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.
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.
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.
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.
Earth Days is a 2009 documentary film about the history of the environmental movement in the United States, directed by Robert Stone and distributed by Zeitgeist Films in theaters. Earth Days premiered at the 2009 Wisconsin Film Festival, and released to theatres on August 14, 2009.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The Serengeti Rules is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Nicolas Brown, and based on the book by Sean B. Carroll. The film explores the discoveries of five pioneering scientists—Tony Sinclair, Mary E. Power, Bob Paine, John Terborgh, and Jim Estes—whose decades of research laid the groundwork for modern ecology and offer hope that environmentalists today may be able to “upgrade” damaged ecosystems by understanding the rules that govern them.
Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts is a documentary film starring drag queen and singer-songwriter Trixie Mattel. It was directed by Nick Zeig-Owens and produced by David Silver, and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2019. Following screenings, Mattel performed several songs on stage. The documentary was made available on video on demand platforms on December 3, 2019.
Slay the Dragon is a 2019 American documentary film about gerrymandering in the United States from Los Angeles, California-based film production company Participant, directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance. The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019, follows citizens' groups as they work to end the practice of gerrymandering, which they see as undermining democracy. It features Katie Fahey, the activist who founded Voters Not Politicians and led a successful grassroots campaign to ban partisan gerrymandering in Michigan.
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a 2019 documentary film about American singer Linda Ronstadt. It was directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. It features interviews with many of Ronstadt's friends and fellow artists.
Inna De Yard: The Soul of Jamaica is a 2019 music documentary film about Jamaican reggae music, written and directed by Peter Webber. The film is based around the recording of an album in Kingston, Jamaica by Jamaican reggae music veterans. It also "doubles as a capsule history of Jamaican reggae" and shows the band performing the songs at a concert at Le Trianon in Paris.
Sea of Shadows is a 2019 documentary about environmental activists, the Mexican Navy, marine scientists and undercover investigators trying to prevent the extinction of the vaquita, a species of porpoise and the smallest whale in the world, by pulling gillnets, doing research, and fighting back Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia who are destroying ocean habitats in their brutal pursuit to harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, known as the "cocaine of the sea". The 1 hour and 44 minutes long film is directed by Richard Ladkani.
Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story is a 2021 American-British documentary film, directed by Laura Fairrie. It follows the life and career of Jackie Collins.
The First Step is a 2021 American documentary film, directed by Brandon Kramer. It follows Van Jones, as he pushes for criminal justice reform.
Arnold is an American docuseries produced by Netflix. The series explores the life and career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the most iconic figures in the world of bodybuilding, Hollywood, and politics.
