A video essay about Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Fir Tree,” perhaps the saddest Christmas story every written.
Environment
39 films
A Sad Story About a Tree
After Antarctica
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. …
An Imperfect Advocate
In the rarified air of the world’s wildest mountains, alpinist Graham Zimmerman has seen firsthand the effects of human-driven climate change on the world. And he has been forced …
Color Out Here: Shaping Narratives
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance
Alice Lyn, a biracial woman raised in Brooklyn, re-frames the outdoors and Michigan places you think you know, as she leads urban people of color to the outdoors.
Coreyon
Filmmaker in Attendance
The Coreyon Reef restoration is aimed at bringing open water spawning reef habitat back to Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay. Throughout history, land use, pollution, overfishing and …
Diving UP
Filmmaker in Attendance
In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, there are many who enjoy the numerous wonders of nature this state has to offer. However, there is another natural treasure that has been mostly …
Feast or Famine
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance
Mike King presents “Feast or Famine”. A film that connects passion with purpose, as I’ve discovered the importance of protecting the places I love while chasing powder and …
Freshwater
Filmmaker in Attendance
Freshwater is a documentary that dives into the cold waters of Lake Superior along Minnesota’s North Shore. Despite the fact that it contains ten percent of Earth’s freshwater, …
How to Count a Wolf
Wolves are recolonizing Washington. How to Count a Wolf follows three wildlife biologists who try to find them as they get here. Learn about the methods they use, and the risks …
Ice Ball
Best known for his legendary polar explorations, Will Steger’s life work grew out of a single log cabin he built after moving to the Minnesotan wilderness at age 25. Reliant on …
If I Tell Them
James Sampsel, a plein air painter and fly-fishing guide, comes to terms with his past and a bi-polar diagnosis that hangs over his future.
Irakli's Lantern
Staff Pick
In the Caucasus mountains of Georgia, 78-year-old Irakli Khvedaguridze has spent the past 25 winters living alone as the last inhabitant of Europe’s highest village.
Leelanau Conservancy - Farmland Protection
Filmmaker in Attendance
Local farmers band together with the Leelanau Conservancy to preserve the land, environment, and way of life that defines Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula, and thanks to their …
LOON
Filmmaker in Attendance
Is wilderness more valuable than money? It depends on who you ask. Loon is a through hiking naturalist who understands what’s truly valuable in life. At 80 years old with …
Mission Mountain
Filmmaker in Attendance
Raising cattle doesn’t usually rate as an earth-friendly practice. Amy O’Hoyt, a first-generation rancher, can confirm. So she bucked the standard way of producing beef to finish …
Nibi: The fight for water, rights and a way of life
While there has been a widespread focus on the controversy of Line 5, this film takes a closer look into perhaps one of the most often overlooked, yet most important perspectives …
Open Water
Open Water is a short documentary film about what it feels like to swim across the largest freshwater lake in the world. It follows 61-year-old open-water swimmer Marilyn Korzekwa …
Operation Wolf Patrol
Staff Pick, Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Adult Language
“Operation Wolf Patrol,” is a feature length documentary about eco-activist, Rod Coronado, and his attempt to end wolf hunting in the United States.
Over the course of …
Oshkigin: Spirit of Fire
Filmmaker in Attendance
Not all fire is bad. Increased droughts and longer fire seasons in recent decades have caused more frequent, dangerous, and intense fires across the country. But for thousands of …
Our Common Home
Filmmaker in Attendance
A captivating illustration of Catholic recognition of climate change as an environmental and social problem.
Our Water
Staff Pick, Filmmaker in Attendance
Four friends set out on an expedition inspired by Lake Superior. They travel in kayaks, paddle stroke by paddle stroke to circumnavigate the worlds largest freshwater resource. …
Pangu
Based on the ancient Chinese creation myth, Pangu is a modern tale about parenthood and the differences between generations. Pangu creates a rigid world of angular shapes, but …
Protect the Orca: A Story About Whales, Fish, & Trees
The endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest rely on the West Coast Chinook salmon for food. However, salmon stocks are diminishing due to loss of habitat and increasing pollution …
salt & sea
This film tells of the end of an era. Ireland has a rich history in its lighthouses. Gerald is one of about a dozen living lighthouse keepers in Ireland, as these lighthouses have …
Saving Buffalo Reef
Filmmaker in Attendance
Buffalo Reef is a natural cobble feature in Lake Superior, located just off the eastern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P of Michigan. The reef has historically maintained …
Second Wind
Second Wind is a documentary short film about pulmonary fibrosis patient and double-lung transplant recipient Nick Brown. Nick was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis at the very …
Small Footprints: Crafting an Eco-Lodge in Wild Alaska
Staff Pick, Filmmaker in Attendance
In 2008, a sustainable development project began in the middle of the Kenai Fjords of Alaska, 3 hours by boat from the nearest port of civlization. Told from the points of view of …
Stewards of All Creation
Filmmaker in Attendance
United in stewardship, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa join our neighbors in protecting the land, water, and original orders of creation. The decisions we make today …
Superior Steel 3
Filmmaker in Attendance
The third film of Superior Steel brings acrobatic fish, low and high water, new and old places and the same great fish.
Sweetwater
Filmmaker in Attendance
Cast your line into another world. What is out there? An unknown.
Meet the people who explore the hills and valleys of the lake bottom.
Why do they do it? What happens when they …
The Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative
The Arctic Grayling disappeared from Michigan waters over 100 years ago. This is the story of what it will take to bring it back. The Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative is a …
The Waterbird Counter
Tim Baerwald talks the importance of collecting data to establish patterns. The data is essential to have informed discussions on how development can effect our environment. His …
This Land
Runner and advocate Faith E. Briggs used to run through the streets of Brooklyn every morning. Now, she’s running 150 miles through three U.S. National Monuments that lay in the …
To The Surface
Like most things, Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the RI seafood industry. Through the wisdom of local fishermen, To The Surface explores the struggles and tries to shed light on some …
UNDERSTORY
Staff Pick
Three women set sail on a 350 mile expedition through Alaska’s massive Tongass National Forest, exploring how clearcut logging in this coastal rainforest could affect wildlife, …
Vatna Glacier
Filmmaker in Attendance
The brutal reality of Vatna Glacier melting in Iceland.
Venture Out
Venture Out is a story of overcoming odds, the power of resilience, and ultimately, the ever-lasting effects of LGBTQ community building. The Venture Out Project, founded by Perry …
Water Flow Together
Water Flows Together elevates the importance of acknowledging Indigenous land in outdoor recreation through the voice of Colleen Cooley, one of the few female Diné (Navajo) river …
Zibi Yajdan
Zibi Yajdan tells a story of the Kalamazoo River and her relationship to the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi people (Gun Lake Tribe) in the wake of the Enbridge Pipeline 6B …