Legend of the Enchanted Reef

When their reef is destroyed by a fishing trawler, three friends — Shorty the damselfish, his sister Indigo, and their daring sawfish companion Jake — set out to find the Enchanted Reef, a mythical haven untouched by humans. Guided by an ancient octopus named Oana, their journey takes them through kelp forests, sunken wrecks, and even out into space, dodging sharks and pollution along the way.

Directed and written by Dr. Peter Popp, Legend of the Enchanted Reef is Softmachine at full production scale: co-produced with GEFA, Experimenta Science Center, Pixable Studios, and GOTO INC, and backed by financial support from the Deutscher Filmförderfonds, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, and Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung. It’s built to run flexibly too, available in both 26- and 43-minute cuts, in 2D and 3D, for single- and multi-projector domes.

The reach speaks for itself. The film has screened at more than 30 venues across eight countries — including Planetarium Hamburg and Experimenta in Germany, and the Louisiana Art & Science Museum and Union Station Kansas City in the US — and made its IMAX Laser 2D premiere at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Florida. It picked up Best Feature Film at the Best of Earth 2021 Fulldome Competition, Best Narrative Film at Dome Fest West 2021, and Best Animated Fulldome Film at Fulldome Festival Minsk 2021.

Why it matters for you: This is proof of what a full-scale co-production looks like for us — multiple partners, public funding, flexible formats, and a distribution footprint that actually delivers. If your venue needs a film that’s already proven itself across dozens of institutions, this is the track record.