Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...New Times hits you with Michael Miller's feature "Snuffed"on how shark populations are increasing while fishermen disappear -- okay so they're not being eaten, but still. And as if on cue the Miami Science Museum is hosting its first ever Underwater Film Festival this Saturday.
You won't need goggles, a snorkel, or swim fins to attend the inaugural festival but you will get doused with some of the best underwater films from across the world, including movies on sharks and crocs. The museum has partnered with France's World Festival of Underwater Images to highlight the best in aquatic cinema, with both shorts and full-length films featured. Make the jump for a full schedule and to see a couple of previews of the films to be screened.
There festival includes several presentations by marine experts and exhibits,
including films by Miami's own Coral Morphalogic, and a chance to get
up close and personal with marine life like stingrays in a new 3,000
gallon touch tank.
The film festival actually starts on Friday, but that shindig is by
invitation only. The public part of the film festival starts Saturday at
10:30 a.m. with a couple French language films. At noon Florida
International University's Dr. Mike Heithaus will kick off the English
portion of the festival with a lecture. Then the movies start in quick succession, with an afternoon and evening session.
2:00 p.m.
Up Ice Down (Switzerland)
A short filmed completely upside down, making it seem like the ice sheet is the sea bottom.
The Last Voyage (Le Dernier Voyage) (Spain)
Think Whale Wars with an unhappy ending.
On the Other Side of the Surface (Italy)
Think the Old Man and the Lake, and his granddaughter. Filmed at Lake Comino in Italy with its crystal clear water.
Action... Let's Eat! (Italy)
No, this isn't a lunch break it's a documentary on how sea creatures eat.
Into the Dragon's Lair (Africa-France)
A feature length film about Nile Crocodiles, with several close calls.
4:00 p.m.
Featured Speaker: Ila Porcher
The evening screenings star go as follows:
7:30 p.m.
Free Fall (France)
A fictional interpretation of a free fall into Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Check it out.
The Pier (Italy)
Watch how an ordinary pier in the Phillippines teems with sea life below the surface.
O Mar Das Cies (Spain)
A documentary about the coasts of Galicia in Spain which is threatened by an oil spill.
Equator, Rivers of the Sun (Japan)
A feature length film about life under the surface of the Amazonian
plain, which is the largest inundated forest in the world found in
Ecuador.
The Underwater Film Festival starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Miami
Science Museum (3280 South Miami Ave. Miami). Tickets cost $8 for
adults, $5 for children. For more information visit miamisci.org.
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