Dive Into 29 Underwater Films Over Two Nights in San Diego

San Diego is a diving town, and once a year it gets the film festival to match. The San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition returns to Qualcomm Hall for its 27th year, with two nights of short underwater films pulled from reefs, tidepools, and open water around the world.

Local underwater photographer Marty Snyderman hosts both nights. Each one carries its own lineup, so Friday and Saturday are two different shows rather than one program running twice

Friday Starts in a Tidepool and Ends With Sea Kraits

Friday’s program runs 14 films and covers a lot of water. Sophia Carlin’s “The Life of a Tidepool” stays close to the shoreline, while John Roney’s “Snake Island: The Volcanic Life of Sea Kraits” and Collin O’Brien’s “Diving With the Giants of Komodo” head somewhere considerably less familiar.

Dustin Adamson’s “Rolling In the Deep – Lembeh” and Valera Sakhnenko’s “Tiny Creatures, Big Battles: Underwater Survival” handle the macro end, the small stuff you would swim right past. Florian Fischer’s “You Are an Ocean” and Kristin Carner and Bob Yin’s “Sand Story” round out a night that never sits still.

Saturday Runs From Raja Ampat to a Catalina Kelp Forest

Saturday is the longer night at 15 films, and it ranges further. Dustin Adamson follows his Friday film with “Rolling In the Deep – Raja Ampat,” and Adam Ravetch’s “Dynamic Planet Ice Sequence” trades warm water for ice entirely. Howard Hall’s “Symbiosis” and Brian Zach’s “The Matriarch of the Galapagos” are on the same bill.

The closest thing to home is “Voices of the Forest: Beneath Catalina’s Emerald Canopy” from Carmen Obied and Steven Lopez, shot in the kelp canopy up the coast. Nick Zachar brings “Stories From the Blue: Discovering Inner Earth” on behalf of NOAA, and Gui Garcia and Cathryn Castle Garcia have “A Date. With a Whale.”

Small Plates, Two Drink Tickets, and a Monday Deadline

Saturday’s screening rolls straight into a reception with small plates from Marigold Kitchen and Catering, vegetarian options included, plus two drink tickets good for wine or beer. Non-alcoholic drinks are available, and both tickets work for those if you would rather.

The reception needs its own ticket and will not be sold at the door. Buy by October 5. Bring ID for check-in, and alcohol is 21+.

See you there!

Twenty-nine films, two nights, and the ocean doing what it does best. Sort out reception tickets before Monday if you want in on Saturday.

📆 Friday, October 9, 7 PM – 9 PM | Saturday, October 10, 6 PM – 8 PM
📍 5775 Morehouse Drive San Diego
🎟️ View ticket options here
ℹ️ Dive into the details here

See you there, San Diego!