Previous Festivals
Selling Songs of Leyte
(Progam 1)
Blackie the Wonder Horse
(Progam 2)
Last Journey for the Leatherback?
(Program 2)
Haunts of the Black Masseur:
The Swimmer as Hero
(Progam 2)
Crown of Thorns
(Progam 2)
Three Feet Under
(Progam 4)
Slow Boat to Somewhere
(Program 7)
Film Program 2005
January 29 and 30, 2005
Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
Program 1
Selling Songs of Leyte
WORLD PREMIERE
14 min, Philippines, 2004
Eli Africa
In Leyte in the Philippines, market vendors traditionally sing while counting the fish they sell. The lyrics aren't too catchy, but the songs draw customers and help vendors stay focused in the bustling, colorful market. —SH
Crown of Thorns Starfish — The Monster from the Shallows
WORLD PREMIERE
48 min, Australia, 2004
Larry Zetlin
This starfish eats hard coral. Any kind will do. When its numbers were modest, no problem. But today millions of starfish are bellying up all at once to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, threatening this coral wonder's very existence. —SH
Ocean Fury: Tsunamis in Alaska
26 min, USA, 2004
Kurt Byers
Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes — can we ever cope with such powerful natural phenomena? Life is inherently risky, but the tsunamis spawned by Alaska's 1964 earthquake, which hit 9 on the Richter Scale, taught us how to sidestep at least their most disastrous effects. —SH
Program 2
Blackie the Wonder Horse
6 min, USA, 1938
Blackie was 12 years old when he almost broke the record for swimming the Golden Gate. And he towed someone, too. Even for a horse, that was remarkable. A little sweetness can work wonders. —SH
Troubled Waters
15 min, India, 2003
Sumer Verma
When 1998's El Niño washed over Lakshadweep Island's magnificent coral reef off India's west coast, it was as if the sea were on fire. The reef "burned" up. What made this El Niño so unnaturally hot? —SH
Last Journey for the Leatherback?
27 min, USA, 2004
Stanley Minasian
Fifty years ago, the wide-ranging leatherback sea turtle flourished; today, it nears extinction. The plight of this ancient and mysterious turtle, which can weigh up to a ton, tells us much is amiss in our oceans. —SH
Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero
US PREMIERE
52 min, Canada, 2004
Jeff McKay
This lyrical historical journey, based on Charles Sprawson's book of the same name, explores why, from the ancient Greeks to Lord Byron to contemporary marathon swimmer Lynne Cox, humans have been drawn to the Black Masseur — rejuvenating, sensual water. —SH
Program 3
Fantastic Sea Creatures — Seahorses
US PREMIERE
5 min, Germany/Australia, 2003
Annette Scheurich (Producer)
They hang out a lot in sea grass, hiding, and prefer by nature the slow life. So it's no surprise that their mating dance takes hours. The surprise comes when the dance ends. —SH
Washed Away
WORLD PREMIERE
52 min, Canada, 2004
Patricio Henriquez
Is global warming a debatable theory? Not to the people of a South Pacific Island, or an Alaskan village, or even of New York City. It's a real threat, both to traditional cultures and to our modern way of life. —SH
Coastal Clash
56 min, USA, 2004
Elizabeth Pepin
At stake are the scant miles of California coastline still privately owned. Such an invaluable prize evokes visions both of private mansions and of public beaches. Which vision will California choose and how will that choice be made? —SH
Program 4
Ostrako
US PREMIERE
4 min, The Netherlands, 2004
Hans Muller
Shot in triptych from atop the freighter Ostrako, this time-lapse, gull's-eye view charts the ship's progress through the Port of Amsterdam. As it winds through channels, day segues into night, transforming the industrial complex into a light-spangled fairyland. —MJS
The Baltic — Sea of Surprises: A Fragile Sea
10 min, Finland, 2004
Nick Upton
Sterile seals and dead hatchlings eventually get someone's attention. Fortunately for the Baltic, where millions find recreation and sustenance, it happened in time to bring this unique brackish sea back from the edge of disaster. —SH
Our Synthetic Sea
22 min, USA, 2003
Bill Macdonald
Plastic has a stranglehold on our water planet. This disturbing documentary graphically exposes our addiction to a lightweight, disposable lifestyle … and the consequences. If a diamond is forever, plastic runs a close second. —MJS
3 FEET UNDER — Digging Deep for the Geoduck
55 min, USA, 2003
Justin Bookey
It's a dining delectable that lives, often for a hundred years, buried beneath Puget Sound. With this ribald, witty film, the gooey duck (geoduck clam) takes wing, having hatched a song, a doll…and the gooey duck smile. —SH
Program 5
Dalirium
US PREMIERE
4 min, Spain, 2003
Leandro Blanco
Using digital manipulation like a painter, Spaniard Leandro Blanco creates an oceanic world of flowing images and sounds, an homage to Salvadore Dali and his "timeless" watch and a call to a species in a race against time and its own worst impulses. —SH
Seeds of the Future: Spawning Aggregations in Fiji
WORLD PREMIERE
18 min, USA, 2004
Perry Pickert & Tim Kelly
Fishermen don't stop fishing where they make big hauls — even if they're hauling in breeding fish — unless they're lured away. On Fiji, managing communal fishing areas is the lure. Fishermen see new methods work there, and they're hooked. —SH
Oceans in Motion
WORLD PREMIERE
25 min, USA, 2004
Jeff Herzog
Oceanographic sleuths examine ancient drowned cedars for clues to past sea level fluctuations. Only with increased knowledge can we predict and plan for future life on an increasingly "blue" planet. —MJS
Short Infinity
52 min, Canada, 2004
Kun Chang
Wind and silence, lobstering and the sea, family and friendship shape the people on Entry Island in Canada's Gulf of the St. Lawrence. This film shows us why it's a home they can't imagine leaving. —MJS
Program 6
The Man on the Boat
3 min, Australia, 2003
Boyd Britton
Riding through a storm in a cab, the taxi's radio in the background, a man dozes and dreams. He's on a fishing boat at night, a radio in the background. Something emerges out of the dark. —SH
Jus' Call Me Tjarra — Catching Crayfish in Hermanus
US PREMIERE
47 min, South Africa, 2004
Lieza van Tonder
Once bound by apartheid but free to fish as he pleased, Tjarra today is more free, but new laws limit his fishing. This finely observed film shows Tjarra's search for a place in his changing world. —SH
Vampire from the Abyss (Shinkai no Vampire)
US PREMIERE
52 min, Japan, 2002
Hiromichi Iwasaki
It is blood-red, with sapphire eyes, and haunts the depths of Monterey Bay. If threatened, Dracula-like it inverts its webbed mantle over its head, and spews a concealing cloud of bioluminescence. You gotta love this squid. —MJS
Program 7
Shellmound
21 min, USA, 2004
Andres Cediel
At Emeryville's Bay Street Mall on San Francisco Bay, the dirty little secret is the thousands of millennia-old Ohlone graves that lie buried below. Descendants mourn the fate of these ancestors, while developers ponder profits. —MJS
A Slow Boat to Somewhere
24 min, USA, 2004
Jon Bowermaster
A Polynesian freighter — a floating K-Mart — makes a 3,000-mile monthly circuit among the planet's most remote atolls. Crews risk everything to bring life-giving supplies to Tahitians threatened by rising sea levels and Western ways. —MJS
Under Antarctic Ice
56 min, USA 2002
Norbert Wu
Beneath frozen seas lie concealed labyrinths, vaulted cathedrals and catacombs of indigo and azure ice — habitat to penguins, orcas, seals and invertebrates. Gin-clear waters and superb photography reveal the south polar sea's super-abundant life. —MJS
Program 8
Selections from Festival International du Film Maritime, d'Exploration et d'Environnement in Toulon, France (FIFMEE)
Once Upon A Time
US PREMIERE
5 min, Spain, 2004
Leandro Blanco
Human error can have devastating consequences, to us and to all life on this planet — including species as yet undiscovered. The ramifications can never be fully comprehended, but the choices are ours to make now. —MJS
Northern Destinies (Destins du Nord)
US PREMIERE
55 min, France, 2004
Nina Beliaeva and Jean-Pierre Bozon
Award winner: Bronze Anchor, FIFMEE 2004
Summers last just days; winter temperatures hit —70 F. But you have a steady job — with risks, of course. It's on a nuclear-powered freighter that cuts its way through 1,600 miles of ice twice a month. A life unlike many others, but not so different, too. —SH
A Fantastic Journey with the Gulf Stream: A Warm Bath for Europe
US PREMIERE
43 min, Germany, 2004
Sigurd Tesche
Award winner: Confederation Prize for Diving Activities Worldwide, FIFMEE 2004
The earth's most powerful ocean current, the Gulf Stream flows 16,000 miles from Mexico's Gulf to the North Sea. Along the way, lots of creatures hitch a ride, chasing prey, or mates, or just going with the flow their ancestors have followed for centuries. —SH
Our thanks to volunteer reviewers Sidney Hollister (SH) and Mary Jane Schramm (MJS).