The message at a recent multi-film screening was clear; those who care about the protection of the ocean must urgently make their voices heard.

Our Ocean Film Series on Monday brought together several shorts and documentaries united in their advocacy for preserving Bermuda’s marine life and habitats.

Heart of the Sea, a film by Kevin Richards, the managing director of Bermuda Asset Management, with assistance from Jean-Pierre Rouja, the cofounder of BioQuest and founder of Nonsuch Expeditions, was top of the billing as a creation that has garnered international accolades.

It encapsulates a grass roots campaign being spearheaded by Mr Rouja encouraging all corners of the community to speak up about supporting the preservation of the ocean for generations to come.

The film received its world premier at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in 2023 and was shown to a limited audience in Bermuda for the first time at the 2024 International Tech Summit.

The nine-minute documentary has won multiple international awards including the Humanitarian Award of Distinction at the Best Shorts Competition.

On Monday evening, it was shown for the first time to a wider local audience at the Speciality Cinema & Grill along with Shark Country based on an interview with the legendary ocean explorer and treasure hunter Teddy Tucker, a behind-the-scenes film for The National Geographic Sargasso Expedition and other “ocean shorts”.

Heart of the Sea’s evocative imagery projects the vibrancy and diversity of the island while hinting at a looming threat.

Gombey dancers are shot in slow motion by the water’s edge at dusk, dark clouds fold in on themselves and ominous ocean waves swell. There is the sense that a day of reckoning approaching.

Wistfully narrated by lecturer and writer Angela Barry, the film links the past and present, gathering the opinions of Bermudian scientists, poets and political leaders.

Of the sea, Dr Barry says: “It brings us back to where we were before we were born; suspended in uncertainty yet held in embrace.”

Philippe Max Rouja, medical and cultural anthropologist, speaks in the film of the island having no indigenous people but rather survivors of a ship wreck.

“This literally is an island in terms of its human culture that starts with shipwrecks,” he says.

He described Bermuda as a “delicately placed, beautiful small island in the middle of a grand ocean wilderness,” adding: “to be surrounded by these shipwrecks forces us reconcile with that all the time and it brings us closer to the ocean”.

Carika Weldon, the chief executive and founder of CariGenetics, is also interviewed about her work with JP Rouja and BioQuest sequencing the genomes and microbiomes of the island’s corals reefs to gather data to help protect them.

Dr Weldon said: “Coral reefs benefit all the people of Bermuda in many diverse ways that include our tourism.

“We also know that the coral reefs are our underwater protection. Bermuda’s corals are very healthy and knowing that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of these hurricanes, we need to make sure that they stay in place to protect the safety of all of us living in Bermuda.”

Walter Roban is also interviewed when he was the Minister of Home Affairs. He spoke on the potential to establish a marine spatial plan and investment facility that will support the development of Bermuda’s blue economy.

He said: “That means maximise opportunities in renewable energy, fisheries, aqua culture and sustainable tourism.”

There was a question-and-answer discussion after the screening.

Mr Richards, who is the film’s executive producer, enlisted award-winning producer and director Ivan Williams to contribute to the film which was directed by Shireen Rahimi, spoke to the power of art and film in the journey of conservation efforts.

Mr Rouja, the film’s organiser and experienced “man behind the camera” who recently penned an opinion piece in The Royal Gazette, told the audience: “Those of us who care about the ocean need to speak up.

“I have been pushing for us, in the ocean community, to get together and speak up. We are not anti-fishing but pro-conservation and reasonable protection.

“Our voices aren’t being heard. We are a silent majority now and we need to start speaking.”

• Further screenings are planned with updates to be posted onwww.ourocean.bm