ABOUT
Dive In to the
FREMANTLE UNDERWATER FILM FESTIVAL!
You are invited to attend a memorable evening, showcasing the biodiversity and wonder of our oceans through a hand-picked selection of short, underwater films.
The Fremantle Underwater Film Festival (FUFF) is a not for profit, independent, grassroots social and environmental movement towards better ocean health.
The Fremantle Underwater Film Festival is dedicated to making positive change for our blue planet.
We gift our time and energy to advocate for ocean health.
We created the FUFF to build a more sustainable world by bringing ocean stories, marine science and the transformational nature of the human-water connection into your life in creative ways.
Building a safe and sustainable relationship with the ocean is important to us.
The official screenings for the Fremantle Underwater Film Festival are held in Walyalup-Fremantle, Western Australia. FUFF is screened annually around regional Western Australia, interstate and across the seas. The festival screens two hours of short films in two acts, with an interval in between acts.
VISION
Healthy and connected, west coast oceans and people.
MISSION
Our mission is to build a deep west coast connection between human and
ocean by bringing ocean stories, marine science and the transformational
nature of the human-water connection into your life in creative ways.
VALUES
We protect the wild, conserve marine biodiversity, restore degraded ocean ecosystems, address threats to biodiversity and reduce our footprint on the earth.
We recognize the need to change the way we consume and the way we produce.
We know collaboration as a society on these goals will advance our collective benefit and ensure the sustainability of both our wildlife and our coastal way of life.
We demonstrate commitment to our values every year by giving 100% of Fremantle Underwater Film Festival (FUFF) ticket sales to community not for profits, charitable organizations and local marine biodiversity conservation efforts that act to ensure ocean life persists.
"ocean health
and human health
are one".
AIMS
Each night of the festival we aim to:
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Share interesting, fun and thought-provoking short films to highlight the magical mysteries of the underwater world
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Showcase the work of talented local and global underwater film makers and animators, with a feature on personal ocean stories and educational messages that can help to spread awareness of how to exist in harmony with the marine realm
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Raise awareness about critically endangered marine species such as the scalloped Hammerhead Sphyrna lewini, the Green Sawfish Pristis zijsron and the threatened ecological community of the Giant Kelp Macrocystis pyrifera that may go extinct in our lifetime without concerted efforts to change our ways for the better
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Raise funds for marine biodiversity conservation projects with 100% of our ticket sales going to help save critically endangered marine species from extinction, with our major conservation cause being New Zealand's endemic Maui Dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori maui. We have raised over $60,000 in the past decade of shows to stop the decline of this species. Learn more about Maui Dolphin and our major charity partner here.
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Promote the coastal City of Fremantle and the City of Cockburn as unique Australian places where the community is made up of especially caring ambassadors for the underwater world. These cities are connected to our shared special ocean places, Derbal Nara - Cockburn Sound - known as the "Estuary of the Salmon", Derbal Yerrigan - Swan River Estuary, and our offshore islands, including Wadjemup - Rottnest Island.
The Fremantle Underwater Film Festival (FUFF) ran a community campaign in its hometown of the City of Fremantle to help protect our local ocean life by petitioning the council to ban disposable plastic straws at all retail outlets in Fremantle .
Thank you to the global community that helped by signing our online petition to show support for marine biodiversity conservation. We reached over 5,000 signatures that were hand-delivered to the Fremantle Council in a bid to protect our marine wildlife and reduce unnecessary disposable plastic waste polluting and damaging our precious ocean ecosystems.
Permanent changes to better manage plastic waste in the City of Fremantle and an advocacy policy were the positive result of this action to protect our sea life.
"The ocean exists as a
fundamental reality of the earth.
Through that mirror YOU can see
the fundamental reality of YOUR selF"
- Carlos Eyles
Tania Douthwaite, is the Founder and Director of the
Fremantle Underwater Film Festival (FUFF) .
As a marine scientist, master freedive instructor, OCEAN artist AND COMMUNITY BUILDER Tania has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of ocean science, marine conservation, freediving, wellbeing and creative communication.
At the heart of everything she does is a deep love of the ocean—and a belief in the power of community to help us care for it. Tania founded FUFF as a grassroots celebration of underwater storytelling: a place where filmmakers, ocean lovers, scientists, artists, conservationists and the wider community can come together to share stories and deepen our connection with the sea.
Her background spans marine science communication, recreational fisheries management, community-based marine citizen science, marine safety and freediving education. She has presented at state and national forums and has worked extensively to build greater understanding of the ocean through education, storytelling and direct community participation.
In the underwater world, Tania is best known for her leadership within the Western Australian freediving community. Through her work with Blueback Freediving & Yoga, she champions safe and responsible freediving, trauma-informed education, breathwork and the wellbeing benefits of connecting with the ocean.
She is also an action-oriented advocate for ocean restoration. You might find her hauling marine debris from a remote West Australian beach one day, and speaking to a crowd about marine safety, ocean conservation and our relationship with the sea the next.
In 2018, Tania established the Feel Alive, Freedive Initiative, combining freediving safety education with programs supporting mental wellbeing. In 2020, she founded the Mermantle Project, a community initiative using song and freediving to create pathways towards connection, self-leadership and wellbeing.
Her wider work has included serving as a former non-executive director of Recfishwest, Western Australia's peak recreational fishing body, and Vice Chairperson of the WA Undersea Club Inc. She has also contributed to the 2021 Blue Growth Economy Forum and spoken publicly on ocean health, marine safety, sustainable fishing and spearfishing, ocean restoration and the importance of rebuilding humanity's connection with the sea.
MAKING FUFF POSSIBLE
FUFF is an independent, grassroots festival. Tania funds and develops the festival through her work as a Master Freedive Instructor, mindfulness coach and pranayama (breathwork) teacher at locally owned Blueback Freediving & Yoga.
When you support Blueback, you help support FUFF.
The festival exists because of an extraordinary network of local businesses, marine conservation organisations, underwater filmmakers, artists, volunteers and members of the community who generously contribute their time, skills and resources.
After more than a decade, Tania remains passionate about keeping FUFF independent, community-led and deeply connected to the ocean and the people who love it.
WITH GRATITUDE
A special thank you to the creative artist Marion Vanhaecke (Marion le Crayon), who created FUFF's beautiful original festival logo, and underwater photographer Chiara Bussini (Carpe Diem Holistic) for the beautiful freediving portraits featured throughout this website.
And to everyone who has supported FUFF over the years—thank you.
This festival exists because a community believes that the ocean is worth celebrating, protecting and telling stories about.
EVERYONE HAS THE POWER
TO TAKE ACTION
TO IMPROVE OCEAN HEALTH.
I created the Fremantle Underwater Film Festival in 2014 from a belief that stories can change the way we see, feel and care for the ocean.
By bringing together ocean stories, marine science, creativity and the transformative power of our connection with water, FUFF creates opportunities for people to experience the ocean in new ways—and to feel inspired to protect it.
As an ocean artist and underwater photographer, I have always been drawn to the power of visual storytelling to reveal the beauty, complexity and fragility of the underwater world. I believe that when we connect with the ocean emotionally, as well as intellectually, we are more likely to care for it—and to take action to restore its health.
FUFF is my contribution to building that connection.
Our health and the health of the ocean are connected.
GET INVOLVED
FUFF is a grassroots, not-for-profit festival made possible by the people and organisations who believe in the power of ocean stories.
There are many ways to be part of it—from volunteering or helping at the festival, to becoming a sponsor, partner or stallholder, or making a donation to help bring the festival to life.
Every contribution, large or small, helps us continue creating a space where ocean lovers, filmmakers, scientists, artists and the wider community can come together to celebrate, connect with and care for our home waters.
Interested in getting involved? We’d love to hear from you.
Donations are gratefully received, and businesses and organisations supporting FUFF can be acknowledged online as part of our community of festival supporters.
See FUFF contact info at the
bottom of the page.
MAJOR SPONSORS
FILMS
SCHEDULE 2026 / 2027
FREMANTLE HOMETOWN SCREENINGS
2-4 OCT, 2026
5:30PM
Cockburn Memorial Hall
Hamilton Hill
SOUTH WEST WA TOUR
2025 / 2026
6PM
SOUTH COAST SCREENINGS
ALBANY TBC
ESPERANCE TBC
NORTH WEST WA TOUR
2025/2026
6PM
NORTH WEST SCREENINGS
GERALDTON TBC
EXMOUTH TBC
BROOME TBC
PAST EVENTS
JAN 2018 / 2019
OFFICIAL SCREENING
Port Beach Garden Bar - Outdoor Cinema
44 Tydeman Road, North Fremantle
25 FEB 2018
METRO SCREENING
Fremantle Fibonacci Centre
SUMMER 2018 / 2019
SW WA SCREENINGS
Hopetoun Community
Albany Town Square
Margaret River Community Centre
Caves House, Yallingup
AUTUMN / WINTER 2018/2019
NW WA SCREENINGS
Whalebone Brewing Company, Exmouth
Bill's Bar, Coral Bay
29 NOV 2017
Australian Premiere
DOLPHIN MAN
6 DEC 2017
LAST PARADISE
13 DEC 2017
Australian Premiere
BLUEFIN
WA Premiere - Wed. 29 Nov. 2017 Port Beach Garden Bar Outdoor Cinema 44 Tydeman Road, North Fremantle, WA
Wed. 6 Dec. 2017 Port Beach Garden Bar Outdoor Cinema 44 Tydeman Road, North Fremantle, WA
WA Premiere - Wed. 13 Dec. 2017 Port Beach Garden Bar Outdoor Cinema 44 Tydeman Road, North Fremantle, WA
PAST SPONSORS & COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS
PROUD SUPPORTER OF
The FREMANTLE UNDERWATER FILM FESTIVAL (FUFF) is a proud supporter of the important marine biodiversity conservation work of the Maui & Hector's Dolphin Defenders NZ Inc. This community group is committed to saving the world's rarest marine dolphin from extinction, through education and action in New Zealand.
Thanks to the dedicated, big-hearted committee and volunteers of the Maui & Hector's Dolphin Defenders NZ Inc. for all their hard work to make the on-the-ground protection of the critically endangered, Maui Dolphin, a reality in New Zealand. I am so glad that ticket sales from festival shows can be put to good use, helping to conserve global marine biodiversity through the generous, hard-working nature of the Maui & Hector's Dolphin Defenders NZ Inc..
There are less than 63 adult individuals left of this marine dolphin. Without concerted conservation efforts this endemic New Zealand dolphin will sadly go extinct in our lifetimes!
Please visit their website at Maui & Hectors Dolphin Defenders NZ Inc. and support their work to save Maui Dolphin.
The FREMANTLE UNDERWATER FILM FESTIVAL (FUFF) is also a proud supporter of the important marine biodiversity conservation work of CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP.
The 2019/2020 festival ticket funds were divested to both our long-term conservation collaborators, Maui & Hector's Dolphin Defenders NZ Inc., to enable them to continue their work for the critically endangered Maui Dolphin. In 2020/2021 we were able to expand our marine biodiversity conservation support closer to home, by providing our new community conservation collaborators CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP, with a donation to protect the critically endangered Green Sawfish (Pristis zijsron) in the Exmouth Gulf.
The CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP (CCG) is based in Exmouth, and is made up of ordinary people who love the North West Cape. Ningaloo is one of the world’s last great places and we want to protect it. CCG believe that preservation of the environment is really important. To do this CCG try to reduce the human impact on it and continue to be good stewards of the environment.
CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization that is involved in protecting the terrestrial and marine environment of the North West Cape. The group has been active for 25 years now, and has been instrumental in some major projects and campaigns, like Save Ningaloo, Halt the Salt and Protect Ningaloo. Members are an eclectic mix of people from many walks of life, but are united by a passion for conservation. And each member brings different knowledge, skills and experiences to the job of promoting good environmental stewardship.
CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP are always keen to welcome new members and believe that everyone has something to offer. If you care for the natural world and you’re keen to see it protected for the future, then join CAPE CONSERVATION GROUP at www.ccg.org.aU
