Thunder Bay International Virtual Film Festival

Shorts Program - 16 films

Expired February 1, 2021 4:45 AM
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15 films in package
In Your Hands
It is well known that President John F. Kennedy was an avid waterman. “In Your Hands” uses his words about the oceans, as well as powerful footage to describe our relationship with the ocean. That we share a common interest in the sea and a love for the sea is because that’s where we all came from and still depend on for the air we breathe. That said we have a responsibility to honor and protect the sea.
Under the Sea
Black ink flows and seeps into sinuous lines that form jellyfish, rays, sharks, whales and finally the hooded eye of man as the ink turns deathly red. Image and music carry the message with elegiac grace.
Spot Stands Up
This short film builds on found footage from arguably the first recordings of a dog surfing, circa 1926. The adorable dog “Spot” is a silent movie star in this film, rediscovered in San Francisco’s Prelinger Archives — recut, rescored, and animated by San Francisco artists Zack McCune and Larisa Berger and topped with an original electronic-based soundtrack.
Only One World Left
Be a Better Roommate
The planet is not ours alone, so you would think we might be the best possible roommates for those here among us and do our share to keep the place clean. Right? You would think.
FreeFLY
Breathtaking rescue footage of entangled whales demonstrates how experts use drone-mounted cameras to approach distressed and dangerous ocean giants. These eyes in the sky can assess the type, location and complexity of nets, lines, and other lethal gear, so it can be removed quickly, strategically, and safely. In 30 years, these heroes have freed over 1,300 whales, risking their own lives. Drones provide an aerial “cutting edge” component.
The Mother
The final month of the female octopus’s short life is spent tending her recently fertilized eggs. She uses all her energy to protect them from predators and aerate the surrounding water, until, still tiny, the eggs hatch and swim away, adrift in the water column. For the mother, it is time to die.
Transformation
The film “Transformation” is about a woman who loves spending time underwater with sharks. She wears a chainmail suit for protection. Not content with this barrier she begins to shed the suit, truly achieving her desire to become “one” with the sharks.
Black Moon' Trent Mitchell
This beautiful and meditative film focuses on the Australian photographer, Trent Michell, and his artistic experiments in underwater photography. His unique perspective, shooting body surfers from below while trying to capture their emotions and their oneness with the ocean reveals something our eyes cannot see.
SPACE SHARKS
Clever, lively, and in your face, this smartly-produced animation stars Trevor and Gleb, alien shark buddies who crash-land on Earth. At a seaside restaurant they stumble upon the carnage of the shark fin trade; is it a kitchen, or a charnel house? But their human disguises are penetrated in their urgency to recover one victim and escape.
Warty Sea Cucumbers: A Story of Collaboration in California
Its repugnant moniker belies its bumpy beauty: a diminutive amber-to-ruby-to-sable colored tubular marine invertebrate, highly prized as an Asian culinary delight. Sea cukes cultivate the ocean floor, devouring debris like earthworms, recycling nutrients into the water column. Though overfishing has devastated some populations, California fishing communities and agency biologists work to recover and manage these treasures.
Stories from the Blue: Million Waves Project
"What if doing something was better than doing nothing?" That's the question that sparked the Million Waves Project, which works with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary to turn marine debris into 3D-printed prosthetic limbs. Watch our Stories from the Blue to hear how they're making a difference for people and the ocean.
Tahiry Honko
Mangroves are the forests of the sea. Adapted for salty conditions where the land meets the ocean, they provide essential ecosystem services to local people in the Bay of Assassins in Madagascar who are being dramatically affected by mangrove deforestation. Mangroves provide nurseries for fish, protection against large storms, and some mangrove forests can store up to 6 times more carbon per unit area than the Amazonian rainforest. Blue Ventures is working with locals to restore mangrove forests, increase carbon storage potential and provide sustainable livelihoods.
Tassy
In the slowly changing male-dominated sport of surfing, young women like U K pro surfer Tassy Swallow are proving that persistent passion and camaraderie with the boys brings all surfers together to enjoy the waves – and be an inspiration for the younger Surf Ratz she teaches.
The Beauty
An invitation to dive into the ocean and see a make-believe (Digital VFX animation) underwater world where the evolution of plastic pollution is something other than what we know is true.

Shorts Program (TRT: 71 min)


  1. In Your Hands - Brandon Moore, USA, 1 min
  2. Under the Sea - Paula Schwabe, Germany, 1 min
  3. Spot Stands Up - Zack McCune & Larisa Berger, USA, 2 min
  4. Only One World Left - Alican Abacı, Turkey, 3 min
  5. Be A Better Roommate - Patrick Gilmore, USA, 3 min
  6. FreeFLY - Avery Bazan, USA, 4 min
  7. The Mother - Lutfu Tanriover, Turkey, 4 min
  8. Transformation - Capt. Gui Garcia & Cathryn Castle Garcia, USA, 4 min
  9. Black Moon' Trent Mitchell - Robert Sherwood, Australia, 5 min
  10. SPACE SHARKS - Stefan Schumacher, USA, 5 min
  11. Warty Sea Cucumbers - Christi Cooper & Liz Smith, USA, 6 min
  12. Stories From the Blue: Million Waves Project - NOAA, USA, 6 min
  13. Tahiry Honko - Blue Ventures, UK, 6 min
  14. Dick Ogg: Fisherman - Cynthia Abbott, USA, 9 min
  15. Tassy - Sarah Niemann, Germany, 8 min
  16. The Beauty - Pascal Schelbli, Germany, 4 min

Under the Sea - 1 min

Black ink flows and seeps into sinuous lines that form jellyfish, rays, sharks, whales and finally the hooded eye of man as the ink turns deathly red. Image and music carry the message with elegiac grace.

  • Year
    2019
  • Runtime
    1 minutes
  • Country
    Germany
  • Director
    Paula Schwabe
  • Screenwriter
    Paula Schwabe, Ricarda Saleh
  • Producer
    Ricarda Saleh
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