Planet in Focus: The Last Dive
- Fri, Oct 24
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Cody Sheehy Run Time: 88 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 2025
Starring: Dawn Wilson, Joyce Clinton, Mike McGettigan, Robert Rubin, Terry Kennedy
Terry Kennedy has lived several colorful lives, including a stint as a Hell’s Angel – but, most memorably, as the unlikely friend to a giant manta ray named Willy. Now in his 80s, Terry mounts one last diving expedition to a remote island in search of his long-lost friend.
In the late 1980s, as former navy veteran and Hells Angel member Terry Kennedy was trying to put his troubled past behind him, he met Willy Wow, a 22-foot manta ray who changed everything. Off the remote coast of Mexico’s San Benedicto island, their unlikely bond became the stuff of legend – and led to Terry spending more time with manta rays than any human ever before him. He even inspired the first scientific studies of giant oceanic manta rays.
Now in his eighties, Terry faces his own mortality as he returns to Baja’s waters for a final time, hoping to reunite with his old friend. Director Cody Sheehy’s exhilarating and visually stunning documentary, which had its world premiere at Tribeca and now comes to PIF for its Canadian premiere, follows Terry’s emotional last dive and quest to reconnect with Willy Wow.
This portrait of connection and conservation reveals how one man’s friendship with a giant manta ray transformed both marine science, and his own understanding of what it means to belong. -PLANET IN FOCUS
Preceded by THE SILENT SANCTUARY (Directors: Carter Kirilenko, Adam Combs, Canada // 10mins): Covering one-third of the world’s coastline, kelp forests provide critical habitat for thousands of species. However, rising ocean temperatures due to climate change are threatening kelp populations worldwide. Over the past seven years, up to 95% of kelp has disappeared from parts of North America’s west coast. Hornby Island in British Columbia is one of many warming coastal regions where kelp has vanished. Silent Sanctuary follows a small team of scientists as they embark on a groundbreaking study to restore kelp along the island’s shoreline. If successful, their research could pave the way for large-scale kelp restoration across BC’s coasts. But as they push forward, they begin to realize their chances may be slimmer than they had hoped.
Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.