THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED US
If you would like to contribute to the Last Ocean you can continue to donate through this Indiegogo Campaign or through FUNDRAISE ONLINE NZ or OIKONOS - US 501(c)(3) NON-PROFIT
When an international fishing fleet finds its way to the last untouched ocean on Earth – the Ross Sea in Antarctica - humanity is faced with a great challenge: do we fish the last ocean or do we protect it?
For the past seven years New Zealand filmmaker Peter Young has been part of a team working on a campaign to protect the Ross Sea, widely regarded as the most pristine marine ecosystem on Earth. A key tool in that campaign is his self-funded feature documentary The Last Ocean. Peter is taking the film on a road trip in the US, and then onto Europe, where he hopes to inspire audiences to support full protection of the Ross Sea.
The next few weeks are crucial. In July of this year, 25 Antarctic nations will gather in Bremerhaven, Germany, to decide whether or not to establish a large marine protected area in the Ross Sea. The lead up to Bremerhaven is our big opportunity to make a difference.
Speaking at a special screening of the The Last Ocean in Washington DC last month, US Secretary of State, John Kerry said he hoped that the film would inspire people to be responsible stewards of "this fragile planet".
Supporting this Last Ocean road trip is an opportunity to do just that.
Find out about the issue here: www.lastocean.org
Find out about the film here: www.thelastoceanfilm.com
View the film trailer here:
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What is the Last Ocean Road Trip?
The Last Ocean road trip is a campaign tour to promote the protection of the Ross Sea. Peter Young is attending film screenings at the festivals listed below to give Q&A‘s and generate media interest. Between screenings the team will lobby supermarkets to stop selling Antarctic toothfish caught in the Ross Sea and ask consumers to stop eating it. (Antarctic toothfish is marketed as Chilean sea bass throughout North America). Then, if our stretch goal is reached, Peter will head to Germany to hold special screenings ahead of the talks in Bremerhaven.
What we need...
Update: Halfway into this campaign, we have reassessed our goals. At the very least we will get Peter to as many of the US festival screenings as possible, and if funding allows we will continue on to Bremerhaven, holding as many screenings as we can in Europe.
Basic funding: we reach - $26,750 Peter attends film screenings in the US to give Q&A’s, generate media interest and raise awareness on a 25-day campaigining road trip from Newport, Rhode Island to San Francisco.
Stretch goal: we reach - $39,650 Peter travels to Germany for screenings. If successful we will have screenings in Hamburg, Berlin and Bremerhaven, as well as special screenings in London. An additional $ 13,000 is required for this European leg.
Tour Itinerary – intended stops
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23rd May - NewportFILM, Newport, Rhode Island - The Last Ocean is Newport’s Green Screen film this year. “Our world is all we have and newportFILM wants to shine a continuing light on the environmental challenges that face it.”
25-27th May - MountainFilm in Telluride, Colorado - MountainFilm is an iconic festival that screens exceptional films that make a difference.
31st May & 5th June - The Film Society of Lincoln Center Green Screens, New York City - Two screenings hosted by the prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center. “Green Screens showcases engaging new documentaries about eco-crises and those fighting for solutions to the problems that plague our planet.”
7th & 8th June - Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle - Seattle International Film Festival, the largest, most highly attended film festival in the United States, is showing The Last Ocean for World Oceans Day.
14th, 18th, 23rd June - San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, California - With many of the Ross Sea scientistis as well as the Safeway Supermarkets head office located in the Bay area, these promise to be key screenings.
21st June - Monterey Bay Aquarium- Special screening for the folk at Monterey Bay Aquarium, who recently decided to make Chilean Sea bass, includiing Antarctic Toothfish from the Ross Sea) ‘best choice’ in their Seafood Guide.
25th June - Safeway HQ at Pleasanton, California (TBC) - A celebratory screening for the folk at Safeway Supermarkets, who have already chosen NOT to sell Antarctic toothfish from the Ross Sea.
25th June – Cinema Rialto, Hamburg, Germany - The Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, an agency for green visions and projects, is hosting a set of cinema events in the Hamburg Cinema Rialto.
4th July - Royal Geographical Society, London, United Kingdom - The UK premier of The Last Ocean hosted by the Last Ocean Charitable Trust and the Ross family, decendants of explorer Sir James Clark Ross, who discovered the Ross Sea.
5th July - Waiheke Island Community Cinema, New Zealand
11th to 16th July – CCAMLR Special Meeting of the Commission, Bremerhaven, Germany - Peter Young will be holding events in Bremerhaven during the CCAMLR meetings.
20th July - NaturVision Film Festival Ludwigsburg, Germany - Germany's oldest nature and environmental film festival held in the media city of Ludwigsburg.
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Why is USA important?
Both US & NZ are key players in negotiations for a Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA). They are jointly proposing a large MPA in the Ross Sea at a special meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) this July in Germany. While the proposed MPA covers a considerable area, it allows for commercial fishing in the Ross Sea. We need both Governments to know that while this proposal is an important first step it does not go far enough and offer the Ross Sea the full protection it deserves.
Antarctic toothfish is currently caught in the Ross Sea by 7 fishing nations. Much of the catch ends up in the US where it is marketed as Chilean Sea bass. The US is home to several key seafood industry players including Monterey Bay Aquarium which publish the Seafood Watch Guide, and supermarkets chains Wholefoods, Kroger & Safeway.
The Last Ocean has already played at several film festivals in the US and it resonates well with American audiences. Bringing the film director to screenings attracts greater audiences, creates more impact and draws more media attention to the film and issue.
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What you get!
If you donate to our project you are not only supporting our campaign to save the Ross Sea - we have some unique perks that you won’t be able to get anywhere else!
We’ve kept our gifts small simple and inexpensive so we are not sending stuff all over the world, and to make sure most of our funding goes to the campaign. See what’s on offer on right hand side of this page.
Please note: Indiegogo contributions are in USD.
If you are unable to donate, there are other ways you can help:
And don’t buy Chilean sea bass from the Ross Sea.
A final word...
“As a documentary cameraman I have filmed on every continent on Earth and the Ross Sea is one of the most special places I have been to. That is why I have been fighting tooth and nail for its protection for the past seven years. During that time we have gratefully received donations and while they have gone some way towards our goals, the Last Ocean campaign and film have largely been self-funded and have relied heavily on huge amounts of unpaid work from every member of the Last Ocean team. This final push calls for considerable resource - more than we have - but after years of work I feel we owe it to all those who have supported us, to the community that has joined us, and to the efforts that have gone before us, to complete the journey of this campaign and take our message to Bremerhaven - that there shuld be NO commercial fishing in the Ross Sea. What better gift could we leave our children than Earth's last truly wild ocean?”
Peter Young - Director, The Last Ocean
Thank you for your support!
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Please note: Indiegogo contributions are in USD.
