2023 • USA • 14 min • Trần Hoàng Calvin

Family Friendly

As Wisconsin reforms its expungement process, the opportunity for a second chance for the formerly incarcerated hinges on a local activist named Shanyeill McCloud.

2024 • USA • 60 min • John Thain

Family Friendly

The world’s largest lake is now among the fastest warming lakes on the planet. A Sea Change for Lake Superior takes a fresh look at Lake Superior’s natural and cultural legacy, how the lake is fairing in a time of unprecedented change, and how citizens can help mitigate today’s problems and those that the future portends.

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.

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.

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 • 15 min • Finn Ryan

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

The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians is the largest indigenous tribe east of the Mississippi and has been stewarding the fisheries of their Great Lakes territory for generations. This project explores the importance of the fishery to the tribe and how they’re working to ensure a healthy fishery for the next seven generations.

2024 • USA • 12 min • Zeppelin Zeerip

Michigan Premiere

A Ukrainian snowboarder turned soldier grapples with the trauma of war and the uncertainty of being called back, seeking solace in nature as he tries to reintegrate into society.

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 • 91 min • Thomas Lindsey Haskin

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Staff Pick

THE FISH THIEF: A Great Lakes Mystery, formerly known as RELENTLESS, is a captivating mystery that engages the audience in a battle for the survival of the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth, the Great Lakes. This fascinating true story, narrated by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons, follows remarkable people tackling the mystery of why the most prized fish nearly vanished. The crash destroyed jobs and businesses, and devastated towns, tribal communities, and First Nations across the region.

2023 • USA • 16 min • Jason Whalen

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

On a mission to clean up Ohio’s leaking, abandoned coal mines, Ohio University Art Professor John Sabraw teams up with an environmental engineer to develop a process that turns the toxic runoff pollution into paint. John’s artwork has been shown all over the world and proceeds have helped numerous environmental organizations and projects, including a new water treatment plant on the Sunday Creek Watershed in southeastern Ohio.

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.