Welcome to the new era of the Traverse City Film Festival, founded and curated by Oscar-winner Michael Moore. 52 great movies in 52 weeks! A year-round festival of powerful, subversive, indie masterpieces made with the belief that cinema can save the world — and that one great movie can change your life.
TCFF 2026
FALL SCHEDULE
All films show at 1pm & 7pm unless otherwise noted
FOLKTALES tells the timely and heartwarming story of teenagers who choose to spend an unconventional “gap year” learning to dog sled and survive the Arctic wilderness, in hopes of finding connection and meaning in the modern world. Through intimate verité storytelling and exhilarating cinematography, this documentary examines humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.
Murdering 60 Minutes examines the broader takeover of legacy media and what it means for journalism, democracy, and the public’s access to independent information when trusted journalism is reshaped by the people who can control it. Using 60 Minutes as its central case study, the film explores how corporate consolidation can weaken the most respected news institutions and what the public can do to defend a free press. If 60 Minutes covered what happened to itself after Bari Weiss took over, this is what it would look like.
Since October 7, 2023, 260+ journalists have been killed in Gaza; more than in both World Wars combined. See firsthand how the lives and deaths of Palestinian journalists Belal Jadallah, Heba Al-Abadla, and Ismail al-Ghoul unfold in this new documentary.
After a family is forced to relocate to the remote English countryside, its three children discover a magical tree that takes them to fantastical places with eccentric characters. Through the joys and challenges of their adventures, the family learns to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years.
Brothers Cody and Jack Parsons are navigating a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program in a pocket of rural Ohio hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Through the support of a tireless counselor they work towards a brighter and sober future. Filmed with a supporting cast of non-professional actors sharing their actual experiences, this drama is an honest, compassionate portrait of a battle being fought across America and the solidarity that flowers on its front lines.
In this 2026 documentary, three unique and prominent American doctors fight to keep a promise to their Palestinian colleagues and patients as they find themselves caught between medicine and politics. From a besieged Gazan hospital to the halls of Congress, united by their common oath to save lives, they risk everything to expose the truth.
John Wilson follows up his acclaimed HBO series by looking to the bedrock of his beloved New York City for inspiration and structure. Concrete, the world’s most widely used building material, appears as an ever-present life force, and John sets out to make the definitive documentary on the matter. After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, he decides to use the industry-approved Hallmark formula to tell this seemingly drab story and increase his movie’s appeal.
Ed Saxberger, a forgotten New York poet, works in the post office. After an eager and flattering young admirer appears on his doorstep, Saxberger is beckoned into a coterie of twentysomething admirers who anoint him as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by the attention — and by the alluring presence of Gloria, the group’s “tragic heroine” — Saxberger gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle. This thoughtful, witty film is a wistful yet unromantic look at a lost idea of downtown New York.
Filmmaker Rustin Thompson journeys into the American West on a search for traces of what was once a center of small-town life: the movie theatre. On the trip, he finds long abandoned and forgotten cinemas; movie houses that have fallen into disrepair; theaters recently closed, theaters struggling to hold on, and theaters that—thanks to their thoughtful caretakers—are not only surviving but thriving.
One of 2026’s most talked about films sees a happy engagement put to the test after a sudden turn of events. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson star in this dark and absurd take on a romantic comedy where the past begins to destabilize the present, just a week before they tie the knot.
Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?
In the 1960s, Paulo Freire led an experimental adult education project in Northeastern Brazil where hundreds of rural men and women learned to read, write, and begin to vote. After a shocking coup d’etat he was exiled, and the notebooks of his students burned. Decades later, discover the generational impact his unique philosophy and educational strategy had on his students through their collective memories. A revered educator across the globe, Freire’s lasting impact has helped strengthen democracy and social movement wherever they have flourished.
Dakota Fanning dazzles as Wendy in this modern take on the classic love triangle, set in Anchorage, Alaska. As her current relationship hits a rough patch, Wendy rekindles a romance with her ex-boyfriend in this examination of perspective, love, and unwritten futures.
The life and career of celebrated best-selling poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver is the subject of this stirring documentary. Featuring interviews with her close friends, including John Waters, never-before-seen personal photos, notebooks, and correspondence from her archive, and recitations of her work by Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Steve Buscemi, and Oprah Winfrey, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World considers the poet’s long lifetime of work in context, capturing the uniqueness of her world and the natural beauty that inspired her.
