International Ocean Film Festival

The 22nd Annual International Ocean Film Festival has been endorsed by the 2021-2030 United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Join us on April 11-13, 2025 for the world’s largest ocean themed film festival around the globe.

Schedule of Events:

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Program #3 Plastic Pollution: Let's Find Solutions!

10am @ Cowell Theater - Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

Wild Hope: The Great Ocean Cleanup

Plastic pollution is one of the largest threats oceans face today. Boyan Slat, founder & CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, embarked on a mission to solve this problem. The original idea was to create a floating device that would use the movement of the ocean to collect waste. He initially focused on rivers, in order to prevent trash flowing to the ocean. He made several prototypes until the 2021 version proved successful. - NS

The Human Side Of Plastic: Babacar Thiaw

Rooted in his love for the ocean, Babacar Thiaw, founder of Senegal’s first zero-waste restaurant, turned his passion and dedication into action, creating a movement reaching beyond the coastline of his hometown in Dakar, Senegal. A picturesque, captivating short film filled with inspiration and hope for our planet. – JA

Casa Congo Documentary, Episode 3 - Las Tejedoras

In El Astillero many families face homelessness and the plastic pollution which threatens both sea turtles and tourism. The community has learned to now trust Las Tejedoras, a group of 17 women who upcycle plastic bags into art. With NGO Casa Congo’s support, they’ve become global entrepreneurs and environmental leaders. Their challenge is balancing family life with their craft to sustain income and protect the ocean. – DL

Footprints on Katmai

Take this creative journey with artist and filmmaker Max Romey who retraces his grandmother’s footsteps to Katmai years after she journeyed there to sketch the pristine Alaskan wilderness. Rather than sketching the gorgeous scenes - the bears, moose, wolves, glaciers and mountains - as his grandmother once did, Romey feels compelled to sketch an endless collection of shoes that he and his expedition mates find while removing plastic from local beaches. – SP

Panel Discussion - 12pm Tide Pool

Join us in the Tide Pool (Building D at Fort Mason), Saturday April 12th at 12pm for a Free Event, put on as part of the educational outreach from the International Ocean Film Foundation.

Program #4 Sharks: Beyond the Fear

1pm @ Shark Soiree at the Cowell Theater

Caleb - Beyond the Bite

Years after having lost his leg to a shark, Caleb confronts his disability, his vulnerability, and his fears, and explores his paradoxically deepening connection with the ocean– and with sharks. Now he must choose between a self-image as victim, or survivor. In swimming among them, he experiences a paradigm shift, recognizing his place in the world.

Monsters

This heartbreaking conservation film focuses on the undercover story of three diving friends who set out to investigate how the widespread use of ‘nets’ have protected people from shark bites in Durban, South Africa. Shocked with what they find out and aiming to educate the public, they  show the results of their undercover investigation, highlighting the lies that locals tell in order to make people feel “safe” from sharks, even if that entails the suffering of marine animals. - NS

Panel Discussion 3:30pm Tide Pool

Join us in the Tide Pool (Building D at Fort Mason), Saturday April 12th at 3:30pm for a Free Event, put on as part of the educational outreach from the International Ocean Film Foundation.

Program #5 What We Don't See...Understanding Our Impact

4:00 PM at the Cowell Theater

The Mother Of Diamonds - Kimberlite

Filmed in Eastern Greenland (part of an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark) free diver Anna von Bötticher ventures beneath the Arctic ice in search of Kimberlite— a rare igneous rock that contains diamonds and forms in vertical structures known as Kimberlite Pipes. This visually intriguing film offers a glimpse into the frozen depths. – ST

IMMERSIVE

Oceanographers descend 8,000 feet to the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to study hydrothermal vents. Life as we understand it should not exist here – within perpetual darkness, engulfed in toxic minerals, and under extreme heat and pressure. And yet it does. An ancient biosphere thrives with otherworldly organisms that offer extraordinary clues into the origin of life on Earth and beyond. – BB

The Big Sea

A play on words, the subject of this highly anticipated U.S. premiere speaks to the surfer’s love for the ocean while exposing potentially deadly consequences for those living in close proximity to the manufacturing plants that produce neoprene-based wetsuits.  Even before catching the best waves, surfers carefully select their essential gear to keep them warm, but at what cost?  Here’s your chance to find out. – AB

Program #6 Surfing and Kicking ****(s)

7:00 PM at Cowell Theater - Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

Above Sinai

The stunning landscape where the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba meet the desert mountains is home to the small Egyptian town of Dahab. Here, young Egyptian woman Sarah Sadek, originally from Cairo, living among the Bedouin tribes soars over the landscape as a professional kiteboarder. She overcomes challenges faced as a woman in the sport and becomes a successful and inspiring competitor. – ST

The Cigarette Surfboard

An impassioned surfer, Taylor Lane, creates a functional surfboard with 10,000 littered cigarette butts collected from California beaches. The Cigarette Surfboard becomes a platform to learn from professional surfers who are working to protect and restore the health of the ocean, and the symbol of a grassroots campaign to hold Big Tobacco accountable for their toxic, plastic waste. Surfing is the medium, but the message is universal.

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Date: April 11-13, 2025