Ocean Film Festival Magazine - Winter Series

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contents
WELCOME
FILM LINE UP
CHANGING TIDES
FROM KURILS WITH LOVE
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: LISA BEASLEY
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: KĀRLIS BĀRDELIS
GOING VIRTUAL
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welcome
Welcome to the 2021 Ocean Film Festival
World Tour!
Get set for a night of ocean adventure!
Thank you so much for diving into the
2021 Ocean Film Festival World Tour as part
of our Winter Series of virtual events. We’re
delighted to share this brand-new collection
of ocean-themed films all celebrating the
wonders of the world’s oceans, from both
above and below the surface.
The 2021 film line-up transports us to the
most remote corners of the planet: from the
little-known (and spectacular) Kuril Islands
between Russia and Japan, to a sensory
overload of hanging glaciers and penguins
in South Georgia. Plus, check out one of the
world’s toughest and most bizarre sailing
events in Race to Alaska – a tribute to the
spirit of adventure.
The Ocean Film Festival was created in
Australia with the aim of inspiring people
to enjoy, explore and protect our oceans.
Our tour this year has been made possible
by our fantastic tour partners, and we’re
also delighted to once again support the
work of two fantastic marine charities:
Surfers Against Sewage and the Marine
Conservation Society.
The Winter Series also includes four
different film programmes from the Banff
Mountain Film Festival – the 2021 Yellow
and Green Film Programmes, and two
brand-new Best of Banff collections. And
for inspirational film evenings on-demand,
check out the Encore Channel for a choice
of film programmes from the Banff, Ocean
and Top Dog Film Festivals.
Finally a huge thank you to you, the
audience, for your ongoing support,
during 2020 and 2021 in particular. We
are enormously grateful for all the positive
feedback about our virtual shows, and the
feeling is mutual: staying connected with
such an inspirational community of ocean
lovers has been a huge boost. Thank you
for making the festival so special – it is your
stories of how the films have inspired you
that keep us coming back for more.
Now let’s take the plunge for a night of
seafaring adventure!
The Ocean Film Festival team
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Film Programme
FROM KURILS WITH LOVE
An eccentric Russian marine biologist called Vladimir stows away on
a boat filled with adventure junkies to reach one of the last paradises
on Earth – the volcanic Kuril Islands, between Russia and Japan.
From this dramatically beautiful and inaccessible chain of islands,
From Kurils With Love introduces us to a true warrior for the planet
on an intimate journey of visual bliss… and sea lion chaos.
Filmmaker: Taylor Rees, 24 minutes
CHANGING TIDES
2,000km, 3 months, 2 kayaks – and zero single-use plastic. With
giant icebergs, abundant wildlife and serious arm-power, university
friends Lucy and Mathilde tackle an ambitious kayaking trip along
the Inside Passage, down the coast of Alaska and Canada. With all
of their 500 meals stored in paper, Changing Tides joins the intrepid
duo on a journey of adventure and a deep love of the world’s oceans.
Filmmakers: Akemi Walsh and Anna Thorsen, 17 minutes
REBIRTH
In Rebirth we meet Benoit, a surfer from the Basque country, fighting
for his love of riding waves after a freak accident. Through deep
perseverance and an upbeat spirit, the challenge to adapt develops
Benoit both physically and mentally. His journey pushes him to
relearn and find freedom from surfing once again, while inspiring
new possibilities for the adaptive surf community.
MATADOR
Filmmaker: Laura Basil Duncan, 6 minutes
Skimboarding is a sport that starts and ends on the beach, with skimboarders
running to meet an incoming wave and riding it back to
shore – performing impressive tricks along the way! With an epic
soundtrack plus spectacular underwater and ariel shots, Matador
stars professional skim-boarder Austin Keen in action among the
crystalline blue waters and white sand beaches of Mexico.
Filmmaker: Aether Films, 3 minutes
VOICE ABOVE WATER
Wayan is a 90-year-old Balinese fisherman who can no longer fish
because of the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean. In a change
of pace, Wayan instead uses his fishing boat and net to pull rubbish
from the water, in the hope of one day being able to fish again. Voice
Above Water is a glimpse into how he uses his resources to make
a difference, and a reminder that we can all accomplish something
much greater than ourselves.
Filmmaker: Dana Frankoff, 11 minutes
YARROW
London-based monochrone photographer David Yarrow steps ashore
in South Georgia to capture the mind-blowing wildlife scenes of this
remote and inhospitable island, only reachable by an 80-hour boat
journey. But with hundreds of thousands of penguins and seals,
surrounded by a cathedral of mountain peaks and hanging glaciers,
this spectacle of nature is a sensory overload and it’s hard to know
where to start…
Filmmaker: Abraham Joffe, 5 minutes
THE SEA TO ME
Kate Hamsikova is a freediver and swimming instructor whose
connection with the sea grew thanks to her friendship with a solitary
wild dolphin called Dusty. Over the last 15 years Kate has become an
experienced freediver, diving in many of the world’s great oceans and
sharing her passion for the sea with others – but here she tells her
story from closer to home, on her beloved west coast of Ireland.
Filmmaker: Finisterre, 3 minutes
RACE TO ALASKA
The Race to Alaska is a boating race that pushes contestants to the
edge of endurance, tackling 750 miles of dangerous waters with no
motors and no outside support. Those who take on the challenge are
varied in their experience and motivations, but all share the same
determination. Jumping to get perspectives from boat to boat, Race
to Alaska is bracing, immersive, wonderfully congenial and a tribute
to the spirit of adventure.
Filmmaker: Zach Carver, 51 minutes
8 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
9

changing tides
17 minutes
Filmmakers: Akemi Walsh &
Anna Thorsen
Focus: Sea Kayaking
together, we are
the voice of the ocean.
join us
KAYAKERS LUCY AND MATHILDE TELL US MORE ABOUT THEIR
EPIC 2,000KM ADVENTURE – AND SHARE TIPS ON TRAVELING
WITHOUT SINGLE-USE PLASTIC
ou will make mistakes and that is OK.
“YIt might be that you forget to ask for
no straw. Or that you end up stranded at a
bus stop and find yourself in a situation where
you must buy that plastic-wrapped food. Many
people are afraid to minimise plastics because
they feel it has to be all or nothing, but your
individual choice influences consumer demand,
and demonstrates to providers that you will,
wherever possible, choose products with less
plastic.”
In 2018, university friends Lucy Graham and
Mathilde Gordon kayaked over 2,000km from
Juneau in Alaska to Vancouver Island, Canada,
through a stunning and notorious route known
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
as the Inside Passage. Having never completed
a kayaking trip longer than seven days together,
it was an enormous undertaking – made even
more of a challenge by their choice not to use
any single-use plastic on the journey.
“When we decided to kayak the Inside Passage
we knew two things: one, we were going to
have an epic adventure; and two, we wanted it
to have an impact,” says Mathilde.
The duo bought second-hand clothing and
kit for the expedition, and used paper charts
rather than digital to avoid batteries. But the
biggest challenge was preparing three months’
worth of food without plastic, which Lucy and >>
11

Mathilde achieved by cooking, dehydrating and
wrapping 500 meals in newspaper to take with
them. So, if you’ve never dehydrated a meal
before, where do you start?
“We recommend Excalibur dehydrators as they
are the most efficient and you can dehydrate a
number of meals at the same time because they
have so many trays,” says Mathilde. “However,
they are expensive, so hiring one might be
better, or pooling in with some adventurous
friends to buy a communal dehydrator. We used
about seven dehydrators that were lent to us
from the community in Vancouver, in all types,
sizes and shapes, and they all worked well.”
The pair are keen to encourage others to
reduce single-use plastic, both on expeditions
and in everyday life, and have produced a
free guide to living and travelling without
plastic, including recipes and instructions for
dehydrating meals, and how to make your own
plastic-free products, featuring everything from
toothpaste to moisturiser (“We didn’t actually
use the moisturiser that much because we
thought it would attract the bears. We maybe
once put it on our dehydrated brownie as icing
sugar… Desperate times!”).
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Their expedition bought challenge, adventure,
laugher and life-long memories, and also
showed them what’s possible: Lucy and
Mathilde plan to make every journey single-use
plastic-free in future.
“We hope our adventure will inspire others to
pursue their own, and also encourage people to
begin their journey to protecting our beautiful
oceans,” finishes Lucy.
To find out more about the expedition and
to download the plastic-free guide, visit www.
passageadventures.org.
3 OF LUCY AND MATHILDE’S TOP
PLASTIC-FREE TIPS
Easy wins – Such as a reusable shopping bag,
water bottle and coffee cup
Plastic audit – Write a list of the single-use plastic in
your house. Try and eliminate one or two a month
Adventure kit – Borrow, rent or repurpose camping
gear and clothing
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
13

Join us
Together we are the sea change
From Kurils
with Love
24 minutes
Filmmaker: Taylor Rees
Focus: Exploration & Conservation
Join as a member
today to help fight
for the future of
our ocean
mscuk.org/join
AN UNEXPECTED TALE FROM ONE OF
THE LAST PARADISES ON EARTH
t was the eve of our departure. We were
“Iprepping camera gear when we got a
call saying, there’s this random scientist who’s
trying to sneak aboard the ship. He says he’ll
sleep in the hallway. Do you think we should let
him come?”
It wasn’t supposed to be a documentary about
an eccentric Russian scientist and his love of
sea lions. When renowned adventure filmmaker
Renan Ozturk set out to make a film about the
Kuril Islands, a visually stunning chain of islands
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
between the eastern tip of Russia and northeast
Japan, he had planned an extreme climbing
expedition. But their unexpected stowaway
showed there was a more important story to tell.
Affectionately known as ‘Big Daddy Vladdy’
(it’s even his Instagram handle, @bigdaddivladi),
Vladimir Burkanov has dedicated 30 of his 62
years to the Kuril Islands, observing Stellar
sea lion populations and migrations in the
Russian Far East. His research discovered that
thespecies was disappearing, both in Alaska
and in Russia, and his focus is to find out why,
and how to stop this process. >>
15

FROM KURILS WITH LOVE – BY NUMBERS
10,500
1924
80%
56
25
1
square kilometres covered by the Kuril Islands
the last time the Raikoke Volcano erupted before 2019, when the film
was made
decline in the Kurils’ sea lion population since the 1980s
islands in the Kurils
drones (and 22 cameras) used to make the film
there’s only one Big Daddy Vladdy
But working on the Kurils is hard, and
funding is dwindling. Equipment breaks down,
corrodes, gets washed into the sea by storms,
or torn down by avalanches. In better times,
Vladimir had up to 30 students working with
him on different islands. Now there are just a
handful of enthusiasts and volunteers doing a
big and important job almost for free.
“My students and I look for any vessels
headed for the Kurils or Kamchatka via the
archipelago,” Vladimir says. “Today we can
only afford to pay for the fuel to get to the
places we need, or even try to hitchhike our
way there. Sometimes we get lucky.”
But the challenges haven’t diminished
Vladimir’s passion for the islands, his work
and his beloved sea lions, and he’s confident
that From Kurils with Love will help.
“I always wanted to share this with other
people, but I didn’t have the resources, I
didn’t have the equipment to do it,” his says.
“My concern is that if people don’t see it, they
do not care. I’m really happy that now more
people can see it.”
Technology makes life easier too. Drones
can be used for mapping and understanding
population dynamics, as well as getting up
close to look for individual information. A
survey that used to take 10 days can now be
done in three hours. Luckily, the team had
an impressive 25 drones with them, to shoot
video in 4k and 8k resolution for wide-screen
viewing.
And, of course, the star of the film’s loveable
personality will surely help.
“His passion, his commitment… Big Daddy
Vladdy is the coolest scientist, human, I’ve
ever known,” says director of photography
Taylor Rees.
“Vladimir is a diamond. A diamond in the
rough,” finishes ecologist Jeff Kerby.
Visit www.fromkurilswithlove.com to find out
more.
16 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
17

Where are they now?
A CATCH UP WITH THE STARS OF RECENT OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL FILMS
TIDAL – Lisa Beasley
The 2020 film Tidal told how swimmer Lisa Beasley
campaigned to protect tiny species of marine life in Cape
Town’s tidal pools, by persuading local authorities to
change the way the pools were cleaned. Following the
film’s release, authorities have implemented the same
cleaning protocols around every tidal pool in the Cape
Peninsula – 22 pools in total. And the success hasn’t
stopped there. Lisa has been contacted by people both
in other regions of South Africa, and internationally,
about making their tidal pools more natural. “It’s really
interesting that people have taken an interest in this
small little story about a small little tidal pool in a small
little city,” she says. Seemingly small actions can make a
big difference.
As well as continuing to swim and dive, Lisa, who
rediscovered her love of the ocean after a horrific BASE
jumping accident, is also studying psychology, focusing
on how nature experiences are connected to wellbeing.
Follow her on Instagram @lisambeasley, or see www.
capetowntidalpools.com.
the more likely we are to care for it
underwear and tees made from trees
sueme.com • @wearesueme
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UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
19

Where are they now?
A CATCH UP WITH THE STARS OF RECENT OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL FILMS
TOUCHED BY THE OCEAN - Karlis Bardelis
In 2018 we met Latvian adventurers Kārlis Bārdelis and Gints Barkovskis,
who became the first ever team to row across the South Atlantic Ocean (with
a few, er, interesting skin problems along the way) in the film Touched by
the Ocean. Gints was content to hang up his paddles when they reached
Brazil, but for Kārlis the adventure was just getting going. From Brazil he
cycled 5,400km across the continent, on a tandem with his girlfriend, to Lima
in Peru. He then rowed solo from Peru to Malaysia, on a journey that took
nearly two years (stopping at a few islands along the way), becoming the
first person to row from South America to Asia. A heroic effort… and when
he arrived in Malaysia, they wouldn’t let him in because of covid restrictions.
See www.boredofborders.com for more on Kārlis, and watch the
inspirational and hilarious film Touched by the Ocean in our ‘Best of’
Ocean Film Festival virtual show on the Encore Channel.
20 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
One Ocean Bottle funds
the collection of 1000
plastic bottles in weight.
Join us.
@oceanbottle
oceanbottle.co

Going Virtual
WHAT DO THE OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TEAM DO WHEN THEY CAN NO LONGER
CELEBRATE THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD’S OCEANS WITH AUDIENCES AROUND THE
COUNTRY? CELEBRATE THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD’S OCEANS WITH AUDIENCES
AROUND THE COUNTRY (ALBEIT IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY!)
Covid lockdowns aren’t ideal for a live events
touring company, but they haven’t stopped our
passion for sharing inspirational films with oceanloving
audiences. From our first virtual broadcast
from our Backyard Theatre in the summer of
2020 (the neighbours were a bit bemused by
the construction of a 24ft screen in the garden),
we went on to create Encore Channel – a virtual
platform where you can watch all of our film
festivals on demand.
Encore Channel features the 2020 Ocean Film
Festival film programme, and the ‘Best of’ Ocean
Film Festival, starring a collection of our favourite
films from recent Ocean Film Festivals. You can
also catch our sister events the Banff Mountain
Film Festival and the Top Dog Film Festival, with
a range of programmes to choose from for each.
We’re also delighted to be back with live virtual
events in our Winter Series, which features a
range of Banff and Ocean virtual events running
throughout January and February 2022. Live
virtual shows have the added bonus of our
legendary prize draws streamed live into your
living room for the ultimate festival-from-home
experience, plus lots of exclusive behind-thescenes
features.
Both the live virtual shows and the on-demand
Encore Channel have offered us a fantastic way
to stay connected with audiences throughout
the lockdowns and beyond, and your support
for these virtual shows is hugely appreciated. If
you want to catch up with a film programme you
missed, or to try one of our other inspirational
film festivals, see www.banff-uk.com/virtual.
22 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
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