Island filmmaker's documentary wins top prize at California Film Awards

An Islander's documentary aboutstarving tuna populations in North Lake,P.E.I.,has made quite the splash since it was released in 2016 and it has, once again, received top prize on the international stage.

• Bluefinmovie set for international distribution
• P.E.I. film nominated at U.K. film festival

John Hopkins'Bluefinrecently won the award for best documentary feature at the California Film Awards another significant achievement for the 53-minute film.

It really brings some attention to P.E.I. as a place where good films can come from. John Hopkins

Though he wasn't in San Diego to accept the award,Hopkins said he's "thrilled" with the win.

"It's pretty amazing, the film has done phenomenally well over the last year," he said.

"It's a very significant award and there'sa lot of competition at a lot of these festivals."

'It really brings some attention to P.E.I.'

Since the documentarywas released roughly 18 months ago, it's received critical acclaim and has been screened atfilm festivals around the globe.

TheNational Film Board of Canada also picked up the rights to the film and distributed it to 150 libraries across Canada.

Highlighting thedocumentary's success, Hopkins said filmmakers on P.E.I. typically see themselves"on the periphery" as storytellers but thatpeople "have to realize the stories that can come from here can be important."

"It really brings some attention to P.E.I. as a place where good films can come fromI hope that will translate into more interest in our filmmakers and filmmaking here," he said.

"When films come along like this, it kind of sets a bar in the sense that what happens on P.E.I. is important."

As for what's next for the filmmaker, he said he has a "few other projects cooking."

Hopkins is interested in doing a followup toBluefinby exploring international tuna populations or looking into the salmon fisheries in British Columbia.

In case you missed it, there's a screening of the documentaryat the Montague Rotary Library on Jan. 24.

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