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Diving for Rays is Nova West and Angel Morris' first independent film together. The film was shot and edited in early 2022, utilizing grants from Sony and community contributions to help fund the project. Through the trials and errors of creating their first film, Diving for Rays has become a jumping off point for further learning, collaboration, and community engagement.
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Diving for Rays follows the story of Nicole Morris, who since she was young has aspired to become a marine conservationist. Growing up in San Diego, CA, she spent her childhood among the creatures of the sea, her favorite being rays. The ocean became her place of healing, especially when she first realized she was queer. The more she discovered who she was, however, the less she saw herself in conservation as a queer woman. Years later, she realized that she owed it to herself to become what she couldn't see. In this 20 minute documentary Nicole shares her story of taking her first steps in chasing her dreams by getting scuba certified. Along the way, we learn how the lack of LGBTQ+ visibility in marine science can have a devastating impact on aspiring conservationists.
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Angel Morris filming on an fx3, provided by Sony's grant program,
photo by Nova West
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Nova presenting Diving for Rays in the E/V Nautilus control van during 71 days at sea off the coast of Maui, photo by Marley Parker
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Diving for Rays has already achieved great success, soft-premiering for the Corps of Exploration with Dr. Robert Ballard and National Geographic Society leadership and scientists aboard the E/V Nautilus. The film was accepted to the San Diego Environmental Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award and scored second place in their category. Diving for Rays has also screened at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival, the World Water Film Festival, Film Out San Diego, and The Video Consortium in London. Nova and Angel are excited to announce that Diving for Rays is officially available to stream on WaterBear Network and will be live on the network for the next five years.
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Screenings
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E/V Nautilus, Maui | Oct 2022
San Diego Environmental Film Festival | Nov 2022 Texas A& M University, Galveston | Nov 2022 Waterbear Watch Party | Jan 2023 Thunder Bay International Film Festival | 2023 World Water Film Festival, New York | 2023 |
Film Out San Diego | 2023
Video Consortium, London | 2023 Wild Coast Film Festival, Oregon | 2023 Transgender Day of Visibility, Department of Interior | April 2024 Pride, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center | June 2024 |
Since the global release of Diving for Rays, Nova, Angel, and Nicole have been featured speaking on an array of podcasts.
Click the images below to listen to the podcasts released to date, featuring wild anecdotes from the journey of making Diving for Rays.
Click the images below to listen to the podcasts released to date, featuring wild anecdotes from the journey of making Diving for Rays.
Take the Last Bite is a podcast directly countering the Midwest Nice mentality, highlighting advocacy and activism by queer/trans communities in the Midwest.
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Earth to Humans is a podcast about the interconnected nature of our planet’s overlapping crises, and the amazing humans who are fighting for a better future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.
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LGBT Outdoors is a podcast serving as a tool to connect the LGBTQ+ community to the outdoors and to each other while creating a more diverse and inclusive outdoor space.
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After finishing Diving for Rays and seeing the positive impact it's had on the queer community, Angel and Nova are continuing to produce films together and have plans for new documentaries starting in 2023. Their work, centering around queer voices in conservation and science spaces, is promising for the visibility and expansion of marginalized communities working in science.
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