A film festival on the sea in a landlocked French town

Daniel Pauly at the DocumenTerre Film Festival in Montignac-Lascaux , November 2025. Photo by DocumenTerre.

The 16th edition of the DocumenTerre Film Festival, which takes place on an annual basis in Montignac-Lascaux in southwestern France, had, this year, a special focus on the oceans.

Given that the ‘big blue’ was the star of the show this time around, the Sea Around Us PI, Dr. Daniel Pauly, was named the ‘parrain’ (godfather) of the event, and the invitation to attendees was to go on a journey to explore the ocean, better understand it, and protect it.

A dozen films were shown from November 27th to November 30th, among them the 2023 documentary L’Océan vu du cœur, which features Dr. Pauly and his former student Dr. Lyne Morissette, and exposes some of the impacts that humans have had on marine ecosystems and their biodiversity.

After each show, lively discussions were held between the audience, Dr. Pauly and other researchers such as Carole Saout-Grit, Gilles Bœuf and Pascale Fabre.

Given its main theme, the 2025 DocumenTerre was awarded the “Shared Sea” label by the French government. This label encourages initiatives that raise awareness on the many threats the marine world is facing and on possible solutions to address them.

Previous editions have focused on mountains, island conservation, the shared future of animals and humans, among other topics. The festival’s main goal is to bring humanity closer to nature and contribute to the preservation of our planet’s resources.

Side note: Montignac-Lascaux is where the famous cave of Lascaux is located, which holds thousands of drawings and paintings on its walls dating back 20,000 years. This cave is closed to the public, but a magnificent full-size replica was created, which Dr. Pauly took this opportunity to visit.