The Ocean Recovery Alliance, in conjunction with the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, will be bringing over 38 short and long movies about the ocean to Hong Kong in the first annual Hong Kong - San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, from 9 to 22 March. Doug Woodring, Executive Director of Ocean Recovery Alliance (and RHKYC member) will show the films listed below.
The Bay vs The Bag (4 mins)
In the style of a fresh Febreze commercial, this film takes you for a sun-kissed stroll on the beach, where the sky is blue and the ocean is plastic. We are given a landscape of our very own, picturesque San Francisco, where the natural world has been replaced with plastic bags.
The End of the Line (26 mins)
Wild fish, once thought to be an inexhaustible resource, have been depleted. Each year, longliners put out enough line to encircle the globe 550 times. Some scientists estimate that 90 percent of all large fish have disappeared—into our mouths. In 1992, cod, perhaps the most popular edible fish in the northern latitudes, vanished from the western Atlantic and have not yet recovered. Today, many more fish stocks are in precipitous decline.
Terra Antarctica (49 mins)
In Antarctica, it’s all about the ice––the seasonal halo of it that rising temperatures have been melting earlier each decade. That means rain, not snow. And that means rain-soaked penguin chicks and erosion of the continent’s massive ice shelves. Ever-larger cruise ships and national quarrels about the continent’s resources loom in the misty future of this astonishing place.
Shifting Baselines (18 mins)
Shifting Baselines features reputed old-time divers Ron and Valerie Taylor who take a young novice diver with them to Indonesia and witness how different the seascape is from when they last dived in that area 30 or more years ago. Shifting Baselines is about how different generations experience the ocean's bounty in different ways, with each new generation seeing less and less biodiversity than those that came before them. The film also touches on the importance of marine protected areas and how these can help rehabilitate the seas.
I Just Love to Paddle (32 mins)
There are few paddlers in the world who can match the experience and knowledge of Nappy Napoleon. If there were degrees in paddling, he would have the highest doctorate. In a time when our pop icons exhibit ambitious self-promotion, glitz and sex appeal, Uncle Nappy - as he is affectionately known - is a humble hero. Humorously self-effacing, he radiates an inner calm, patience, and infectious confidence. He possesses an extraordinary bond with nature and a magical relationship with the ocean. “I Just Love to Paddle” is the story of a man who lives, loves, practices, teaches and perpetuates an ancient tradition in the contemporary world. There are many stories of heroes long gone, but this is a story about somebody who is still around us and who serves as a source of vast knowledge and a connection to the ancient Hawaiian traditions. Nappy provides a modern-day example of an ancient Hawaiian paradigm: superb ocean judgment, wisdom about the hearts of others, total commitment to his life calling, and an unparalleled decency of character. The story focuses on an expedition in July 2008, when Napoleon (67 years old), with five paddling companions, attempts to cross 9 Hawaiian channels in 6 consecutive days, each in a one-man outrigger canoe, a total of almost 240 miles.
Kai Lenny: 4 in 1 (7 mins)
Kai Lenny, an ocean athlete of growing renown, shares his views on ocean athletics and demonstrates his mastery of four different ocean sports.
The Tide is Turning (12 mins)
Global awareness of the shark fin issue is growing rapidly and reaching government levels as well as the general populace. The Tide is Turning follows the rapid change in attitudes around the world and outlines measures being taken to save sharks from extinction, including anti-shark fin legislation and shark sanctuaries.
Tickets to this event are only $50 which will go towards funding the work undertaken by the Ocean Recovery Alliance.
If the book now button does not work for you, please email social@rhkyc.org.hk or phone KaLai on 2239 0307.
Photograph: Rainy Day, RHKYC Beach, copyright Robin Moyer
This photograph was taken for the book, Water Margin: Kong’s Link to the Sea (RHKYC was happy to sponsor the book by providing transport for the photographer around the waters of Hong Kong). Copies of the book will be available to purchase on a chit-signing basis.
