The annual ice carving event and competition features over 100 statues carved from a blocks of ice. Visitors can watch artisans create their works from start to finish with tools of the trade including chainsaws.
Social & External
Wisconsin's tribe's ongoing fight to protect Lake Superior for future generations. "Bad River" shows the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's long history of activism and resistance in the context of continuing legal battles with Enbridge Energy over its Line 5 oil pipeline. The Line 5 pipeline has been operating on 12 miles of the Bad River Band's land with expired easements for more than a decade. The Band and the Canadian company have been locked in a legal battle over the pipeline since 2019.
A tribute to the Alamo Drafthouse located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that was forced to close after three years when its lease was abruptly and unexpectedly terminated by its landlord. Employees and customers reflect on the impact the theater had made on its community in such a short amount of time.
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
A moving portrait of traditional Finnish American culture in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, highlighting that fragile community of memory connecting ourselves with parents and grandparents. It uses the “biographical model” of folklore filmmaking to tell the story of Erikki Vourenmaa, a 92-year-old Finnish immigrant, and his family living near Ironwood, Michigan. This three-generation farm family works, celebrates, reflects, and grieves together. The film explores the meaning of family, ethnic history, aging and intergenerational bonds. It contrasts between the immigrant elder, his American-born son and the partially assimilated grandchildren to illustrate change and continuity in the "sauna belt" of the Lake Superior Region. As Dr. Sharon Sherman concluded, “Loukinen’s focus on the bonds between generations will strike emotional chords about family relationships and ethnic identity for numerous cultural groups.”
Steeped in a rich tradition dating back to their inaugural meeting in 1897, this rivalry extends beyond the pursuit of a Big Ten title, and is renewed each year through the pageantry and colliding cultures that distinguish the two schools.
Filmed in the white working-class suburbs of Detroit, Spook House reveals a community reveling in the macabre. Front lawns are transformed into cemeteries, kitchens become mausoleums and dismembered ‘bodies’ are prepared for cannibal feasts. Cameron Jamie’s camera tracks the celebrants as the nights become longer and darker.
Lake Effect is a two-year Michigan ski film highlighting the joys of backyard adventure and the shifting perspective of Mike King, a professional skier who for a decade has only sought adventure from the peaks of mountain tops in the far reaches of the West. In 2020 when Covid encouraged lockdowns & travel restrictions, Mike's life on the road came to a screeching halt. This abrupt change inspired Mike to take the hurdle as an opportunity to rediscover the unique, untapped terrain, ski culture, and the people thriving right here in his home state of Michigan. Throughout filming Lake Effect Mike realized you don't need to travel far to have an epic adventure. Rather some creativity, curiosity, and the willingness to walk out the door to the abundance that starts right in our backyards.
A man hikes 550 miles across the North Country Trail in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from July through February, experiencing it in all of its seasons.
Further Sasquatch encounters.
In 1963 at Michigan State University, Head Coach Duffy Daugherty chose 23 black men to play on the college team. From this move came legends Gene Washington, Bubba Smith, George Webster and Clinton Jones. Director Maya Washington, Gene Washington’s daughter, charts the legacy of her father’s career and influence, along with the impact the events of 1963 have shown in the present day.
Depicts the story of Jalen Rose and his other Fab Five teammates, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Called by some “the greatest class ever recruited,” the five freshmen not only electrified the game, but also brought new style with their baggy shorts, black socks and brash talk. “The Fab Five” relives the recruitment process that got all five of them to Ann Arbor, the cultural impact they made, the two runs to NCAA title game, the Webber “timeout” in the 1993 championship and the scandal that eventually tarnished their accomplishments.
Kelly Finger-McNeela was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis her freshman year of high school. The only thing on her mind was living a "normal" life. Her disease threatened to make that impossible.
Amid the radical politics and cultural upheaval of the late 1960s, a series of brutal murders targeting young women gripped the twin university towns of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. Home to the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, the communities grew increasingly anxious as police seemed unable to stop the killer—or killers—responsible. Through interviews with law enforcement, political figures, and women who lived through the fear, this independent documentary examines not just a series of crimes, but the social and political tensions that enabled them—many of which still resonate today.
When the immigrants came to America, their cultures entered the "great melting pot." In Michigan's Upper Peninsula Finnish immigrants mixed their musical traditions with many other cultures, creating a sound that was unique to the "Copper Country."
Nestled in the woods outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a sleepaway camp for kids who are nonspeaking. To express themselves, they must use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices that translate their composed messages into audible speech. Follow the lives and experiences of these campers as a series of immersive, vérité-style character studies.
A character-driven, action-packed documentary about Detroit, told through the eyes of the Detroit firefighters, the men and women charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead.
Follows the story that is shaking up Democratic Party politics nationwide, highlighting the role of power and money in a system many believe is broken but can be fixed.
Since its inception on the frozen Huron River Michigan Hockey has been a true survival story. While many programs did not have the foresight or support to persevere through the Great Depression and World War II, the University of Michigan’s hockey program is only one of two programs west of New York City to boast an uninterrupted history. Blue Ice unveils the history of Wolverine hockey, its challenges, its shining moments and its heroes, from a few adventurous student forming the Huron Hockey Club to a sold out Michigan Stadium at the Big Chill.
In this sports documentary, Connor Stalions addresses the allegations surrounding the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal for the first time.
An in-depth look at one of college sports' fiercest rivalries, Michigan-Michigan State, and how this in-state battle has only grown to new heights over the past decade in both football and basketball.
They were the bad boys of hockey — a team bought by a man with mob ties, run by his 17-year-old son, and with a rep for being as violent as they were good.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time — drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews — and brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork.
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
An interview with film director Roman Polanski conducted during his period of house arrest, discussing his life and work.
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
An intimate journey through the formative years of David Lynch's life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema's most enigmatic directors.
Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
A documentary highlighting the Soviet Union's legendary and enigmatic hockey training culture and world-dominating team through the eyes of the team's Captain Slava Fetisov, following his shift from hockey star and celebrated national hero to political enemy.
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.