‘Where There Is Trout’ Documentary Short Film Wins Award

The Global Aquaculture Alliance is delighted to announce that one of its documentary short films by GAA Films won an award at the Mexico International Film Festival.

The announcement came on May 31 at a screening of GAA Films’ four documentary short films at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, Maine.

Held annually in May, the Mexico International Film Festival named 27 winners this year, including “Where There Is Trout” for “Best Environmental Film.”

Where There Is Trout” features Citlali Gomez, who runs a trout and bullfrog farm started by her mother in central Mexico. In the five-minute film, Gomez explains that her family-owned farm is more than a job, it’s a way for her and her family to battle the pressures of deforestation happening right in their backyard. The film debuted at the 2017 installment of Seafood Expo North America, the first of four episodes created by GAA Films to date.

GAA Films' ‘Where There Is Trout’ Documentary Short Film Wins Award

At the screening, which was attended by approximately 75 people, all four episodes were shown to the public and members of the local aquaculture community. After the screening, GAA Membership Manager Becky Holt, who produces GAA Films, led a question-and-answer session featuring GAA Executive Director Wally Stevens, GMRI COO Ellen Grant and David Jackel, co-founder of Shave Media, who directed all four episodes.

Launched in early 2017, GAA Films tells the untold stories of the people who love, fight for or are transformed by aquaculture.

Episode 2 features the de Koning family, who immigrated from Holland to farm mussels in Maine with the same techniques they’ve been using for seven generations. (Husband-and-wife team Theo and Fiona de Koning attended the May 31 event.) Episode 3 features the Harty family and its five siblings, who are farming Europe’s most highly prized oysters on Ireland’s southern coast. And Episode 4, which debuted in April, follows the lives of three young fish farmers living on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Four episodes are expected to be released this year, with the first being “Aloha for This Place.”

GAA Films is supported through membership, particularly by Premier Partners, GAA’s highest level of membership.

To learn more about becoming a member, visit GAA’s membership page.