Michael Nieberg

Whaling is internationally prohibited. Yet whales are still hunted in Europe. Why is this? After years of research, filmmaker Michael Nieberg managed to capture a Norwegian whaling ship with his camera. He spares the viewer the bloodiest images, but shows how whaling works and the interests behind it. The author takes neither the side of the whale conservationists nor the whalers, but instead attempts to present a neutral picture of the current whaling situation in Europe, even taking a look at Iceland. Can maybe tourism help to save the whales?

Director Biography – Michael Nieberg

In 1994, Nieberg founded 6w Film and Television Production in Münster, Germany, which he has managed together with Natascha Nieberg since 1995. Clients include WDR, NDR, ARD, ZDF, RTL, and stern-TV. Nieberg specializes in consumer issues and investigative reporting, directing over 80 feature-length documentaries and reports. He has worked on commission for television programs by Günther Jauch, Frank Plasberg, Steffen Seibert, Steffen Hallaschka, Christian Rach, and Johannes B. Kerner. Due to the often socially relevant topics in the areas of business and socio-political issues (locusts as landlords, manure in drinking water, plagiarism, scandals in the meat industry), Michael Nieberg now also appears as a speaker, moderator, and panelist.

Will Appleyard, Núria Paré Soldevila

Filmed in Costa Rica on land & at sea.
This is not a travel film.
It’s a conversation.
Between water and forest.
Between breath and silence.
Between what we’ve seen, and what we’ve felt.

Director Biography – Will Appleyard, Núria Paré Soldevila

Will –
With deep roots in diving, paragliding, mountaineering and outdoor adventure, he captures nature and movement with clarity and feeling. His work blends visual poetry with authenticity, editing every story with care, rhythm and purpose.
Núria –
Núria ensures our stories cross borders, interviewing, subtitling, translating and crafting texts that resonate across languages. With a keen eye for detail and a love of storytelling, she researches, shapes and supports each project from behind the scenes, giving every voice its place.

Brynne Eliza Rardin, Patrick Joseph Krum

After surviving a near-death experience, the sole divemaster in a Honduran beach town devotes himself to a mysteriously thriving reef–awakening questions about nature, healing, and the limits of both.

Director Biography – Brynne Eliza Rardin, Patrick Joseph Krum

Brynne Rardin is an award-winning underwater filmmaker and director. She received her BA from Connecticut College in Psychology and studio art, and currently is receiving her MFA in Environmental Filmmaking from American University. She is best known for her compelling storytelling capability in connecting people to nature. Her film ‘Dear Ocean’ screened in multiple film festivals around the country and received various awards. She has filmed and directed various projects with the National Park Service, NASA, and the Ocean Conservancy, as well as multiple independent projects.

Brynne’s work sits at the intersection of environmental and social justice with the main intention of connecting more people to their empathy in the hopes of helping them learn to protect one another and our blue planet.

Annie Crawley

Although shark finning is illegal in all of Colombia’s waters, it doesn’t stop fishermen traveling hundreds of miles to illegally fish this majestic underwater mountain range. The Island of the Shark, Guardians of Malpelo takes audiences on an unforgettable journey to one of the most pristine and biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world: Malpelo Island.

The film exposes the heartbreaking reality that this protected marine area is under threat from foreign fishing vessels. Their illegal activity is decimating Malpelo’s ecosystem, by overfishing and targeting sharks for the international shark trade.

The story unfolds through the passionate efforts of Erika Lopez and Jacob Griffiths who co-founded Biodiversity Conservation Colombia. A non-profit organization that established a permanent vessel and crew that patrols Malpelo to combat illegal fishing and preserve its unique biodiversity. The Island of the Shark, Guardians of Malpelo reveals the heroic and often perilous work needed to protect this precious sanctuary from exploitation.

Through stunning underwater footage and deep personal accounts, the film shows why it is important for Malpelo and other biodiversity hotspots to be safeguarded for our future generations. It also delves into the broader problem of the international shark fin trade with world renowned shark scientist Diego Cardenosa, offering hope and tangible solutions in the face of overwhelming odds.

Whether you’re a marine enthusiast, conservation advocate, or someone looking to witness the beauty of our oceans, The Island of the Shark, Guardians of Malpelo is a must-watch. It’s a powerful reminder of the importance of ocean conservation and the dedicated individuals who are fighting to save marine life. The film invites viewers to join the mission to protect sharks, marine biodiversity, and our oceans.

Director Biography – Annie Crawley

Annie Crawley—known around the world as Ocean Annie—is an award-winning filmmaker, underwater photographer, author, and ocean educator who uses the power of storytelling to inspire ocean conservation. A member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and columnist for Scuba Diving Magazine, Annie has spent decades diving and documenting the world’s oceans, from the coral reefs of the Philippines to the shark sanctuaries of Colombia’s Malpelo Island.

Through her films and educational programs—including Our Ocean and You, Dive Into Your Imagination, and The Island of the Shark Guardians of Malpelo—Annie connects audiences to the ocean with heart, science, and hope. She leads an Environmental Speaker Series, engaging communities in conversations about marine life, climate change, and the interconnectedness of all living things.

Annie teaches us that every breath we take connects us to the ocean. She is dedicated to building a movement of storytellers, scientists, and youth working together to protect our blue planet.

Clément Pourtal, Jérôme Brousse

New documentary about marine conservation from the awards-winning filmmakers. With The Blue Quest, Clément and Jérôme travel the world to meet marine conservation projects and highlight their actions as well as the amazing people behind. This time they are going to Palawan, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Coral Triangle and “The Philippines’ last ecological frontier”. An area with exceptional marine biodiversity, yet under threat. The Blue Quest takes you to meet the projects fighting at different levels to protect these vital ecosystems, with a hopeful tool: marine protected areas.

Director Biography – Clément Pourtal, Jérôme Brousse

Working in marine conservation
From communication agency to documentaries producing
Founder of THE BLUE QUEST, French NGO highligthing marine conservation projects around the world and the people behind.
Ambassador for Marine Conservation Institute.
Producer and director of “The Blue Quest – Baja California” in 2020, Golden Trophy at Deauville Green Awards Festival

Bahar Dutt, Vijay Bedi

Environment journalist Bahar Dutt travels to eastern India to a fish landing centre to document the crisis facing shark species found in Indian waters . As the fishermen bring in their haul for the day, the film crew has an astonishing discovery. Two bull sharks have been brought in and they were both pregnant. In another corner , they discover Manta rays , known for their life in perpetual motion now laying still on this sandy graveyard.
Dutt is taken around by photographer Srikanth Mannepuri whose visuals from this region have been a wake up call to the world on the crisis facing our oceans. Together they discover a number of shark species that are brought in including those that are not allowed to be hunted.

The story shifts focus to the coastal state of Goa known for its music and sandy beaches. Dutt meets scientist Trisha Gupta who is strumming her research to the sounds of the Guitar fish – part of the shark family but with poor data on its numbers .

Through poignany imagery and heart wrenching images, the film asks experts how do we protect slow growth species like sharks and Manta rays while protecting the livelihoods of fishermen and women.

Director Biography – Bahar Dutt, Vijay Bedi

BAHAR DUTT
Bahar Dutt is trained as a conservation biologist- and has spent more two decades reporting on some of the biggest environment stories of our times. Her stories have led to the stoppage of an illegal mine operating inside a forest and have won her over 20 national and international awards . Ms Dutt with her team was awarded the the Kaavli Science Journalism Award in 2023 presented by the AAAS ( American Society for the Advancement of Science) for her film Saving Bhimanama- The Asian Giant Soft-shell turtle.
She is the author of the book ‘Green Wars- Dispatches from a Vanishing World , published by Harper Collins in 2014 and Rewilding in India with Oxford University Press in 2019. She has written a book for children titled ‘Planet Protectors’ published in 2024. Bahar has worked on a community project for snake charmers and run a shelter for injured monkeys! She hopes her storytelling can impact our natural world in a positive way.

VIJAY BEDI
Emmy nominated wildlife filmmaker, photographer and conservationists. Vijay Bedi has been filming, researching and exploring in India for many years. He has made some remarkable films, which have also contributed to the scientific study of understanding animal behavior and its ecology. For instance his film on The Secret Life of Frogs amphibians led to a scientific paper in a peer reviewed journal in February 2021 on the first visual record of the vocalisation of the Himalayan salamander in north east India.
Vijay has used his skills for making wildlife films as a powerful tool for inspiring people, spreading awareness and working with policymakers, researchers and local community for a common goal for conservation. His films have focussed on species such as the Red Panda, the Purple Frog, the Greater Adjutant stork and each has been strikingly different with their way of storytelling.

Over two decades, Vijay Bedi has worked with various national and international channels and their works have reaped many renowned awards. His films have; won four National Film Awards, awarded by the President of India, considered the highest accolade for films in India. At the international level he became the youngest Asians to have won the prestigious Green Oscar; Wildscreen Panda Awards, at Bristol, UK. Vijay is also the only Indian to have won a nomination at the highest awards in Television – the Emmy® Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Award for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft – Editing”. His film “The Stork Saviours” was also one of the finalists for “Best Global Voices Film” at Jackson Wild Media Awards 2020. For Vijay, while awards are important, the publication of a scientific paper in his name was the most cherished accolade he has ever received. 

Marco Spinelli

Shark Preyed (2025) is the result of over three years of research and filming by Andrea and Marco Spinelli, two Sicilian brothers with a deep bond with the sea. Andrea (a marine biologist and researcher) and Marco (a documentary filmmaker and environmental communicator) embarked on a journey to uncover the hidden side of the shark meat trade between Italy and Spain, revealing how we often consume it unknowingly.

Through footage from fish markets, data analysis, and exclusive interviews, the documentary sheds light on a little-known reality: sharks sold under misleading names, accidental bycatch, ghost nets, and the fin trade that fuels a loosely regulated global market. But Shark Preyed is not just an exposé, it is also an exploration of our relationship with these animals, demonized for decades and now facing extinction.

To give voice to this environmental crisis, the documentary features world-renowned experts: Mike Bolton, a filmmaker specializing in sharks, and Andrea Crosta, founder of Earth League International, known for The Ivory Game (Netflix, 2016).

With over 100 million sharks killed every year and one-third of species threatened with extinction, Shark Preyed aims to open our eyes to a crisis we can no longer ignore.

About Us:
Andrea and Marco, two Sicilian brothers with a passion for the sea, inherited their connection to the ocean from their father, who took them on underwater explorations from a young age. This passion led Andrea, a marine biologist and researcher at the Oceanographic Foundation of Valencia, to specialize in marine conservation. Marco is a documentary filmmaker, underwater photographer, and environmental communicator, featured in the Forbes Top 100 Under 30 list in 2024. Today, they dedicate their lives to scientific research and environmental outreach, combining their expertise to protect and share the story of our precious marine environment.

Director Biography – Marco Spinelli

I am a photographer, documentary filmmaker, and explorer of the underwater world. My passion for the ocean runs deep: I was born and raised in Sicily, and together with my brother Andrea, we inherited a profound connection to the deep blue. Our childhood was shaped by underwater explorations guided by our father, who instilled in us a lifelong love for the sea. While Andrea followed his calling to become a marine biologist and researcher, I chose to capture the hidden beauty of the ocean as a documentarian and environmental communicator.

In 2021, we successfully completed Mission Eurydice, a documentary available on Amazon Prime Video, which chronicles the recovery of tons of abandoned fishing nets from the Gulf of Cefalù, Sicily. In 2022, I presented Io, Tevere – The Roots of the Sea, a documentary exploring the overlooked beauty of the Tiber River, sparking reflection on the urgent need to protect our environment. In 2023, Mission Skerki took us to the underwater mountain range of Skerki in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, unveiling the area’s unique biodiversity and opening new avenues for marine conservation.

In 2024, I was honored to be included in the Forbes Top 100 Under 30, a recognition of my impact and leadership in the field of environmental awareness.

Today, alongside my brother, I dedicate my life to protecting the sea through scientific research projects and outreach initiatives. Our story represents a harmonious blend of personal passion and a tangible mission for conservation. We strive to spark a contagious love for marine ecosystems, going beyond passive admiration. We believe that individual dedication can translate into meaningful impact on the health of our oceans. 

Matt Brown

Hands in the Current: Stories of Work, Water and Home journeys throughout coastal southwest New Brunswick to connect with, and learn from, people whose lives are closely tied to the Bay of Fundy. It explores the question “What makes this region so special?” and examines why ensuring the future health of the bay is so important to us all.

Director Biography – Matt Brown

Matt Brown is an award-winning writer, director, filmmaker and photographer. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick, Matthew Brown studied photography at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. He has co-produced and directed several short documentaries including a series of artist profiles for CBC Arts The Exhibitionists, as well as films produced for The National Film Board, The Globe and Mail, and Canada Council For The Arts.

Christian Wehrle

“World War II: The Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon” is a 45-minute documentary that dives into the haunting underwater world of Chuuk Lagoon, a site of immense historical and ecological significance. Once a formidable fortress for the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II, this tranquil Pacific lagoon now cradles a ghostly fleet of sunken warships and aircraft, remnants of the devastating Operation Hailstone. Through a blend of captivating underwater footage, historical insights, and expert interviews, the documentary unveils the stories of these submerged relics. It explores the ecological transformation of these wrecks into vibrant marine habitats, while also pondering the ethical considerations of diving in this underwater graveyard. The film invites viewers on a reflective journey, intertwining the lagoon’s war-torn past with its present status as a unique sanctuary for marine life, leaving a lasting impression of the intricate ties between history, humanity, and the natural world.

Director Biography – Christian Wehrle

Christian Wehrle is a multifaceted professional who has seamlessly blended his twin passions for underwater exploration and filmmaking into a distinguished career.

Since embarking on his diving journey at the tender age of 14, Christian achieved notable qualifications as an Open Water Instructor and Medic First Aid Instructor right after high school in 1997.

His dedication to diving set the foundation for his deep-seated love for the aquatic world.

Parallel to his aquatic adventures, Christian carved a niche for himself in the film industry, excelling in video operations for major international film projects.

His impressive filmography includes key roles in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Matrix Resurrections,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and the critically acclaimed “Inglourious Basterds,” showcasing his adaptability and expertise in various cinematic roles, from video playback to underwater cinematography.

In 2000, Christian expanded his diving acumen, becoming a certified technical cave diver and later a CCR (Closed Circuit Rebreather) trimix diver, capable of undertaking deep dives up to 120 meters.

This skill set led him to explore some of the world’s most intriguing underwater sites, including Truk Lagoon.

Christian’s pinnacle project, the documentary “World War II: The Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon,” merges his professional skills in visual storytelling with his personal passion for diving. This venture is a testament to his ability to bring unique, submerged narratives to the surface for global audiences. As he continues to explore and document, Christian Wehrle stands as a testament to the power of combining one’s passions to create a unique and impactful career path. 

Villers Louis

On July 11, 2025, French freediver Arnaud Jerald set a new world record by reaching a depth of 126 meters at Vertical Blue, the most prestigious freediving competition. Filmed against the idyllic backdrop of the Bahamas, this documentary offers an intimate journey through his path, his doubts, and the dangers he faced to accomplish this extraordinary feat.

Director Biography – Villers Louis

Louis Villers is french director of several award-winning documentaries. For the past 12 years, he has been directing documentaries, covering various regions of the world (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Asia, South America, Africa…).