Within the framework of the upcoming Puerto de Ideas Biobío Festival, the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) in collaboration with Puerto de Ideas, will celebrate the second edition of the International Film Festival of the Sea. The above will take place between August 21 and 27 at the Dante Theater (Talcahuano).
It should be noted that this Festival is a tribute to the ocean whose main objective is to value the capital importance and essential role that it has for life on our planet.
With this, it is intended to raise awareness about the importance of the protection and preservation of its ecosystems; as well as the need to explore it to know and understand its flora and fauna.
In this sense, we must bear in mind that, although Chile is a maritime country with more than 4,300 kilometers of coastline, it lacks a solid maritime culture. That is why the IMO has been carrying out important scientific dissemination work since its inception with the firm purpose of contributing to strengthening and consolidating the maritime culture of the southern country.
In this new edition, the selection of the finalists was made among almost 2000 productions that applied through the platforms Film Freeway and Festhome. Finally, 9 feature films and 8 short films were selected -a category that was added this 2023- from Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Iran.
The Festival is curated by Pablo Rosenblatt, renowned Chilean documentary filmmaker and director of Liaison at the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO), and Paula Armstrong, director and collaborator of IMO.
In the case of Ackerman, a Peruvian journalist and documentarian, author of independent documentaries where she addresses the conservation of nature, culture and memory, titles such as The King of the Desert is Dying (2008), about the Guarango, a tree in routes of extinction due to illegal logging for firewood and charcoal; Madre Mar (2011), about the fragility of the Peruvian sea, the most fertile on the planet.
His most recent work is Hatun Phaqcha, Tierra Sana (2021), where he documents the cultural heritage of Peru to contribute to the conservation of its heritage, strengthen its traditions and provide the necessary tools for a better diet and life.
For her part, Gosia Juszczak, is a Polish filmmaker known for addressing issues of cultural diversity and social justice, being also the winner of the first version of the Festival de Cine del Mar – Puerto de Ideas Biobío (2022), with her documentary Stolen Fish (2019), where he exposes the exploitation of the fishing industry in The Gambia by Chinese companies, highlighting the serious consequences that this entails for the diet and health of the most disadvantaged in the country.
As for Beth Carmona, a Brazilian producer, recognized for her work in promoting quality content for children and adolescents, she is the director of the ComKids Festival, which promotes good children’s audiovisual content.
With regard to René Araneda, a prestigious producer and director of documentaries focused on nature, including Triángulo de Pumas (2020) and La corriente de Humboldt (2021), in addition to directing the chapter on Chilean Patagonia for Netflix, including in the documentary series Our Great National Parks (2022). He has worked with channels like Animal Planet, Discovery, BBC and NatGeo.
Regarding Fernando Venegas, a journalist with a master’s degree in Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts (USA) as well as an internship in Digital Video Editing at the New York Film Academy (USA); who works as deputy director of Communications at the University of Concepción.
An invitation to think, reflect and raise awareness
“We are very happy with the call we had this 2023, since there were twice as many applicants. Choosing the finalists was hard, complex, difficult work, but we are satisfied because the topics that we are going to be able to see and deal with are very relevant and point to how to live in the ocean, the problem of pollution, and the scientists who work in some specific topics of great interest.
We are very happy to also receive a truly spectacular jury with 3 very talented women. It is interesting to be able to bring them all together and reflect on the issues that these documentaries raise for us”, says Pablo Rosenblatt.
Paula Armstrong adds that “This second Festival de Cine del Mar makes us very happy and excited, not only because of the quality of films that the public will be able to see and enjoy, but also because of the other things that surround this meeting, such as the 3 talented women who make up the jury.
In addition, the diversity of countries, themes and ways of telling the stories makes it a very entertaining program. We want to invite the entire community of Concepción and especially Talcahuano to attend, because we believe that it is super important that the city recognize that they have an international film festival, and feel proud to have it. We want you to enjoy, reflect, talk with us and make it an excellent second version”.
The 9 films in competition are Surfeando el cielo and The end of the World, both Argentine productions; Saving Paradise: The Daintree Rainforest and The Great Scallop`s Odyssey, both from France; the Peruvian Yakugñan, Water Paths; the Canadian Women Captains; the Slovak Life of Mohéli; Sons of the Ice, from Colombia; and the Russian Waves of invisibility.
For their part, the 8 short films are made up of the Iranian Nahma; the Chilean ones, Chao Carbón!, Marzo El Marero and Alguera. Added to these titles are Konstantinus`Legacy, from Germany; Pepedrilo, from Mexico; Last Paradise from the Netherlands and U`Scogghiu Chiama from the United Kingdom.
In addition, parallel to the competition, there will be an exhibition with various film productions with themes related to the sea and the selection of documentaries in competition; among them Stolen Fish, Best Film Festival del Mar 2022; Atacama Hadal, an unpublished documentary that narrates the successful descent into the depths of the Atacama Trench by a team of scientists; In addition, the documentaries My Name is Blue, from Greece, and the Chileans Centinelas and La Liga del Mar.
With free admission for all the public, the Festival del Cine del Mar is an invitation to reflect on the conservation of our oceans from different perspectives and forms of story. Without a doubt, an unprecedented meeting between the community and experts with international experience that all Penquistas will be able to enjoy very soon.
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