Filmmaker in Attendance, Has Subtitles, Family Friendly, Representative in Attendance
Patrick Concannon reflects on his ancestral land near North Lake Leelanau, where hunting, gathering and caring for the land connect family across generations. This film is part of the Leelanau Conservancy’s Indigenous Knowledges Project, dedicated to elevating Anishinaabe voices.
Filmmaker in Attendance, First Time Filmmaker
Artists, researchers, and activists explore the relationship between their lived experiences and the patterns of uneven development in Metropolitan Detroit and its art ecosystem.
Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere
“Big Jim” Whittaker was a legendary Pacific Northwest mountaineer who became the first American to summit Mount Everest on May 1, 1963. Featuring rarely seen 16mm footage from the 1963 American Everest Expedition, archival images from the Whittaker family collection, and interviews filmed in Jim’s late 80s, the film is both an intimate portrait of an extraordinary life and a celebration of the adventurous spirit that helped define a generation of American climbing.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Adult Language, Michigan Premiere, Adult Themes
Before Stonewall there was The Black Nite, a Milwaukee gay bar where LGBTQ activists and allies brawled with a group of homophobic sailors. This video ode to the location tells the story of that night.
Michigan Premiere, Representative in Attendance
Two iconic Lake Superior estuaries are among the planet’s most biologically productive environments. The pristine Bad River Sloughs have been sustained through time by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The much maligned St. Louis River estuary is the heart of the Fond du Lac Band’s traditional homeland. Both face an uncertain future.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance
Frontier to Freedom is the origin story of Michigan from 1600-1837. Through a blend of expert interviews, archival imagery, and stunning visuals, the film traces our evolution from a vast wilderness inhabited by Indigenous peoples to its history of war and conflict on the American frontier, and the complex socio-political forces that shaped its path to statehood.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Explore the rise of forward-facing sonar, the most controversial technology in modern fishing. Is this innovation… or are we crossing the line between sport and simulation?
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Work in Progress
Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior is the little known sibling to famous Isle Royale. Soak in the rugged wilderness. Explore seldom seen relics and natural wonders. Get to know your seasoned off-trail guides, Michael Neiger and Chris Ozminski. This is a special sneak preview of the nearly completed film.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Representative in Attendance, Student Filmmaker
_Organic Network _features interviews from urban farmers and experts in Flint, Michigan on the impact of the water crisis, COVID, benefits of local farming, and how the lives of the farmers have changed over the years.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere, Staff Pick
A five-minute tribute to the last 100 years of Flint, through the lyrics and performance of Mama Sol and the Flint Symphony.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly
Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin’s largest inland lake, used to teem with wild rice. What happened to the rice, and how do we help restore it? An intertribal, interdisciplinary team is blending traditional ecological knowledge and western science to answer these questions.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Michigan Premiere
Lifelong equestrian Britta Nancarrow seeks to progress as a professional competitive skijorer. Join along as she trains with Michigan skier Mike King and snowboarder Sandra Hillen, taking their on-snow skills to the next level at their very first competition.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly, Staff Pick
The film explores the lake sturgeon’s traditional role in Anishinaabe culture as told through interviews with community members across Michigan and examines how traditional beliefs have guided and revolutionized lake sturgeon restoration efforts in the Great Lakes.
Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick
A documentary chronicling the life and career of Kristian Svitak, a professional skateboarder hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. Known for his fearless style and dedication, Svitak has been a significant figure in shaping Ohio’s skateboarding culture.
Michigan Premiere, Staff Pick
The last commercial fishermen of the Great Lakes struggle to survive as they face unprecedented ecological disasters, a changing climate, and outdated governmental regulations.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, World Premiere, Nudity
The Heat That Holds Us explores the enduring sauna culture of the Great Lakes region, tracing its evolution from century-old public steam rooms to breathtaking modern architectural marvels.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere
Lake Michigan’s Green Bay is the world’s largest freshwater estuary, where the warm, nutrient-rich water of the Lower Fox River mixes with the cool water of the lake, creating an aquatic environment that supports a productive fishery, wetlands and a migratory flyway. The film turns to the people who care for this world of fish and birds as they seek understanding and look for solutions.
Has Subtitles
If a train in Detroit could talk, what would it say? This short film showcases the possible musings of Detroit’s tiny public transit system.
Representative in Attendance
The Search for Anna & Levi uncovers the overlooked story of Anna and Levi Johnson, early Black homesteaders in Leelanau County. Through descendants, historians, and regional experts, the film connects their family story to the broader history of African American settlement in the Midwest.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Michigan Premiere, Adult Language, Adult Themes
Witchy Boots_ _is a spirited and empowering documentary that explores both historical and modern women that shape the craft beer industry. From trailblazing founders accused of witchcraft to contemporary voices carving space in the male-dominated field, the film captures the movement toward inclusion, creativity, and sisterhood inside the brewhouse.
Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere, First Time Filmmaker
Across the salt-sprayed shores of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, a gathering of Indigenous women comes together to rematriate wampum as a living system of justice, truth, and inherent relationship. Through practices of teaching, making, and collective remembrance, the film examines how patriarchal disruption, colonial extraction, and climate-driven coastal change threaten not only living shores but the relationships that sustain them.