Brooklin Boat Yard Featured in New Documentary Premiering at 2026 Venice Film Festival
A new documentary featuring Brooklin Boat Yard, BOATBUILDERS, will have its World Premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2026. The film, produced by Hedgehog Films and directed by Luke Lorentzen, will make its North American Premiere as the opening night selection of the Camden International Film Festival on September 17 at the Camden Opera House in Camden, Maine.
BOATBUILDERS was filmed over four seasons at Brooklin Boat Yard, where the crew of roughly 60 shipwrights built a 56-foot wooden sailboat. The film observes the day-to-day work of the yard — the planking, the joinery, the sanding — alongside the community of people who do it, without narration or dramatization.
This is Lorentzen's third feature documentary, following Midnight Family and A Still Small Voice, both shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; A Still Small Voice also won the U.S. Documentary Best Director Award at Sundance in 2023.
Screening Information:
Venice International Film Festival (Sala Corinto, Venice, Italy) / Official Screening: Monday, September 7, 4:30 PM / Additional Screening: Tuesday, September 8, 2:00 PM, Sala Astra 2
Camden International Film Festival (Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St., Camden, ME) / Opening Night Film: Thursday, September 17, 7:30 PM
“Brooklin is a small town that is full of people who build things with their hands- it’s an essential part of our history- but it’s hard to understand from the outside. Luke managed to capture more than a story about boats. This is a story about a community, its craftspeople, and how they depend on each other.”
