The Twin Cities Film Fest kicks off this Thursday with more than 70 independent films being shown in-person, and another 70 available to stream online.
One gaining some national attention is "Freshwater" from Twin Cities filmmaker Ian Planchon, which documents the climate challenges facing Lake Superior. Planchon features surfers on the big lake, whose wind-driven big waves are not necessarily a good thing according to the experts he spoke with at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Large Lakes Observatory.
“And so when I asked them this very simple question, they're like, ‘yeah, it's wind, but here let me tell you more.’ And so we took that as, okay, obviously there's more to this story than we thought there was. And let's try and educate people about this, and let's use these surfers as a way to keep people entertained as well.”
Despite the fact that Lake Superior contains 10% of Earth’s freshwater, this lake remains largely unexplored. From the surfers who catch its waves to the scientists who study its depths, the film dives into why Lake Superior is a "precious resource that should never be taken for granted".
Planchon tells WCCO's Laura Oakes that they originally planned on doing a simple action-sports documentary that focused on Lake Superior's surfers.
"We sat back a little bit, thought about the direction of this documentary, and how we do want people to learn something," said Planchon. "We didn't want them to just sit there and watch surfers. One of the questions I had is how is this possible on Lake Superior? Why are the waves so big? Seems like a real simple question but I didn't understand it. The obvious answer is wind."
Planchon said the Large Lakes Observatory explained that there was more than meets the eye when it came to wind across the lake and it took their film in a different direction. He says the scientists they talked to said Lake Superior is one of the fastest warming lakes in the world and they describe the situation as "scary".
Sign up here to learn about other screenings of "Freshwater".
The Twin Cities Film Fest runs through October 29th at the ShowPlace ICON Theatres in St. Louis Park. See a full list of films here.