The women filmmakers bringing the ocean to the Ritz, Penzance

For one night this week, the screen at The Ritz in Penzance belongs to women who make films about water. Eight of them, drawn from Cornwall and the Celtic nations, have been gathered into a single charity programme called Women of the Water, with the filmmakers on hand for a Q&A once the credits roll.

The night has been programmed by filmmaker Guy Potter in partnership with Merlin Cinemas, and it runs entirely for charity. The billing promises award winners and big festival successes, including Oscar and BAFTA qualifying work, alongside home-grown local talent on screen. The films share a subject, the sea, and the themes that come with it: identity, belonging, environmental and social activism, and a focus on connection to people, planet, time and place.

The films

‘An Mór’ A Kernewek and English eco-adventure from Nahlia Loren Couto, made with Guy Potter and Tristan Meredith, exploring the relationship between identity, belonging and the natural world. A collaboration between the UK, Canada and Australia, it reflects the universal connection to the ocean and its vital role in sustaining life on Earth.

‘No Place Like Home’ Gabriella Zagni’s film, winner of ‘Shortie of the Year’ at the 2025 London Surf Film Festival, follows Scottish longboard champion Phoebe Strachan, multiple Scottish National Surf Champion Mark Boyd and surf video creator Malcolm Anderson at Thurso East in Scotland.

‘The Lumberjack and the Fisherman’ Lucy Mainstone’s short trip through Cornwall’s storm-hit trees and warming seas, told through the eyes of Fiona Curtis.

‘Undercurrents’ From award-winning filmmaker Maddie Meddings, an intimate look at mentorship, reliance and the bond between two women taking on formidable line-ups, as big-wave surfer Laura Crane shows 16-year-old Imari Hearn the ropes at Nazaré.

‘Salt’ A powerful autobiographical film by Alice Ward, a filmmaker, surfer and woman living with Cystic Fibrosis. Blending personal history with striking ocean imagery, Salt explores the deep, primal connection between body, identity and the sea, and how something as elemental as salt can shape a life both personally and creatively. A multi-award-winning short, it has screened in over 50 locations worldwide.

‘The Mermaids of Popoyo’ Sky Neal and Melissa Mercer follow the Sirenetas de Popoyo, a local female surf club in Nicaragua, as they break down cultural barriers through surfing.

‘Unplugged’ A short film by Bella Rose Bunce, the first female editor of Wavelength magazine, about a group of friends exploring untouched nature in Baja in search of quiet waves and freedom.

‘Saltwater Breath’ A poetic, experimental documentary following Out of Sink, Penzance’s resident eco-synchro swim team, as they gather to perform at the Stop Rosebank Oil Field protest in August 2025. A film by Nahlia Loren Couto with Guy Potter and Tristan Meredith.

The local connections

Much of Women of the Water sits close to home. Guy Potter, who put the programme together, shot Saltwater Breath with Nahlia about the women of Out of Sink, the Penzance eco-synchro swim team formed by actor Mary Woodvine. There is a neat piece of programming symmetry to it. Mary stars in Saltwater Breath, and also in Rose of Nevada, which screens at the same venue two nights earlier.

Bella Rose Bunce, on the bill with Unplugged, is the first female editor of Wavelength magazine. Alice Ward’s Salt arrives as a widely recognised, multi-award-winning short. The line-up carries local names on screen and behind the camera, sat alongside festival winners from across the Celtic nations and further afield.

The details

Women of the Water screens at The Ritz, Penzance on Thursday 23 July, with a filmmakers’ Q&A to follow, and the programme runs around 90 minutes. Tickets are £11 for Terrace, Stalls Tables and Circle seats, with a Luxury Booth at £16, and are available now via The Ritz website.

If you want a sense of the night before you go, there is a free-flowing conversation about the programme on BBC Radio Cornwall with Dan Pascoe, available to listen back here.