Dive into the action

MOVIES about surfing, bodyboarding and aqua ballet will feature in the 2025 Ocean Film Festival, which screens at Brunswick Picture House on March 6 and March 7.

Three Australian films are in this year’s line-up. White Rock, which features Byron Bay-based actor and activist Damon Gameau, is about sea urchins decimating kelp forests on the Great Southern Reef. Astronaut in the Ocean focuses on big wave bodyboarder Shane Ackerman, from Wollongong, while Goddess is an ethereal short film about the world beneath the waves.

“The great thing about the festival is that it changes every year, and this change is driven entirely by what adventures ocean lovers are having and what stories filmmakers are choosing to bring to life,” Ocean Film Festival founder Jemima Robinson said.

“This year we get to go surfing in Liberia, freediving on Australia’s Great Southern Reef, exploring the Coral Sea, bodyboarding the NSW South Coast and swimming with whales in French Polynesia. Plus, the underlying theme of the films is hope and positive change to create positive outcomes for the health of our oceans.”

Robinson said that the festival will resonate with people in the area because they are passionate about the ocean.

“Surfers, divers, swimmers, kite boarders, freedivers — there is something for every kind of ocean lover to do in the region,” she said.

“The great thing about the ocean, and the Ocean Film Festival, is that they are both great unifiers. With so much amazing coastline in the region it is not surprising that the Brunswick Heads screenings are amongst the first to sell out each year.”

For tickets, head to ceanfilmfestivalworldtour.com