The International Ocean Film Tour has premiered in Lanzarote, in a debut on the island that has been sealed with "resounding success." With its more than 500 tickets sold days before the event, and more than 300 people on the waiting list, the landing of the number 1 ocean festival in Europe is here to stay.
The festival, which has already been running for 16 years and four years with a stop in the Canary Islands, opens a new port in Jameos del Agua, giving hundreds of ocean lovers the opportunity to enjoy the festival in a unique setting in the world. The festival began with words from César Manrique, a multidisciplinary artist and creator of this unique natural auditorium, in a tribute to life and in defense of nature, sustainability and the volcanic beauty of Lanzarote that was his inspiration and on which he focused part of his artistic creation.
From the opening of doors, at 6 p.m., the locations were filled wrapped in the magic of this space and the music of the timple, to give way to 150 minutes of cinema that has traveled the oceans and wildest seas of the planet from an immersive perspective. The selection of the International Ocean Film Tour has in this volume 8 with five works from three continents, short films made in Canada, Germany, Australia, France and Denmark, selected from more than 200 documentaries aspiring to enter this circuit.
In addition to the screenings, attendees were able to learn more about the work of the two special guests at this event, the biologist and doctor in oceanography, Alicia Herrera Ulibarri, and the naturalist, professional diver, sports diving instructor and environmental consultant, Ezequiel Navío. As Ezequiel Navío has defined it, this international festival "has a great significance in a moment of climate emergency, with the oceans in very serious danger." For this defender of nature with more than 30 years of work, the only way to stop this damage is "through education, to raise awareness." His experience fighting against the oil slicks that reached the Canary Islands "taught us many things and gave us a lot of data." As he has warned, the seas of the islands "are facing a very negative scenario and it is necessary to work with an unbreakable will" to "have a future, and that those who come after also have it."
Alicia Herrera Ulibarri has celebrated the arrival of the festival in Lanzarote, in a setting by César Manrique because "no one was such a defender and had such environmental sensitivity as this artist." Herrera wanted to give a positive look, after presenting her work for more than 7 years on microplastic pollution. "We are still in time to change, to save our oceans" in a task that requires "the commitment of all."
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, has explained that "she could not miss this event" because of the "commitment we have to the environment and respect for nature" as confirmed by the actions of the island Government. She has declared herself "committed to climate change" and to the task of talking more about the oceans, confirming that "next year we will surely see each other again" in a setting like Jameos del Agua which is "the heart of the Earth."
The Minister of Ecological Transition and Climate Change of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, has stressed that "the sea is the great unknown." We know "more about outer space than about the seabed" and festivals like this help to see and feel that "the sea is life and we have to protect it to guarantee the life of the planet."
The director of Parley For the Oceans in Portugal, Spain, and other Portuguese-speaking regions, Daniela Coutinho, has stressed that this festival is "phenomenal and transcendental" to reach children and adults to "change this damage to the oceans." She stressed that this edition "has been the best" because it mixes "the social and environmental" that should always "walk together."
Tobías Heeb, co-founder of 'Limpia Lanzarote' recalled that it helps to "connect more with the ocean." For Heeb "we should not talk about the environment, as something that is foreign to us, we are the environment, it is not something from outside." In his opinion, "we belong to this world and we must protect it and act" to "save ourselves."
Felix Viña, president of the Pastinaca Underwater Activities Club, thanked the festival for helping to "publicize the work carried out by associations, often in silence." The International Ocean Film Tour is "very important" to publicize the problems that exist and "thus, together, create the tools and act to save our oceans."
Special raffles have also been held among the locations, whose winners will be able to enjoy experiences linked to the sea by local and regional companies. Among other options, the public will be able to opt for experiences thanks to the festival collaborators such as diving courses with the Pastinaca Diving Club, or the Marine Biodiversity guide of the Canary Islands of Oceanográfica Oficial, among other gifts.
This leading festival in Europe, which arrives in the Canary Islands thanks to Kinema Producciones, addresses the agenda of Sustainable Development Goals and its 17 challenges in a different way, involving in the same initiative quality education, actions to have clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, protect underwater life, the life of terrestrial ecosystems and works to create alliances to achieve the objectives.