Sea fever: Big Blue Film Festival brings 34 films about the ocean to Newport

The Jan. 24-25 festival aims to raise awareness about challenges facing the ocean while fostering hope in viewers.
Women on the Water,” by Haley McHatton, will be screened in the Big Blue Film Festival’s Block C: “Women, Water, and Wonder.” It’s the story of six women in New Hampshire who have overcome personal and societal challenges to work in lobstering, oyster farming, tuna fishing, and seafood distribution. MariAnna Hinojosa, festival director, says the block celebrates how women are entering a traditionally male-focused field.

Oregon Coast winters long have served as a catalyst for creating events to bring people in from the cold; a recent addition to that list is the Big Blue Film Festival at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. But while Big Blue was conceived in part as a good excuse to come in out of the wet, its mission is, well, even wetter.

“Our goal is to locate those ocean-themed films at the confluence of science and art, and to really engage the community, raise awareness, and share that,” said MariAnna Hinojosa, director of the festival. “We know the negativity and challenges the ocean is facing right now. We want to find those hope spots and success stories and foster hope in folks and not focus on the doom and gloom and negativity of the current state.”

Sixteen films were shown at the first festival in 2023. Last year, there were 24 and this year saw a 40 percent increase in submitted films – or 220. Of those, 34 are scheduled.

Hinojosa said logistics of space and size limit how many films can be accepted. “But there are so many wonderful films out there that are being sent our way – from students in grade school all the way to professional films. The main thing is that it had to be ocean related, which is a kind of broad because the ocean is everywhere,” she said. Other than ocean-focused, the films can be cultural, artistic, inspirational, scientific, or spotlight a personal connection. Or the connection “could just be, look at these beautiful creatures that are here,” Hinojosa said.

Opening night is Friday, Jan. 24, in the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building, and features award presentations and films, including the winner of the Most Inspiring Award, El Pulmo.     

The 32-minute film depicts the “tireless efforts” of Mario Castro, a retired commercial fisherman. His work transformed Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, into the most successful marine park in the world. Promotional materials continue: “However, his idyllic world is threatened by the encroachment of modern-day challenges such as massive development projects, lack of authority and the swelling population.” Filmmaker Mark Kronemeyer will be on hand to accept his award and answer audience questions.

The festival continues through Saturday at both the Carmen Ford Phillips Auditorium at Gladys Valley and at the Newport Performing Arts Center with seven blocks of films ranging in length from minutes to about two hours. Festival tickets are $15 per block, $12 for students and members of the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts.

Sponsor

Portland Opera The Shining Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon

 “Salmon Secrets” by Jeremy Mathieu investigates the effects of the fish farm industry on Vancouver Island’s west coast. The film, part of Block D: “Stewards of the Sea,” won the festival’s Best in Activism Award.
Salmon Secrets, by Jeremy Mathieu, investigates the effects of the fish-farm industry on Vancouver Island’s west coast. The film, part of Block D: “Stewards of the Sea,” won the festival’s Best in Activism Award.

Film blocks include themes such as “Passionate About Protecting,” “Stewards of the Sea,” and “Tech Explorations.” Judging by ticket sales, one of the most popular themes this year is “Women, Water and Wonder,” Hinojosa said.

The block “is fully encompassing women, whether it’s a woman director or whether it’s focused on women in characters, it’s really celebrating how women are coming into a traditionally male-focused field,” Hinojosa said.

New this year is “Ocean Adventures Await,” which has more of a sport or emotional connection, she added. “It’s a different type of connection this year than in the past, with less science focus and a little bit more of that emotional, mental, and physical connection to the ocean in a different way.”

Each block incorporates Q&A panels or other programming, depending on who is able to come, Hinojosa said. For blocks without in-person attendees to offer a Q&A, she records interviews with folks involved in the film and shows it afterward to supplement the Q&A. Each film block has either a Q&A or at least one recorded interview to show.

A final single film, the documentary Our Blue World:  A Water Odyssey, by Ruán Magan, closes the festival Saturday at the Performing Arts Center.

Press materials describe the 90-minute film, narrated by Liam Neeson, as  “celebrating the wonder of water, revealing how since the beginning of time water defined our meaning, our spirituality, our lives and our joys through every precious drop. Ultimately, Our Blue World is a film of hope, showing how each one of us has the power through our interaction with water to transform our planet for good.”

Sponsor

Portland Opera The Shining Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon

Lori Tobias is a journalist of many years, and was a staff writer for The Oregonian for more than a decade, and a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. Her memoir “Storm Beat – A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast” was published in 2020 by Oregon State University press. She is also the author of the novel Wander, winner of the 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award for literary fiction and a finalist for the 2017 International Book Awards for new fiction. She lives on the Oregon Coast with her husband Chan and Rescue pups Gus and Lily.

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