Festival celebrates undersea magic

The festival represents the "pinnacle of creativity"

By the BBC's John McIntyre

Antibes is to the magical undersea world what Cannes is to the glitzy film business. Both French towns host film festivals where it is important to be seen.

Perhaps the main difference is that Antibes is more about beauty than glamour.

It's about telling the stories of a place you obsess about and want to protect

Photographer Douglas David Seifert

Antibes has grown from humble beginnings in the early 1970s, when a local diving club decided to promote a competition for film-makers and photographers.

Today, it is the biggest underwater festival in the world, drawing entries from over 40 countries.

It has come to represent the pinnacle of creativity and photographic record of our undersea heritage. The most sought after prize in this small but industrious community is the Palme d'Or, the marine equivalent of the Oscar.

No egos

It is also important to the 700 or so competitors because their work, often a labour of love, is judged by their peers.

Cameramen spend months stalking their prey

Stunning still images captured at diving destinations throughout the world adorn stands inside the marquee, which has been erected adjacent to the local cinema, where the festival films attract as many as 25,000 visitors.

Images are as varied as the fish in the ocean; from the tiniest critters, such as elegant shrimps and colourful nudibranchs which crawl over the coral hunting for food, to the biggest, most graceful of the sharks.

Here, there is no clash of showbiz egos nor the frenetic flashes of a hungry paparazzi.

Daniel Mercer, president of the Festival Mondial de L'Image Sous-Marine, says it is not so much about the technical aspects of underwater photography, though important, more about the visual art of the picture.

Toothed Titans

It is also about giving a chance for amateurs and professionals alike to enjoy competing in the same event whatever their standard.

These vary from what can best be described as marginally watchable home videos at one extreme, to the landmark BBC television series Blue Planet (Alastair Fothergill) and a wonderful entry, Mzima: Haunt of the river horse (Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, Survival Anglia).

Images are as varied as the fish in the ocean

Both had to settle for runners-up awards. This year's coveted Palme d'Or went to a Canadian film maker, Adam Ravetch, for his Toothed Titans, a strong documentary featuring the lives of walrus for National Geographic.

Prize money is small but the photographic entries that succeed will often corner the highly competitive market for magazine covers, books and calendars; just as the stars of Cannes Film Festival emblazon publications around the world.

Gossip here in Antibes is more likely though to focus on the secrets of how a sleek grey shark was frozen in watery brilliance than the indiscretions of pouting movie stars.

Animal personality

Underwater cameramen and women often spend days, weeks, even months stalking their prey before finally capturing that elusive single shot.

American photographer Douglas David Seifert, editor of Oceans Illustrated, says the best pictures are those which release the animal's personality.

"It's not only your livelihood, it's about telling the stories of a place you obsess about and want to protect," he says.

A giant medusa jellyfish taken in the open ocean was part of the portfolio of another American, Norbert Wu, who won one of the top photographic awards.

A striking image of a reef shark in apparent pursuit of a jackfish helped claim another top award for British photographer Chris Wilton.

It is only through the efforts of the comparatively small number of underwater enthusiasts and professionals that we understand what little we do about inner space, much of which remains unseen by man.