Filmmakers from all over the country will be coming to South Haven this Thursday and Friday for the Michigan Maritime Museum’s first ever Sweetwater Film Showcase.
The artists will be screening and then discussing their shorts and features about the Great Lakes, and among them will be Lindsey Haskin, the director of The Fish Thief, 91-minute documentary to be shown on Friday. Haskin tells us The Fish Thief tells the true story of people tackling the mystery of why the Great Lakes experienced a massive fish kill in the late 19th century. He says the reason was an invasive species, the sea lamprey.
“There were natural barriers to their entry, to anything entering the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean,” Haskin said. “Any aquatic or marine organisms were blocked from entering the Great Lakes for most of history, but all of a sudden this organism appeared above Niagara Falls, which historically has been an impassable barrier.”
To this day, conservation officials conduct operations to kill off sea lamprey in waterways around Michigan.
Haskin says he came to make The Fish Thief after producing a documentary for public television about how people affect the Great Lakes ecosystem. It touched on the sea lamprey, and he wanted to explore the topic more. One thing that stands out about his film is the narrator — J.K. Simmons.
“I really wanted to have a celebrity who has roots in the Great Lakes region. J.K. Simmons was actually born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and spent the first 10 years of his life in the Detroit area.”
The Fish Thief will be screened at the Michigan Maritime Museum Friday, along with two other documentaries covering Great Lakes topics. Thursday will feature the screening of seven films. It will be $20 to attend each day of the Sweetwater Film Showcase. The museum says everyone is welcome.
You can learn more about the Sweetwater Film Series right here.
