Sailing On Screen Film Festival
Dates
Friday 12 January | 5.30pm doors open, 6pm tour, 7pm screening
Saturday 13 January | 1pm & 4pm
Sunday 14 January | 1pm & 4pm
Standard | $15
Concession | $12
Includes entry to Australia II: 40 Years On exhibition pre-screening.
Membership
Friend Members receive 15% off ticket pricing for this event.
Optional add on
Orders for optional add ons have now closed
Grazing Box | $12.50 add on
Available for Opening Night event only
Site access information
WA Maritime Museum is mostly accessible, excluding tours aboard the HMAS Ovens. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. More about accessibility and amenities >
Join us for a film festival weekend celebrating the excitement of the 1983 America’s Cup win and exploring stories of competitive speed and endurance sailing.
Throughout documentaries and feature films, sailing and yacht races have inspired storytelling about this singular sporting lifestyle, sharing with viewers the unique and passionate relationship with the sea and the elements that is part of the challenge of sailing.
Experience the thrill of the chase and the challenge of survival at sea with a series of films that explores the joy of competitive sailing, the trials and tribulations of the lone yachtsperson, and the excitement of high speed on the water. Come along for film experiences that answer the call of the wind!
On opening night, enjoy a guided tour of Australia II: 40 Years On hosted by local author and legendary storyteller Mike Lefroy.
Cash bar available.
Pre-ordered grazing boxes are available as a special purchase for Opening Night event prior to day of screening. Orders for optional add ons have now closed.
Film Festival program schedule
True Spirit (2023) PG: Mild themes. Drama. 1hr 9min
Exhibition viewing: From 5.30pm
Exhibition tour: 6pm
Film screening: 7pm
In this inspiring drama, 16-year-old Australian Jessica Watson dreams of becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and unassisted, which means that she must sail alone and not dock at any port along the way. Her 2009 attempt at this journey is estimated to take 200 days, and she must cross the equator and all meridians of longitude.
True Spirit is a new Australian biographical drama featuring Teagan Croft as the young sailor with a big dream. This film is directed by Sarah Spillane and based on the 2010 memoir of the same name by Jessica Watson. Supporting cast includes Cliff Curtis, Anna Paquin and Josh Lawson.
Deep Water (2006) PG: Mild themes. Documentary. 1hr 32min
Film screening: 1pm
Confronted by a perilous sea, bad weather, an unfinished boat and painfully slow progress, sailor Donald Crowhurst faces an impossible dilemma - to continue into the open ocean on his 1968 solo round-the-world race with a leaking boat or return home defeated and bankrupt. Using original 16mm footage, tape recordings and interviews, this film reconstructs one man's extraordinary physical and psychological journey.
Narrated by Tilda Swinton, this film won awards in several film festivals at the time of its release (2007 Best Cinema Documentary, Grierson Trust British Documentary Awards; 2007 Best Documentary, San Diego Film Critics Awards).
Content warning: this film contains references to the theme of suicide, which some viewers may find distressing.
All Is Lost (2013) M: Infrequent coarse language. Drama. 1hr 46min
Film screening: 4pm
After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
Starring Academy Award winner Robert Redford and directed by the writer and director of Margin Call, this film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and delivers a taut but lyrical tale of sailing and survival for the lone yachtsman.
Maiden (2018) M: Coarse language. Documentary. 1hr 37min
Film screening: 1pm
In 1989, Tracy Edwards leads the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race, a gruelling yachting competition that covers 53,000 kilometres and lasts nine months.
Winner of several international documentary awards (including a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Sports Documentary - 2019), director Alex Holmes reveals an illuminating account of sailing and women in sport during the late ‘80s. The 1989 Whitbread race was the first on which crew were encouraged to take cameras, which offers us compelling images and an insider view of the conditions at sea and the emotional reality of the team’s journey.
The Mercy (2018) PG: Coarse language. Drama. 1hr 52min
Film screening: 4pm
The incredible story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his solo attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The struggles he confronted on the journey while his family awaited his return is one of the most enduring mysteries of recent times.
This biographical drama starring Colin Firth, Rachael Weisz and directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire) explores the single-mindedness and flawed obsessions at the heart of Crowhurst’s story. This reveals a complicated truth about how this lone sailor would risk everything for an unattainable sense of personal satisfaction.
Content warning: this film contains references to the theme of suicide, which some viewers may find distressing.
Related exhibitions
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Australia II making history by winning the America’s Cup; the oldest sporting trophy in the world.
