Trashy Selfie Project
This year’s World Whale Film Festival (Feb 08) will showcase films that inspire ocean and wildlife conservation around the world. A short film by Big wave surfer Paige Alms and world champion windsurfer Sarah Hauser on their conservation campaign titled ‘Trashy Selfie’ will be presented by the filmmakers. Using their platforms as professional athletes, Sarah and Paige are working towards cleaning up marine debris, one selfie at a time. I recently talked to Sarah to get her take on the project and the festival.
What inspired you to create your film?
When we came up with the idea of TrashySelfie a little over a year ago we were really excited because we knew it had the potential to reach many people and to grow on its own! We want to put the idea out there! Everyone can participate, have fun with the concept, learn and help educate. That’s what the film is meant to show!
Why do you think it’s important to share your film at the Pacific Whale Foundation World Whale Film Festival specifically?
“Trash” and “ocean” are unfortunately very connected. Many of us have seen the images of the Pacific garbage patch or simply walked on a local beach and witnessed more trash. Sometimes when becoming aware of the oceans’ health, it can make us feel hopeless. That is the last thing we want! We want people to be positive because it is more fun to live like that and also because that’s what leads to impactful actions that will help save our planet. We hope that by sharing our film at the PWF World Whale Film Festival it will turn the dramatic and heavy emotions into a feeling of empowerment, a desire to make a difference and positively spread the word!
Have you had any previous experiences with PWF?
Being part of the water sports community I got to participate in events like beach clean ups or reef clean ups and hear about the PWF and sign up for their newsletter to follow their work and educate myself. When the Foundation reached out to us for the film festival I felt truly honored!
Why do you think people should come to the film festival?
There is no such things as having too much inspiration, motivation or too much education. The films selected by the PWF will provide a ton of these 3 ingredients which are crucial to succeed at preserving our oceans!
Who would enjoy this film festival?
Everyone! Everyone is in one way or another impacted by the ocean’s health.
