more than a story about boats: it's about "a community, its craftspeople, and how they depend on each other"
Brooklin Boat Yard featured in documentary premiering at 2026 Venice Film Festival
Sun, 08/23/2026 - 9:00am
Scene from 'Boatbuilders." (Photo courtesy Hedgehog Films)
Director Luke Lorentzen. (Photo by Hana Kajimura)
Scene from 'Boatbuilders." (Photo courtesy Hedgehog Films)
Director Luke Lorentzen. (Photo by Hana Kajimura)BROOKLIN —Brooklin Boat Yard (BBY), a custom wooden yacht builder and restoration yard on the Maine coast, is the subject of a new feature documentary, Boatbuilders, which will have its World Premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 7, 2026. The film, produced by Hedgehog Films, 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.
Directed by Luke Lorentzen, 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.
"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," said Brian Larkin, President of Brooklin Boat Yard, in a news releae. "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.”
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
https://boatbuildersfilm.com/
About Brooklin Boat Yard
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Brooklin Boat Yard (BBY) is a custom wooden yacht builder and restoration yard on Maine's Eggemoggin Reach. Founded in 1960, the employee-owned yard designs and builds new sail and power yachts from 30 to over 90 feet, alongside full-service restoration, repair, and maintenance work, combining traditional wooden boatbuilding with cold-molded and composite construction. BBY's roughly 70-person crew, led by president Brian Larkin and vice president Eric Blake.
About Luke Lorentzen
Luke Lorentzen is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. In 2023, his film A Still Small Voice won the U.S. Documentary Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival, was listed as one of the best ten films of the year by The New York Times and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2019, Lorentzen’s Midnight Family was also shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature after winning over 35 awards from film festivals and organizations around the world, including a Special Jury Award for Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Editing from the International Documentary Association and the Golden Frog for Best Documentary from Camerimage.
Address
Camden Opera House
29 Elm St.
Camden, ME 04843
United States
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