ryan Rumpca

Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, Filmmaker in Attendance

A mother-daughter group learns valuable life and wilderness skills in one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the world, powered only by their own two feet and a team of four legged friends.  With multiple trips to the North Pole, South Pole, Greenland, and Svalbard on her resume, she is embarking on one of her greatest adventures yet: motherhood.

2022 • United States • 19 min • Jesse Roesler

Subject in Attendance, Staff Pick

Emily Ford and sled dog Diggins attempt to cross the secluded Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in winter during subzero temperatures to raise awareness about copper mining threats.

2021 • 64 min • Tasha Van Zandt

Staff Pick

A journey across both poles, After Antarctica follows polar explorer Will Steger’s life journey as an eyewitness to the greatest changes to the polar regions of our planet. In 1989, Steger led an international team of six scientists and explorers on the first coast-to-coast dogsled traverse of Antarctica. The ultimate mission of the expedition was to draw global attention to Antarctica’s changing climate and use the expedition as a tool to renew the Antarctic Treaty, which would protect the continent from mineral exploitation. Even with his background in science and knowledge of the changing climate, Steger could never have expected what he would soon discover. This arduous expedition opened his eyes to the most pressing issue of our time and ultimately changed the course of his life forever.