Aquarium nurtures love of oceans, filmmaking with short film awards

The Aquarium of the Pacific awarded several local high school filmmakers this past week for their visionary looks at several aspects of oceans as they wrapped up the “High Tide Student Film Contest.”

“We had submissions from 22 different schools, and we have at least 13 different high schools from Southern California represented here in the audience,” said Dr. Peter Kareiva, President and CEO of the Aquarium.

“The vision behind this festival is straightforward,” he said, is simple, undeniable, and that vision is science, data and graphs,” said Kareiva. “I’ve done that all of my life,” he said, “It’s necessary, but at some point it just gets you so far,” said Kareiva.

“To really take science to action, to take science to addressing our global problems, you need the art of storytelling,” he said, “because that is what inspires us and what catalyzes action.”

He said the High Tide Student Film Festival has appreciation “for what young minds bring to that challenge.”

Kareivia thanked Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg for underwriting the film festival and honored them with a plaque for supporting the Aquarium “in so many ways.”

“Charlotte and I are enchanted with the Aquarium of the Pacific,” said Ginsburg. “We need to really understand the oceans,” he said, “we understand Mars better than we do the mapping of our own oceans.” They support the festival, said Ginsburg, because he and Lady Charlotte believe it is inspiration “for the young people to get humanity where it needs to be and fix the planet.”

Students competed in three categories, including Local Treasures, Ocean Innovation and Coral Reefs. The staff also awarded films that it felt made a powerful statement.

Here are the winners;


 

 

 

 

Pictured: Luke Steinmann, Serrano High School student, Phelan, grade 12 – Silver winner in the Local Treasures category.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured: Liam Wright, South Pasadena High School student, grade 11 – Bronze winner in the category Local Treasures

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured (L-R): Emcee Alie LeBeau, Aquarium of the Pacific, Emcee Callum Watson, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Luke Steinmann, Serrano High School student, Phelan, grade 12 – Silver winner in the Local Treasures category

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured (L-R): Emcee Callum Watson, Aquarium of the Pacific, Emcee Alie LeBeau, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Davey Schneider, Serrano High School student, Phelan, grade 10 – Silver winner in the category Ocean Innovation

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured (L-R): Steven Lau-Robles and Joanna Escobar from Sato Academy, Long Beach, grade 12 – Gold winners in the Ocean Innovation category.

 

 

 

 

(L-R) Rocco Leoncio, grade 10 Cerritos High School student; Ethan Louie, grade 10 Cerritos HighSchool student; and Erick Louie III, grade 12 Cerritos High School student–Bronze winners in the Ocean Innovation Category.

 

 

 

 

 

(L-R):Emcee Callum Watson, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Kylie La, Edison High School student, grade 12—Gold winner in the Local Treasures Category (collaborative project with Claire Dokko, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School student, grade 10.

 

 

 

 

 

(L-R) Emcee Callum Watson, Aquarium of the Pacific, Emcee Alie LeBeau, Aquarium of the Pacific, Kayla Deng-Martinez, Long Beach Polytechnic High School student, Long Beach, grade 10, Bronze winner in the Coral Reefs Category.

 

 

 

 

 

Emcee Alie LeBeau, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Kimberly Miller, St. Anthony High School student, Long Beach, grade 11–Gold winner in the category of Coral Reefs.

 

 

 

 

 

(L-R)Emcee Alie LeBeau, Aquarium of the Pacific, Emcee Callum Watson, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Cooper Olson, Providence High School student, Burbank, grade 11–Silver winner in the category of Coral Reefs.

Aquarium “High Tide” judges also named “Honorable Mention” filmmakers.
Penguin on the red carpet at the High Tide Student Film Festival. All photos courtesy of the High Tide Student Film Festival.