From what (not) to doc by Basil Tsiokos:
In the Works: NORTHERN LIGHT
Against a harsh winter and an even harsher economic climate, working class America is revealed in a snowmobile competition in the north woods of Michigan.
In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, an annual snowmobile race draws thousands to observe family members and friends participate in a dramatic competition. This becomes the backdrop for an observational documentary about three of the families in the community. Filmed over two years, Nick Bentgen and Lisa Kjerulff’s portrait reveals not only the spectacle of the race, but the quiet lives of some of those involved as they struggle with the fallout of the economic crisis to provide for their families and survive in difficult times.