Your Guide to the Fresh Coast Film Festival

Marquette fest makes its TC debut

After a decade of success in the Upper Peninsula, the Fresh Coast Film Festival will celebrate its 10-year anniversary by expanding to Traverse City.

The TC edition will run from April 30-May 3 with a full lineup of 50 documentary films at seven viewing venues around the Boardman Lake District. In addition to films, the festival will host several after-parties and outdoor activities for festivalgoers during the weeklong event around town.

“You’re in these dark rooms watching movies about being outdoors, and then in between screenings, they give you a chance to actually get some fresh air and do some of those things,” says organizer (and Northern Express film columnist) Joseph Beyer. “What we’re doing here is totally inspired by and is based on the ingredients from the Marquette festival.”

Crossing the Bridge

Beyer describes himself as “a lifelong festival junkie,” who has worked for film festivals for most of his career. In 2018, he fell in love with the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette after attending the event with friends. It wasn’t long after that he joined the film festival’s board of directors.

“It was just this incredibly weird, very intimate and casual setting where there were no movie theaters,” says Beyer. “They were showing films at breweries, in the library, the Women’s Federation League building, and the Masonic Lodge. It didn’t have that traditional film festival kind of environment. My curiosity was super piqued. The screenings and the events were so enjoyable. People were really connecting and there were these great conversations after the films.”

That led him to pitching the idea of bringing a mini-version of the film festival below the Mighty Mac so moviegoers could experience the event without driving more than five hours to the U.P. He says TC is a perfect fit for the film festival.

“There’s such a great audience here for the same sort of style of filmmaking, and it has the same unique atmosphere for a film festival,” says Beyer. “The program has developed into this really cool combination of the best from Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, and then a couple twists and turns that we’ve been able to bring to it.”

What to Watch

The outdoors, wildlife, interesting humans, and the environment are some of the subjects that will be featured on the big screen during the festival. Beyer says a lot of the subjects also have a connection to Michigan.

For example, Kiko, directed by Aaron Peterson, is about Kiko Silvelet, a nudist mountain biker philosopher from the U.P., who will be attending the viewing along with his bike.

“He might do a bike or two, hopefully fully clothed, around the Boardman,” says the organizer. “But he’s really just a genuine, cool guy.”

Moviegoers will have the opportunity to meet other filmmakers and their subjects at almost all the viewings or during after-parties hosted by local bars and restaurants. More than two dozen filmmakers are expected to travel across the country from 11 different states to attend the inaugural TC film festival. About 40 percent of the filmmakers are from Michigan and another 15 percent from the Midwest.

“Most of the screenings will have the actual creators there,” Beyer says. “Of the films that we picked, we think there’s something in the movie that connects with our region.”

Beyer predicts many Michiganders will connect with the film A Two Hearted Tale, which is a behind the scenes story of Bells Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale trout label and its artist Ladislav Hanka of Kalamazoo.

“He has a huge cult following,” says Beyer. “He kind of designed the whole look and feel for Bell’s Brewery over the years. Him and his wife are going to be here. They’re obviously prominently featured in the film.”

Several documentaries will be making their Michigan debut at the film festival, including the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury winner Nuisance Bear and Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World about the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet directed by Sasha Waters.

“It isn’t even going to be on PBS until probably mid- to late-summer,” Beyer says of the latter.

More Screen Time to Come?

Beyer hopes the film festival will be an annual event, but is waiting to see how the event is received from the community and what feedback he gets.

“We’ve called it a one-year experiment, because it’s so unique,” Beyer says. “It’s definitely something that we would love to bring back, or maybe have a different time of the year.”

So far, the response has been positive, with weekend passes selling out. Beyer says if all goes well, the TC edition could be a template for other cities to host a Fresh Coast Film Festival.

“I think I’m most looking forward to how Traverse City reacts to the Fresh Coast vibe,” he tells us. “There’s like a Traverse City mafia that goes up there every year who really knows what Fresh Coast is all about and have already fallen in love with it. And then, of course, there are people that remember the old Traverse City Film Festival and had that experience. It is similar in some ways, but is totally unique in a number of different ways.”

The Schedule

For the full Frest Coast Film Fest TC schedule, head to freshcoastfilmtraversecity.ludus.com.

THURSDAY, April 30

4–5pm | Traverse City Whiskey Co. | Free artist panel: Advocacy and Storytelling.

7–9pm | Elev8 Climbing and Fitness | Opening Night Gala | Five short films about stories of hope.

9-11:59pm | The Coin Slot | Private event for all-access weekend passholders only. Mingle alongside filmmakers, volunteers, and supporters. Must be 21+

FRIDAY, May 1

6-7am | Clinch Park | Capturing a sunrise with photographer Bugsy Sailor.

8:30-9:30am | Logan’s Landing | Bird watching with birding expert and Rare Bird Brewpub co-owner Nate Crane.

10-11:30am | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot Building | “Take Action!” Shorts Program H: Five short films about taking action driven by hope and unyielding spirit.

10-11am | Silver Spruce Brewing Co. | “Lake Life” Shorts Program C: Five short films about the Great Lakes four-season lifestyle.

10-11:30am | The Alluvion | “Nuisance Bear” feature documentary, a 2026 Sundance grand jury winner about a polar bear’s migration in Manitoba.

10-11:30am | Traverse Area District Library | NoMi High School Student Films Showcase Shorts Program I. Short films from the North Ed Career Tech. led by educator Zac Wendland.

10-11:30am | Right Brain Brewery | (Shorts Program D, 16 min.): Five short films about the human spirit and its relentless inner drive to endure, create, and find meaning, even when facing life’s greatest challenges.

12-1pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “Turtle Walker” feature documentary directed by Taira Mulaney. In the late 1970s, Satish Bhaskar embarks on a journey along India’s coastline where he uncovers vital nesting beaches of sea turtles.

12-2pm | Silver Spruce Brewing Co. |“Problem-Solving” Shorts Program E: Five short films that celebrate the steady, practical ingenuity that offers a deep sense of purpose, rooted in community, resilience, and a genuine kindness for the world around us.

12-1pm | The Village at Grand Traverse Commons | Historic building and tunnel tour.

12-1:30pm | Right Brain Brewery | 10 Years of Fresh Coast Film: A Conversation with the Co-Founders.

12-1:30pm | Traverse Area District Library | “In Our Nature” feature documentary directed by James Parker (60 min.) Exploring how environmental education can help heal some of our most pressing social, emotional, and political divides.

2-4pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “Snail Hunters” feature documentary directed by Jim Aikman (61 min.): University of Idaho evolutionary biologists travel to the Galápagos Islands to solve the Earth’s biodiversity crisis.

2-3:30pm | Traverse Area District Library | “You Belong” Shorts Program G: Five short films exploring diverse lives and dreams.

2-3:30pm | Right Brain Brewery | Points North Podcast listening party and Q&A:
It’s theater of the mind! It’s cinema for the ear!

2-3:30pm | Silver Spruce Brewing Co. | “The Humongous Fungus Among Us” feature documentary directed by Logan Hall (60 min.): A quiet upper Michigan town discovers a record-breaking Humongous Fungus.

2-4pm | The Alluvion | “Resurgo: The Rise From Within” feature documentary directed by Stephen McGee (94 min.): Detroit endured six decades of massive disinvestment, losing its primary industry in what is often described as the largest economic withdrawal in U.S. history.

4-5pm | Eighth Street Corridor Boardman Lake District | Friday walking street art tour.

4-5pm | Traverse City Whiskey Co. Stillhouse Patio | Free artist panel: Making in the Midwest.

7-9:30pm | City Opera House | “Listers — A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching” feature documentary co-created by Owen and Quentin Reiser (110 min.): Two novice birders attempt to see the most species in a year while living out of a minivan.

7-9pm | Right Brain Brewery | Extra Bonus Screening of "Listers." (No Q&A)

9-11:50pm | Nocturnal Bloom Brewing | Private event for all-access Friday and weekend passholders. Mingle alongside filmmakers, volunteers, and supporters.

SATURDAY, MAY 2

6-7am | Location TBA | Saturday sunrise with photographer Bugsy Sailor.

8:30-9:30am | Logan’s Landing | Bird watching with birding expert and Rare Bird Brewpub co-owner Nate Crane.

10-11:30am | Silver Spruce Brewing Co. | “Hear Me Roar” Shorts Program F: Five films: We are woven into a single, breathing tapestry. From the rhythmic hum of the bees to the steady heartbeat of beasts, we share one fragile home bound together by love, breath, and life.

10-11:30am | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “Water/Ways” special event with Q&A Panel.

10am-12pm | Right Brain Brewery | “Stories of Hope” Shorts Program A: Five short films: Hope isn’t always a grand anthem — often, it’s a quiet melody found in simple stories.

10-11:30am | The Alluvion | “Catching Pinecones” feature documentary directed by Chad Heddleston (71 min.): Rock climbers and cave explorers who live life to the fullest on their own terms.

10-11:30am | Traverse Area District Library | “In Our Nature” feature documentary directed by James Parker (60 min.): Exploring how environmental education can help heal some of our most pressing social, emotional, and political divides.

12-2pm | The Alluvion | “Power of Identity” Shorts Program B: Five short films celebrate the soul’s unique map, providing the essential sense of belonging, purpose, and continuity that anchors our human existence.

12-1:30pm | Traverse Area District Library | “Bad River” feature documentary directed by Mary Mazzio (88 min.): Bad River Band’s high-stakes legal battle against Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.

12-2pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “Snail Hunters” feature documentary directed by Jim Aikman (61 min.): University of Idaho evolutionary biologists travel to the Galápagos Islands to solve the Earth’s biodiversity crisis.

12-2pm | Right Brain Brewery | “Lake Life” Shorts Program C: Five short films about the Great Lakes four-season lifestyle.

12-1:30pm | Silver Spruce Brewing | “A Two Hearted Tale” feature documentary directed by Rory K. McHarg and Bret Miller (41min.): Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale iconic trout image story.

2-4pm | The Alluvion | “The Invisible Mammal” feature documentary directed by Kristin Tièche (89 min.): Against the backdrop of the sixth mass extinction, an all-woman team of biologists set out to save bats from a deadly fungal disease.

2-3:30pm | Traverse Area District Library | “Take Action!” Shorts Program H: Five short films about taking action driven by hope and unyielding spirit.

2-3:30pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “Nuisance Bear” feature documentary, a 2026 Sundance grand jury winner about a polar bear’s migration in Manitoba.

2-4pm | Silver Spruce Brewing Co. | “The Human Spirit” Shorts Program D: Five short films about the human spirit and its relentless inner drive to endure, create, and find meaning, even when facing life’s greatest challenges.

2-4pm | Right Brain Brewery | “Into the Wild” storytelling special event: a collection of local guests sharing true, first-person stories about times in their lives when they threw caution to the wind.

4-5pm| Boardman Lake Loop Trail | Saturday group bike ride around Boardman Lake.

4:30-5:30pm | The Alluvion | Free artist panel: A Convo with Geoffrey Holstad, the visionary behind the 2026 poster and campaign for the Fresh Coast Film Festival Traverse City edition.

7-8pm | City Opera House | “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” feature documentary directed by Sasha Waters (91 min.): If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it.

9-11:59pm | The Workshop Brewing Co. | Saturday night party: private event for all-Access weekend passholders and Saturday day-passholders. Mingle alongside filmmakers, volunteers, and supporters. Must be 21+

SUNDAY, MAY 3

8-10am | Commongrounds Co-Op Esperance Community Teaching Kitchen | Morning Pancake Breakfast

8:30-9:30am | DeYoung Natural Area | Sunday walk and talk hike with Leelanau Conservancy.

10am-12pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “The Invisible Mammal” feature documentary directed by Kristin Tièche (89 min.): Against the backdrop of the sixth mass extinction, an all-woman team of biologists set out to save bats from a deadly fungal disease.

10-11:30am | Right Brain Brewery | “Problem-Solving” Shorts Program E: Five short films that celebrate the steady, practical ingenuity that offers a deep sense of purpose, rooted in community, resilience, and a genuine kindness for the world around us.

10-11:30am | Traverse Area District Library Community Room | “Catching Pinecones” feature documentary directed by Chad Heddleston (71 min.): Rock climbers and cave explorers who live life to the fullest on their own terms.

10-11:30am | The Alluvion | “Michigan’s Skiing Legacy” feature documentary directed by Ryan Busch (53 min.): A film that explores the skiing culture that continues to shape the lives of those who consider themselves Yoopers.

12-2pm | Right Brain Brewery | “Resurgo: The Rise From Within” feature documentary directed by Stephen McGee (94 min.): Detroit endured six decades of massive disinvestment, losing its primary industry in what is often described as the largest economic withdrawal in U.S. history.

12-2pm | Traverse Area District Library | “Hear Me Roar” Shorts Program F: Five films: We are woven into a single, breathing tapestry. From the rhythmic hum of the bees to the steady heartbeat of beasts, we share one fragile home bound together by love, breath, and life.

12-2:30pm | The Ridge | Sunday hike with Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.

12-1:30pm | The Alluvion | “A Two Hearted Tale” feature documentary directed by Rory K. McHarg and Bret Miller (41min.): Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale iconic trout image story.

12-2pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “An Autumn Summer” narrative feature special sneak peek screening: A family’s annual summer trip in northern Michigan.

2-4pm | Traverse Area District Library Community Room | “Turtle Walker” feature documentary directed by Taira Mulaney. In the late 1970s, Satish Bhaskar embarks on a journey along India’s coastline where he uncovers vital nesting beaches of sea turtles.

2-3pm | Right Brain Brewery | “College Student Films Showcase Shorts Program I: If you’ve ever wondered how the future generation sees our world, our human condition, or what their sense of humor is then you won’t want to miss this special selection of short films from the enormously talented Visual Communications Program at Northwestern Michigan College with support from Caroline Schaefer-Hills.

2-3:30pm | The Alluvion | “You Belong” Shorts Program G: Five short films exploring diverse lives and dreams.

2-3:30pm | The Filling Station Microbrewery Depot | “The Humongous Fungus Among Us” feature documentary directed by Logan Hall (60 min.): A quiet upper Michigan town discovers a record-breaking Humongous Fungus.

4-5pm | Enji-minozhiiyaamigak: The Place of Peacefulness on Little Traverse Bay | Sunday hike with Little Traverse Conservancy

 

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