Ocean Film Festival Tour Magazine 2022

PRESENTED BY:
Tour Magazine

contents
5
8
11
15
18
20
22
WELCOME
FILM LINE-UP
CIRCUMNAVIGATE
I AM OCEAN
NAZARÉ: A SURFING MECCA
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
FOLLOW
US ON:
OceanFilmFestUK
#OceanFF2022

welcome
Welcome to the Ocean Film Festival
World Tour!
Hello and welcome to the ninth edition
of the UK Ocean Film Festival tour! Get
ready to dive into a night of inspirational
ocean adventures – we are delighted to
welcome you aboard!
Tonight’s seven films will transport us
around the world, to witness mesmerising
marine life and wild seafaring voyages.
From stand-up paddle boarding around the
coast of Britain, to diving with tiger sharks
in the crystalline waters of the Bahamas
and more, these unique stories feature
astounding cinematography, remote
locations and salty characters who have
dedicated their lives to the big blue.
The Ocean Film Festival originated in
Australia, with the aim of inspiring people
to enjoy, explore and protect our oceans,
and this is the ninth year we’ve brought the
show to ocean-lovers in the UK.
We’d like to thank our tour partners for
their support (and excellent prizes), and
we’re thrilled to once again be supporting
the work of the Marine Conservation
Society and Surfers Against Sewage. We’d
also like to thank our exceptional Ocean
Crew: volunteers local to each show, who
help us promote the events and provide
sterling support on show nights.
And finally we’d like to thank you, the
audience. It is your passion for the oceans,
and your stories of how the films have
inspired you, that keep us coming back for
more.
Now let’s splash into a night of ocean
adventure!
The Ocean Film Festival team

Seas capture more
AD
carbon than trees
AD
But only a healthy ocean can combat the
climate crisis
Together we can restore ocean health -
mcsuk.org/join
mcsuk mcsuk mcs_uk
Registered charity in England and Wales 1004005 and in Scotland SC037480. Registered company limited by guarantee in England and
Wales 02550966. Registered office: Overross House, Ross Park, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 7US. VAT number: 321491232.
Sam Mansfield
7

Film Programme
EYRE & SEA
At the remote Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, vast desert spills
into roaring ocean and weather is king. It’s a pristine environment
supporting a unique array of wildlife, including the endangered
Australian sea lion. Here, in a town with a population of three,
lives Alan. In a life shaped around the natural world, an unlikely
relationship with a colony of seals has fundamentally changed him.
REBIRTH
In Rebirth we meet Benoit, a surfer from the Basque country,
fighting for his love of riding waves after a freak accident. Through
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.
IF YOU GIVE A BEACH A BOTTLE
Filmmaker: Laura Basil Duncan, 6 minutes
Max Romey is a filmmaker and painter who uses a unique blend of
watercolours and videography to tell stories. Inspired by a picture
book, Max heads to a remote beach in Alaska in search of marine
debris – and comes back with an entirely different story to the one
he was expecting.
Filmmaker: Max Romey, 5 minutes
I AM OCEAN
Filmmaker: Jem Cresswell, 18 minutes
I am Ocean showcases the inspirational story of Australian diver,
oceanographer and underwater photographer PT Hirschfield,
whose successful 11-year battle with cancer has been fuelled by her
passion for scuba diving, a deep connection with the underwater
world, and a mission to save the wildlife at her local dive sites.
Filmmaker: Samuel Riley, 9 minutes
TIGER (SHARK) KING
More than 20 years ago, conservationist and diver Jim
Abernethy discovered the ‘affectionate’ side of large
predatory sharks after removing a fishing hook from the
jaws of a tiger shark. Since then he has removed thousands
of hooks from sharks in the warm, clear waters off the
Bahamas and has brought divers to safely encounter these
apex predators with the goal of de-stigmatising sharks as
mindless killers.
CIRCUMNAVIGATE
Filmmaker: Clayton Conn, 7 minutes
Father of three Brendon Prince, from South Devon, attempts
to become the first person ever to stand-up paddleboard
around mainland Britain – a challenge that many have tried,
but none have achieved. Circumnavigate joins Brendon on
his gruelling journey around Britain’s spectacular and often
treacherous coastline, in an attempt to set new world records
and raise awareness for water safety education.
MAR
Filmmaker: Will Reddaway, 39 minutes
A glimpse into the Portuguese surf community as told through
the eyes of big wave surfer Alex Botelho. Portugal’s exposed
northwest coast produces powerful and challenging waves,
which makes for a life and death moment for Alex during a
surf competition. Drone photography allows for exciting
camera angles and stunning big-wave riding sequences – a
film that will have you on the edge of your seat!
Filmmaker: Olaf Crato, 25 minutes (tour edit)
8 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
9

W
e are delighted to support the Ocean Film
Festival Tour 2022. If you’d like to know more
about how our investment professionals could track
down Profits for you, please contact your financial
adviser, call 0800 092 2051 or visit artemisfunds.com.
Circumnavigate
A RECORD-BREAKING SUP EXPEDITION
AROUND THE COAST OF
MAINLAND BRITAIN
39 minutes
Filmmaker: Will Reddaway
Capital at risk.
Issued by Artemis Fund Managers Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
For your protection calls are usually recorded.
o be able to stand on water is
“Tempowering. I love it… and if I can share
that love of an activity with others, that’s an
awesome thing,” says father-of-three Brendon
Prince, who lives in Devon.
Brendon, 49, has been stand-up paddle
boarding since 2008, going SUP surfing and
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
racing, and reaching distances of 100km a day
on his board along the coast of South Devon and
beyond.
But even to this experienced waterman, the
scale of his 2021 challenge was daunting: to
become the first person to SUP around the coast
of mainland Britain, a journey of just under >>
11

WANT TO BE A RECORD BREAKER?
Brendon’s journey set 3 world records:
First person to SUP from Lands End
to John O’Groats via the coast
First SUP circumnavigation of
mainland Britain
Longest ever SUP journey
(approximately 3,200km)
2,500 miles. What motivated him to take on the
expedition?
“I struggle with the fact that we’ve got
something that is so amazing – the water – that
we can enjoy and benefit from, and yet in this
country, 600 to 700 people drown every year,”
says Brendon. “I’ve seen too many people lose
their lives through water.”
The trajectory of Brendon’s life changed in
2014, when he witnessed three people drown at
Mawgan Porth beach in Cornwall. He gave up his
job of 25 years as a PE teacher, founded a charity
called Above Water, and dedicated himself to
raising awareness of water safety in the UK.
“If those paddle strokes mean that one child
somewhere listens and learns, then I can paddle
for six hours. I can paddle for six days. I can
paddle for 60 days.”
Brendon’s voyage, on a stand-up paddle
board that he nicknamed Scarlet, pushed him
to the edge mentally and physically, and was
the ultimate test in weather and water flow
knowledge. Starting and finishing in Torbay, the
141-day journey saw him negotiate fierce tidal
flows, offshore windfarms, shipping lanes and
busy ports.
He set three world records, including the longest
ever SUP journey, and had close encounters with
sharks, orcas and dolphins. How did it feel when
finally completed the expedition?
“The moment I came round the final corner, with
100 paddle boarders around me, to see all the
people waiting… you can’t articulate that,” says
Brendon. “Am I doing this for me, or am I doing
this to make a difference? To come in reassured
us all that what we’d done was worthwhile.”
12
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
13

I am ocean
9 minutes
Filmmaker: Samuel Riley
DIVER AND UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER PT HIRSCHFIELD SHARES
HER INSPIRATIONAL ‘SCUBA VS TUMOUR’’ ADVENTURES
he first time I was diagnosed with cancer
“Tit was a total shock. You have an instinct
to curl up in a corner and cry, and that does
happen, but knowing that the beautiful ocean
is there was such a motivating factor to keep
going,” says diver and underwater photographer
PT Hirschfield, who lives in Melbourne in
Australia.
PT has done more than 1,500 dives, and
her diving career encompasses thousands of
photographs and videos. Her work has been
featured by the BBC’s Blue Planet, the National
Geographic and even Gogglebox in Australia,
and in 2018 she won Australasian Underwater
Photographer of the Year.
These achievements are even more impressive
when you know her background. In 2010,
just after she got her Open Water diving >>
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
15

Photos: Graeme Pace
certificate, PT was diagnosed with endometrial
cancer. Getting back in the water became her
biggest motivation for recovery after her first
operation, and once she was able to dive again,
she completed her Master Diver ticket. But in
2014 she learnt that the cancer was incurable,
and that any further treatment would only buy
her time. It would be easy to crumble in the face
of this diagnosis, but PT took the opposite track.
“When I was diagnosed with incurable cancer,
I came to understand that I’d already processed
my mortality and that life is finite for everybody,”
she says.
“Somebody told me that the time we spend
underwater isn’t held against the time we have
remaining on land, so I really took that to heart,
and decided to spend every possible moment
that I could beneath the surface of the water.”
PT received palliative radiation to reduce
the size of her tumour, and gave up her job as
a teacher. She now dives three to five times
a week and has done training in Underwater
Photography, Wreck Diving, Nitrox and Rescue.
PT calls her adventures ‘scuba vs tumour’
and documents them through her blog and
on Facebook. She is equally likely to describe
herself as having OCD – Obsessive Compulsive
Diving – as having cancer. Join her adventures
at www.pinktankscuba.com, or by following Pink
Tank Scuba on Facebook.
we believe the closer we are to nature
the more likely we are to care for it
underwear and tees made from trees
sueme.com • @wearesueme
144 145
Photography: Martin Hartley | Locations & Production: Good Spaces
16 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR

Photo: Margarita Salyak, Red Bull Content Pool
Nazaré: a
surfing mecca
FEATURED IN THE FILM MAR, THE PORTUGUESE FISHING VILLAGE OF
NAZARÉ IS HOME TO THE BIGGEST SURFABLE WAVES ON THE PLANET.
HERE’S MORE ON THE HOLY GRAIL OF SURFING
Just an hour from Lisbon, a once quiet
fishing hamlet called Nazaré is seen as
the Everest of surfing, offering the biggest –
and scariest – waves in the world.
World records for the biggest waves ever
surfed were claimed in Nazaré: a whopping
86ft wave (26.21m) for the men’s record, surfed
by Sebastian Steudtner from Germany in 2020,
and 73ft (22.4m) for the women’s record, held
by Maya Gabeira from Brazil. But surprisingly,
the destination was unknown by surfers until
just over a decade ago.
Until then, Nazaré had been a peaceful
village, surviving on fishing, and tourism in
the summer. Generations of fishermen knew
about the monster waves of the North Beach,
of course, and they feared them. The waves
were too large to paddle out to on a surfboard,
and big wave surfers went to Hawaii, California
and Australia.
The invention of tow-in surfing (by jetski) in
the 1990s solved the problem of reaching big
waves, but it wasn’t until 2010 that someone
tried it in Nazaré: American big wave surfer
Garrett McNamara, who had been tipped off
by a local bodyboarder.
“I’d been searching for the 100ft wave for
about 10 years, and when I walked up to the
tip the first day, I saw it,” Garrett told The
Photo: Victor Eleutério Costa, Red Bull Content Pool
Nazaré knowledge
Nazaré’s famous wave is sometimes
known as Big Mama
The surfer who discovered Nazaré,
Garrett McNamara from America, moved
to Nazaré and got married on its famous
North Beach
The biggest wave ever surfed was in
Nazaré – a dizzying 86ft!
Guardian. “I’d found what I’d been searching
for my whole big-wave career.”
Nazaré is now renowned for being the most
reliable spot in the world for big waves, and
the village is busy all year round with surfers
and tourists who simply want to marvel at the
spectacle. A 100ft wave hasn’t been surfed yet,
but if it happens, it’s likely to be in Nazaré,
Portugal.
18 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
19

Where are they now?
A CATCH UP FROM RECENT OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR FILMS
RACE TO ALASKA
After a two-year covid-induced break, the
inimitable Race to Alaska was back for
2022.
Starring in the 2021 Ocean Film Festival, the
Race to Alaska is a human-powered, 750-mile
race up the coast of Canada and Alaska, and
2022’s event was as hectic as ever. Only 53%
of entries managed to complete the journey,
with the first team to pull out – Razzle Dazzle
– lasting only two hours before capsizing.
Huge logs floating in the water were the
comeuppance of numerous other teams, and
2022 was the only year in the race’s history
where no solo racers completed the journey.
In happier news, team Mustang Survival’s Rite
of Passage became the youngest team ever to
finish the race, with all team members aged
between 15 and 18.
The event was won by team Pure & Wild, in
a Riptide 44 Monohull, but as we learnt in the
film, winning isn’t the main aim.
“It’s a small slice of racer that comes to R2AK
with ‘first to Ketchikan’ in mind,” says race boss
Daniel Evans. “All we can offer is a landscape so
big it’s humbling, a challenge more audacious
than it should be. We are all so used to rules
that we need to remind ourselves the world will
take us as we are, without limits.”
For more details about the Race to Alaska,
see www.r2ak.com.
20 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR

People’s Choice Award
2021
THE VOTES ARE IN FROM LAST YEAR’’S TOUR!
Thank you to everyone who watched the 2021
Ocean Film Festival, and thank you even more
to those who voted for their favourite film! We’re
delighted to announce that the winner of the UK
and Ireland 2021 People’s Choice Award was
From Kurils With Love, featuring the eccentric
Russian scientist Vladimir Burkanov joining a
group of adventure lovers on a journey to the
remote Kuril Islands, between Russia and Japan.
Vladimir’s loveable personality and passion for
protecting sea lions shines through in the film,
and it won with a comfortable 27.3% of your votes.
The battle for second place was closer,
with Race to Alaska (21.8%) narrowly pipping
Changing Tides (20.1%). We’d love to hear
your thoughts on this year’s films too – visit
www.oceanfilmfestival.co.uk/vote to vote for
your favourite film.
VOTE & WIN!
Visit www.oceanfilmfestival.co.uk/vote
or scan the QR code.
22 UK & IRELAND OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL TOUR