Opening Gala Film: Bucks Harbor w/Nourish NS winner

From Emmy Award-winning director Pete Muller comes an intimate journey to the rugged coast of Downeast Maine, where generations of lobster fishermen have built their lives around the sea. Beautifully observed and deeply human, Bucks Harbor goes beyond the lobster boat to explore family, masculinity, vulnerability, and survival in a rapidly changing coastal world. As these fishermen haul their catch from the ocean floor, the film reveals the powerful—and often unspoken—ties between identity, tradition, and the waters that have shaped them for generations.

USA | 2026 | 98 minutes
Director: Pete Muller

Director Pete Muller will join in person for a special post-screening Q&A.

PLUS: Celebrating the Next Generation

The evening will also feature the winning film from the Nourish Nova Scotia Youth Food & Film Challenge, showcasing Nova Scotia’s coast through the eyes of a young filmmaker and exploring our connections to food, culture, sustainability, and life by the sea.

Sponsored by CBC Atlantic with Community Partner Nourish Nova Scotia

Pete Muller, Director, Bucks Harbor 

Pete Muller is an American visual artist and documentarian. He uses photography, film, and other media to examine issues related to masculinities, conflict, and human ecology. Since 2017, he has been a Storytelling Fellow at the National Geographic Society. From 2005 to 2020, he was based in the Middle East and Africa, exploring conflict dynamics in post-colonial states. He has won premier awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Overseas Press Club, TIME Magazine, and others. In 2022, he won the Emmy Award for Best Documentary for his role as Co-Producer of The First Wave. His photographic work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in London, New York City, Geneva, Cape Town, and elsewhere. Muller also served as the Cyrus Vance Visiting Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. @pete_k_muller