OMEGA presents special screening of the film Planet Ocean at the Vancouver Aquarium. Co-director Michael Pitiot makes special guest appearance at the May 9th event

Swiss watchmaker OMEGA aptly chose the Vancouver Aquarium as the venue for a special screening of Planet Ocean, and the launch of the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M GoodPlanet watch. The landmark 90-minute environmental documentary was directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot. It draws on the talents of some of the world’s leading aerial and underwater cinematographers, oceanographers and biologists, and was created to help change the way people look at the oceans and to encourage them to imagine conservation and stewardship as responsibilities shared by everyone on Earth.

Guests attending the event included Vancouver area media dignitaries, students and faculty from the University of British Columbia department of Oceanography, as well as special guest, Co-Director Michael Pitiot.

OMEGA, which invented the first diving watch in 1932, has a long legacy of creating timepieces that help explore and enjoy the oceans. With that history in mind, OMEGA funded Planet Ocean and commissioned acclaimed photographer, filmmaker and environmentalist Arthus-Bertrand and his non-profit organization, GoodPlanet, to create a film with the goal of raising awareness for protecting the oceans. OMEGA and GoodPlanet formed a partnership in 2011 with the aim to raise awareness of the beauty and majesty of the oceans, the dangers they face and the importance of preserving and appreciating these natural resources.

To help promote the film, OMEGA has created a watch - the GoodPlanet Planet Ocean. OMEGA has committed a portion of the proceeds from the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M GoodPlanet to preserve the mangroves and seagrasses in Southeast Asia and educate the local population about conserving these important natural resources.
Planet Ocean, which premiered at Earth Summit 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, is made available free of charge to any interested NGO in order to ensure that it reaches the widest possible audience.

About Michael Pitiot

Born in Bagneux, France on July 14, 1970, Michael Pitiot filmed his first documentaries in Africa while traveling through Niger, Mali, and Mauritania, and through the forests of Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda. In 2011 Michael Pitiot began writing a new film with journalist Daniel Duhand on the sinking of the ocean liner “Afrique,” which was the largest shipwreck recorded off the coasts of France. That same year, Yann Arthus-Bertrand asked Pitiot to co-produce his Planet Ocean documentary. It is a plea for world governance of the oceans – a “vision” of this planet, born from the sea and in need of attention today – the same marine world that Michael has never ceased to explore and to love.