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By Lea Manto-Beltran
CONSIDERED the center of
biodiversity and home to some of the richest coral reefs in the
world, the Philippines will play host to the largest and most
exciting marine festival of its kind in the Asia Pacific, the
Celebrate the Sea Marine Imagery Festival from September 21 to 23 at
The Coconut Palace in Manila.
Touted as the Cannes of
Underwater Film Festival, this biggest and most prestigious event
concerning the sea will gather the who’s who of ocean imagery.
These are the people who write the books, make the groundbreaking
documentaries and capture the mesmerizing images of our natural
world.
“We are pleased that the
country has been chosen as the venue for this event. This
strengthens our place in the map of international water sports
sites,” muses Tourism Secretary Ace Durano. He further revealed
that the festival presenter intends to make Manila the home of the
annual event until 2009.
Michael Aw, director of Ocean
Environment, Ocean Geographic, who was the guest speaker during the
launching of Celebrate Manila recently, said that the organizers
decided to hold this most-awaited event in the Philippines because
they believe the Philippines has one of the richest marine life
sanctuaries in the world. He also confirmed that there are plans to
make the Philippines the permanent home for the festival for three
years. This is expected to position the country as the capital of
underwater imagery in the Asia Pacific.
Some of the world’s most
renowned luminaries of the sea from USA, France, Australia,
Singapore and Belgium are expected to convene at the main venue for
the presentation of the world’s best underwater images,
conservation forums, seminars, photo galleries and screenings of the
winning films from the World Festival of Underwater Pictures and Celebrate
the Sea’s own international imagery competitions.
A well-known
documentary-photographer, Aw is known for his saturated color
imagery. Over 20,000 of his images and his work on environmental
issues and natural history have been featured in BBC Wildlife, Asian
Geographic, GEO, Tauchen, Action Asia, Asia Week, Unterwasser and
the Smithsonian magazine. His photographs have received awards from
several international organizations including the prestigious Nikon
International Photo Contest on three occasions.
He is also the founding director
of Ocean Environment, a charity organization with a mission to
promote and initiate preservation projects as well as to documenting
the status of the coral reefs, bio-diversity and the impacts of
manmade pollution through research programs and educational
expeditions.
DOT Assistant Secretary Cynthia
Carrion, who is also the executive director of the Philippine
Commission on Sports and Scuba Diving, is very pleased with the
partnership. “This is a dream come true for everyone of us.”
Carrion has been asking Aw to visit the country and after the third
try, Aw finally said yes and has been a regular visitor since then.
Aw continued, “It’s now my
fifth visit to the Philippines and I always discover something new.
The Filipino people are blessed to have these kind of marine
life.” Carrion is also positive that this event will place the
Philippines in the map of the international dive sites.
Participants of the event can
join the following activities: Wow Shoot Out—participants will be
shooting from September 16 to 21 at Puerto Galera and Anilao; the
results will be announced during the awards presentation ceremony on
the evening of September 22 at the Garden Pavilion, Sofitel.
Meanwhile, the International
Underwater Film Festival will also present the top winners from the
World Underwater Pictures Festival.
One of the highlights will be the
International Underwater Imagery competition. According to Aw, there
are now over 2000 entries in nine categories from 38 countries.
Finalists’ prints can be viewed at the main venue galleries.
The presenters during the
three-day event include the world’s most published underwater
photographer and author team—David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes of
the National Geographic fame and multiawards music of the sea
composer Eric Bettens from Belgium. Joining the panel are big animal
photographer Amos Nachom, Daniel Mercier—the president of the
World Festival of Underwater pictures—and a host of celebrated
underwater image makers like Lynn Funkhouser, Michel AW, Scott
Tuason, Mathieu Meur and Gunther Deichmann.
This year, the marine science and
conservation forum panel is composed of Bryan Dias of Coral Reef
Alliance, Stuart Green of Reef Check and Ferdie Macelo of Seacology.
Joining the speakers and judging panel will be John Thet from Scuba
Diver Australia, Jason Heller of Dive PhotoGuide, Joe Moreira of
Ocean Geographic, Peter Syme of XRay and Steve White of Action Asia.
Celebrate the Sea Festival in
Asia is part of Ocean Environment’s continuing effort to raise the
awareness of our beautiful oceans and its Say No to Sharks Fin
Campaign. It is held in collaboration with the world underwater film
festival at Antibes, Juan Les Pin.
For more information on
festival entry, master-passes and events, check out
www.celebratethesea.com
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