The Ocean Film Festival World Tour is returning to the UK this autumn, bringing an evening of inspirational and jaw- dropping ocean films to almost 30 venues across Britain and Northern Ireland in September and October. Read more to find the viewing dates closest to your location.

The event, which originates in Australia, features a brand-new selection of the world’s best ocean-themed short films, with action and spell-binding footage from both above and below the water’s surface. The 2017 film programme sees intrepid freedivers explore haunting shipwrecks, nomadic sailors face the icy waters of Antarctica, and features awe-inspiring marine life such as humpback wales and the endangered Giant Pacific Mantaray.

“We’re delighted to be bringing the Ocean Film Festival World Tour back to UK audiences for the fourth year running,” says Tour Director Nell Teasdale.

“Featuring incredible cinematography, the films capture the raw beauty and power of the ocean, while celebrating an eclectic and fascinating mix of characters who live for the sea’s salt spray.”

Why not celebrate the return of the Ocean Film Festival by taking part in its Plastic Free month challenge – something that the Ocean Film Festival World Tour is encourages individuals and businesses to take part in. We all have a part to play in helping keep the ocean as beautiful as the film tour has portrayed and to tackle this huge problem facing the marine ecosystems.

Highlights from the 2017 Ocean Film Tour include:

Sea Gypsies

Infinity and her crew are about to embark on an extraordinary voyage: 8,000 miles from New Zealand to Patagonia, taking in the intimidating iceberg-strewn waters of Antarctica along the way. And just as this is no ordinary journey, this is no ordinary ship with no ordinary sailors. Infinity was built by hand in the 1970s and lacks some of the usual reinforcements considered necessary for such an extreme expedition. That doesn’t deter her crew: a handful of free-spirited nomads, brought together by a love of the open sea and the search for freedom.

Whale Catchers

High on the rugged cliffs above New Zealand’s Cook Strait sits an unusual group of ‘citizen scientists.’ This motley collection of men in their 70s and 80s are keeping watch for humpback whales as part of the Cook Strait Whale Count – a study into the recovery of New Zealand’s humpback population since the end of New Zealand whaling in 1964. It’s tiring but rewarding work, but there’s a reason that the volunteers are so good at the job. Not only are they descendants of New Zealand’s 200-year history of whaling, they were all once whalers themselves…

Fish People

To some, the ocean is a fearsome and dangerous place. But to others, it’s a limitless world of fun, freedom and opportunity where life can be lived to the full. From surfers and spearfishers to a former coal miner and a group of at-risk kids in San Francisco, Fish People a film about the transformative effects of time spent in the ocean—and how we can leave our limitations behind to find deeper meaning in the saltwater wilderness that lies just beyond the shore.

2017 UK Tour dates are:

• 5 September. Poole, Lighthouse Theatre
• 6 September. Bath, Komedia
• 7 September. Truro, Hall for Cornwall
• 8 September. Exeter, Corn Exchange
• 9 September. Brighton, Brighton Dome
• 13 September. Newtownabbey, Theatre at the Mill
• 14 September. Whitley Bay, Playhouse
• 15 September. Edinburgh, Festival Theatre
• 16 September. Inverness, Eden Court Theatre
• 19 September. Abingdon, Amey Theatre
• 20 September. Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn
• 21 September. Leeds, Town Hall
• 22 September. Harrogate, Royal Hall
• 23 September. Yarm, Princess Alexandra Auditorium
• 29 September. Porthcawl, Grand Pavilion
• 30 September. Birmingham, Crescent Theatre
• 1 October. Keswick, Theatre by the Lake
• 4 October.  Llandudno, Venue Cymru
• 4 October. Portsmouth, The Kings Theatre
• 5 October. Stockport, Plaza Cinema
• 5 October. Dorking, Dorking Halls
• 6 October. Cambridge, Corn Exchange
• 7 October. Liverpool, Plaza Cinema
• 7 October. Norwich, Lecture Theatre 1 (UEA)
• 11 October. Wimborne Minster, Tivoli Theatre
• 12 October. Christchurch, Regent Centre
• 13 October. Malvern, Forum Theatre
• 14 October. Bristol, Victoria Rooms
• 16-21 October. London, Union Chapel
• 21 October. Bristol, Victoria Rooms

The Ocean Film Festival Trailer