Two competitions were held during the festival: The second annual Sanctuary Selections Film Competition, and the 9th annual Student Shorts Film Competition, both on Saturday in Alpena.

Sanctuary Selections

The winner of the Sanctuary Selections Film Competition, and the $5,000 prize, was the husband-and-wife team of Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick with their 20-minute film, “All Too Clear: A Journey into the Great Lakes.” The Ontario couple used cutting-edge underwater drones to explore how quadrillions of tiny invasive quagga mussels have entered the Great Lakes and are re-engineering the ecosystem at a scale not seen since the glaciers. The quagga mussels are affecting the food supply of Great Lakes fish, as well as attaching to and covering shipwrecks in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

“We knew the audience, locally, would be receptive because what we’re doing is trying to show people the underwater world that they live next to but rarely, if ever, get to see,” Melnick said. “So, we knew we had something pretty special.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Filmmakers gather for a photo at the conclusion of the Sanctuary Selections Film Competition on Saturday night at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. Pictured, from left, are Gavin MacDonald, Evan Flom, Zach Melnick, Yvonne Drebert, Charley MacIntosh, Eric Machiela, Rishi Sethi, Darryn Schulte, and Nick Poli. MacDonald and Poli, with The Sunset Project, coordinated the event.

Melnick and Drebert were honored to earn the top prize.

“We were a bit surprised, being up against such stiff competition here,” Drebert said.

“It feels awesome, and I think what it means to us as Canadian filmmakers is that this will help get the word out to our U.S. neighbors about our work and the huge changes that have been happening out there in the offshore waters of the Great Lakes,” Melnick said.

Much of the filming of “All Too Clear” took place in Michigan.

“A lot of our shooting days were here in Michigan, so it feels pretty amazing to be welcomed into the community, here in Alpena, and to be sharing this moment with the people of Michigan,” Drebert said.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Students in the Student Shorts Film Competition gather for a photo following the program on Saturday at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival in Alpena. Pictured, from left, are first-place winners Abigail Giroux and Jasper Scott, from Interlochen Arts Academy, Nolan Prater and Harmonie Stewart, from Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit, Grace Hayhurst, from Harbor Springs, and program coordinator Daniel Moffatt.

“Everyone was so wonderful to work with, and so welcoming,” Melnick said. “We hope to continue that partnership into the future.”

They will continue creating films focusing on freshwater ecosystems.

“We’re going to be taking people to the deepest places of the most exciting freshwater ecosystems on Earth, and showing them what lives out there,” Melnick said.

Melnick and Drebert were impressed by all the films in the Sanctuary Selections program.

“We hadn’t seen the other films before, so it was really lovely to see these amazing films,” Drebert said. “They really are remarkable films, so everyone should try to check them out.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Sharky makes an appearance during the awards presentation at the Student Shorts Film Competition held Saturday in Alpena during the Thunder Bay International Film Festival.

Five films were shown on Saturday night, and each finalist received a $500 honorable mention prize.

“The Spirits of the Nahma Inn” by Eric Machiela focuses on an inn located in Nahma in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, featuring perspectives of inn workers about the Nahma Inn being haunted. Employees recount the spooky and unexplained events that occur regularly at the inn. Audience members laughed along with the stories from inn owner Charley MacIntosh, who attended the program.

“To Be a Good Home” by Evan Flom centers on the daily lives of three women who farm and steward land in northern Minnesota: Kaitlyn, a descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, tending her plot at the place of the gardens, Gitigaaning; Starr, an urban farmer feeding her community near the shores of Lake Superior, Gichigami; and Hannah, a regenerative farmer and rancher, caring for her herd and building the soil with them along Medicine Creek.

“Kiko” by Aaron Peterson, Darryn Schulte, and Daniel Wanschura tells the story of Kiko Silvelet, a free-spirited Brazilian Yooper who participates in elite endurance events on his unconventional but beloved BMX bike. He also plays accordian, stirs up some trouble, and lives life his own eccentric way.

“Watermarks” by Rishi Sethi centers on the First Waves program that provides under-resourced youth with the chance to enjoy and protect their local waterways. It shows the impact the program has had on the lives of those youth, providing them with outdoor recreational opportunities on the water, and so much more.

A panel of six local judges viewed the films in advance and determined the Sanctuary Selections winner, announced after the film screenings and question-and-answer sessions with each filmmaker in attendance. The theater was packed on Saturday night at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

The Sunset Project collaborated with the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette to get entries this year. They received 20 submissions, and the judges narrowed them down to the top five finalists. The Sunset Project is a nonprofit founded in 2021 by three lifelong friends committed to investing in the betterment of Northeast Michigan through creative-based and mental health programs.

Student Shorts

Eight student films were shown on Saturday afternoon in the Student Shorts Film Competition. Each film was three minutes or less. The competition was open to students in grades six through 12.

The top prize and $500 went to the student filmmakers of “As Our Tides Turn,” a touching story about a girl who, after losing her father, revisits their favorite spot on the shores of Lake Michigan, where they shared countless memories together. Maxwell English, Jasper Scott, Emma Kvart, Remington Schneider, and Abigail Giroux made the film. Scott, 18, and Giroux, 17, from Interlochen Arts Academy, attended the event.

Scott was in charge of music and sound for “As Our Tides Turn,” and Giroux was in charge of directing and cinematography.

“I’ve mostly done documentary work,” Giroux said after the awards presentation. “I’ve competed in National History Day for about five years, but this is my second narrative film I’ve ever created.”

While Giroux did not lose her father, she got inspiration for the film through her own life experience with him.

“We really didn’t have too much time to be able to spend time together when I was younger,” she said. “A big memory I have is being on the beach with him, taking nature walks with him, so that’s a big part of what I based the story on.”

“I was involved mostly on the music side,” Scott said. “I scored the film. It was all original music. I’ve been producing music for about four or five years.”

The second-place prize and $250 went to Ryan Marsee of Ypsilanti for “The Revitalization of Benton Harbor’s Watershed,” a documentary highlighting the difficulties a community is facing because of issues in the watershed. It explores the ways a group is working together to improve the watershed and strengthen the community.

Third place and $150 went to Charlie Baker of Harbor Springs High School for “Seeing Double,” a mountain bike and original bluegrass adventure made using camera tricks and rare editing techniques.

Daniel Moffatt, education specialist for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, coordinated the Student Shorts program.

“I was completely impressed with the quality of the films,” Moffatt said. “We had a wide range of narrative films, educational, recreation, and adventure, but they all told their own story, and it’s always good to hear the perspectives of the youth.”

All the films were from Michigan, but none from Alpena this year.

“For some of them, it’s a class project, and others do it on their own,” Moffatt said. “Every one of our eight submissions were fun to watch and impressive.”

The Thunder Bay International Film Festival is held each January in Alpena. For more information, visit thunderbayfriends.org.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com, or call 989-358-5691.

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