Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere
Indigenous and Western ways of knowing come together through the collaboration of a Anishinaabe scholar and college professor to redefine our understanding of wilderness and argue for the return of fire to our forests.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere
“Breaking Ice” follows photographer Jason Lindsey creating his “Cracks in the Ice” series after his son Björn asked what the world will look like due to climate change. Unable to give clear answers to a child who craves stability due to his medical history, Lindsey turns to art to explore this question.
First Time Filmmaker, Filmmaker in Attendance, Student Filmmaker
A documentary about urbanism and life on the road- how is a car centric society changing the way we interact?
Adult Language, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, Student Filmmaker, Filmmaker in Attendance
A 17-year-old’s first film offers an intimate look at the climate crisis, current events and a trip West through a teenagers eyes. It is brave to admit you are scared.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere
Grant takes an unconventional road trip in a tiny 33 year old kei car from Japan, with a simple goal: to challenge the narrative that electric vehicles are the greener choice.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Student Filmmaker
A look at the annual efforts to deploy and maintain the data collecting buoys by the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences. From scientists and sailors to weather forecasters and beachgoers, these buoys play an integral part of our lives to help us better understand and respond to the changing conditions of the Great Lakes.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere, Representative in Attendance
From Rugg Pond Dam on the Rapid River in Kalkaska County to the Crystal River in Leelanau County, this film follows the Conservation Resource Alliance’s River Care program and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians as they restore Northern Michigan’s rivers—reconnecting waters, renewing habitats, and honoring cultural ties.
Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick, Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker
With a single Facebook post, a small mountain in upstate New York received national attention and captured the hearts of the entire ski industry.
Has Subtitles
In the Dominican Republic, baseball is more than just a sport—it’s a way of life. Every child dreams of playing in the “big leagues,” and nearly every adult knows someone who has. However, as the nation’s passion for baseball flourishes, its natural environment is under threat from rapid development. Mangroves, which provide vital ecological benefits, are being destroyed to make way for new infrastructure. Despite this, there is hope.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere
A hauntingly beautiful conservation documentary that follows wildlife researchers from Birds Canada and the University of Waterloo deep into the forests of southwestern Ontario, Canada to uncover the mysterious world of the Eastern Whip-poor-will — a nocturnal bird whose call once echoed across the night, and is now slowly falling silent.
Has Subtitles, Nudity
Somber Tides is a cry from the species, startled into survival against the elements. One last breath before being trampled by the Earth or maybe conversely a battle to wage against winds and tides clutching on before extinction.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Has Subtitles, First Time Filmmaker, World Premiere, Making Waves Recipient, Staff Pick
After turning her Chicago home into a monarch butterfly sanctuary, Claudia Galeno-Sánchez, an environmental activist, Mexican immigrant, and mother is on a mission to save the monarch butterfly, an important symbol for both her family and millions of others in the United States.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere
Filmed over two field seasons spanning three years, The Bird House tells the story of the impacts of weather, storms and high water at Canada’s most isolated bird banding and research station located at the tip of a 20-mile long wind-swept sandspit in the middle of Lake Erie.
Has Subtitles, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere, Family Friendly
Rufino Vargas moved to the U.S. from Mexico in 1988. Vargas, who has diabetes, now owns and operates Ortega Urban Farms on Detroit’s westside. He says farming has helped him manage his blood sugar while providing healthy food for his family — and other Detroiters.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Staff Pick
Against the backdrop of the sixth mass extinction, an all-woman team of biologists set out to save bats from a deadly fungal disease, but when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupts their work, they are sent down a path of discovery that illuminates the connections between bat conservation and the spread of infectious disease.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere
The film tells the story of how researchers discover ‘lingering ash’ trees, and use them to genetically breed emerald ash borer resistant trees. They hope to someday plant resistant trees back in forests across the country. A production from Points North Podcast & The Boardman Review in partnership with Great Lakes Now / Detroit PBS.
Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Student Filmmaker
When a father is faced with health issues caused by nearby petrochemical plants, he must make a decision: stay and fight for his community, or leave and save his family.
Has Subtitles, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker, Staff Pick
In the late 1970s, Satish Bhaskar embarked on an epic journey along India’s coastline and the spectacular Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where he uncovered the vital nesting beaches of sea turtles. During his death-defying quest, he unravels mysteries surrounding these enigmatic ocean creatures – and sets out to save them from extinction.
Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Filmmaker in Attendance
In the face of climate change, Wisconsin conservationists are protecting the plants and wildlife at Rush Creek State Natural Area. Using fire and innovative adaptive techniques, their proactive approach offers a model for building resilience across our natural spaces in an uncertain future. In partnership with the Natural Resources Foundation of WI.
Family Friendly, Staff Pick, Filmmaker in Attendance
When I’m in the Water is a film centered around a group of women, called the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, in Cape Cod, Mass. fighting to revitalize not only their own lives and the lives of their fellow group members, but the ecosystems consisting of hundreds of ponds in the Cape. Throughout their journey to clean up the ponds, members of the group have found an accepting and supporting community to aid them in their personal journeys, harnessing their mental fortitude and discovering physical strength at their age.
Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, Filmmaker in Attendance
Following in his father’s footsteps of polar exploration, captain Peter Schurke takes us up the West coast of Svalbard in a small sailboat, dwarfed by the towering mountains of this arctic archipelago.