Watson (film)

Last updated
Watson
Directed by Lesley Chilcott
Produced by
  • Lesley Chilcott
  • Louise Runge
  • Wolfgang Knöpfler
Starring Paul Watson
CinematographyLogan Schneider
Edited byGreg Finton
Music by Christophe Beck
Production
companies
Distributed by Participant Media
Release date
  • April 28, 2019 (2019-04-28)
Running time
99 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Australia [1]
LanguageEnglish

Watson is a documentary film about the life of Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. It was directed by Lesley Chilcott and produced by Louise Runge. [2]

Contents

The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2019. [3]

Synopsis

Filmed over two years in Costa Rica, Tonga, and the US, Watson is a feature documentary about the life of eco-warrior Captain Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. [4] [5]

Awards and nominations

YearCategoryAssociationResultRef
2020 Cinema for Peace Awards Cinema for Peace Award International Green Film AwardNominated [6]
2020 International Wildlife Film Festival Best Feature FilmWon [7]
2019 Camden International Film Festival Harrell Award Best Documentary FeatureNominated [8]
2019 Hamptons International Film Festival Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless AwardWon [9]
2019 Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary FeatureNominated [10]
2019Tribeca Film FestivalAudience Award DocumentaryNominated [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea Shepherd Conservation Society</span> American marine conservation organization

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action tactics to achieve its goals, most famously by deploying its fleet of ships to track, report on and actively impede the work of fishing vessels believed to be engaged in illegal and unregulated activities causing the unsustainable exploitation of marine life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Watson</span> Canadian environmental activist

Paul Franklin Watson is a Canadian-American environmental, conservation and animal rights activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.

The term eco-warrior is a self-description for an environmental activist that adopts a "hands-on" effort to save a plot of land. In the UK it coined the term in the 1990s, a label that many people actively taking ecological direct action resisted, for philosophical reasons.

RV <i>Farley Mowat</i> Ship owned and operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

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Robert Lorne Hunter was a Canadian environmentalist, journalist, author and politician. He was a member of the Don't Make a Wave Committee in 1969, and a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1971 and its first president. He led the first on-sea anti-whaling campaigns in the world, against Russian and Australian whalers, which helped lead to the ban on commercial whaling. He campaigned against nuclear testing, the Canadian seal hunt and later, climate change with his book Thermageddon: Countdown to 2030. He was named by Time as one of the "Eco-Heroes" of the 20th century.

<i>Whale Wars</i> Television series

Whale Wars is a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and the crew aboard their various vessels attempted to stop the killing of whales by Japanese vessels (whalers) off the coast of Antarctica.

Michael Bailey, described as "one of the foremost eco-warriors of our times" according to Rex Weyler, is a founding member of Greenpeace, along with Paul Watson, Patrick Moore, David McTaggart and others. He supervised the original Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operations</span> Direct action marine conservation operations

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society engages in various demonstrations, campaigns, and tactical operations at sea and elsewhere, including conventional protests and direct actions to protect marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd operations have included interdiction against commercial fishing, shark poaching and finning, seal hunting and whaling. Many of their activities have been called piracy or terrorism by their targets and by the ICRW. Sea Shepherd says that they have taken more than 4,000 volunteers on operations over a period of 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-whaling</span>

Anti-whaling refers to actions taken by those who seek to end whaling in various forms, whether locally or globally in the pursuit of marine conservation. Such activism is often a response to specific conflicts with pro-whaling countries and organizations that practice commercial whaling and/or research whaling, as well as with indigenous groups engaged in subsistence whaling. Some anti-whaling factions have received criticism and legal action for extreme methods including violent direct action. The term anti-whaling may also be used to describe beliefs and activities related to these actions.

<i>At the Edge of the World</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

At the Edge of the World is a 2008 documentary which chronicles the efforts of animal rights activist Paul Watson and 45 other volunteers, who set out in two Sea Shepherd ships to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica. The film won Best Environmental Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Director and Producer Dan Stone would later produce the first season of Whale Wars. It depicts what actually went on during this excursion, with clips of beautiful scenery, news clips, whaling in action, and life on the ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Hunter</span> Canadian activist, author and filmmaker

Emily Hunter is a Canadian activist, author and filmmaker. She is the daughter of the late Robert Hunter, first president of Greenpeace and Bobbi Hunter, co-founder of Greenpeace. She has been a campaigner for nearly a decade on numerous environmental causes, from fighting whaling to climate change. She is known in Canada as a writer for THIS magazine and as environmental correspondent for MTV News.

<i>Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson</i> 2011 Canadian film

Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson is a 2011 documentary film directed by Trish Dolman and produced by Kevin Eastwood. It follows radical conservationist Paul Watson during anti-whaling campaigns in the Antarctic in 2009 and 2010, and recounts his history and controversial methods as an activist and media personality. It premiered May 1, 2011 at the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamya Essemlali</span>

Lamya Essemlali is a French environmental activist, of Moroccan origin. She's the co-founder and president of Sea Shepherd France, the French branch of the anti-poaching organisation Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. She is also co-director of Sea Shepherd Global and co-president of the non-governmental organisation Rewild.

Cathy Henkel is a South African documentary filmmaker who lives and works in Australia. Her works have typically focused on subjects of environmental activism, and to a lesser extent, the performing arts.

Lesley Chilcott is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable feature documentary films include Watson, Waiting for "Superman", CodeGirl, It Might Get Loud, and An Inconvenient Truth which won two Academy Awards. Chilcott is known for documentaries about social justice issues such as climate change, the environment, women's equality, and education. She directed the audience-favored Netflix docuseries, Arnold (2023), about the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger as a bodybuilder, movie star, and politician.

MV <i>John Paul DeJoria</i>

MV John Paul DeJoria was a former United States Coast Guard cutter owned and operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Until scrapped, she was used in their direct action campaigns against illegal fisheries activities.

<i>The Serengeti Rules</i> 2018 American film

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Gorski</span>

Tim Gorski is an American cinematographer, film producer and animal welfare activist, known for his documentaries concerning animal welfare and wildlife conservation, among them the piece How I Became an Elephant (2012), which has received awards and favorable reviews in the media, and his earlier piece Lolita: Slave to Entertainment (2003). Gorski's filmography is visible online.

References

  1. Kenigsberg, Ben (7 November 2019). "'Watson' Review: Environmentalism on the High Seas". The New York Times.
  2. "'Watson': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . 20 May 2019.
  3. "Documentaries Are King as New Films on Linda Ronstadt and Captain Paul Watson Get Ready to Shine at Tribeca Film Festival". 25 April 2019.
  4. "Review: 'Watson' delivers fierce message from eco-warrior and Sea Shepherd captain". Los Angeles Times . 24 October 2019.
  5. "Tribeca Film Festival 2019: WATSON: The Embodiment of Change, Resilience & Strength". 26 April 2019.
  6. https://www.cinemaforpeace-foundation.org/honorees
  7. "Watson • International Wildlife Film Festival".
  8. "The XV Camden International Film Festival: A Special Report".
  9. "INTERVIEW: Director Lesley Chilcott on Documenting the Life of Captain Paul Watson for New Documentary, "Watson"". 18 October 2019.
  10. "Watson | 2019 Tribeca Festival".
  11. "Tribeca Film Festival 2019: WATSON: The Embodiment of Change, Resilience & Strength". 26 April 2019.