• Free screening of new documentary reveals the hidden beauty and threats to the Great Lakes
  • Filmmakers used cutting-edge underwater drone technology to dive deep into the lakes
  • A post-film Q&A with the filmmakers and scientist will be led by Bridge environmental reporter Kelly House

A new documentary showcasing the underwater beauty of the Great Lakes and the impact that invasive mussels are having on the lakes’ ecosystems is getting its Detroit premiere. The free screening is set for Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Detroit Film Theatre (DFT) at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Tickets are available now through the DFT’s website.

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“All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes” uses a cutting-edge underwater drone to show how the invasive mussels have made the lakes clearer than ever before. The drone allowed Canadian filmmakers Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert to capture dazzling underwater worlds and previously undiscovered shipwrecks entombed in mussels 300 feet beneath the surface. The footage has also provided scientists with new insights, including the first known recording of lake whitefish spawning in the wild. 

“With its cinema-grade 4K camera and fiber-optic tether, we filmed in complete darkness, hundreds of feet down, capturing places and behaviours no human diver could ever reach,” Melnick said. 

“It allowed us to reveal a hidden world that’s been invisible until now. We can’t wait to share it with the people who live around the Great Lakes.” 

A robot-looking camera in the lake.
The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that was used to film ‘All Too Clear.’ The cutting-edge ROV uses an ultra-low light camera and is the first of its kind to be used in the Great Lakes. (Courtesy of All Too Clear/Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert)

There will be a post-film conversation with the film’s directors, Matt Herbert, a senior conservation scientist and aquatic ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, and Doug Craven, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians natural resources director. The panel will be moderated by Bridge Michigan’s environmental reporter Kelly House, who has been reporting on the decline of the whitefish in the lower Great Lakes because of the invasive quagga. The underwater drone will also be on hand for audience members to view.

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“Freshwater life is among the most threatened on Earth, yet it remains largely out of sight. We made “All Too Clear” to pull back the curtain on the Great Lakes—so people can finally see what’s happening beneath the surface. Because if you can’t see it, you can’t care about it,” Drebert said.

A close-up of quagga mussel in the lake.
Close-up of a quagga mussel with its siphon extended. (Courtesy of All Too Clear/Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert)

The free screening is presented by Bridge Michigan in partnership with Detroit PBS, the Friends of the Detroit Film Theatre, Great Lakes Now, Michigan Public and The Nature Conservancy.

The Detroit Film Theatre is located at 5200 Woodward Ave. inside the Detroit Institute of Arts. Tickets are available for the Oct. 8 screening here.

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