By Gina Yarbrough
San Diego, CA–The 5th annual Blue Water Film Festival, presented by the Blue Water Institute, has announced its 2024 honorees and film lineup taking place March 21 to 24 in San Diego.
The four-day event will showcase features, shorts, and animated films with a total of 44 films, composed of 12 features, and 27 short films.
Maude Barlow will receive the Global Guardian Award, which is presented to an industry world leader whose contributions led to the protection of the natural laws of the environment and have changed the world for the better. The award will be presented by Matthew Oppenheimer from the Canadian Consulate on March 24, during the Blue Water Awards show.
The film festival kicks off on March 21 with the opening night reception and screening of Jean-Albert Lievre’s “Whale Nation,” presented by the French Consulate Julia Duhaut-Bedos at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. The event centerpiece presentation will be presented by Austrian Consulate Michael Postl for the feature documentary film, “Orca Black.”
The festival will close with the Boston Globe, featuring reporter David Abel’s “Inundation District” and “In The Whale.”
Blue Water Film Festival will screen the following films:
Feature Films:
● Canary, Director Danny O’Malley, Alex Rivestert
● Downwind, Director Mark Shapiro, Douglas Brian Miller
● Herring People, Director Scott Renyard
● In The Whale, Director David Abel
● Inundation District, Director David Abel
● Orca: Black White & Gold, Director Sarah Nörenberg
● Relentless, Director Thomas Lindsey Haskin
● Sea Sick, Director Simon Mark-Brown
● Send Kelp, Director Blake McWilliam
● Single-Use Plastic, Director Steven Cowan
● Treasures of the Caribbean, Director Margreth Olin
● Whale Nation, Director Jean-Albert Lievre
● Agriculture Is Over, Director Antoine de Bujadoux
● Axinos, Directors Anna Maria Kakona, Calliopi Villy Kotoula
● Belle River, Directors Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin
● Circles, Directors Oliver Rienzner, Christoph Amort
● Connection, Directors Daniel Lir, Bayou Bennett
● Creatures of the Kaleidoscope, Director Hannah Jodie Alexander
● Disappearing Forests, Director Tyler Schiffman
● Down To The Last Drop, Director Harry Putz
● Drowning Fish, Director Amir El-Shenawy
● Eyes On The Seafloor, Director Natasha Benjamin
● For Everything There Was a Season, Director Trevor Bloom
● Great Ocean Love, Director Ella Bourne
● Inside Greenpeace, Director Florian Noethe
● Natturbond, Directors Sven Peetoom, Gríma Irmudóttir, Jonathan Damborg
● Older Than Trees, Director Pippa Ehrlich
● Protecting the River Krup, Director Ciril Jazbec
● Slaves to Water, Director Bertrand Loyer
● Swim Tuff, Director Matt Corliss
● Whale of the High Desert, Director Joseph Adam LeBaron
● Wild Hope: The Big Oyster, Unaccredited
Animated Films
● Code Rose, Directors Taye Cimon, Pierre Coëz, Julie Groux, Sandra Leydier, Manuarii Morel, Romain Seisson
● Disappearing Jewels, Director Will Kim
● Foreigner, Director Giovanni A Lodigiani
● In Between Beings, Director Isaac King
● PLSTC, Director Laen Sanches
● Resilience, Directors Irène Mopin, Angèle Nicolas, Noémie Barcat
● Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief, Director Daniel Kreizberg
The feature, shorts, animated and television films will screen at the Museum of Photography in Balboa Park, The Conrad, UCSD Innovation Building, Encinitas Community Room, La Jolla Riford Public Library, La Jolla Recreation Center, UCSD Park & Market, Patagonia Cardiff by the Sea Retail Store and virtually at Blue Water Streaming.
The Blue Water Film Institute supports the Blue Water Film Festival as an emerging festival whose intention is to bring greater awareness to Earth’s precious life supply of water in the oceans, aquifers, rivers, dams, lakes, streams, and waterway systems through cinema and engagement.
The festival, known for its environmental programming, works to provide opportunities for support and mentorship of the emerging voices of up-and-coming environmental filmmakers. Over 80 percent of the films in the festival slate will have filmmakers in attendance and online participation in Q&As following the screenings.
Passes for the 2024 Blue Water Film Festival are available and can be purchased at www.bluewatwerfilmfestival.org.
