Home Is the Ocean

Die Flotte der Römer(de)

Of Boats and Brothers: The Yacht Building Herreshoffs(en)

This award-winning documentary film chronicles the accomplishments and relationship of John and Nathanael Herreshoff. These determined brothers overcame all obstacles, including blindness, to earn a worldwide reputation in yacht design and construction.

A Dream of the Mediterranean(fi)

A documentary about Göran Schildt and his relationship with the Mediterranean.

Singlehanders(en)

Follow two Canadians, Bob Lush and Mike Birch, aboard their yachts during the 1980 Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. More than a record of this prestigious international sailing event, the resulting film is the starting point for an epic of challenge and determination.

Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey(en)

This award-winning PBS documentary sweeps viewers into a seafaring adventure with a community of Polynesians, as they build traditional sailing canoes, learn how to follow the stars across the open ocean, and embark upon a 2,000-mile voyage in the wake of their ancestors.

Twenty Eight Feet: Life on a Little Wooden Boat(en)

A short documentary about David Welsford, who has given up the luxuries of land in search for happiness and adventure on a 50 year old wooden boat he restored from a scrap heap.

Hold Fast(en)

Stories of maniac sailors, anarchist castaways, and the voyage of the S/V Pestilence: a video zine three friends and I made about finding a derelict sailboat, fixing it up, and sailing from Florida to Haiti.

Devenir(fr)

Sailing with Bushnell Keeler(en)

In 1967, a young David Lynch grabbed his new Bolex 16mm camera, to film his friend and mentor Bushnell Keeler and brother Dave Keeler sailing on the Chesapeake Bay in Bush's King's Cruiser. This was David Lynch's very first film, which he prefers to call a "home movie". It depicts a man, a painter, who changed David's life forever pursuing the artist's life, which he continues to this day.

Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World(en)

The vessel is Infinity, a 120-foot hand-built sailboat, crewed by a band of miscreants. The journey, an 8,000 mile Pacific crossing from New Zealand to Patagonia, with a stop in Antarctica. Unlike all the other boats heading to the Southern Ocean, Infinity is no ice-reinforced super-yacht crewed by professional sailors; rather, Infinity lives in the moment and sails on a whim. What can be found in abundance on board is blood, sweat, enthusiasm, risk tolerance, disdain for authority, and an ample supply of alcohol – all in all a mad voyage of reckless adventure just for the sheer joy of it. Along the way the crew will battle a hurricane of ice in the Ross Sea, assist the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd in their fight with illegal whalers, and tear every sail they have. At the heart of their journey is a quest for awe and a sense of wonder with the raw power of the natural world.

Around My Island(en)

Cameras follow Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan as he attempts to sail single-handed around the island of Ireland, which is one of the toughest feats in sailing.

Water Sports(en)

This short film showcases water sports activities such as sailboat racing and surfboard riding, including Christian Peterson doing a human surfboard at 45 mph.

The Camino Voyage(en)

A crew including a Writer, two Musicians, an Artist and a Stonemason embark on the Camino by sea, in a traditional boat that they built themselves on an inspiring, and dangerous, 2,500 km modern day Celtic odyssey all the way from Ireland to Northern Spain.

Under 30(en)

Alone at Sea(fr)

A feature-length documentary tracing Eric Bellion's psychological journey during his race on the Vendée Globe 2016-2017, a yacht race around the globe, single-handed and without assistance. Eric Bellion filmed himself during the 99 days of his race. He has never sailed solo for more than 6 days. This is an unprecedented immersive document of a man facing himself, loneliness and natural elements.

Fluch des Mittelmeers - Piraterie, Menschenraub und Sklaverei(de)

Drama documentary based on the latest discovery of a 16th Century sailing shipwreck found close to Malta by an underwater research team led by maritime archaeologist Timmy Gambin.

Pacific High(en)

In April 1978, the annual Ensenada Yacht Race from Newport Beach, California, to Ensenada, Mexico, occurred over the course of twenty-four hours. More than 600 yachts and sailboats competed in the 200-mile race. In the final stretch into Ensenada Harbor, the winds calmed, leaving the boats moving slowly to the finish line.

Holland Sailing(en)

This Sportscope series entry highlights sailboat races in Holland.

The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific(en)

In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed vast distances using only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds to navigate. Anthropologist Sanford Low visits the Caroline Islands of Micronesia to meet Mau Piailug, the last navigator initiated on his island and one of few men still practicing this once-essential art. He demonstrates his skill by sailing a replica canoe 2500 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti with no modern navigational instruments.

At Sea(en)

AT SEA is a visceral and poetic short film that blends docu-style realism with narrative fiction, following a group of faceless sailors navigating the unpredictable seas of Greece. Through the fragmented memories of an unreliable narrator, the film weaves together a non-linear story that shifts in mood with each chapter, offering a fresh perspective on the sea. Based on true events… almost.