Rather than despair about climate change, Frances Ward decided to do something about it: she started a kelp farm.
Her story is the heart of a new documentary film premiering this weekend in Germany, and next week in Campbell River as part of Oceans Week. It’s called “Send Kelp” and it tracks Ward’s journey as she deals with what she calls ‘eco-grief’ and becomes an ocean farmer.
Filmmaker Blake McWilliam says he hopes people are inspired by her story.
“There’s so many stories out there of doom and gloom climate change stuff, and we do bring up the state of the oceans, the direction that oceans are going, the deforestation of natural kelp forests. We bring all that stuff up,” he says. “But it’s a personal story about Frances. She’s struggling with what she calls ‘eco-grief’ but she pursues this as a way to try and do something.
“And in the process we end up making a film that I feel is really optimistic and positive, and I think that I would love for audiences to come away feeling like they have some agency to do something, whatever that is for them.”
McWilliam says he decided to focus the film around Vancouver Island, and found the topic fascinating. He says the end result is a local story about local people, but with a global message.
“You want to to try and tell this big wholistic story, but we realized that there was so much happening on Vancouver Island that a really small, specific local story was more interesting,” he says. “That’s what this film is, it’s actually very, very local.”
“Send Kelp” will air Tuesday night at the Rivercity Stage, visit the official site to purchase tickets.
The trailer can be seen below.
