18th Annual IOFF Program Dear IOFF Friends, It is with great excitement that we launch the 18th Annual International Ocean Film Festival as a virtual presentation starting April 15-May 2, 2021. While it has been a challenging year for all of us, we are extremely proud to bring you these award-winning independent, ocean inspired films for you to enjoy in the comfort of your home. This year’s lineup of a record 80+ films is a testament to the dedication and passion of filmmakers around the world. Seeing the natural world through the lens of their camera is what helps us to continue to pursue our mission of restoring, protecting, and balancing ocean biodiversity through independent film and for that we are extremely grateful. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our donors, sponsors, promotional partners, friends, and the untiring commitment of so many wonderful volunteers who all worked together to make this year’s festival a success. On behalf of all of us at the International Ocean Film Festival, thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the films. Sincerely, For our oceans, Ana Blanco Executive Director Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 2 18th Annual IOFF Program Contents 4. FEATURE FILMS 8. FEATURE FILMS - LIMITED SCREENING 9. FEATURE FILMS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CINEMARE 13. COASTAL COMMUNITIES & CULTURE 16. CORAL REEFS 18. ENVIRONMENT 21. MARINE ECOSYSTEMS - RESTORATION & CONSERVATION 24. OCEAN SPORTS & EXPLORATION 26. OUR BLUE OCEAN 28. SHARK CONSERVATION 30. SURFING 32. WHALES 34. FEMALE DIRECTOR 37. SHORTS 42. ALPHA LIST Designed by Matthew Tominaga Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 3 18th Annual IOFF Program Feature Films 50 Shades of Sharks (La vie privée des requins) Alexis Barbier-Bouvet, Didier Noirot | France | 43 min Showing begins April 15 Sharks as big as whales that eat the smallest animals in the ocean; sharks that walk across the reef, sharks that, like mammals, give birth to pups. 50 Shades of Sharks shows the diversity of shark biology, behavior and beauty. Shot in 4K by National Geographic cameraman Didier Noirot (Blue Planet, 700 Sharks) this film is sensational, not to terrify, but to inspire.—DM Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Current Sea Christopher Smith | Malaysia | 90 min Showing begins April 15 While investigative journalist Matt Bloomberg follows illegal fishing stories in Cambodia, he encounters a diver turned ocean activist Paul Ferber. This powerful and eye-opening film sheds light on extremely destructive bottom-trawling practices, by Vietnamese boats, which threaten Cambodian marine ecosystems. The new generation of locals who take initiative to protect their ocean, though, also threatened, eventually get government support. —YI Themed Program: FEATURE FILM The Deep Med Gil Kébaïli | France | 96 min Showing begins April 15 Just offshore of the luxuriously populated French Riviera a group of explorers conduct a dive mission into the bathyal zone, the portion of the offshore area extending down from the edge of the continental shelf. Four divers live in a 5 square meter (54 square foot) pressurized chamber for 28 days and saturation-dive without the usual time limits in the100 meter zone of the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful photographs of many unusual species while documenting the incredible challenge of deep diving and constraints on the divers, not unlike a space mission, but here on our planet Earth. —ST Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 4 18th Annual IOFF Program Feature Films Entangled David Abel | USA | 75 min Showing begins April 15 Entangled is an award-winning film about how climate change has accelerated a collision between one of the world’s most endangered species, North America’s most valuable fishery, and a federal agency mandated to protect both. The film, by the makers of Lobster War and Sacred Cod, chronicles the efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales from extinction, the impacts of those efforts on the lobster industry, and how the National Marine Fisheries Service has struggled to balance the vying interests. Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Escape from Extinction Bay Area Premiere Matthew R. Brady | USA | 82 min Showing begins April 15 Humans have not been good caretakers of planet Earth nor of the non-human species that inhabit it. How some of our activities have impacted animals and plants are described here in stories, most of us have heard before. But Escape from Extinction, as the title suggests, also describes the activities by individuals and nations to halt the destruction and begin a restoration of plants, animals and habitats. —IS Themed Program: FEATURE FILM FISH & MEN Bay Area Premiere Darby Duffin, Adam Jones | USA | 85 min Showing begins April 15 A comprehensive approach to better understanding the high cost of cheap fish in the modern US seafood economy, this film shows the dire consequences on five specific fish species. With an estimated 91% of our fish being imported amounting to six billion tons of imported seafood, we need to become more aware of the origin of our seafood. With the help of local fishing communities, pioneering fishermen, and celebrated chefs, a movement is underway to embrace a more local, seasonal and sustainable seafood industry. Reconnect with fishermen who risk their lives to harvest our seafood and also discover new varieties of seafood. —AB Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 5 18th Annual IOFF Program Feature Films The Last Lightkeepers West Coast Premiere Rob Apse | USA | 60 min Showing begins April 15 Lighthouses are icons of maritime safety and their imagery has an extended place in art and literature. As technology has made lighthouses (and their human keepers) obsolete there is a movement to preserve what remains of these historic structures. This film discusses the lighthouses of New England and tells the story of individuals fighting to preserve them while recounting the history, traditions and folklore of these aids to navigation. —ST Themed Program: FEATURE FILM The Long Coast West Coast Premiere Ian Cheney | USA | 81 min Showing begins April 15 After watching this beautifully moving and rich visual excursion through Maine’s varied coastal communities, you will know not to whistle or bring bananas on a lobster boat. You will also know about digging for clams, farming kelp, setting 600 lobster traps, and even how those traps are made. And you will sense the deep attachment to the sea these Downeasters have for the waters that provide them—for now— with their bounty. —SJPH Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Nanuq - An Arctic Journey from Past to Future West Coast Premiere Emanuele Licitra | Italy | 55 min Showing begins April 15 In 1928, an Italian airship crashes onto the ice near the North Pole. No one survives. Ninety years later, a group of scientists in a sailboat follow the airship’s route from Iceland, via Greenland, to the Svalbard archipelago made possible by the retreating ice field. Along the way, they measure cosmic rays, plastic debris, the geomagnetic field, and climate change. —KH Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 6 18th Annual IOFF Program Feature Films OCEAN SOULS US Premiere Philip Hamilton, Scott Wilson | UK | 58 min Showing begins April 15 With rich family lives, complex social structures and high emotional intelligence, whales and dolphins are much more like us than we think. What can we learn from them and does our survival depend on what we discover? Stunning 4k cinematography captures what might be the greatest diversity of cetaceans ever seen on film. Emotive and thought provoking. —BB Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Three Arts in Antarctica Bay Area Premiere Bartosz Stróżyński | Poland | 57 min Showing begins April 15 This is not the typical expedition to Antarctica. Instead of scientists, three different types of Polish artists explore Antarctica by sailboat. A photographer documents up-close, above and below the water, the wildlife encountered. A second artist attempts to use an early form of photography (wet-plate collodion) to capture unique images. Lastly, a musician performs a guitar concert from an iceberg that is broadcast back to Poland. The ultimate goal is to bring awareness and understanding of Antarctica through the arts. —ST Themed Program: FEATURE FILM Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 7 18th Annual IOFF Program Feature Films - Limited Screening Descent US Premiere Nays Baghai | Australia | 52 min Showing begins April 30 A young Dutch swimmer discovers she can find calmness and peace in the coldest water. She searches out new places, even feeling at home under the ice exploring the seabed. But there is a downside. —KH Themed Program: FEATURE FILM - LIMITED SCREENING Purchase tickets here: https://watch.eventive.org/ioff2021 8 18th Annual IOFF Program Cinemare Feature Films 66 Meters Max Mönch, Alexander Lahl | Germany | 52 min Showing begins April 20 A comprehensive documentary about sea level rise and its global impacts.How high will the oceans rise? Estimates that were considered panic-mongering just a few years ago are now in the realm of possibility. Already in 2100 the coasts of our planet could look different. The crucial question is: How will Greenland and Antarctica develop? Science is just beginning to include the complex dynamics in its forecasts. The results will determine how the coasts prepare for the impending threat. Up to what level can we protect ourselves? When will we have to think about abandoning areas... Themed Program: FEATURE FILMS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CINEMARE Betty Would Go Andrea Hausstätter | Germany | 86 min Showing begins April 20 The documentary “Betty Would Go – Ride Waves -Surf Life- Save the Ocean”, shows that passion can overcome limits – even when things are really tough.