THE Ocean Film Festival World Tour is returning to the UK this autumn, bringing an evening of inspirational and jaw-dropping ocean films to almost 30 venues across Britain and Northern Ireland including Malvern and Birmingham.

The event, which originated in Australia, features a brand-new selection of the world’s best ocean-themed short films, with action and spell-binding footage from both above and below the water’s surface.

The 2017 film programme sees intrepid free-divers explore haunting shipwrecks, nomadic sailors face the icy waters of Antarctica, and features awe-inspiring marine life such as humpback wales and the endangered Giant Pacific Mantaray.

“We’re delighted to be bringing the Ocean Film Festival World Tour back to UK audiences for the fourth year running,” says tour director Nell Teasdale.

He added: “Featuring incredible cinematography, the films capture the raw beauty and power of the ocean, while celebrating an eclectic and fascinating mix of characters who live for the sea’s salt spray.”

Highlights from the 2017 Ocean Film Tour include:

Sea Gypsies - Infinity and her crew are about to embark on an extraordinary voyage: 8,000 miles from New Zealand to Patagonia, taking in the intimidating iceberg-strewn waters of Antarctica along the way.

Whale Chasers - High on the rugged cliffs above New Zealand’s Cook Strait sits an unusual group of ‘citizen scientists.’ This motley collection of men in their 70s and 80s are keeping watch for humpback whales as part of the Cook Strait Whale Count – a study into the recovery of New Zealand’s humpback population since the end of New Zealand whaling in 1964. It’s tiring but rewarding work, but there’s a reason that the volunteers are so good at the job. Not only are they descendants of New Zealand’s 200-year history of whaling, they were all once whalers themselves.

Fish People - To some, the ocean is a fearsome and dangerous place. But to others, it’s a limitless world of fun, freedom and opportunity where life can be lived to the full. From surfers and spearfishers to a former coal miner and a group of at-risk kids in San Francisco, Fish People is a film about the transformative effects of time spent in the ocean—and how we can leave our limitations behind to find deeper meaning in the saltwater wilderness that lies just beyond the shore.


The Ocean Film Festival is at Birmingham's Crescent Theatre tomorrow (Saturday, September 30) and will be screening at Malvern Theatres on Friday, October 13, 2017.