VIEW FROM October 15th to 20th ONLY! ONCE YOU START VIEWING THE PROGAM YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO FINISH WATCHING IT OR UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON OCTOBER 20 WHICHEVER COMES FIRST
Designed to mesmerise and enthral, the Ocean Film Festival World Tour showcases a cinematic celebration of our oceans comprised of sublime footage taken above and below the water’s surface.
Featuring all new films, this carefully curated selection of short films document the beauty and power of the ocean, and celebrate the divers, surfers, swimmers and oceanographers who live for the sea’s salt spray; who chase the crests of waves; and who marvel at the mysteries of the big blue.
Inspiring and thought-provoking, the Ocean Film Festival World Tour is filled with moving footage, touching interviews and insightful narrations. Each of the festival’s films conveys a deep respect and appreciation for the world’s oceans and the creatures that call them home.
The 7 films in the 2020 line up include:
THE WORLD’S OLDEST SCUBA COUPLE 4 minutes Meet Phil and Grace who hold the title of the World’s Oldest Scuba Diving Couple.
STREET SURFERS 9 minutes Devland, Soweto, is an informal settlement in Johannesburg that hosts an underground community of ‘surfers’ championing activism hundreds of kilometres from the waves. Waste-pickers known as street surfers collect up to 90% of the recyclables from households in South Africa, all while struggling to make ends meet. In Street Surfers, we follow big wave surfer Frank Solomon as he meets Mokete and Thabo, and explore an untold story of new friendships, shared experiences and common interest between individuals that are worlds apart.
**MANRY AT SEA ~ IN THE WAKE OF A DREAM ** (festival edit) 45 minutes Embark on a voyage of epic proportion in a 13 ½ foot wooden boat. In 1965 Robert Manry a seemingly typical middle-aged suburbanite in Cleveland, Ohio, threw caution to the wind and set sail on a solo voyage across the Atlantic. With a goal of sailing from Falmouth in the US to Falmouth in the UK this ocean adventure will have you captivated from start to finish. A must see for ocean lovers, adventurers and boat enthusiasts alike.
FOREVER - TONY PLANT 3 minutes Be awed by the talent and commitment of artist Tony Plant.
INTERMISSION
SCOTT PORTELLI : SWIMMING WITH GENTLE GIANTS 9 minutes Over the past two decades, wildlife photographer Scott Portelli has devoted himself to documenting and capturing the behaviour of humpback whales in Tonga, a group of islands in the middle of the South Pacific. Swimming with Gentle Giants explores Scott’s close connection to these animals and showcases a fascinating variety of unique whale behaviour.
BARE EXISTENCE 19 minutes Ten years after they were designated as endangered, nothing of significance has been done to protect polar bears. So, in simplest, starkest terms, more bears are starving to death as climate change steadily reduces the ice pack where the bears catch their staple food, seals. The good news is that there is still time to turn things around by making daily choices that matter. And, there are dedicated, passionate scientists, conservationists and volunteers in groups like Polar Bears International who can inspire us with their examples to make the right choices.
A PEACE WITHIN 6 minutes Extreme artist Philip Gray was has travelled far and wide to places like Everest, Antartica and deep into the Borneo Rainforest to capture what he sees on canvas. In what is quite possibly one of his most ambitious projects Gray heads to Quintana Roo in Mexico with the aim of capturing the Cenotes by painting underwater.
A CORNER OF THE EARTH: 24 minutes. A cinematic exploration of surfing in the brutal northern winter featuring aspiring professional surfer Fraser Dovell who is struggling with the harsh realities of competitive surfing. Along with filmmaker Spencer Frost and photographer Guy Williment, Fraser throws himself out of his comfort zone to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.
Locally Sponsored by Sandbar Solar, Save our Shores, Dream Inn Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Waves
