Nordic Film Series

The 2016-17 season of the Nordic Film Series at Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHC) gets under way with a film every Upper Michigan outdoorsman and outdoorswoman must see. On Thursday, October 13, the series opens with showings of the locally produced documentary “UP a River.”

More than 100 camps in the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will be removed or destroyed by January 1, 2017? “UP a River” is a cultural documentary about the people — including many Finnish Americans — who built decades of traditions around these camps.

“UP a River,” a 110-minute feature, was filmed completely in the Upper Peninsula by first-time filmmaker Kristin Ojaniemi of Bruce Crossing, Michigan. Her family camp, Camp Woodtick, is one of many camps that have to be removed from the forest.