2024 • USA • 7 min • Justin Deegan

Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere

An artistic celebration of the environmental activism of Darline Deegan and her efforts to protect the land of her Indigenous community.

2024 • USA • 10 min • Matthew Boyd

Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

Between the Ohio and Mississippi riverbanks sit the United States’ 15th International Wetland of Importance. Yet, the wetlands today are mere remnants of their original borders. Max Hutchison is a naturalist, ecologist, zoologist, and lifelong voice for preserving the wetlands he also calls home. The Careist is an ode to Max, a way of life, and a natural area long overlooked and daring to disappear forever.

2024 • USA • 17 min • Chris Cresci

Subject in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

Set against the backdrop of Desolation Canyon, UT, Mikah Meyer, a world-record traveler and LGBTQ+ advocate, reflects with three close friends and his mentor, Larry Edwards, on their stories and the power of mentorship within the queer community. As a child, Mikah believed he could never have a successful life AND be publicly out and gay. When he moved to college and met Larry, his openly gay choir professor, a lifelong mentorship was born. Amidst conversations and joy along the river, we understand the power and importance of their friendship. As Larry enters what he calls the ‘final chapter’ of his life, he reflects on the lifelong fight for openness and vulnerability within the queer community, and through the desolation of nature, finds contentment in a job well done.

2022 • USA • 6 min • Henry Schenkel

Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker

Department of Natural Resources officer, Jay Wesley, and two avid outdoorsmen dive into the importance of salmon preservation in one of the top fisheries in the country because of the effect salmon has on the freshwater ecosystem of Michigan.

2024 • USA • 10 min • Kate Houle

Filmmaker in Attendance, World Premiere

What’s a tree worth? From the point of view of a city forester, an ecologist, a firewood harvesting hobbyist, a professor and a philanthropist, we learn about the different relationships people have with their urban forest. Money Tree explores the tangible and intangible values and the importance of this urban biodiversity that often goes unnoticed.

2024 • USA • 27 min • Isaac Seigel-Boettner

Has Subtitles, Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

This is a story about the power of feeling wind in your hair, no matter where you are on life’s journey. John is a retired school teacher who uses his pedal-powered rickshaw to give adventures to people who have lost the ability to get outside themselves. Through the intimate moments of these rides, _Cycling Without Age _explores the importance of the outdoors for those who are all too often trapped inside.

2024 • Canada • 18 min • Émile Dontigny

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

For the Frigon, hunting is a family tradition that forges and strengthens the bonds between the generations. For several autumns already, Louis-Henri has been tracking moose with his grandson, Sasha. However, at the dawn of his 81st birthday, old age reminds him that his career as a hunter is now behind him. For the first time this year, Louis-Henri will not go for the hunt and Sasha will leave without him. Goodbye, Hunter offers an intimate look at the transmission of a long family tradition.

2024 • USA • 19 min • Lea Rodbarry & Jonathan Mullen

Family Friendly

In the rivers that flow through our neighborhoods lives an unseen but important creature: the freshwater mussel. These mussels perform key ecosystem services, including a remarkable capacity to filter and clean water. Once almost extinct and now struggling to make a comeback in DuPage County’s urban waterways, freshwater mussels need help.

2023 • USA • 14 min • Rishi Sethi

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere

Watermarks shows how one person’s dedication and passion for paddling, river surfing, filmmaking, and conservation can have a ripple effect, inspiring others to take action and make a difference in their communities.  The story is centered on a program called First Waves, which provides under-resourced youth with the chance to enjoy and protect their local waterways. 

2024 • USA • 48 min • Jeff Berg

Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker

Can 100 miles change you? Superior 100 is one of the most challenging trail races in the Midwest. See the stories behind 6 unique people who choose to push themselves beyond their limits to test their resilience and grit.

2024 • USA • 4 min • Nick & Chris Loud

Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere

The Leelanau Conservancy’s long-running, highly trusted water quality program. This video profiles Chase Heise of the Leelanau Conservancy as we venture out onto Lake Leelanau to learn more about their water quality program that has been operating continuously for over 30 years, and the overall health of our freshwater lakes in northern Michigan.

2024 • USA • 17 min • Palmer Morse

Michigan Premiere, Filmmaker in Attendance

While navigating a myriad of life challenges, Anjelica Avella turned to the outdoors to improve her mental health only to discover a noticeable lack of other plus-size women of color on trail. By posting a simple flyer looking for more women to hike with, Anjelica created a community she never could have imagined.

2023 • USA • 16 min • Danami-Maurice

Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

In ‘Belonging,’ follow Dalorian, a student in the college course GCST 1970, as he embarks on a journey through nature-based education and environmental justice. Exploring serene Minnesota lakes and the Bois Forte Museum, he and his classmates confront a profound question: What does it mean to belong in nature? This film weaves raw, poetic visuals with deep reflections on identity and community, highlighting their transformative experience in understanding their connection to the natural world.

2024 • USA • 3 min • Erik Sudheimer

World Premiere, Staff Pick

An examination of how two small sticks, randomly acquired in Minnesota’s north woods, have slowly transformed into treasured possessions.

2024 • USA • 18 min • Erika Valenciana; Mitchell Wenkus

Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, Has Subtitles

Migration season is when the Chicago Collision Bird Monitors are the busiest, looking for birds that have flown into windows, as Mother Nature literally slams into the urban environment. Broken Flight introduces us to the volunteers, scientists and veterinarians who rescue, study and catalog these amazing avian species.

2024 • USA • 5 min • Kody Kohlman

Adult Language, Michigan Premiere

Anton Krupicka is an icon of mountain running in the USA. At 23-years-old he won Leadville 100 in Colorado and more recently has blazed a high altitude trail on extensive bikepacking tours.
We wanted to know what drove Anton to chase these experiences. A need for self reliance and a desire for discovery have fueled years of awe-inspiring achievements that have motivated runners, cyclists and climbers around the world. In this film, Anton dives into the purpose behind his pursuits.

2024 • USA • 20 min • Nkaujoua Xiong

Filmmaker in Attendance, Has Subtitles, Subject in Attendance, Staff Pick

At the age of 13, my father left his homeland, Laos, to seek a brighter future in the United States. Throughout the years, he devoted himself to supporting his family, seldom sharing the details of his past. This film intimately explores the experiences that shaped my father’s understanding of love.

2024 • USA • 44 min • Chris Langer

Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker

Embark on an eye-opening journey through the unseen impacts of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes region. Guided by Dr. Sherri Mason and other regional voices, witness the vast extent of contamination pathways, effects of microplastics, and the unexpected toll on human health. Beyond individual action, the film inspires a collective movement for transformative progress toward a plastic-free future. 

2024 • USA • 16 min • Nate Mitka

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

The Bike Listening Tour follows Andrew Mohama on his solo cycling tour across America as he investigates loneliness. Inspired by his passion for community, Mohama sets out to learn more about the Loneliness Epidemic in America, biking along less-traveled rural roads and, at one point, biking across “America’s Loneliest Highway.”

2023 • USA • 71 min • Davis Huber

Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker, Representative in Attendance, Staff Pick

Troubled Water is an exhilarating adventure, conservation film that beckons viewers to follow along on a transformative journey down the stunning coast of Lake Michigan. As the journey unfolds, the film unveils the significance of the Line 5 pipeline issue, the dire need for collective action and the historic precedent that this movement would establish. If successfully shutdown, it would become the first active pipeline in US history to be terminated before it ruptures.

2024 • USA • 12 min • Ryan Broussard and Joshua Sisolak

First Time Filmmaker, Michigan Premiere

The mayor of an island off the coast of Virginia hopes to have his town saved from rising tides.

2023 • USA • 17 min • Stephen Michael Simon

Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, Adult Language, Staff Pick

The city lifestyle left New York City artist Lala feeling hollow, forcing her to make the bold decision of uprooting herself and seeking solace in the untamed landscapes somewhere far west. Stripped of the familiar comforts of running water, electricity, and constant connectivity, she faces the daunting challenge of building a bountiful life from scratch.

2024 • USA • 10 min • Mike Wilkinson

Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick

Since 1996, a quiet man in the backwoods of Eastern Kentucky has taken it upon himself to clean tires out of the Wild and Scenic Red River. Now 28 years later, friends, environmental groups, and community members are rallying to support annual cleanups in an effort to keep the river beautiful and to try and stop the trash and tires from making it there in the first place.

2023 • USA • 3 min • Lily Kissinger

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

In Gordon, viewers follow the story of a blacksmith based in Marquette, Michigan, during which Gordon Gearhart explains the importance of following one’s own interests.

2024 • USA • 18 min • Nate Sheppard

Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere

PETE’S CASTLE tells the story of Pete Kelley, creator of Kelley Castle in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. The film follows Pete and his brother Pat as they tour around the castle and recount the process of putting the castle together, piece by piece. Enjoy this amusing synthesis of old-world classical sensibilities and folksy American pragmatism and humor.

2024 • USA • 17 min • Eric Machiela

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere

Ghosts towns in the Upper Peninsula aren’t abandoned communities. Some of them are still very much alive. Told from the perspective of the Nahma Inn employees, they recount the spooky and unexplainable happenings that occur on a regular basis.

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.

2024 • USA • 81 min • Ben Sturgulewski

Representative in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, Family Friendly, Has Subtitles, Staff Pick

In the remote mountain villages of Bamyan, Afghanistan, a newfound passion for skiing attracts young athletes from rival ethnic groups to the slopes. With minimal gear and makeshift wooden skis, the determined ski coach Alishah Farhang organizes a thrilling ski race that fosters camaraderie, joy, and triumph. However, after the shocking collapse of their country, many of the skiers are displaced across the globe as refugees, and must call upon the lessons learned in the mountains of their homeland to find a way to rebuild.

2023 • Canada • 22 min • Nadia Louis-Desmarchais

Michigan Premiere, Family Friendly, Has Subtitles

Currently, post pandemic, one in two young people show symptoms of anxiety and depression. The World is ours  is a film that gives the opportunity to six Montreal teenage girls to leave their urban environment for the first time to take part in a nature canoe-camping expedition.

2024 • USA • 16 min • Evan Flom

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

To Be A Good Home follows three women who farm and steward land in northern Minnesota. Kaitlyn is a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, tending her plot at the place of the gardens, Gitigaaning. Starr is an urban farmer, feeding her community near the shores of Gichigami. Hannah is a regenerative farmer, building soil and caring for her herd along Medicine Creek.

2023 • France • 36 min • Morgan LE FAUCHEUR

Has Subtitles, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere

Six monumental statues are immersed between the Lérins Islands under the gaze of their creator, the sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. Molded from the faces of six inhabitants of Cannes, these stone giants were made from an ecological marine material. If today, these statues constitute the first underwater eco-museum inFrance and the Mediterranean created by the artist, tomorrow they will serve as a habitat and refuge for local marine biodiversity.

2024 • USA • 7 min • Makaylee Kuhn and Mark Shevy

Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly

The NMU Volleyball team is known for big action when they serve, bump, set, and spike on the court. Off the court, they serve as an example for how we can make changes to take better care of our environment.

2022 • USA • 7 min • Daniel Bremmer

Filmmaker in Attendance, First Time Filmmaker

“The Search” follows Great Lakes Surfer Hunter Lohman on his journey to chase waves and his idea of true happiness. With the mystery and inconsistency that comes with lake surfing, Hunter will persevere through unpredictability to find solidarity and serenity in the places he goes and in the life he has chosen for himself.

2023 • USA / Montenegro • 3 min • Grant Piering

Family Friendly, Filmmaker in Attendance

A look back at one month spent in the beautiful country of Montenegro, recorded with a combination of Super 8 Film, Drone hyperlapses, digital timelapses and handheld sound recording.

2024 • USA • 16 min • Aaron Peterson

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Adult Language

Kiko is the Keweenaw’s favorite Brazilian Yooper. He rides bikes, plays accordion, makes a little trouble and tells truths we all probably need to hear. A collaboration of Aaron Peterson Studios and Points North Podcast.

2023 • USA • 5 min • Mary and Dan

Subject in Attendance

Our Superior October started with a few dips in Lake Superior during a stretch of nice fall weather. It developed into a challenge to dip into the lake every day of October no matter the weather.

2023 • United States • 90 min • Joe Pickett

Filmmaker in Attendance, Staff Pick, Adult Language

THIS IS A LIVE PERFORMANCE!
Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett grew up in Wisconsin as childhood friends and now have the dubious distinction of having amassed the world’s largest collection of VCR tapes.
They’ve scoured the nation’s thrift stores and rummage sales for VHS gold in order to find the long-lost cringe from workout videos, home videos, self-help miscellany, animals, and literally anything you can imagine and beyond. The antics and absurdities from the VHS era are easy to forget in today’s world, but when curated by two hard-working comedic geniuses, it makes for pure, timeless laughs.
Pickett (The Onion) and Prueher (The Colbert Report and the Late Show with David Letterman), are cassette tape archaeologists whose life’s work is finding gloriously terrible footage in the most unlikely places, editing it together, and creating a live show they bring all over America. 
They call it The Found Footage Festival–we call it genius, and welcome its Greatest Hits show home to the Fresh Coast.

2023 • Poland / USA • 15 min • Graham Steele

Has Subtitles, Family Friendly, Staff Pick, Michigan Premiere, Representative in Attendance

As a child, Piotr Chara spent countless hours on the Oder River in Poland, fishing with his father and wondering at the wildlife; as he grew, Piotr noticed a decline in the river’s bird species and decided to take action. Now an award-winning photographer - and a father himself - Piotr runs an organization that builds floating nests for the birds and restores the rapidly receding wetlands.

2022 • United States • 11 min • Peter Goetz

Family Friendly, Staff Pick, Representative in Attendance

Most people think of it as a sewer, but the Los Angeles River is just like any other river: a vital natural habitat that must be protected and revitalized. Through the eyes of local fly fishermen and women, as well as a local infrastructure agent, and members of a non-profit focused on the LA River, we see the waterway in a new light, as it is revealed that sections of the river are loaded with fish, ducks, and other wildlife.

2023 • United States • 4 min • Nels Lindquist

Filmmaker in Attendance

The official music video for “I Built a Fire” by celebrated Marquette-area musician Michael Waite. Shot in slow motion around a towering bonfire, this reflective piece mirrors the solemn beauty of Mr. Waite’s song.

2023 • United States • 4 min • Nels Lindquist

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance

The official music video for “Girl with Bangs” by Marquette-based musician Hairday. This upbeat earworm will be stuck in your head all day. Featuring a visually dazzling array of locations around Marquette.

2023 • United States • 3 min • Nels Lindquist

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, World Premiere

The official music video for “Zombie” by Hairday. Follow Hairday as he stalks through the night with a shovel in hand, searching for warmth in a cold and haunted world. Shot on VHS.

2023 • United States • 4 min • Nels Lindquist

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, World Premiere

The mellow and charming music video for Ethan Bott’s “Two Track.” Hop in the passenger seat of a vintage Chevy truck and take a cruise down a Michigan backroad in autumn. The fall colors are out in all of their glory.

2023 • United States • 6 min • Nels Lindquist

World Premiere, Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance

The official music video premiere for “Baltic Avenue” by The Thirties. This far out commentary on the housing crisis was filmed aboard a float in the 2023 Marquette 4th of July Parade, and features all sorts of wackiness and stunning set pieces throughout.

2023 • United States • 9 min • Nels Lindquist

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, World Premiere

The official music video for Ethan Bott’s hit song “Ain’t No Honky Tonks in Michigan,” in which Ethan abandons a life as a Texan race car driver in order to voyage back to the UP in search of a mythical northern honky tonk bar.

2020 • United States • 3 min • Jason Whalen

Filmmaker in Attendance

The magic that exists within the world of the vernal pool is temporary. Each spring, the forests of Michigan become home to seasonal pools of water that are often overlooked and under-appreciated. But without them, some species of frogs, salamanders and fairy shrimp could not survive.

2020 • USA • 12 min • Ciara Lacy

Adult Language

THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE is an exploration into the creative process, following Native Hawaiian slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio as her calling to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai`i reinvigorates her art.

2023 • USA • 11 min • Peter Goetz

Family Friendly, Staff Pick, Michigan Premiere, Representative in Attendance

At age seven, Cash “The Conservation Kid” Daniels began leading cleanups along the Tennessee River in his hometown, Chattanooga. Six years later, Cash continues to make a significant impact on the river’s health by strategically collecting fishing waste and inspiring his peers across the world to protect the environment and all the wildlife he holds dear.