The film festival will also include social events, educational activities, and opportunities to meet filmmakers.

“Whether you’re looking to spend just a few hours with us, or the entire five days of film festival, there really is something for everyone,” said Jeff Gray, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent. “With an amazing array of content, we really believe audience members will be inspired to protect our special places underwater.”

The festival starts Wednesday, Jan. 22 at Rogers Theater in Rogers City. Films will be showing from 7 to 9 p.m. in this TBIFF On the Road event. Films include “Earth is Blue: Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary” (2 min.); “Return to Spur Lake: Bring Back the Food that Grows on Water” (10 min.); “Kingdom of Ice: Antarctica’s Leopard Seals” (9 min.); and “All Too Clear” (90 min.) This program is $10 on its own, or you can purchase a Thunder Pass for $100, which covers entry to every film and event during the film festival, plus free popcorn all weekend, and a souvenir movie poster.

“We’re going to kick things off in Rogers City,” said Sarah Morrison, media and outreach specialist with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. “We have a great lineup every single night. On Wednesday night in Rogers City, we’re going to play the film ‘All Too Clear,’ which features the Great Lakes, and the filmmakers are going to be there. It talks about the quagga mussels that are in the lakes, and what it’s doing to the food supplies.”

Courtesy Photo “Keepers of the Land” is a 29-minute film showing on Friday, Jan. 24 at the Great Lakes Gala: Reception and Films as part of the Thunder Bay International Film Festival at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena.

“All Too Clear” filmmakers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick are a husband-and-wife team based in Ontario, Canada.

“We’ve been making films together for about 20 years,” Drebert said. “We actually are a straight shot across Lake Huron on the Canadian side. We live on the Saugeen or Bruce Peninsula, here in Ontario. If we got in a boat, at our house, and we just went straight west, we would run right into Alpena.”

Melnick explained that “All Too Clear” explores the impact of the invasive quagga mussels on the Great Lakes.

“It also shows people what’s happening with life in the Great Lakes in a way they haven’t seen before, using underwater drones,” Melnick said.

“You’re finally going to get to see what’s under the water all around your great state,” Drebert said.

Courtesy Photo Attendees are seen at the Rogers Theater in Rogers City during last year’s Thunder Bay International Film Festival. This year’s festival starts on Jan. 22 in Rogers City.

The feature-length version of “All Too Clear” is showing on Jan. 22 in Rogers City, and a shorter version is a finalist in the Sanctuary Selections Film Competition on Saturday, Jan. 25 in Alpena.

“We’ve also been working with Thunder Bay on a mission to film their shipwrecks, especially their deep water shipwrecks,” Melnick said. “There’s going to be a teaser of that at the festival, as well.”

Then on Thursday, Jan. 23, TBIFF On the Road heads to the Alcona County Library in Harrisville for a 6 p.m. program, which is also $10 per person. Films showing there include “Earth is Blue: Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Sanctuary” (2 min.); “A Disappearing Forest” (9 min.); “Envisioning Threats to Great Lakes Shorelines” (9 min.); “Island Lobsterman” (23 min.); “The Most Historic Mobile Home in Michigan” (10 min.); and “Why Blame the Seagulls?” (36 min.)

Friday, Jan. 24 will be the annual Great Lakes Gala: Reception and Films at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. The event will feature hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar starting at 6 p.m., then films showing at 7 p.m. Those films include “Keepers of the Land” (29 min.); “Sacred Waters” (15 min.); “Thunder Enlightening” (12 min.); “Captain Goes Down with the Ship” (15 min.); “The Granny Grommets” (9 min.); and “Ripples of Plastic” (45 min.) The cost for the gala is $30 per person, or included with the purchase of a Thunder Pass.

“We’ll have some awesome films on Friday night,” Morrison added. “Some of the cinematography is mind-blowing. One of our films, ‘Keepers of the Land,’ it takes you to parts of Vancouver I might never actually go see, myself. The land is amazing. You build such an appreciation for places you may never go to.”

She added that the film festival helps attendees learn how to be better stewards of the land and waters by building connections to places they may never physically visit, but they can experience them through film.

The festival continues at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, with films showing simultaneously in Theater 1 and Theater 2. Each program is $10, or included with a Thunder Pass. In Theater 1, films will include “Earth is Blue: Gray Whales” (2 min.); “Shark Researchers: A New Approach to Shark Conservation” (3 min.); “What if There’s an Oil Spill in the Great Lakes?” (13 min.); and “Orca: Black and White Gold” (93 min.) In Theater 2, films are “Earth is Blue: Sand Tiger Sharks” (2 min.); “Zoe” (27 min.); “Beyond the Salish” (18 min.); and “Daughters of the Waves” (53 min.)

Then at 1 p.m. on Saturday, films continue in both theaters at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. Theater 1 films include “Stories from the Blue: Grace Casselberry” (5 min.); “Beneath the Surface” (13 min.); “Expedition Amana” (6 min.); “Wetsuit” (2 min.); and “Blue Carbon: Nature’s Hidden Power” (85 min.) In Theater 2, the following films will be showing: “Earth is Blue: Beavers of Mallow Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary” (2 min.); “Can This Historic Sailboat Handle Lake Huron?” (10 min.); “Sequoias of the Sea” (14 min.); “Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief” (15 min.); “Daughter of the Sea” (18 min.); “Fish with a Story” (45 min.); “Deep Trouble” (10 min.)

Two free programs are happening Saturday afternoon in Theater 1: The Student Shorts Competition at 3 p.m., and the Filmmakers’ Panel at 4 p.m.

Then at 6 p.m. on Saturday is the Sanctuary Selections Film Competition in Theaters 1 and 2 at the Heritage Center. This program is $20, or included with a Thunder Pass. The Sanctuary Selections Film Competition, presented in partnership with The Sunset Project, provides a unique opportunity for filmmakers within the Great Lakes region. Five films, selected by a panel of judges, will be shown, followed by a live question-and-answer session with each filmmaker. At the conclusion of the program, the winning film will be announced and awarded a $5,000 prize to help fund future projects. This event will include hors d’oeuvres, film screenings, live discussion, a cash bar, and the final award presentation.

The film festival continues on Sunday, Jan. 26, with films showing at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. in both theaters at the Heritage Center. Each program is $10, or included with a Thunder Pass. Films showing at 11 a.m. in Theater 1 are “Saving a Vital Spawning Reef from Century-Old Mining Waste” (10 min.); “Active Anilao” (5 min.); “Wild Hope: Return of the Manatees” (16 min.); and “Great White Summer” (79 min.) Films showing at 11 a.m. in Theater 2 are “Radboys” (5 min.); “841” (16 min.); “Disappearing Jewels” (16 min.); and “Konstantinus’ Legacy” (6 min.) Films showing at 1 p.m. in Theater 1 include “Earth is Blue: Meet the Osprey” (3 min.); “Whitefish are in Trouble, Can Rivers Save Them?” (9 min.); “Haulout” (25 min.); and “Until the End of the World” (60 min.) Films showing at 1 p.m. in Theater 2 are “Unlocking the Secrets of Great Lakes Shipwrecks” (8 min.); “Menhaden” (31 min.); “Deep Look: The Mussel’s Beard” (4 min.); “The Forgotten Coast” (17 min.); “With the Tide” (25 min.); “Return of the Mangroves” (9 min.); and “Kahu Mano” (22 min.) Then, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Theater 1 films include “Earth is Blue: Jellies” (3 min.); “Mapping the Great Lakes” (4 min.); “Gigiigemin Baaga’adoweyang ‘We are Healed by Stickball'” (11 min.); “Usugilix Awakun” (11 min.); and “Alien Contact” (51 min.) In Theater 2, films will be “Earth is Blue: Deep Sea Corals” (4 min.); “The Blue Quest — Palawan” (47 min.); “Dahican” (16 min.); and “The Passage” (20 min.)

Morrison said the film festival is a perfect way to discover new things about the ocean and Great Lakes during a time of year when most of us are cooped up indoors.

“It’s so great to have something to look forward to, especially as we’re pretty much smack dab in the middle of winter,” Morrison said. “This is a fun event that will really just change up your weekend, and it’s enlightening.”

To purchase tickets and view the full schedule and film descriptions, visit thunderbayfriends.org.

“It is a very world-class film festival in a small, quaint lakeside town,” Morrison added.