The Big Blue Film Fest (BBFF) showcases ocean-themed films at the confluence of marine sciences, humanities and the arts. The BBFF aims to engage the community and provide a lively weekend of research-based entertainment. The festival also strives to raise awareness about marine issues and how we might solve them. We hope you can join us for an array of films, Q&As with filmmakers and special guests, and an awards ceremony to celebrate these wonderful ocean-themed films.

Schedule:

Friday, January 27, 2023

6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m: Block A - Stunning Seascapes

The Sanctuary (7 minutes)
Recounting his love of the water, Ray Lewis, OAM, snorkels among the vibrant sea life of the marine sanctuary he has helped to protect. Directed by Timothy Raymond Brown and Michael Bruce Portway.

Oregon's Edge: The Creative South Coast (9 minutes)
Life on the edge of Oregon requires creativity and it's that creativity that makes the Southern Oregon Coast so special. Join a marine debris artist, a science advocacy team, and the chief of a Native American tribe in exploring the Creative South Coast. Directed by Darryl Lai.

Award Winner - Best Film
Fire Under the Sea (52 minutes)
From northern Sicily to the Bay of Naples, a scientific expedition led by Italian vulcanologist Francesco Italiano and Laurent Ballesta's team of deep divers will study volcanoes by exploring the seabed more than 100 meters below the surface. On the sunken slopes of the Mediterranean Sea, they will probe these territories in an attempt to discover clues about the workings of these mountains of fire hidden beneath the surface, encountering rare and secret ecosystems and sources of energy that were previously inaccessible. Directed by Gil Kebïili and Roberto Rinaldi.

Saturday, January 28, 2023

10:00 a.m - 12:00 p.m: Block B - Exploring the Tides

Oregon Surfing: A Vital Way of Life (4 minutes)
Oregon surfing might seem intimidating and complex, but the experience of riding waves in the chilly Oregon water can be extraordinary. What does surfing on the Oregon Coast have to offer? What might a surfer interact with while in the ocean? Why is activism for our ocean important? Directed by Maia Insigna. Student film.

Award Winner - Best In EducationHorseshoe Crabs: How 350-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures are Vital to Human Survival (6 minutes)
With the worldwide race to develop and manufacture vaccines came a renewed interest in horseshoe crabs. These sea creatures are over 350 million years old and their blue blood has been critical to the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Numerous species, including humans, depend on horseshoe crabs and it's up to us to help ensure their survival. Directed by Andrea Kramar.

ISIIS (11 minutes)
When you record sea creatures in the ocean down at 100 meters, you never know what you will find. Abroad a science research vessel this film features what it's like to be at sea watching the coolest black and white movie to exist; ISIIS (In-Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System). Directed by Ellie Louise Lafferty. Student film.

Undersea (52 Minutes)
Photographer Nanna Kreutzmann studied photojournalism. Now she has become a Free Diver. UNDERSEA is a unique and beautiful story about living your passion in a place where the majority of the planet’s population doesn’t have access and where one little step can be fatal. This film is a portrait of a strong woman who faced her own fear and found freedom in her love for the sea. Directed by Jannik Splidsboel.

1:00 p.m - 3:00 p.m: Block C - Untold Stories

Pumping at Sea (5 minutes)
Jami Ivory is a mother and a scientist. During a two-week-long science research vessel, four times a day, Jami pumped breastmilk amidst the chaos of the boat. Jami shows us that you don't have to put your dreams on hold to be a mother. Directed by Ellie Lousie Lafferty. Student film.

Award Winner - Most Inspiring Film
Reclaim Your Water: Natasha Smith (5 minutes)
Breaking barriers and making her own waves, Natasha Smith is a core member of the Ebony Beach Club. She shares her own story in hopes of increasing representation in surf, skate and any other sport or activity that has historically been exclusive and can give such an individual sense of freedom. Directed by Faith E. Briggs.

Salt Lines (16 minutes)
This film is set in Correa, Down East, Maine. Salt Lines tells the extraordinary and uplifting story of a single mother hauling lobster traps for a living in an unforgiving man’s world. She is raising her own son, created with an anonymous sperm donor, to be the fifth generation “Lobsterman” in her family whilst consigning gender stereotypes to the past. Directed by Dan McDougall.

Two Kinds of Water (23 minutes)
This film explores the lives of a family living in the Guet Ndar fishing community on Senegal’s north coast – a country whose name literally means ‘our boat’. The 5,500km coastline of West Africa, is home to some of the most diverse and dangerous fishing grounds in the world. It provides a livelihood to eight million people as skills are handed down from generation to generation, yet climate change, over-fishing, and contested waters are producing new and deadly threats every day. A combination of deeply poetic voices and lyrical journeys vividly render the lives of ocean communities on the frontline of the climate crisis and the fishermen whose lives lay on the line each time they leave the shore. Directed by Dan McDougall.

Above Water (26 minutes)
On the remote island of Sarichef off the Northwest coast of Alaska, 20 miles below the Arctic Circle, there’s a small village they call Shishmaref. It continues to get smaller every year as rising water levels erode away at its shores. In the summer of 2021, two artists were invited to the island to paint a mural, but as they learned more about the culture and the impact of the melting permafrost, they began to appreciate the deeper history of the local Inupiaq people and their struggle to maintain their culture in the face of an impending climate disaster. Directed by Ken Honjo and Kentaro Yoshimura.

4:00 p.m - 6:00 p.m: Block D - Majestic Marine Life

Journey of Theresia (6 minutes)
An artistic adventure through the Atlantic Ocean and a look at the journey that both scientists and a young mother whale must take. Directed by Jessika Raisor.

Award Winner - Best Student Filmmaker
Kelp Me Please (6 minutes)
Created by students at OMSI's Documentary Explorers Camp in Newport, Oregon. Directed by Fiona Cummings, Helena Miller, and Sienna Cooper. Student Film.

Close Encounters (19 minutes)
Reporter Laura Madrueño travels to the Riviera Maya in Mexico to see firsthand whether the bad reputation of one of the most feared wild animals in the world is warranted. Directed by Daniel Aldaya.

The Sand-Eating Shark (52 minutes)
A lemon shark called Manoela grows up in the waters of Fernando do Noronha off the coast of Brazil. Her extraordinary senses allow her to detect scents, sounds and even the tiny electric fields of her prey. In particular, she specializes in a hunting technique that has only ever been observed in this spot: hunting sardines in the waves. When we look closer behind the breakers, we discover unsuspected alliances and unusual behaviors. Directed by Bertrand Loyer.

Date: January 27 - 28, 2022

Location:

Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitor Center
2030 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR  97365-5229

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