Friday, March 9

1:00 p.m. – Program 2

Ocean Oases: Protecting Seamounts and Canyons of the Atlantic

(USA), Drew Takahashi, 7 mins
Ocean explorer Philippe Cousteau describes mysterious underwater canyons carved by ancient rivers, and seamounts formed from ancient volcanoes, both found off the East Coast of North America. They are home to an extraordinary universe of life—a life threatened by fishing trawlers, seismic exploration and drilling. —KH

Héen Táak

(Canada), Nathalie Lasselin, 51 mins
The Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska is the setting for this film of fjords, mountains, and coral reefs, with stunning images above and below the sea. It tells the story of the waters and the web of life, from crabs to corals, from eagles, otters and orcas to man’s relationship with them all. —JO

The Message

(Spain), Carlos Villoch, 6 mins,  North American Premiere
A young Spanish girl takes us beneath the sea on a journey of discovery: of the sea’s beauties and marvels, and of the destruction that has already taken place. In a poignant and touching plea, she asks that we help ensure that she can look forward to sharing her joy in the ocean in the future, with other children like herself. —MJS

Early Learning

(Poland), Marcin Bortkiewicz, 35 mins
Mikolaj, an intern at a marine station, falls asleep on his first job––nighttime observation of pregnant seals. He is not the first, his mentor chides him, but Mikolaj quickly becomes a responsible member of a scientific team working to restore the endangered Baltic gray seal population. Sensitive cinematography and a rich sound track give warmth and humor to this film. ––SH

Movement

(USA), Peter Winch*, 6 mins World Premiere
Line images of waves morph into real ocean waters along the California coast. Sea embraces sand and rocky shores while in the calm waters of a coastal lagoon river otters romp and imitate their salty cousins – with some comical effects. Tidepool creatures slither, slink, scuttle and skulk, amidst the dynamic tidal pulse of our mighty Pacific. —MJS

4:00 p.m. - Program 3

Eco Crime Investigators: Making A Killing

(UK), Marc Rowedder, 50 mins
Covert ops and DNA sleuths uncover the appalling facts about an Icelandic industrialist’s use of a legal loophole to defy the moratorium against whaling, and revive the trade in endangered fin whale meat.  The Environmental Investigation Agency exposes this large-scale piracy, and chronicles how one of the world’s most vulnerable creatures is being pushed—again—toward the brink of extinction. —MJS

Fish Meat: Choose Your Farm Wisely

(USA), Joe Cunningham, 42 mins
The increasing dominance of aquaculture and mariculture means, today, that your fish is more likely to be farmed using wide variations in production standards, feed quality and sustainability. Two friends, a fish ecologist and an ecological engineer, explore the beautiful Aegean coast and the mountains of Turkey to discover the benefits, risks and tradeoffs involved in fish farming. —JO

Ocean Worms

(USA), Walter Marti*, 5 mins
An amazing diversity of strange and uniquely adapted worms inhabits marine ecosystems worldwide, living on kelp, coral, pier pilings, or just the sandy ocean floor. Unlike earthworms, marine segmented worms and flatworms come in many vivid colors, shapes, and sizes. They camouflage themselves from predators, forage, mimic other toxic organisms, and ambush prey. —GC

Pacific Drifters

(USA), Nannette Van Antwerp*, 5 mins
The world’s smallest sea creatures adrift in the world’s largest ocean … may we introduce you to a crowd of tongue-twisting pelagic invertebrates that include larval stomatopods, planktonic tunicates, siphonophores, ctenophores, and otherwise delectable jellies? The sight of Venus’s girdle will make the deep dive truly worth the while. Enchanted, you will be. —DB

7:00 p.m. – Program 4

Eight Bit

(USA), Greg Browning*, 5 mins
A fun and edgy animated short, where surfers become characters in a video game and enter a world of visual and musical adventure. We’ve all seen surfing video games, but this is a game when the surfing is real. It’s outside of the box and something that surfing has never been part of. It takes surfing as the real thing and makes it into a video game.—PW

Lost and Found

(USA), Doug Walker*, 71 mins
A chance find of images from the 70s and 80s launches an epic journey of discovery. The film spotlights the best pioneering surf photographers of Hawaii’s of Hawaii’s North Shore and features such surfing legends as Gerry Lopez and Larry Bertelmann who were their inspiration. The result is a visually stunning time capsule of arguably the most innovative and exciting era in surfing history. —PW

Waste to Waves ~ Turning Trash, into Slash…

(USA), Sustainable Surf, REEF, Russell Brownley and Noah Carlson, 4 mins
Cinematic documentary featuring recycling old styrofoam packaging waste into new “eco” surfboard blanks, helping to divert styrofoam waste (EPS foam) away from our landfills and off of our beaches and waves, cutting the CO2 footprint of a surf blank in half. Featung legendary SoCal surfboard shaper Timmy Patterson

The Still Point

(France), Taki Bibelas, 52 mins
Join surfing pioneers and luminaries Rabbit Bartholomew, Tom Morey, Brian Keaulana and other legends as they discuss the philosophy and spirituality of surfing. A backdrop of stunning vintage and contemporary surf footage, and a hypnotic soundtrack enrich this thoughtful and provocative, homage to these surf giants, and give insights into the joy and healing of wave riding. —PW

Filmmakers marked with an * will be in attendance!

Synopsis Writers:

AB: Ana Blanco
KH: Keith Howell
PW: Peter Winch
MJS: Mary Jane Schramm
DB: Diane Brockob
JO: John Owen
GC: Gretchen Coffman
SH: Sidney J.P. Hollister