San Francisco’s International Ocean Film Festival has announced its slate of films for the 21st annual Festival, April 12 – 14 taking place at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason: 34 films representing 13 countries. Especially anticipated is the Festival’s opening night offering: the US Premiere of a film titled Blue Carbon: Unleashing Nature’s Superpower. In an especial honor, the filmmakers will be coming in from London along with key partners, foundations and supporters to launch the film’s screenings here in the US. The film is produced by CNN and will be aired on CNN on April 21st in recognition of Earth Day.
“It’s a very special year for us with not only a continued focus on environmental issues, but our recent honor by the United Nations,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the International Ocean Film Festival. “Truly, with continued awareness of our fragile ocean world, our work at the International Ocean Film Festival becomes more important every year.”
As part of the United Nations’ ongoing work to combat and educate around climate change and other environmental projects, UNESCO’s Ocean Decade Initiative has officially endorsed the efforts of San Francisco’s International Ocean Film Festival.
The Festival accepts films of all genres that focus on any of the varied aspects of our big, blue ocean. Subject matter ranges from, but is not limited to, marine wildlife, conservation efforts, ocean environments, coastal cultures, ocean sports and exploration, ocean heroes, and innovative technology designed to help protect the ocean. Films can be documentaries, narratives, shorts, animation, and full-length films from around the world. A number of finalists from the main film festival program will be selected to participate in the world-renowned International Ocean Film Festival Traveling Program. This year’s film categories include Environmental, Marine Sciences/Wildlife, Exploration & Ocean Sports, Coastal Island Culture. Animation, Conservation, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Shorts and Female Directors.
Sponsors for this year’s International Ocean Film Festival are: RingCentral, Jenga Ocean, RBC Wealth Management and Laura Wais Underwater Photography. Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 815 films from 40 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.
Below is the full list (in alphabetical order by title, followed by director, country of origin and running time)
- 841 Rachel Burnett, (USA) 16 min Marine Sciences/Wildlife
- A Disappearing Forest Tyler Schiffman, (USA) 9 min Shorts
- Active Anilao Walter Marti (USA) 5 min Shorts
- Alien Contact Rick Rosenthal, (USA) 50 min Marine Sciences/Wildlife
- Blue Carbon: Unleashing Nature’s Superpower Nicolas Brown, (UK) 85 min Environmental
- Blue Whales: Return of the Giants Hugh Pearson, (UK) 45 min Marine Sciences/Wildlife
- Dahican Boogs Rosales, (Philippines) 16 min Conservation
- Daughters of the Waves Lisa Monin & Sebastien Daguerressar, (France) 53 min Exploration and Ocean Sports
- Deep Look: How Does the Mussel Grow its Beard? (USA) 4 min Shorts
- Deep Trouble Lavinia Currier, (USA) 10 min Marine Sciences/Wildlife
- Disappearing Jewels Will Kim, (USA) 15 min, Environmental
- Expedition Amana Mason Le & Kai Smith & Julian Goodman & Niki Wallin, (USA) 7 min Coastal and Island Culture
- Fish with A Story Karen Logan & Melissa Raemakers, (South Africa) 45 min Coastal and Island Culture
- Great White Summer Nick Armando Budabin, (USA) 79 min Coastal and Island Culture
- HAULOUT, Evgenia Arbugaeva & Maxim Arbugaeva, (UK) 25 min Shorts
- Kahu Mano, David W McGuire, (USA) 22 min Coastal and Island Culture
- Keepers of the Land, Deirdre Leowinata & Douglas Neasloss (Canada) 29 min Coastal and Island Culture
- Kingdom of Ice: Antarctica’s Leopard Seals, Paul Nicklen & Andy Mann, (Canada) 9 min Shorts
- Konstantin’s’ Legacy – Awakening the Love for Nature, Daniel Bichsel, (Germany) 6 min Conservation.
- Orca – Black & White Gold Sarah Nörenberg, (Austria) 93 min Conservation
- Return of the Mangroves, Leo Thom, (USA) 9 min Conservation
- Sequoias of the Sea, Natasha Benjamin & Ana Blanco, (USA) 14 min Conservation
- Shark Researchers: A New Approach to Shark Conservation, Arnau Argemi González, (Spain) 3 min Shorts
- Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief Daniel Kreizberg, (Lithuania) 15 min Shorts
- The Blue Quest Palawan, Clément Pourtal, Jérôme Brousse, (France) 47 min Conservation
- The Granny Grommets, Leah Rustomjee, (Australia) 9 min
- The Passage, Boogs Rosales, (Philippines) 20 min Environmental, Conservation, Shorts
- Turtle Walker, Taira Malaney, (India) 75 min Marine Sciences/Wildlife
- Why Blame the Seagulls? Philip Hamilton, (UK) 36 min Environmental
- Wild Hope: Return of the Manatees, (USA) 16 min Shorts
- With the Tide, Chelsea J Jolly, (USA) 25 min Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Representation
- Zoe, Gaby Scott, (USA) 27 min Exploration and Ocean Sports
