Big Water Film Festival

03/16/2026

Big Water Film Festival is now accepting film submissions for 2027!

Our 19th Festival, to be held in January of 2027, will be a hybrid of live and online showings. We will have our live Festival on January 14-16, 2027. Filmmakers should plan to have accepted films shown online from January 17-February 2, through the Eventive platform.

We accept films of all genres and points of origin. Some of our favorite films have been made by local or Midwest filmmakers and some have come to us from all around the world, including Iran, France or Canada. Our website lists all of our previous award winners. https://17thbigwaterfilmfestival.eventive.org/awardwinners.

Submit your film here
https://filmfreeway.com/BigWaterFilmFestival

The Big Water Film Festival takes place on the shores of Lake Superior, in Ashland, Wisconsin and surrounding communities. Our Festival headquarters is the ...

02/13/2026

Online viewer voting is in! Congratulations to our 2026 Audience Favorite, Unholy Communion: directed by Patrick Coyle. Thank you to everyone who took time to view this year's selections (in person and online) and vote for your favorites.

01/30/2026

Two more days to view BWFF online! Virtual passes are still available at https://18thbigwaterfilmfestival.eventive.org/passes/buy Then, be sure to vote for Audience Favorite. Winner will be announced here next week.

Save 50% off the cost of individual tickets for the live event AND get to stream all of our films at home for two weeks! Let's say you want to come to the theater for one or two of our showings, but cannot spend the entire weekend with us-- no problem, with your pass you can watch at home the films....

01/22/2026

Extreme cold warning means some businesses are closing, and events cancelled. Great chance to get cozy and watch the BWFF films you may have missed! Online viewing available until Feb 1st. Get your passes here

Save 50% off the cost of individual tickets for the live event AND get to stream all of our films at home for two weeks! Let's say you want to come to the theater for one or two of our showings, but cannot spend the entire weekend with us-- no problem, with your pass you can watch at home the films....

01/19/2026

Thank you to all who came out for the 18th Annual Big Water Film Festival! This year we added a Thursday eve film block, which you gave a big thumbs up. Thanks to Honest Dog Books for welcoming us and helping to fill the house.
Our Fri and Sat viewings at Bay Theater had record turn out. This year we had a large number of water-themed films, and quite a few from our area, but three of our award recipients were from halfway across the globe.
The following are the winners of this year's festival. We will post the winner of the Audience Favorite in 2 weeks, once online viewing has closed.

Loren Savitsky Emerging Filmmaker -- Sabrina Greener, Honk for Peace
Best Documentary - The Human Side of Plastic: Abby Barrows -- Andrew Lynch, Ben Ayers, Rush Sturges
Best Short - A Good Day Will Come -- Amir Zargara
Best Narrative Film -- Bint El Shalabiya -- Saro Heidari
Best Feature -- Unholy Communion -- Patrick Coyle
Honorable Mention -- Lost Songs of Sundari -- Sudarshan Sarjerao Sawant

01/17/2026

Great turn out for our first Sat film block at Ashland Bay Theater. Tickets are still available for our 3:30 and 7:00 segments.

01/17/2026

Great discussion going on this morning at Cinema and Cinnamon Rolls. Come to see more films today at the Bay Theater in Ashland - 1:00, 3:30, and 7:00. bigwaterfilmfestival.org

01/16/2026

Great first night, and a full house at Honest Dog Books! Join us tonight and Sat at Bay Theater in Ashland!

01/15/2026

It’s this weekend! www.bigwaterfilmfestival.org

01/15/2026

We are VERY grateful to our sponsors. We couldn't do it without you! Please join us in supporting these local businesses.
Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, Chequamegon Bay Arts Council -, Chequamegon Food Co-op, Fiorio Wealth Advisors, Northern State Bank, Honest Dog Books, JJ Clay on the Bay, Cobblestone Inn & Suites -, The Baron on 4th St Washburn and Common Thread Productions.

Festival starts tonight. Get your tickets now at

The 18th Big Water Film Festival is here! We'll be at Honest Dog Books in Bayfield on Thursday, January 15, at the Bay Theater in Ashland on Friday and Saturday, January 16 and 17, 2026, and online from January 18 to February 1. We are excited about our film selections this year.