2024 • USA • 9 min • Henry Behel

Staff Pick

For nearly everyone, losing your engine is a life-threatening event. Airshow pilot Eric Tucker is one of the few in the world who dares to make it an art form.

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 • 25 min • Kristin Ojaniemi

Filmmaker in Attendance, Family Friendly

Born in the Barn: Part 6 “Last Game in the Barn” - The 1990’s bring another generation of Ewen-Trout Creek Panther girls and boys ballers on the court for many records, hard losses, and a lifetime of memories. The Last Game in the Barn is played in 1998. The 2022 team continues to dominate the tournaments with a quarterfinal win, sending the E-TC boys downstate for the first time in 40 years. “Born in the Barn” is an 8-part docu-series completed in 2024.

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.

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 • 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 • USA • 6 min • Mike Schwartz

Family Friendly, First Time Filmmaker, Staff Pick

“Elladj" follows the remarkable journey of Elladj Balde, a Canadian figure skater whom found his voice and fan base through wild ice skating. The film centers on the transformative power of embracing one’s passion over measurable results.

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 • 4 min • Mike King

Filmmaker in Attendance, Subject in Attendance, Staff Pick

‘In Waves’ gives us a glimpse into the joy that has cultivated a culture of Great Lakes connection. In 2004, visionary Beryl Skrocki founded Sleeping Bear Surf with a dream of sharing the potential for freshwater play. Now, 20 years later, her legacy lives on.

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.

2023 • USA • 15 min • Cecilia Brown, Winslow Crane-Murdoch

Family Friendly, Michigan Premiere

95 year old Catherine Kuehn is a world record winning deadlifter. As she prepares for her last competition she reflects on the love, and the loss, that brought her to this moment.

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.

2023 • USA • 21 min • Jeff Springer

Representative in Attendance, Michigan Premiere

For most of the year, bands of world class freestyle kayakers roam the land in search of waves. But when the rivers freeze, everyone finds their way to a special spot on the Chattahoochee River on the Alabama-Georgia border. Squatting in an abandoned parking lot, they spend the winter training for the next world championships on North America’s best winter whitewater. Although called “certifiable lunatics” by the locals, this tight knit group is proof of the power of family and that indeed everything is more fun with friends.

2024 • USA • 23 min • Charles Frank, Fritz Bitsoie

Michigan Premiere, Adult Language

“Through The Storm” follows the 2023 season of the Red Lake Nation (Ojibwe) high school football team. Despite dwindling interest and a two-decade-long losing record, a determined coach and group of young athletes fight to keep their football program alive. An exploration in overcoming loss, the film follows the personal triumphs and hardships of the players and their families, and how football serves as a symbol of hope, unity, and resilience for the people of Red Lake.

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.

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.