Richard Sidey wins Best Director at International Ocean Film Festival

Richard Sidey wins Best Director at International Ocean Film Festival

Aotearoa, New Zealand (20 April 2021) – Richard Sidey has just received the Director’s Award from the International Ocean Film Festival (IOFF) 2021 for his documentary, “Whales in a Changing Ocean.” The film, produced by Conservation International, follows the NGO’s study on the ecology of humpback whales in the Antarctic aboard a PONANT ship.

With perfect weather and curious whales, the expert wildlife filmmaker documented the expedition and captured rare, jaw-dropping footage. In an emotional once-in-a-lifetime experience, the animals were said to ‘mug’ the scientists, blocking the research team’s movement for hours and ironically investigating the researchers’ own presence.

“Over the years documenting Antarctica with my camera, nothing has been more evident than this constant change. It’s not only evident with the changes in ocean temperatures, weather patterns, ice volumes, and wildlife populations. But also in tourism, which has increased tremendously. Another noticeable and increasingly evident change in this period has been the recovery of humpback whales on this peninsula after industrial whales almost wiped them out,” said Richard Sidey in the narration.

Sidey is a New Zealand-based director, is a nature enthusiast and has won numerous awards for his Speechless trilogy, the final chapter “Elementa” having been released last year to critical acclaim.

“Whales in a Changing Ocean” will be shown in San Francisco at the 18th IOFF, an international festival of independent ocean-related films which runs from 15 April to 2 May 2021. Find out more about IOFF.

– Press Release (Conservation International)