Held in Forks since 2014, the River & Ocean features film explorations of the natural and social dimensions of the coast and coastal watersheds of the Olympic Peninsula.
Upcoming festival
Key details
- Date: October 2, 2026
- Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; films start at 7:30 p.m.
- Location: Rainforest Arts Center, Forks, WA
Submit a film
Film submissions for the upcoming film festival are now being accepted. Films must be less than 20 minutes long, and relevant to the natural or social dimensions of the coast and coastal watersheds of the Olympic Peninsula. Films may include standalone segments of longer works.To submit a film, please email the title and length of the film to Ian Miller at immiller@uw.edu.
Sponsors
The River and Ocean Film Festival is brought to you by the North Pacific Coast Marine Resources Committee in collaboration with Washington Sea Grant. Event partners include the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the Clallam County Marine Resources Committee, and the Surfrider Foundation.
Check out video Q&As with some of the 2025 festival supporters and participants!
Watch films from previous festivals
2025
2025 festival films
- The Spawning Dance, by David Hahn (pre-event screening)
- The Melt**, by Brian Zigulich and Alex Rupp
- Rising From the Ashes, by Shane Anderson and Jesse Andrew Clark
- Salish Synergy, by Washington CoastSavers
- Tsunami 11th Relative*, by Ocean Networks Canada
- Shelter from the Storm, by DoubleClick Productions
- Can the Blueback Survive?, by North Forty Films
- Líť’sit yiká· xá·bil-ts: Quillayutte River Restoration, by CaravanLab
* Best in show by audience polling
**Runner-up best in show by audience polling
2020
- Episode 1 (watch it here) included:
- When Goats Fly, by Eliza Goode and Olympic National Park**
- Cold Water Connection, by North Fork Studios and the Wild Salmon Center
- The Power of Kelp, by Paul Hillman and Puget Sound Restoration Fund
- Episode 2 (watch it here) included:
- Coast as Sentinel: Tribal Communities at the Forefront of Ocean Change, by Sam Kleinfinger and Washington Sea Grant*
- Coho Fight Club, by David Hahn
- Summer Backpacking at Naturebridge, by Modoc Stories and Naturebridge
- Stories from the Blue: Million Waves Project, by Silver Fir Media and NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
- Episode 3 (watch it here) included:
* Best in show by audience polling
**Runner-up best in show by audience polling
2019
- Fresh and Salty, by the youth of the Olympic Theater Arts Children’s Theater***
- A Sustainable Way Forward for Fish and Fisherman, by North Fork Studios
- The Science of Surface Slicks, by Open Boat Films
- Under the Log, by David Hahn
- Plastic Free Salish Sea, by Carl Davis and the San Juan County MRC**
- The Other Side of the Screen, by John Gussman**
- Stories from the Blue: Todd Fishcher, by the National Marine Sanctuary Program
- The Passage, by Days Edge Productions*
- Thunder Road, by Quileute Natural Resources and the USDA
- Urchin Mob, by Dave Forcucci at Studio Sea
- Three Crabs, 5 Salmon, 30 Partners, by John Gussman
- Salish Sea Wild: The Risky Business of Saving Seabirds, by Bob Friel and the SeaDoc Society
- The Salmon Coast, by North Fork Studios
* Best in show by audience polling
**Runner-up best in show by audience polling (tie)
***Special pre-festival showing
2018
- National Volunteer Week: Coastal Clean-up 2017
Eliza Goode/Olympic National Park - The Spawning Dance
David Hahn - Blue Carbon
Ben Drummond and Sara Steele - Brothers*
Randy Kerr - Hear Our Olympics
NPCA/Spruce Tone Films LLC - Under the Sound (Student Entry)
Rosi Hristova and Lana Hassan/Cherry Street Films - Love Story: Sinking Feeling
CNN/Facebook - 2017 Clean Water Classic
Northfork Industries/Surfrider Foundation - Frankenfish: A Farmed Atlantic Salmon Story
Annie Crawley - Semper Paratus
John Gussman/Doubleclick Productions - Melting Stars
KGP Films - Thinking Like A Scientist**
Plumb Productions - Stories From The Blue: Quinault Indian Nation
NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries - How Boaters and Anglers Can Protect Spawning Salmon***
Brendan Wells/Mountain Mind Collective
* Best in Show by Audience Polling
** Best in Show Runner Up by Audience Polling
*** Online only. This film was admitted but not screened at the event
2017
- Salmon in Taft Creek
Doubleclick Productions - Sonic Sea (18-minute Director’s Cut)*
NRDC/IFAW - Not Just Chemistry
EarthEcho International - Awesome Ocean
edeos digital education - SHARE: The White Salmon River
Mountain Mind Collective - Clean Water Classic 2016
Northfork Industries - Rockfish Recompression: The Music Video
John Dutton Productions - The Coho Are Coming
David Hahn - Olympic Coast Clean-up
Washington CoastSavers - Pteropods: Swimming Snails of the Sea
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute - Message in a Bottle**
Ikkatsu Project/Ken Campbell - Secret Life of Rivers
Leaping Frog Films
*Best in Show by Audience Polling
**Best in Show Runner Up by Audience Polling
2016
- Willapa Bay Oysters
Stony Point Pictures - The Smell of Cedars Steepend in Rain
Eliza Goode - Solving Stormwater
The Nature Conservancy - Lost and Found
Frank Films - Buried in Sawdust for 50 Years
Leaping Frog Films - A Dam Problem
Wahoo Films - Hiking Third Beach
Cache Mcphie - Coho Spawning at Eagle Creek Springs 2
David Hahn - Dance of the Microbeads
Sarah Tucker - Debris
National Film Board of Canada - Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup — The West Coast Trail
Vancouver Aquarium - Bristol Bay and UW Fisheries
John Gussman - High Hopes — The Future of Dungeness Crab
Benjamin Drummond and Sara Steele
2015
- Mouth of the Columbia River Benthic Impact Study 2014
Curtis Roegner, NOAA - You Matter 2
David Hahn - Quileute Natural Resources Department
Nicole Rasmussen, Quileute Natural Resources Department - Parkers Top 50 favorite things about Northwest Rivers
Amy Souers-Kober, American Rivers - Inches of Snow and Tide
Stephani Gordon/Open Boat Films - Lib Tech’s Surfing and Traditions
Tim Standford/Home School Films - The Whale Story
Tess Martin - Americans on the Frontiers of Climate Change: Oyster Farmers
Benjamin Drummond/ Sarah Joy-Steele - Combing the Coast
Surfrider Foundation, Vancouver Island Chapters - Evergreen State Stouts: Episode 2
Mountain Mind Collective - Dichotomies of the Olympic Peninsula
Scott Ennis - Discover Your Olympic Coast
SeaLife Productions
2014
- The Wild Olympic Coast
Florian Graner at Sea Life Productions - Tides of Change
Silver Fir Media - Marine Spatial Planning on the WA Coast
Swell Productions - This is Where I Belong
Stony Point Pictures - Coming Back, Restoring the Skokomish Estuary
North40 Productions - Plastic Shores (trailer)
LMV Productions - Cape Flattery Beach Clean-up
Under Sea Images