From piping plovers to giant kelp, environmental film fest dives deep into nature

From the piping plovers by the shores of Lake Michigan to the giant kelp forests of New Zealand, 30 short and full-length films exploring humans’ impact on the environment will be featured at the inaugural Little Fort Environmental Film Festival taking place Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, in Waukegan.

“Our mission is simple: to celebrate innovative environmental films, honor the filmmakers who create them, and spark deeper understanding about the Great Lakes and the global ecosystems that sustain us,” said Susan Roe Musacchio, founder and festival director. “We are celebrating storytelling that elevates our relationship with water, land and community.”

The film festival is set against the backdrop of the Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water on Earth. Waukegan, situated north of Chicago along Lake Michigan, was selected because of its centralized location and deep relationship with the lake and its environs.

Little Fort was an early name for the area that became Waukegan, Musacchio said, hence the name of the festival. “It was an important harbor,” she said, “a ‘little fort’ that protected the north end of Chicago as fur traders were coming along the Great Lakes.”

Musacchio’s partner in the festival is co-director MaryIlene Blondell, an internationally recognized filmmaker who grew up near Lake Michigan and now lives in Chicago.

“Film has the unique ability to connect us emotionally and intellectually to the issues that matter most,” she said.

The films, representing six countries, include:

• “Sharing Our Shore and the Return of the Piping Plover to Waukegan Shores,” chronicling the story of two captive-reared Great Lakes Piping Plovers, Blaze and Pepper.

• “The River Raisin: A Comeback Story,” about the cleanup work, habitat restoration, remediation and recreational enhancements along a Michigan river.

• “Seaweed: A Love Story,” in which marine ecologist Nicole Miller dives the entire 70-kilometer coastline of Wellington, New Zealand, to assess the health of its giant kelp forests.

• “The Right Whale: Tales of Resilience and Hope,” an intimate and visually stunning documentary that follows the lives of right whales across the globe.

• “Patcha,” a film from India, explores issues surrounding scarcity of water.

As the area was originally settled by members of the Potawatomi tribe, Indigenous voices play a prominent role in the festival with such films as “The Drowned Land,” about how the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is fighting to preserve the Kiamichi River ecosystem, and “Sacred Waters,” about the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians stewarding Great Lakes fisheries.

Festival venues include the Genesee Theater, Three Brothers Theater, Waukegan Public Library and the Waukegan Historical Museum at the Carnegie. Weekend passes are on sale for $20 at the festival website, littlefortfilmfestival.org, and several children’s films are free for youngsters.

“The festival is shaping up to be one of the Midwest’s most compelling new cultural and environmental events,” Musacchio said. “Our festival films and filmmakers reveal a global tapestry of voices united by one message: our water, our world, our future. We’re already planning a 2027 festival.”