3500+ Films - 2.5 million words – 1 million viewers! Founder and Curator Carmela selects some of our most entertaining, powerful and inspiring films about Surfing and Oceans at We Are Moving Stories including women, places and inspirational films; oceans: crisis and solutions, marine animals and whales.
Total length of this section: 21 films.
<WOMEN>
Paige - Follow the best female big wave surfer on the planet, Paige Alms on her journey in Hawaii to surf the biggest waves in the world while being a great inspiration to the next generation. Length: 21 minutes 50 seconds. Writer/Director/Producer Bjarne Salen:
“I want people to see that women can get what they want in the adventure world as well. I want people to feel inspired to do things they maybe don’t think they can do, especially younger women.”
A land shaped by women - A film directed by Anne-Flore Marxer, and presented by Anne-Flore and Aline Boc, it tells a depiction of their journey across Iceland, where the two Snowboard Freeride World Champions explore the country in a van through the adventure sports they are passionate about: snowboarding and surfing. On the road they meet inspirational Icelandic women to understand their mindset: independent, happy and believing in their dream. Length: 52 minutes 26 seconds. Writer, Director/Producer Anne-Flore Marxer:
“I’d like to ask this question: where will you start shaping the system we live in into becoming equal towards women, who compose 52% of the human population?”
<PLACES>
Vague à l'Ame is the story of a quest to go bigger, charge harder and find the courage to face monsters at sea. Following Sancho’s tutorship under big wave legend Shane Dorian, the film takes viewers on an extreme journey to the mythical spot of Pe'ahi in Hawaii, the icy waters of giant Mullaghmore in Ireland and back to facing demons at Nazaré in Portugal. Length: 52 minutes. Executive Producer/Editor/Colorist Julie Kardasik:
“Vague a l’Ame not only tells Benjamin Sanchis’ quest to surfing the biggest and most perfect waves in the world but also how difficult it is to always improve yourself, especially after a traumatic experience. That’s something you can’t do on your own. There’s a real connection between all characters: three generations of surfers all going the same way but with a different goal.”
The Joy Of Surfing - A short documentary on what surfing and the ocean means to different surfers. It tracks surfers from Cornwall all the way to California. The film also features charity Life Works, who do amazing work with disabled children. Length: 4 minutes 31 seconds. Director Simon Cotter:
“Why are we designed to feel Joy ? Why are things able to give us joy ? What is the Joy of Surfing? ”
Peninsula Mitre - The Gauchos del Mar brothers perform an unprecedented expedition by foot with 35kgs+ on their backs during 53 days on the easternmost tip of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego Province, a pristine area where no one lives. The brothers have the goal of surfing a world-class wave never ridden before at the Cape San Diego Lighthouse, the most easterly point. Length: 90 minutes. Director/Producer: Joaquin and Julian Azulay (Gauchos del mar):
“we wanted to search for waves in an unknown region of the world and we decided to document it as a register to show people why it is so important to conserve this untouched places.”
Beneath the Surface - Big wave surfer Andrew Cotton risks his whole season on an unexplored piece of the Atlantic that could hold the biggest wave to ever be ridden, but the ocean offers no guarantees.
Length: 30 minutes. Writer/Director Mikey Corker:
“I made this film because I love and respect the big wave surfing community, and really admire what they are doing, especially the guys doing it in really cold and hostile environments. I am fascinated with all the effort that actually goes into riding big waves, and there is so much more to show than just a person riding a huge wave. It is all the gritty bits leading to that point which I think are the really interesting parts.”
<INSPIRING>
The Bodhi Wave - In Costa Rica four change-makers use surfing, yoga and business to inspire environmental change. Length: 20-30 minutes. Writer/Director Jazeen Hollings:
“You should watch this film for two reasons: One, because it is a very liberating story and two, because it is a very interesting combination of topics. There are surfing documentaries, there are yoga documentaries, there are travel documentaries and then there are environmental documentaries. This film takes very specific parts of those genres and combines them.”
Call Me Peg Leg - Meet Rik or Peg Leg as he is now officially called, one legged chef, traveller and one of the UK's most exciting surfers. Length: 4 minutes 17 seconds. Director Josh Hine:
“Whether you’re a surfer or not at the core of the film is a powerful, quirky and inspirational story, we can all learn a lesson from the character that is Peg Leg.”
<HISTORY>
Waves Apart - A Jewish surfer confronts the dark, antisemitic history of the sport he once loved. Length: 24 minutes. Director Josh Greene:
“Today we are experiencing new waves and rising tides of bigotry and anti-Jewish hate; I made this film to reveal an unexpected story about the modern Jewish experience.”
<OCEANS: CRISIS AND SOLUTIONS>
FINconceivable - What happens when sharks disappear? Length: 4 minutes 18 seconds. Writer/Director/Producer Lily Williams:
“Sharks are Apex Predators and they need our help. 100 million sharks are killed every year. Overfishing has sharks being hunted in a way that is truly unsustainable. Environments unravel without their Apex Predators and our world relies on the health of our ocean ecosystems.”
UnderSee - An invasion of destructive black sludge intrudes on an idyllic world inhabited by mythic beings who find momentary salvation in the actions of an assiduous invertebrate clean-up crew who arrive to make things right. Length: 7 minutes 40 seconds. Director/Producer Margie Kelk:
“We created a quirky world suffering from the effects of pollution, and the very quirkiness was to be the hook that would captivate our audiences. Once we could gain their interest, we could deliver our environmental concerns to them through animation.”
Vey nou Lagon - When a Mauritian fisherman discovers that his livelihood is in jeopardy because of his own actions, he decides to lead a movement to protect the lagoons. Length: 22 minutes. Director/Producer: Vanina Harel and Zara Currimjee:
“This film tells the story of fishermen and women in Mauritius and Rodrigues but the stories are surprisingly relevant to any person who has had a connection with the ocean, and particularly to islanders. We all depend on our natural world for our survival and we can help reduce our impact on our oceans through simple everyday actions. This film inspires all of us to work together to make our world a better place.”
Small Island Big Song - An oceanic songline across the Pacific & Indian oceans. Length: 1 hour 20 minutes. Director Tim Cole and Producer BaoBao Chen:
“Our film shows musicians performing music on their homelands in nature sharing cultural lineages shaped over countless generations of living within and depending on that environment for their community’s survival. The film documents their personal relationship to their homelands expressed through the culture which defines it; so too all culture defines our relationship to our social and natural environment.”
<WHALES>
In the Wake of Giants When humpback whales migrating between Alaska and Hawaii become entangled in marine debris, a small network of well-trained volunteer rescuers risk their lives to save them. Length: 24 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Lou Douros:
“Most of us that love the ocean, experience a tremendously small percentage of the drama that occurs there. In fact, when you stand on the shore and look out at the watery horizon, it’s a remarkably repetitious, dull monotony most of the time. I think it’s the scale of the thing that we at once adore, and take for granted. The sheer size of the sea sort of slows time down. It seems to take forever to arrive anywhere. And so we miss most of the magic.”
Whale Chasers - 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. Whale Chasers shares the voices of these dedicated characters who have traded harpoons for cups of tea and binoculars, and is described by reviewers as “one of few films where the bloody history of whaling is reconciled with modern sensibilities and aesthetics”. Pirates, conspiracy, life-and-death on the high seas: Whale Chasers is not for the light of heart, but about the heart of whale conservation. Length: 17 minutes. Director/Producer Tess Brosnan:
“This is a story about hope. You should watch this film because, with all the sadness in the world, hope is what we must hang on to. No point investing in much else! To make the film child-friendly, and respectful of those sensitive to sad imagery, I limited anything graphic to do with whaling to just a few seconds, as I realise people will often avoid a film that may be upsetting, despite wanting to watch it and learn. And I needed my mum to be able to watch it!”
Patagonia Azul - Short documentary about the disconnection we have with the ocean, and how we can change this situation with a deeper understanding of Nature and the close bond we have with it. Following a group of scientist in search of the Blue Whale in northern Patagonia, an encounter with the biggest animal in the world, and the role science plays in conservation. 33 minutes. Writer/Director Daniel Casado:
“We wanted to share with people, the treasures we have in Patagonia; blue whales, fjords, wildlife, communities. Also we wanted to send a message about the importance of doing things differently. We need to stop and think if we want to keep going as humanity.”
The Islands and The Whales - The pilot whale hunters of the Nordic Faroe Islands believe that hunting is vital to their way of life, but when a local doctor makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution, environmental changes threaten to end the controversial tradition and change the community forever. Length: 82 minutes. Writer/Director/Producer Mike Day:
“I met Faroese sailors in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and they invited me to the Faroes to film their hunting. But when I got there I discovered a story that was shocking and I felt was an important message to us all, so I ended up filming there over 4 years.”
<MARINE ANIMALS>
Fragile Legacy - Dive into history in search of a sustainable future. Length: 30 minutes 44 seconds. Writer/Director/Producer David O. Brown:
“The protagonist of the film is Dr. Catherine Drew Harvell, an extraordinary woman whose life has been dedicated to scientific study of marine creatures such as those featured. She is also the curator of a priceless collection of antique glass sea animals that were made over 150 years ago, and as such is responsible for the well-being of these delicate models. While her “day job” is research and teaching of marine biology, Drew’s passionate about the glass models, and this passion has taken her around the world to compare and contrast today’s ocean with that of a century ago.”
A Plastic Ocean - is an epic global adventure following a documentary filmmaker and a world record free-diver as they travel the earth discovering the shocking impact plastic is having on our oceans and the marine animals that live there. They investigate how our addiction to plastic is impacting the food chain and how that is effecting every one of us through new and developing human health problems. The expedition leads the two adventurers to unusual scientific discoveries, heart-breaking truths and important solutions to one of the biggest problems confronting mankind. Length: 99 minutes. Writer/Director Craig Leeson:
“We filmed in 20 locations around the planet in four years. The film is basically a series of expeditions linked together. On the way we document the problem of our plastic existence and we demonstrate the effect it’s having on marine life; how micro plastics are being eaten by plankton and getting in to the base of our food chain; how plastic attracts toxins in the ocean which release in to fish and bio accumulate passing up the food chain till it reaches us. And the human health consequences of this.”
The Blessed Assurance - Every winter off the Georgia coast, fishermen reel in jellyfish from the same waters where shrimp once flourished. The Blessed Assurance is a sensorial documentary experience, a meditation on livelihood exploring both man and jellyfish in the otherworldly ecosystem found on an American trawl boat. Visceral images and sounds immerse us in a primordial world, decentering the human and even going inside a jellyfish. Length: 21 minutes 30 seconds. Director Isabelle Carbonell:
“In searching for sites of human-jellyfish interactions, I have found them in nearly every part of the globe, and I decided to start with the southeast of the United States before moving farther afield. What I discovered in profiling the small town of Darien, Georgia, was not just jellyfish but a microcosm of American racial politics and history under the pull of globalization. Hinted at in the film but nevertheless, an important backdrop is the dense, interconnected web of cause and effect revolving around the decline of shrimp.”
On the Brink: Uncharted Waters explores the whale shark tourism industry in the Philippines. The documentary takes an in-depth look at different practices in various parts of the country where whale shark interactions have become a staple of the economy. The film poses the question: Do these practices promote conservation or exploitation? Length: 54 minutes 38 seconds. Writer/Producer Neela Eyunni:
“On the Brink: Uncharted Waters highlights places that are positive examples of ecotourism and people who have a deep respect for the ocean and marine life. On the Brink: Uncharted Waters sends a cautious yet optimistic message about the future.”