Mote shows award-winning films to teach ocean conservation

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium livened up research on Sept. 9 with a cinematic presentation of five films made by award-winning filmmakers.

“Maybe people don't want to read a research report, but they definitely want to come in and watch a movie,” said Andria Piekarz, chief development officer at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

That's why Mote hosted the 2023 International Ocean Film Festival in its WAVE center.  

Photo by Petra Rivera

The films spanned a variety of different marine topics. Piekarz said the goal was to keep everyone from children to adults engaged while learning new things. 

The festival combined a mix of short films and longer pieces. 

The first film "Horseshoe Crabs: How 350-Million-Year-Old Sea Creatures are Vital to Human Survival" by Andrea Kramer, was an animated film bringing awareness to the role horseshoe crabs play in testing the safety of vaccines. 

"Blue Carbon" by Paul Nicklen was a three-minute film exploring the relationship between oceans, air and land and how they are critical for a healthy ecosystem.

"Bottle Cap," by Marie Hyon & Marco Spier, at five minutes long, told the story of Shelton, a fiddler crab, who finds what he thinks might be a useful implement.

The two longer films were "Planting Coral Forests" and "Impossible Wave." "Planting Coral Forests" by Johann Vorster focuses on the coral reefs along Kenya’s coastline. 

"Impossible Wave" by Jessica Frankovelgia and Jay Johnson is the story of bringing surfing to the Olympics. It won the 2023 Female Filmmaker of the Year award in the international Asian Film Festival. 

The event concluded with a piece on Mote’s senior shark researcher, Dr. Demian Chapman.

“A film festival, in our objective, is to tell a bunch of different stories and get people connected to the importance of our oceans,” said Piekarz. “So we try to weave in stories of what Mote’s doing.”

Piekarz started working at Mote as director of development in 2019. Before she came to Mote, she served as director of philanthropy for the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. She brought her passion for philanthropy to Mote in leading major growth in its fundraising efforts across more than 20 marine science programs.

Photo by Petra Rivera

Mote has a full slate of events as the season approaches. At 4 p.m. Sept. 21, it's hosting Women of Mote, a panel featuring women scientists who have had an impact on Mote. 

From 7-10 p.m. Oct. 14, the craft beer festival, Sharktoberfest, will take place after hours in the aquarium. Guests will be able to enjoy live entertainment, receive gift bags and sample different brews for $55. There are also multiple opportunities coming up to attend Mote's Marine Science 101 course.

Registration for these events is available on Mote.org.