Celebrate Shark Week with a World Premiere Film from Mexico

This week is officially Shark Week — July 11 to 18. Perhaps you already know about Shark Week and what it means to us, and of course to the sharks. However, if you’re like this writer, you might have to look it up to find out what the excitement is about. We’ve saved you the trouble, and here is what we’ve learned.

Shark Week originated in 1988 as a week-long period during which television programming focused on sharks. According to Wikipedia (our go-to resource for all things obscure), Shark Week was “originally devoted to conservation efforts and correcting misconceptions about sharks.” Over the ensuing years it gained popularity and became an annual feature on the Discovery Channel. Furthermore, it now holds the honor of being the “longest-running cable television programming event in history.”

And that’s not all. Shark Week has become a much-promoted event on social media and subscription-based movie and televisions services. This coincides with skepticism and criticism of the week’s programming, which also carries much fictional and entertainment-oriented material such as Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives and Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine. Apparently the word for this type of program is ‘docufiction’: a cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction.

But fortunately there are still many genuine and quality shark-related documentaries aired during Shark Week. Details of one such film were sent to us by the organizers of the International Ocean Film Festival (IOFF).

Sharks of the Sea of Cortés: A Lost Treasure? directed by James Ketchum, is making its world premiere this week. The 26-minute-long film captures the work between scientists and fishermen to restore and protect sharks and their marine ecosystems in Baja California. And as these waters are part of our sailing grounds, we wanted to share the opportunity to view this film.

Tickets are $10 and are available here, along with a trailer of the film. We hope you enjoy it!