Attack of the Sea Slugs
Friday, 7 pm
Pirate for the Sea
Friday, 7 pm
Eastern Horizons
Saturday, 10 am
Pearl Islands
Saturday, 10 am
Red Gold
Saturday, 10 am
Rethink the Shark
Saturday, 1 pm
Cuttlefish
Saturday, 4 pm
Between the Tides
Saturday, 4 pm
Silent Snow
Saturday, 7 pm
Musica Surfica
Saturday, 7 pm
Tomorrow's Baja
Saturday, 7 pm
Peace with Seals
Sunday, 10 am
Secret Weapon
Sunday, 1 pm
Dopamine
Sunday, 1 pm
In the Wake of the Belgica
Sunday, 1 pm
Call it Home: Searching for Truth in Bolinas Lagoon
Sunday, 4 pm
Ice Bears of the Beaufort
Sunday, 4 pm
Film Program 2009
Saturday 2/21/09 - Sunday 2/22/09
7:00 pm – Opening Night Party, Aquarium of the Bay
Education Program Please secure attendance vouchers through our education coordinators.
2:00 pm – Special Program celebrating our National Marine Sanctuaries
Farallon Room, Aquarium of the Bay, The Embarcadero at Beach St.
Free admission with Aquarium day-ticket or Festival pass.
Cordell Bank: Blue Water Oasis
(USA), Kip Evans, 14 mins
Take the plunge and explore Cordell Bank National Marine sanctuary, an undersea island of granite towers and reefs just off Bodega Head. Cold water and strong currents may challenge human visitors, but create ideal conditions for wildlife from whales to albatross. The bank teems with jewel-like fish, anemones and some very curious-looking creatures. www.cordellbank.noaa.gov
The Farallon Islands: Past, Present and Future
Watch trailer
(USA), Stanley Minasian, 38 mins
Enjoy a virtual tour of the Farallon Islands, the "Galapagos of California," this documentary documents the natural and human history of a small group of rocky islands just 27 miles off San Francisco. Off-limits to all but a handful of scientists, the islands host hundreds of thousands of seabirds and seals, while the waters around them teem with all things marine, from great whales to white sharks.
www.oceanicsociety.org
A Sheltered Sea
(USA), William Bayne, 23 mins
watch trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gdvb4ORkec
Against a backdrop of the breathtakingly beautiful California coast, this film recounts the California Marine Life Protection Act, our country's first and most ambitious plan to protect a network of ocean areas of special bounty and diversity. Overfishing, pollution and climate change have brought us to the tipping-point; only swift and bold action can save it now.
www.thebaumfoundation.org
7:00 PM – PROGRAM 1 purchase ticket
Dubside
watch trailer
(UK), Justine Curgenven, 8 mins
He's back—the bearded 50-year-old kayaker who gives new meaning to Bob and Ray's radio sign-off, "Hang by your thumbs." See him do body-bending rolls in waters calm and roiled. Marvel at his rope tricks, developed by Greenland seal hunters. Be astounded as he hangs, if not by his thumbs, by two fingers. And watch with disbelief as he goes to his favorite kayaking spots on—oh my God!—public transportation. — SH
www.cackletv.com
www.dubside.net
Attack of the Sea Slugs
watch trailer
(USA), Champ Williams, 6 mins
In the cold waters of Puget Sound, each colorful orange sea pen that attaches to the substrate is actually a colony of tiny polyps poisonous to most sea creatures, but not to the striped nudibranch. Not only do the nudibranchs get nutrients from the sea pens, they adapt the toxins they consume for their own defense. — KH
www.champwilliams.com
Pirate for the Sea
Watch Trailer
(USA), Ron Colby, 102 mins
Eco-activist Paul Watson is the leader of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, aggressively dedicated to protecting the environment. He has put his life on the line many times and frequently risks arrest in defense of whales, seals, sharks, and other wildlife—but never backs down. Here is an account of his many adventures around the world. — KH
10:00 AM – PROGRAM 2 purchase ticket
Eastern Horizons - World Premiere
watch trailer
(Canada), Bryan Smith, 10 mins
Explore North America’s eastern seaboard by kayak—from Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, where 50-foot tides create surges, whirlpools, tidal bore waves, and rapids that only the experts can master, to the placid waters around bustling Manhattan, where everyone is invited to paddle—no charge. This is a special Festival cut of the full length film.— KH
www.reelwaterproductions.com
Pearl Islands: The Story of Bahrain’s Natural Gems – World Premiere
(UK), Caroline Brett, 35 mins
For centuries, free divers from Bahrain spent summer months in the Arabian Gulf looking for oysters – and the world’s finest natural pearls that some of them contained. This beautiful film recreates that world and shows us the natural beauty that still exists in the Gulf: dugong aggregations, thousands of nesting cormorants, flocks of pink flamingos and abundant fish populations. Bahrain is today a global financial center, but divers, now with scuba gear, still search its waters for the queen of gems. — SH
www.saveourseas.com
Better Than Sex? – World Premiere
watch trailer
(USA), Cecile Marie, 5 mins
San Francisco Bay swimmers are known to be dedicated to their sport, but just how committed are they? Inquiring minds want to know. — KH
Red Gold
watch trailer (USA), Ben Knight and Travis Rummel, 55 mins
Bristol Bay, Alaska, is home to the world’s two most prolific salmon rivers. For thousands of years they have been the primary source of food for Native Americans and today support a thriving commercial fishery. But, a proposed copper and gold mine at the headwaters of the rivers threatens their future. — KH
www.redgoldfilm.com
1:00 PM – PROGRAM 3 – SHARKSpurchase ticket
Rethink the Shark – USA Premiere
watch trailer
(South Africa), Erica Brumage, 1 min
Years ago, I lived for a few lovely weeks on Tomales Bay, where I swam every day before breakfast. Then Jaws hit the theaters. Just hearing about it put the kibosh on my morning dips. If I had seen this short film, though, I might have kept swimming. For sure, I would have never gone anywhere near a toaster again. — SH
www.saveourseas.com
The Man in the Grey Suit
(USA), Roger Teich & Ron Elliott, 20 mins
Ron Elliott dives for sea urchins in the waters off the Farallones, about 20 miles west of San Francisco. No other boats are in sight, which is the way he likes it. But sea lions, cormorants, murres, and moray eels, among others, are there. And great white sharks—lots of them—which is why no other boats are in sight. Over the years, he has learned to give these impressive predators the proper respect. Live and let live, so to speak. So far. — SH
The City of the Shark – Worldpremiere
watch trailer
(USA), David McGuire, 14 mins
While we recognize sites such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz as icons of San Francisco Bay, little is known about the enigmatic sharks living beneath the waves… until now. This new documentary created by renowned filmmaker David McGuire focuses on local shark species and the steps that Aquarium of the Bay is taking to study, care for, and protect these animals. — KH
www.seastewards.org
Sharks in Deep Trouble – West Coast Premiere
watch trailer
(South Africa), Lesley Rochat, 20 mins
The finning and overfishing of sharks continue to be the rule, not the exception, on all the world's oceans, as governments generally turn a blind eye to abusive and rapacious practices. On the other hand, diners around the world eat shark steaks and shark fin soup, oblivious to how such expensive dishes make it to their tables. As Lesley Rochat says: "The time of living unconsciously is over." First, though, we have to wake up. This film might do the trick. — SH
www.aoca.org.za
Great White Shark – A Living Legend – USA Premiere
(South Africa), Joe Kennedy, 50 mins
Along the coast of South Africa, the local sharks have a fearsome reputation. They are known as Tommy sharks after a ship crowded with British soldiers—Tommies—sank one night and 400 were killed by these animals as they swam for shore. Shark expert Mike Rutzen was quite surprised when he learned that the Tommy sharks that he often dived among were, in fact, great whites. The filmmakers accompany Rutzen as he follows the great white sharks patrolling inshore waters in search of food.— KH
3:00 PM – Panel Discussion
Sharks - Mythology and Misconceptions
Free event
Following the 1pm Saturday shark film program, SFOFF will host a panel discussion on sharks. Sponsored by Greenplanet Films and facilitated by local shark conservationist and filmmaker David McGuire, the panel of shark experts, filmmakers and members of the media will discuss our understanding, and misunderstanding of sharks. The public is welcome to attend and participate in a stimulating and revealing conversation on how we
perceive sharks and the truth behind the myths. Beginning immediately after Program 3 in Room C260 at Fort Mason Center – directly opposite the main entrance to Cowell Theater.
Confirmed Panelists:
- Dr. John McCosker, Senior Scientist and Chair Department of Marine Biology, California Academy of Sciences
- Dr. Scot Anderson, Shark Research Scientist, Point Reyes Bird Observatory
- Dr. Leonard Compagna, Shark Taxonomist, Board Member Save Our Seas Foundation, Curator of Fishes in the Division of Life Sciences and Head of the Shark Research Centre (SRC), Iziko Museums, Cape Town
- Maria Brown, Superintendent, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
- Lesley Rochat, Filmmaker, Manager and Director Education & Awareness, Save Our Seas Shark Centre (SOSSC), Founder, AfriOceans Conservation Alliance (AOCA)
- Oceana Representative (TBA)
- Media Representative (TBA)
4:00 PM – PROGRAM 4 purchase ticket
Cuttlefish – The Brainy Bunch
(Australia), Gisela Kaufmann, 52 mins
Their name comes from the shell-like cuttle bone that gives these mollusks buoyancy, just one of their remarkable characteristics. Many cuttlefish—there are 100 species—can also change color and shape at will, capture prey with lightening speed, and generate bands of light in their heads, apparently to mesmerize prey. Most of all, they are smart, boasting the largest brain-to-body ratio of all invertebrates. What does that mean to us? As this film shows, we are still working on it. — SH
Mi Tierra, Mi Vida
(USA), Roberto Vezzone, 8 mins
When you can see the surf rolling in while you work on your oceanside tropical farmland, not in a high-rise, you have a strong incentive to finish your tasks as quickly as possible. For David Ramos, the land, communally owned for centuries, his family, and the ocean surf are inseparable. A lack of respect for any of them can despoil his world, which, as we are learning, is also ours— SH
www.robertovezzone.com
Between the Tides
watch trailer
(India), Tyler Quintano & Nick Manning, 55 mins
As the Earth warms and sea levels rise, millions of people who live in the islands of the Ganges Delta, in southeastern India and western Bangladesh, will lose their homes. As the lowest islands disappear, some have already moved to other endangered, overcrowded islands. Photographed in a striking coalescence of black-and-white and subtle color. — KH
sundarbanproject.org
7:00 PM – PROGRAM 5 purchase ticket
The Once and Future Grey Whales – World Premiere
watch trailer
(USA), Stephen Palumbi & Dan Griffin, 3 mins
There are 20,000 gray whales today, but how many in the past? By looking at genetic variation, researchers estimate that the gray whale population was once five times its current size, affecting the Bering Sea ecosystem. — KH
Quest: Ugo Conti’s Spider Boat
watch trailer (USA), Chris Bauer & Joan Johnson, 9 mins
The only box Ugo Conti ever enters is his garage workshop, so thinking outside that proverbial container has never troubled him. On a round-the-world trip, however, seasickness did, so this inveterate hands-on inventor created Proteus. Resembling an enormous water strider, it is highly fuel-efficient and adapts so well to the wavy surface of the water that seasickness is just a bad memory. — SH
www.kqed.org/quest
Silent Snow
watch trailer
(The Netherlands), Jan van den Berg, 14 mins
Dangerous pesticides from all over the world are being carried toward the poles by wind and waves. Two Inuit girls in Northern Greenland examine a disappearing village where one of them still lives. Against a background of melting ice they discuss the pollution that is not only dramatically changing their lives but also threatening the rest of the world. — KH
www.silentsnow.org
Kayaking the Ottawa River
watch trailer
(UK), Justine Curgenven, 10 mins
Just for the challenge, and the fun of it, two expert Canadian white-water kayakers take the filmmaker down the world-class waters of the Ottawa River—in sea kayaks. It's a series of heart-pounding rides, with a bit of fishing thrown in. — SH
www.cackletv.com
Roz Savage – Eco-Adventurer
watch trailer
(UK), 4 mins
Rowing solo across oceans might not be everybody's idea of a dream job, but it was for Roz Savage once she'd had enough of her conventional London existence. In her mid-thirties she quit her job and bought a rowboat; in 2005 she rowed – alone – 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Now Savage intends to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific. She completed Stage 1 in 2008, becoming the first woman ever to row solo from California to Hawaii. She starts Stage 2 this May.
www.rozsavage.com
Tomorrow’s Baja
watch trailer
(USA), Yves Garceau, 17 mins
Baja is being loved to death. More and more foreigners are coming here as tourists or to retire at a rate that the land and its resources cannot support. Marinas, housing complexes, hotels, and golf courses are altering the natural ecology—the very thing that attracts the visitors—and threatening the freshwater supply. A typical barrio family spends 20 percent of its income on water, yet uses less than a single golf course sprinkler. — KH
Musica Surfica – USA Premiere
watch trailer
(Australia), Mick Sowry, 46 mins
Led by violin virtuoso and surfer Richard Tognetti of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, a group of surfers gather together on isolated King Island in the Southern Ocean to play classical music and surf. There is only one condition: no fins on their surfboards, so they can move forward, backward, and sideways. As a result, two extraordinarily creative forces of free expression merge to make a unique film. — KH
www.greatsoutherncommunications.com.au
10:00 AM – PROGRAM 6 purchase ticket
The Feast
(Germany), Ralf Kiefner, 50 mins
Every year, billions of sardines migrate up the eastern coast of South Africa. They swarm in schools the size of football fields, attracting huge numbers of sharks, dolphins, whales, seals, marlins, rays, sea birds—and fishermen. The sardines’ only defense is to react in unison, as a single organism. — KH
www.ocean-pix.de
All Points South
watch trailer (USA), Will Henry & Sachi Cunningham, 6 mins
In a Chilean village, fishermen and local surfers take on a proposed pulp mill that will pollute their fishing grounds and destroy the natural shoreline. This is a trailer to a work in progress. — KH
Peace With Seals
watch trailer
(Czech Republic / Italy), Miloslav Novak, 60 mins
Base your film on a science-fiction book called War with the Newts, add some moon walking, mix in passionate pursuits both scientific and romantic, and show a 98-year-old Sardinian fisherman’s birthday party and you have, well, a “documentary fable”, as this film’s director calls it. You can, of course, lose sight of your main subject, in this case the fate of the Mediterranean monk seal. Then again, not knowing when that seal is going to pop up is one of this quirky, and serious, film’s varied pleasures. — SH
www.focamonaca.it
1:00 PM - PROGRAM 7 purchase ticket
The Secret Weapon
watch trailer (USA), Champ Williams, 3 mins
When the sedentary starfish gets hungry, wrenches a limpet off its rock, turns it over, and prepares to eat it, the starfish is in for a big surprise. The limpet is not alone; it carries a secret weapon. — KH
www.champwilliams.com
Quest: From Salt Ponds to Wetlands
(USA), Chris Bauer & Joan Johnson, 9 mins
Fifty years to restore a habitat? When it is the size of Manhattan and critical to millions of migratory shorebirds, going slowly, stage by stage, is the only way to go. Creating a range of micro-habitats in the salt ponds of southern San Francisco Bay provides an unparalleled opportunity to restore a place of great beauty, a place that is also essential to the health of the Bay and its birds, marine life, and people. — SH
www.kqed.org/quest
Voyage of the Plastiki
(UK), Dustin Lynn, 5 mins
"There's a risk in everything," says environmentalist David de Rothschild. "But, really, how hard can it be?" Pretty damn hard, if you're talking about sailing across the Pacific in a rudderless boat made of plastic bottles bound together with mesh—in the middle of cyclone season. But these are mere technicalities, it seems, and nothing to deter the 30-year-old Brit from pursuing his visionary (some might say ill-conceived) expedition. In April 2009 de Rothschild plans to sail from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot vessel constructed entirely of recycled materials, mostly plastic water bottles. Why? First off, he wants to demonstrate the unlikely and amazing things people can achieve when they recycle their junk. Second, he wants to show them what happens when they don't. adventure.nationalgeographic.com
Dopamine
watch trailer (Australia), Steve Gorrow, 19 mins
This black-and-white film juxtaposes some amazing surfing with surreal underwater images of bicycles and modern mermaids, all accompanied by sixties music and Rastafarians gathering above and below the sea. — KH
www.insight51.com
Insects of the Sea – USA Premiere
(Belgium), Gino Rosiers & Ilse de Gendt, 20 mins
The word ‘crustacean’ does not usually evoke visions of peacock mantis shrimp or hairy squat lobsters, but it might after you watch this extraordinary film. The film’s many stars, most under seven inches long, are startling both for their spectacular shapes and coloring and for their techniques for dealing with predators and prey. Small as they are, they often are crucial to the health of their tropical ecosystems. — SH
In the Wake of the Belgica
watch trailer
(Belgium), Dixie Dansercoer, 55 mins
In 1897, a Belgian-led expedition sailed for Antarctica on the first scientific voyage to the continent. One hundred and ten years later, as climate change threatens the ice caps, another Belgian arranges an expedition to follow the route of the earlier ship, the Belgica, including its 20 hazardous landfalls. — KH
www.inthewakeofthebelgica.com
4:00 PM – PROGRAM 8 purchase ticket
Call it Home: Searching for Truth on Bolinas Lagoon
watch trailer (USA), Bill Chayes, Chuck Olin, 50 mins
What happens when people—and other creatures—become attached to the beauty and bounty of a landscape at a particular stage of its natural evolution? Birds, fish, seals, and plant life can often adapt. People, however, are a different matter, especially when monetary values are involved. This film shows us, step by contentious step, how those who love Bolinas Lagoon try to answer the question. — SH
www.chayesproductions.com
The Surf Magazines Don’t Talk About Lapsed Catholics
(USA), Todd Stewart, 5 mins
Maybe this film's title has something to do with surfing, maybe not. And—mon dieu!—it's in French. Du calm. Do not worry. The mellifluous sounds of that sensuous Latin language and the flow of visuals will carry you along on a rocking sweet ride. It might even be, as Sartre might say, existential. — SH
Ice Bears of the Beaufort
Watch trailer (USA), Arthur C. Smith III, 52 mins
Stunning, unrushed cinematography and editing; natural sound with no narration; and a spare music score by Patrick O'Hearn transform this film into a meditative plea to protect one of the most awesomely powerful—and comically playful—animals on earth. Can this magnificent bear and its largely unknown world of snow-capped mountains and magnificent skyscapes cope with ill-considered oil development, marine pollution, and global warming? It's a question perhaps only we can answer. — SH
www.polarartproductions.com
7:00 PM - Filmmaker awards presentation & closing reception
free to all festival pass holders and Program 8 individual ticket purchasers
Our thanks to volunteer reviewers Sidney Hollister (SH) and Keith Howell (KH).