Thunder Bay International Film Festival features Great Lakes-focused films, ‘Shark Night,’ and more.
Students from northeast Michigan have a chance to be part of this year’s Thunder Bay International Film Festival (TBIFF). The film festival takes place Jan. 27-31, 2016, at NOAA’s Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Mich. The Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, in partnership with the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival, are hosting this fourth annual event, which explores our world’s oceans and Great Lakes through educational films focusing on such issues as shark fins, marine debris, and lost fishing gear. Featured among these unique films will be the premiere of student-developed films for the TBIFF’s 1st annual Student Film Competition.
Collaborating with the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative network and partnership, the Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine launched this competition to give students an opportunity to be a part of the film festival. Aligned with UN Water and World Water Day’s 2015 theme, #WaterIs, students (grades 6-12) can submit films that explore what water means to them. Film entries, up to 10 minutes in length, will be accepted until Jan. 8. Selected student films will then be shown as part of the film festival on Jan. 31, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. This showing is free and open to the public. For more information about the festival and to enter, please visit Student Film Competition webpage.