In the last 30 years, we have lost 50 percent of the world’s corals—the psychedelically colored, imaginatively shaped, majestic species living on our ocean floors that remain as mysterious as the cosmos. So when filmmaker Jeff Orlowski sought to document the effects of climate change in destroying and “bleaching” coral reefs, the process was so unprecedented that his team actually had to create the technology for it. But necessity is the mother of invention, and it’s truly necessary to inform the world about the ongoing oceanic catastrophe that’s killing the phosphorescent splendor of the reefs and leaving “rock formation” corpses. Orlowski’s previous film, the Academy Award-nominated “Chasing Ice,” powerfully and irrefutably captured the melting of the polar ice caps. While the global danger of our disappearing coral reefs has far less public awareness attached to it right now, this 2017 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner proves, in spectacular fashion, that the reefs are just as important and deserving of our attention.

PRE-SHOW MUSIC BY
Emma Guzman (Wed)
Angela Josephine (Sun)

SPONSORED BY
Laura & Woody Rea (Wed)
Scott & Kathy Baylis Monteith (Wed)
Dennis & Barbara Piskor (Sun)
Traverse City Big Boy Restaurant (Sun)