Acid Horizon (Ivan Hurzeler, 2016): USA

Reviewed by Michael Geraghty. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2018.

Documentary filmaker Ivan Hurzeler follows Dr. Erik Cordes as he searches for a “supercoral” that can withstand the changing acid horizon and help to sustain marine ecology in our future. Trying to keep the focus on the story rather than on activism, Hurzeler embarks on story telling that will keep viewers engaged. Although entertaining, the story seems unfocused and ends up leaving the viewer confused over the point of the film.

The story follows Dr. Erik Cordes in the search for the supercoral. We witness the story of the crew aboard the vessel as well as the story of the submarine that is helping the team find this hopeful coral in the vast oceans. With beautiful imagery and music, the story depicts the beauty of the oceans and ties it together with interviews of crew and scientists to bring the issue to light. Filming was heavily focused on Cordes experience on the voyage and his experience inside the submarine. While this is obviously needed in order to develop the story and to document the issue, in doesn’t highlight the whole point of the film-that coral is dying and our world needs it to survive

In fact, throughout the entire documentary I cannot recall seeing any imagery of coral that was dying or damaged in any way. This highlights the issue with this documentary-it is a good story but not really hitting the mark of what the director and Dr. Erik Cordes intended.

Worth seeing to hear the story of scientists searching for the supercoral but not really informative if you are looking at the specifics.

 

 

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Published:
02.20.18 / 1pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2018