Student-made documentary premieres on the big screen
Interlochen Arts Academy students’ feature-length documentary “Grounded,” created in partnership with Greenacres Foundation, screened Oct. 22 at The Bay Theatre.
Nearly three years ago, Interlochen Arts Academy students set out to make a feature-length documentary about regenerative agriculture. This month, northern Michigan audiences saw Grounded on the big screen.
Created by students at Interlochen Arts Academy in partnership with Ohio-based Greenacres Foundation, Grounded made its northern Michigan premiere on Oct. 22 at the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay, Michigan as part of the theatre’s Made in Michigan series. The screening was followed by a Q&A with members of the filmmaking team.
The documentary explores regenerative agriculture through the eyes of the students who set out to understand what it means, how it works, and whether it can change the way we think about food and the land.
But Grounded is also a story about what can happen when high school students are given the time, resources, and professional support to take on a project of this scale.
Over the course of nearly three years, dozens of Interlochen students contributed to the film in roles including directing, producing, cinematography, research, writing, editing, animation, composing, and on-camera interviews. Students traveled to farms and agricultural communities in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, meeting farmers, scientists, artists, and others whose work helped shape their understanding of regenerative agriculture.
“This project gave students the opportunity to do much more than learn about filmmaking in a classroom,” said Michael Mittelstaedt, founding director of Interlochen’s Film & New Media Division and executive producer of Grounded. “They had the chance to spend years following a story, asking difficult questions about food, farming, and systems that feed them, and figuring out what they wanted to say about the world around them.”
The partnership with Greenacres Foundation began in 2023, bringing together the organization’s work in regenerative agriculture with Interlochen’s arts education expertise. What followed was an unusually immersive experience for high school filmmakers, who spent multiple years researching, filming, and shaping the story.
“The students brought an incredible level of curiosity and creativity to this project,” said Mittelstaedt. “They didn’t just document regenerative agriculture. They asked questions, challenged assumptions, and found their own way into the story.”
The film was co-directed by Nathan Buck and Claire Hannah Collins, with Elizabeth Kaiser serving as editor and Mittelstaedt as executive producer.
Along the way, the students encountered agriculture not simply as a subject to document, but as a complex issue connected to food, community, environmental stewardship, and culture. Their exploration included Indigenous growing traditions and the ways people are working to build more sustainable relationships with the land.
Grounded was featured earlier this year at the RiverRun International Film Festival, Charlotte Film Festival, Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival, and Fresh Coast Film Festival. Its northern Michigan premiere offered audiences an opportunity to see the work of these student filmmakers on the big screen in the region where many of them learned and created.
