This program invites audiences on a journey to the planet’s most remote and uncharted ocean frontiers. Through daring scientific missions, human-powered adventure, and deep-sea investigation, these films explore what it means to push beyond the known; beneath polar ice, across open ocean, and into the depths of the seafloor. Together, they reveal exploration not just as discovery, but as a responsibility to understand and protect the ocean’s last great wild places.

Arctic Dive (74 min)

Directed by Philipp Herrman Griess

2023 - the hottest year on record. The “Polarstern”, Germany's only icebreaker, sets off for the North Pole. Under the leadership of Antje Boetius, Germany's best-known marine biologist, an international research team is embarking on an urgent mission: they want to understand how life at the North Pole works and are diving under the ice to a depth of four thousand meters for the first time. What they discover there turns our previous knowledge of the Arctic on its head.

Beyond the Salish (18 min)

Directed by Richard Chen, William Chong

Two kayakers take on a once-in-a-lifetime journey off the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, breaching into relentless waves, unpredictable weather, and the uncharted depths of their own fears.

The duo finds themselves in a life-altering struggle against the elements. As their journey unfolds, a near-death experience forces them to confront the raw power of the open ocean, pushing the boundaries of their friendship, endurance, and luck.

Defending the Deep (23 min)

Directed by Liz Rubin, Richard Charter

Defend the Deep is a documentary about deep seabed mining, the most significant emerging threat to ocean ecosystems. Thought leaders from nations throughout the world appear in this film to discuss the ecological and spiritual connections of their societies with the deep ocean. Damage caused by deep ocean mining threatens seabed life forms and an environment that has taken millions of years to develop.