Award-Winning Documentary “Bluefin” To Be Screened At UPEI

By: Adi Vella

The UPEI Environmental Society, Save our Seas and Shores PEI and Cinema Politica Charlottetown are jointly organising a screening of Bluefin at UPEI on Sunday, March 25th.

Bluefin is a documentary that provides commentary on the stocks of giant bluefin tuna in the world and focuses on the state of fisheries in North Lake PEI, which is also known as the “tuna capital of the world”. The film also draws attention toward the discord between how world bluefin population is seriously dwindling whereas these fish are doing well in North Lake, PEI.

In a statement to The Cadre, Bluefin writer and director John Hopkins said documentary filmmaking is a very spontaneous type of filmmaking; he stressed on how much of it is being in the right place at the right time.

“These are wild animals and certainly not something that you can predict where they’re going to be or when they’re going to show up” said Hopkins. “I wanted to show them as wildlife like an elephant, a lion, a dolphin or a whale. To do that I used super slow motion cinematography, to slow everything down; they’re very fast”.

While filming fishing experiences off North Lake, Hopkins encountered clashing ideas about why there has been a mysterious and remarkable resurgence of “endangered” giant bluefin tuna off eastern PEI shores. Hopkins hopes the film will bring some long-overdue understanding about the plight of these incredible creatures, struggling to rebound from global overfishing and our lust for sushi.

Released in 2016, Bluefin has won Wildlife Award at the International Ocean Film Festival (2017) and also the Best Atlantic Filmmaker award at the Lunenburg Doc Fest (2016). Bluefin has also been added to the official selection of Raindance Film Festival in London (2017), Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (2017) and Atlantic Film Festival (2017) and Santa Barbara International Film Festival (2017) in the Social Justice Documentary Competition & Reel Nature section.

UPEI Environmental Society Excited

Chair of UPEI Environmental Society Choyce Chappell said the society is thrilled to have a chance to work with their community partners and other university groups to bring Bluefin to UPEI this weekend and are happier still to have John Hopkins in attendance.

“There are so many environmental issues that need to be addressed worldwide, and resolution of all issues begins with awareness and education,” Chappell said. “PEI in particular is already wonderfully aware of many marine-based issues in the region, but by bringing Bluefin to students and the greater Charlottetown community we are empowering many concerned people by providing them with the knowledge they need for change.”

Details about the event

The film is about an hour long and the screening will take place on March 25th at 2pm in room 242 of MacDougall Hall. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Hopkins.

Admission is by donation and everyone is welcome to attend.

Photo: Square Deal Productions Atlantic Inc.