MOVIES
WHALE CHASERS
New Zealand, 17 mins
Sitting high on a rugged hilltop looking out over New Zealand’s Cook Strait, an unusual team of senior ‘citizen scientists’ keeps watch for migrating humpback whales. They’re spotting for the Cook Strait Whale Count – a study into the recovery of New Zealand’s humpback population since the end of New Zealand whaling in 1964. These volunteers are uniquely skilled in watching whales: Not only are they descendant of New Zealand’s 200-year history of whaling, they were all once whalers themselves.
SEA GYPSIES
USA, 48 mins
The vessel is the Infinity: a 120-foot nomadic sailboat, built by hand in the 1970s, with no reinforced hull to protect it from ice damage. The crew is a band of wandering gypsy miscreants; with no permits, no insurance and no budget. During the iciest year on record in the Southern Ocean, the Infinity and her 16-strong crew left New Zealand to travel 13,000 kilometres across the Pacific to Patagonia – via Antarctica.
This is a story about sailing, the camaraderie of a shared struggle and the raw awe-inspiring power of the natural world.
THE ACCORD
USA, 19 mins
The reality of growing up a surfer in Iceland is different from anywhere else in the world. It’s a harsh place. There are no surf shops, guidebooks or webcams. Icelandic surfers are seriously on their own – both in and out of the water. But being so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the known surf world hardens Iceland’s surfers to confront the biggest issue they must all face: The North Atlantic wind.
HAVEN
France, 5 mins
Join four-time world freediving champion Guillaume Néry and his fellow freedivers as they battle extreme depths, poor visibility and dangerous currents to dive as deep as 50 metres to explore Europe’s largest shipwreck.
STAY WITH US
USA, 5 mins
The search for extraterrestrial life has always fascinated the human race. We look to the darkness above and imagine the alien creatures that share our universe. Stay With Us suggests that maybe we have been looking in the wrong place.
FOUR MUMS IN A BOAT
UK, 30 mins (Tour Edit)
When four British middle-aged working mums announced that they wanted to row the Atlantic Ocean, their families thought they had lost their minds. The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is considered one of the toughest ocean endurance challenges on the planet. This is the story of determination, possibility and personal discovery.
THE LEGACY
Mexico, 5 mins
The Legacy takes us to a remote archipelago in Mexico where words like “abundance”, “thriving”, and “perfect and healthy populations” are still being used to describe a marine environment. Declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2016, the Archipelago of Revillagigedo is evidence that the ocean’s biodiversity, and our hope, is not yet lost.
As a touring film festival we are exempt from classification but we are pleased to reassure you that our 2017 program does NOT include nudity, sexual references, drug use or violence. We hope to share the adventure inspiration with you and your loved ones.