The Dark Side of the Ocean

Marine biologist and cameraman Rick Rosenthal has been filming in the ocean for decades, but one spectacle has eluded him and every other filmmaker, until now – the vast “vertical migration” – when billions of animals rise from the depths to the ocean’s surface. It is the greatest migration on earth, and this astonishing event happens every night, in every ocean of the world.

Limited camera and lighting technology have previously prevented the filming of this dramatic ocean event. Now, for the first time, Rosenthal captures it on camera. To do so, he faces—head on—the dangers and challenges of filming in the open ocean, in the dark. When he is successful, he unlocks the secrets of a bizarre and alien world.

There was a post-screening Q&A with Cameraman/Editor Mark Romanov.