An Islander's documentary about starving 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.

John Hopkins' Bluefin recently 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's a lot of competition at a lot of these festivals."

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

Since the documentary was released roughly 18 months ago, it's received critical acclaim and has been screened at film festivals around the globe.

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

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

John Hopkins' Bluefin recently won the award for best documentary feature at the California Film Awards. (Bluefin/Square Deal Productions)

"It really brings some attention to P.E.I. as a place where good films can come from … I 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 to Bluefin by exploring international tuna populations or looking into the salmon fisheries in British Columbia.

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