Watch the All Too Clear Trailer here.
First-of-its-kind documentary All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes will mark its world premiere at the Stockey Centre in Parry Sound on August 10, 2024. The screening will be presented by Georgian Bay Forever and co-hosted by Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere (GBB). Tickets are now available for purchase for the 7:00PM screening at https://stockeycentre.com/event/all-too-clear/
Directed by the husband-and-wife filmmaking team, Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert, the immersive film uses cutting-edge underwater drones to explore how quadrillions of tiny invasive mussels, known as quaggas, are re-engineering the ecosystem of the Great Lakes at a scale not seen since the glaciers. To capture this epic change, the pair spent more than 150 days filming underwater, making it the most ambitious underwater film ever made about the Great Lakes. Part scientific exploration, part natural history adventure – the film showcases freshwater wildlife and environments like never before.
Attendees will be treated to a 90-minute theatrical version of the production. Following the screening, attendees will participate in a Q&A with the filmmakers, several of the scientists featured in the film, David Sweetnam, Executive Director of Georgian Bay Forever, and Katrina Krievins, Aquatic Conservation Programs Manager of the Georgian Bay Biosphere and editor of the 2023 State of the Bay ecosystem health magazine.
With 150 underwater filming days, the huge archive of wildlife footage captured by the filmmakers has had the added benefit of providing scientists with new insights into the spawning, feeding, and schooling behaviours of fish in the Great Lakes, including the first known recording of lake whitefish spawning in the wild.
“All Too Clear is providing an unprecedented peek into the Great Lakes and revealing important and never-before-seen information on the behaviour of fish in their highly dynamic and rapidly changing environments,” says Dr. Andrew Muir, science director at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. “The incredible footage captured by Melnick and Drebert will help scientists communicate the issues associated with the reengineering of our aquatic ecosystems that has unfolded over the past several decades as a result of invasive mussels,” continued Muir.
But it’s not just fish on the team’s radar. In June 2023, Melnick and Drebert discovered the wreck of the steamer Africa, lost to the depths in 1895, and now encrusted in quagga mussels. The discovery received coverage from international media. “Finding the Africa really helped further our main goal as filmmakers – to bring freshwater species and ecosystems into the spotlight usually reserved for ocean environments,” says Drebert. “If we want people to care about the future of the lakes, we need to show them what’s down there. That’s why we’re so excited to share All Too Clear in Parry Sound.”
The theatrical version of All Too Clear is just the tip of the iceberg. Starting in October, the full All Too Clear story will be available across Canada for free in a three-part series broadcast on TVO. The full series will be available starting Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM ET on TVO.org, TVO Docs YouTube channel, Smart TV apps and broadcast channel. Additionally, starting this summer, as part of admission, all visitors to Science North in Sudbury will be able to see a special cinematic 20-minute version of All Too Clear that is now part of their permanent exhibits.