IPR's "Points North" podcast team is at the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette this weekend.
They're premiering a short film, "The Last to Leave," based on an episode of the podcast from September 2024, about the battle against the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that has been a scourge on ash trees in the Great Lakes. The film was produced with the Boardman Review and Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS.
"It's the story of how the emerald ash borer came to the U.S. just outside of Detroit back in 2002," said Dan Wanschura, host and executive producer of Points North. "It tells the story of how researchers discovered that some trees had this natural resistance, and so they were really stunned when they found these healthy trees amongst all this devastation caused by the emerald ash borer."
Marquette is one of Michigan's crown jewels, nestled along the shores of Lake Superior. But it's also five hours from our home base in Interlochen. So why do IPR and Points North partner with a film festival so far away?
"The vibe is the kind of vibe we aspire to with Points North," Wanschura said. "It's funny, I was chatting with some folks who were driving up from downstate yesterday, and they said 'We were listening to Points North on our way up.'"
The Fresh Coast Film Festival features 90 films, from shorts to feature length, now through Sunday.
