Sea of Shadows

Last updated
Sea of Shadows
Sea of Shadows poster.jpg
Directed byRichard Ladkani [1]
Produced byWolfgang Knöpfler
Walter Köhler [2]
StarringRomel Eduardo Ledezma Abaroa
Rafael Pacchiano Alamán
Hector Capetillo
Andrea Crosta
and others [3]
CinematographyRichard Ladkani [3]
Edited byGeorg Michael Fischer
Verena Schönauer [2]
Music by H. Scott Salinas [2]
Production
companies
Terra Mater Factual Studios [4]
Appian Way Productions
Malaika Pictures
The Wild Lens Collective
Distributed by National Geographic Documentary Films [3]
Fox Searchlight Pictures [5] (uncredited)
Release date
  • September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20) [3]
Running time
104 minutes [2]
CountryAustria [3]
LanguageEnglish + Spanish [3]
Box office$1,996 [3]

Sea of Shadows is a 2019 documentary about environmental activists (Sea Shepherd), 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". [6] [7] [2] [3] [8] [9] The 1 hour and 44 minutes long film is directed by Richard Ladkani.

Contents

Reception

Sea of Shadows premiered in Austria on September 20, 2019. [3] It won the Sundance award for World Cinema Documentary and was acquired by the National Geographic Channel for broadcast The film received the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award in 2020. [2] [10] [11] "Conveying just how fraught and delicate conservation efforts can be, logistically and emotionally, an extraordinary sequence unfolds as a pursuit on the water, placing the viewer smack in the midst of it." [9]

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Richard Ladkani is an independent Austrian director and cinematographer known for documentary films such as The Ivory Game and Sea of Shadows. Ladkani has received numerous awards for his documentaries, including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the Cinema for Peace Award (Berlin), the FIPRESCI Award and was nominated for the DGA Awards, Cinema Eye Honors, an Emmy, the IDA Awards and many others. The Ivory Game and Jane's Journey were both shortlisted for an Academy Award. Since 2020, he's been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) Documentary Branch.

References

  1. "Sea of Shadows". Austrian Films.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Film Review: 'Sea of Shadows'". Variety. 2019-02-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sea of Shadows, IMDb, retrieved 2020-02-01
  4. How 'rapid impact' films are igniting change for the planet
  5. "Sea of Shadows (2019)". Filmratings.com. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  6. Bentley, Jean (2019-11-08). "The Director of 'Sea of Shadows' Faced Down Cartels to Show the Fight to Save the World's Smallest Porpoise – IndieWire".
  7. Bradshaw, Peter (September 26, 2019). "Sea of Shadows review – porpoise documentary slips through the net". The Guardian.
  8. "Sea of Shadows Official Trailer". National Geographic. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2020-02-29 via YouTube. (1:58) "In award-winning SEA OF SHADOWS, a multinational team of scientists, activists, journalists and undercover agents go up against drug cartels and illegal traffickers to save the most endangered whale on Earth. In select theaters July 12."
  9. 1 2 Linden, Sheri (2019-01-30). "'Sea of Shadows': Film Review - Sundance 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  10. Hipes, Patrick (October 22, 2019). "Sundance Winner 'Sea Of Shadows' Gets Nat Geo Airdate". Deadline Hollywood.
  11. Sundance Institute (2019-01-08). "World Documentary Competition: Sea of Shadows". Sundance Institute. Retrieved 2020-02-29 via YouTube. (2:54) "Meet Richard Ladkani, director of Sea of Shadows, playing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival."