The fifth annual Blue Water Film Festival has come ashore in San Diego this weekend, with as many as 40 films being screened through Sunday at venues in La Jolla, Encinitas, Balboa Park, East Village and more.
The festival, which opened Thursday, is intended to “amplify the voices of environmental storytellers,” according to founder Greg Reitman. About 40 films will be presented at the festival, including features, documentariesy, short subjects and animated works.
“One of things we noticed during previous festivals is that we were very spread out,” Reitman said. “We wanted to create an intimate experience with our filmmakers. If you go around the coastline and come into La Jolla, it has a very family-friendly community vibe. We wanted to create that community experience with our filmmakers.”
In many cases, the filmmakers will attend the screenings. Besides films, the festival plans to include discussions, after-parties and awards.
The films in this year’s festival, which corresponds with World Water Day on March 22, tackle issues surrounding climate, wildlife, the ocean, nature and general water-related challenges.
“We know water is essential for life, we understand its importance,” Reitman said. “But we are concerned about what is happening in our country and around the world when it comes to water. We want to wake up and enlighten the community to get us back into balance.”
Despite those heavy themes, “I don’t like the Debbie Downer films,” Reitman said. “I’m looking for the triumphant and to have an overriding message of hope. … We want people to become aware and guided to action and make the right choices. … We don’t people to walk out feeling depressed.”
Some films will screen at multiple venues on different days, such as “Orca: Black & White Gold,” a documentary about the illegal trade of endangered wild orcas that led to a reduction of the practice in Russia and parts of Asia. It will be shown tonight at The Conrad and on Sunday at the La Jolla/Riford Library. The film premiered at the Hamptons Doc film festival last year and won the 2023 Jackson Wild Media Award for feature film.
Reitman, a filmmaker himself, is no stranger to the festival circuit. He has shown films at the Sundance Film Festival and won the 2008 Sundance Audience Award for the feature documentary “Fuel.”
But he said he noticed some films weren’t getting the attention they should have.
“I wanted to elevate the voices of others so their stories wouldn’t be lost,” he said. “I wanted to create a new paradigm.”
Here are some of the films being presented at this weekend’s Blue Water Film Festival. Times and locations vary. For the full schedule and tickets, visit bluewaterfilmfestival.org.
“Relentless”: Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons narrates this documentary feature by La Mesa filmmaker T. Lindsey Haskin about the the exotic species that are destroying freshwater ecosystems in the the Great Lakes.
“Orca: Black & White Gold”: Austrian Filmmaker Sarah Nörenberg will attend the screening of this documentary feature on Russia’s illicit orca trade.
“Canary”: This documentary feature by Danny O’Malley and Alex Rivest explores efforts to save the historical organic matter stored in the world’s high elevation glaciers.
“Down to the Last Drop”: Austrian filmmaker Harry Putz’s documentary short about the battle between mountain rivers and hydroelectric power in the Tyrolian Alps.
“Downwind”: This documentary feature studies the impact on ecosystems of nearly 1,000 nuclear weapon test explosions.
“In the Whale: The Greatest Fish Story Ever Told”: This award-winning feature documentary tells the true story of a man swallowed (and spit out) by a whale.
“Inundation District”: This documentary feature examines coastlines facing destruction brought on by climate change and rising sea levels.
“PlasticSphere”: This Guatamalan documentary feature follows Latin American environmentalist and scientists study microplastic pollution in the ocean.
“The Herring People”: This Canadian film documents efforts to save the endangered Pacific herring species in Squamish and Vancouver, B.C.
Mackin-Solomon writes for the U-T Community Press.
