DEEPWAVE Film Festival for Marine Conservation

A Festival with a Political Agenda

The DEEPWAVE Film Festival is not a classic short film festival oriented towards broad film culture. It is an activist event with a clear thematic focus: the protection of seas and oceans. It is organized by the Hamburg association DEEPWAVE e.V., which engages in maritime nature conservation work in several formats — from film festivals to educational programs and action formats.

Lichtmeß Kino in Ottensen

The venue is the Lichtmeß Kino at Gaußstraße 25, in the Ottensen district of Altona. Lichtmeß is one of Hamburg's most important art-house cinemas for documentaries and non-commercial film — a perfect address for a festival that sees films as a political tool.

International Short Films

The festival shows internationally selected short films on the topic of marine conservation: documentaries about coral reefs, plastic pollution, overfishing, whale watching, deep-sea mining, climate change, and ocean ecosystems. The selection is curated — usually 6–8 films per festival evening, a mix of observational documentaries, animated explanatory films, and investigative reports.

Discussions with Scientists

After the screenings, there will be discussions with marine researchers, NGO representatives, and activists. These discussion rounds are the political core of the festival — the films serve as a starting point for substantive engagement with current marine conservation issues. Visitors to the festival typically leave not only with cinematic impressions but also with concrete knowledge.

Free Admission, Donations Welcome

The festival is deliberately accessible free of charge (free admission, donations welcome) — a concession to its programmatic approach: marine conservation should not be excluded from information by entry barriers. The model is similar to the pay-what-you-can model of the feel.jazz festival and underscores its activist character.

Recurring Format

The festival runs annually, usually in early summer (May or June). The 2025 edition was held on June 20 — the 2026 edition is expected to take place on May 26. DEEPWAVE e.V. publishes the selection on the website deepwave.org.

DEEPWAVE Association

DEEPWAVE e.V. was founded in the early 2000s as an association for marine conservation. The film festival is one of several formats offered by the association — educational programs, action weeks, and collaborations with other nature conservation organizations complement its work.